Electric Superchargers. Gimmicky? Yes. Possible? Technically.

[keepishop]

I'm tired of arguing with the ZJ and WJ guys over this. They are scared of killing engines.

Electric Supercharger

There are several electric superchargers on ebay. They have been proven to be useless yes, but the concept is still sound. Has anyone else here played with the idea of using a rather high flow electric air pusher (Leaving pumps, fans, etc all open ) to boost a jeep? Lots of people seem willing to bash the idea, but I haven't seen anyone willing to give it a try with a proper power fan.

Yeah yeah, totally ridiculous idea, bla bla woof woof. No harm in toying with the idea though.

[Starboard M]

Use a leaf blower.

[keepishop]

That's what I'm thinking.

[wil badger]

Google a video search for "leaf blower super charger" and you will get plenty of hits....

like this one Leaf Blower Bolt on Dyno pull - Car Videos on StreetFire

[rafterman45]

why not?? only problem i would see is inconsistent cfm (hot air less dense than cold air), pissing off the ecu, and your fuel map would look like a roller coaster, service life of the motor being on constantly, (heat, wearing out bushings on the motor, armature) but i'm a big "fan" (pun intended) of thinking outside the box. i'd be curious to see how much it would take to pressurize the block with say, 8psi. then you have a baseline of how much you need out of your fan in terms of boost, and still being relatively friendly to your motor. I currently drive an 08 subaru STI and i'm running about 17 psi out of the stock IHI VF48 turbo, which is stated to flow in the neighborhood of 500cfm. keep me posted on your project

[Kettles]

I can picture someone going to the line a drag strip, popping the hood and getting out and pull starting their leafblower under the hood... getting back in and revving up.. that would be hilarious.

Seriously though that video was cool. You get anywhere with this let me know. Most powerful computer fan I have seen is 250cfm.. badass enough to hover by itself on a table. Newegg.com - 1ST PC CORP. PFB1212UHE-F00 120mm Case Fan - Case Fans
Surely not enough to work on an engine.. maybe I could use it on my lawnmower?

[Magus2727]

the issue with the "electric" supper charger is that is does not provide the pressure. electric fans that can produce the amount of flow needed at high rpms (such that it does not become a restriction). Electric fans are just not designed for pressure.

If you got one of the professional Gas leaf blower and tied that to a secondary fuel tank for a two stroke motor that may do something. But then your going to have to figure where to stick something like that...

[Kettles]

Originally Posted by Magus2727

the issue with the "electric" supper charger is that is does not provide the pressure. electric fans that can produce the amount of flow needed at high rpms (such that it does not become a restriction). Electric fans are just not designed for pressure.

If you got one of the professional Gas leaf blower and tied that to a secondary fuel tank for a two stroke motor that may do something. But then your going to have to figure where to stick something like that...

not to mention you would need some way to remotely start it and control its throttle.. and leaf blowers are finicky at best when it comes to getting them started from cold.

Nitrous Oxide sounds like a better deal to me.

[meek61480]

electric super chargers are meant for a short period boost in power, like nos. it would work but would see small hp increase, 5-15, roughly

[Deezelweazel]

Ever heard about the perpetuum mobile? As a reminder: A machine that produces more energy than consuming.
It is technical impossible.
How much electric energy do you need to spin a blower, to receive enough power to develop a pressure about 10 psi?
Remembering that a belt driven compressor needs about 30% of the produced engine power to develop sufficient pressure equals per 100hp engine produced power an amount of 33hp to drive the belt driven comp.
33hp multiplied by 736 watts result in an electric power consumption of 24288 watts or 24,28 kw.
A battery has a possible power rating of 70Ah multiplied by 12 volts of 840 watts if the battery is full charged.

You need 29 batteries with a capacity of 70Ah to drive the electric comp.
That is possible, but makes no economic sense ;-)

In this calculation aren't included electric losses!

[Zembonez]

One of these might boost your Briggs & Stratton 5 horse lawnmower to 5.00025 HP. I'd go for it!

[Kettles]

Originally Posted by Deezelweazel

Ever heard about the perpetuum mobile? As a reminder: A machine that produces more energy than consuming.
It is technical impossible.
How much electric energy do you need to spin a blower, to receive enough power to develop a pressure about 10 psi?
Remembering that a belt driven compressor needs about 30% of the produced engine power to develop sufficient pressure equals per 100hp engine produced power an amount of 33hp to drive the belt driven comp.
33hp multiplied by 736 watts result in an electric power consumption of 24288 watts or 24,28 kw.
A battery has a possible power rating of 70Ah multiplied by 12 volts of 840 watts if the battery is full charged.

You need 29 batteries with a capacity of 70Ah to drive the electric comp.
That is possible, but makes no economic sense ;-)

In this calculation aren't included electric losses!

The only impossibility is that something is impossible. We just haven't figured out how to do it yet. Dont get me started..

Ah is a measure of how long it will last drawing that amount of power. so it would last 1 hour with 70amps, or 70 hours with 1 amp. SO the battery would last about 2 minutes running the blower you speak of.

2 problems. 1: who says we need 10psi.... 1 or 2 psi would be sufficient to do something. We are not talking about replacing a full blown (no pun intended) mechanical supercharger with a electric one, were talking about getting some forced induction using an electric one.

ASsuming that power needed for boost is a linear equation (which would be unlikely, so this is a conservative estimate) then for 2psi you would need 6.6hp, or 4871 watts, so that means it would run for closer to 15 minutes.. But you do have a alternator so that would be prolonged.

Now i think all that math is BS and that you can't prove or disprove anything without actually trying it.

That leafblower they used increased power, and I doubt was more than 1hp at best, and it did something... 738 watts is no biggie for a car battery when the motor is running.

[Deezelweazel]

Talking of BS? Your starter consumes 2.2kw within 5s.Did you ever try to crank at least one starter 15 minutes? won't work! Then try to spin two together for 15 minutes.


I have a turbo producing 13psi- what do you what to charge with 2psi? You have to change compression anyway to avoid detonation.

[Kettles]

Originally Posted by Deezelweazel

Talking of BS? Your starter consumes 2.2kw within 5s.Did you ever try to crank at least one starter 15 minutes? won't work! Then try to spin two together for 15 minutes.


I have a turbo producing 13psi- what do you what to charge with 2psi? You have to change compression anyway to avoid detonation.

Thats why I said the math is BS... there is alot more to it. My point is don't sit there with pure theory and say something definitively will not work. I say if someone wants to try more power to them. I will never say something is impossible, thats all.


By the way, watts are a measure of RATE of consumption of energy, SO saying something consumes 2.2kw(2200 joules a second) in 5s is completely WRONG. Thats like saying I consumed 2.2lph (litres per hour) within 5 seconds.. it doesn't make sense.

[multmigs]

did you ever read your power bill where they charge you based on the quantity of KWH you are using? thats the same thing this guy is telling you I think he left the "H" of the end is all...