Warm air intake

[Paul9]

Magician, you asked "Any suggestions on a 100 watt flexible panel and charger?" Maybe you are asking about a 100 watt flex panel and regulator as the panel acts as the charger?

I have a Suzuki Swift which I think is called a Geo Metro in your part of the world(?) My mates and I converted it to electric back in 2011. Since then I have been doing improvements to it to improve it's "fuel economy". One of my modifications to it was exactly what you are proposing.

In an EV we have a DC to DC converter which pulls power from the main battery bank, reduces it to 12v dc and feeds it into the auxillary battery. This replaces the alternator.

I bought a 90watt panel and a 30amp regulator. Panel is glued/bonded to the roof and feeds into the regulator on the dashboard. The DC to DC converter also feeds into the regulator and can be turned on/off with a switch on the dashboard.

I also replaced all lights except the headlights with LEDs to reduce the draw on the aux battery.

I do 95% of my driving with only the panel running the aux battery. I don't have air con in the car which I think would drain the aux battery faster than the panel could replace the power.

I did keep figures to establish the effect (if any) and it appears that it reduces power draw on the main battery bank by between 3% and 7%.

Regards
Paul

[Jon.Alfredo@outlook.com]

Originally Posted by ThermionicScott

Oh wow, that's a lot more insulation than I imagined. Ever have any issues with it coming loose, or pinking from having such warm intake air?

Here's another tip for later: if you right-click on your picture in the gallery and choose "Copy image address", it'll put a direct link to that picture on your clipboard. You can paste that into a thread reply, add an [IMG] in front and [/IMG] at the end to get this.

that's a lot more insulation

[Magician]

Interesting idea. I'd like to see you have success with it!
I personally am going to delete my alternator belt, but keep it with me in case it's ever needed for a long evening trip or maybe in winter when not much sunlight. Most of my commutes are between 6 and 20 miles... so I would not have much drain on my battery. Using a flexible 100W solar panel on my roof should easily top it off most days. I already have LED running lights and will replace my headlights soon. My old school car doesn't have much current draw while running. In fact, I almost always roll start my car. I'll be running some tests without the belt soon just to see how much drain it does on the battery before I invest in the solar panel and controller. I will likely go to a marine battery with more capacity as well, although I honestly don't think I'll need to based on calculations of the draw that my car has while running not using the lights. Night-time driving may warrant the Marine battery.

[Magician]

The grill block with little door that I can open and close from in the car and warm air intake are very, very effective. probably one of the biggest gains I've gotten in mpg's. Huge gains that I'm doing cartwheels over

[Magician]

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Magician

I personally am going to delete my alternator belt, but keep it with me in case it's ever needed for a long evening trip or maybe in winter when not much sunlight.

Have you never even considered to adapt a stator out of some 4-cyl motorcycle? That would enable you to replace both the alternator and the distributor, thus reducing overall drag to the engine while ensuring a steady source of current for the basic functions such as ignition, injection and lighting.

My old school car doesn't have much current draw while running. In fact, I almost always roll start my car.

That already sounds like a good excuse to go with a stator.

[Magician]

Might not be a bad idea, but I think my car will have such a low load that solar charging is a pretty good option. I'm also looking at pulling the two front seats out and using an aluminum ladder to fabricate replacement seats that weigh a mere fraction of what the stock seats weigh. I think the two seats weigh around 70 lbs and the 2 aluminum seats should weigh under 15 lbs combined. I have an idea on how to make them adjustable for the distance from the dash. That would be trimming off roughly 55 lbs. I want to trim weight, but not lose functionality. I'll likely get this project done in the next 30-60 days and more to come.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Solar charging is not bad at all, but the main advantages of a motorcycle-type stator are getting rid of the distributor while also retaining an alternative source of electric power for both the fuel injection and the ignition. That's overall simpler while it still takes less power from the engine than both the alternator and distributor would do. So, why would you rather keep the distributor instead of adapting a motorcycle-type stator?

[Magician]

probably because I know the distributor works very reliably and likely is a very, very small load on the engine. As for the Alternator, I'll remove the belt and solar charge. Seems like a lot of work to go the stator route and to figure out how to make it work as effectively as the distributor. But... I like your thinking outside the box!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Magician

probably because I know the distributor works very reliably and likely is a very, very small load on the engine.

So does a stator

Seems like a lot of work to go the stator route and to figure out how to make it work as effectively as the distributor.

Since a stator usually spins at the same RPM of the crankshaft, while a distributor goes twice slower since its timing follows the camshaft, that might become challenging to some extent. I have already seen a VW Beetle with a stator mounted in the original location of the accessory drive pulley for the alternator (it had been also upgraded to a thermostatically-controlled electric fan).