Anyone ever think of this?

Jayls5

Registered User
Well we've all heard about those electric superchargers that flow a huge quantity of air. Whether they actually add boost on cars isn't the purpose of this thread.

I was wondering if anyone used those fans on their intercooler for superior cooling over the regular IC fans.
 
I was at work on a long road trip when i wierd idea popped into my head. Has anyone rerouted there ac to blow into there intake or over the intercooler?? I know it is kinda a off the wall idea but i just thought id see if it had been down before. Not sure if you would gain more hp from the cold air then the hp that the ac is draining. but hey i thought it was a "cool" idea.
 
This thread seems to be for "crazy" ideas, so I might as add my input. What if the super charger was spun by an electric motor, instead of belt driven? You would have to link it to the engine RPM some how, but it would end parasitic power loss, wouldn't it?
 
The problem with turning the blower with a electric motor is how big a motor it would take. If the engine uses 40-40 hp. to turn the blower would that mean a 50 hp. electric motor. That would weight as much as a S.C. engine. :eek:
 
Funny to ask, I am working on a NOS set up for my car, to cool down the intercooler before I make a pass. I am not going to spray into engine but just outside of intercooler. I''ll let ya know if it works at all.
 
tim said:
The problem with turning the blower with a electric motor is how big a motor it would take. If the engine uses 40-40 hp. to turn the blower would that mean a 50 hp. electric motor. That would weight as much as a S.C. engine. :eek:
The alternator would need to be much larger as well.
 
I think there's a point at which the benefit of a higher air flow through the IC is outweighed by the IC fan's hp drain on the engine. Where that point is, I don't know. After all, the temperature of the air entering the IC and the surface area of the IC remain the same no matter the size or power of the fan.
 
J.D. said:
I think there's a point at which the benefit of a higher air flow through the IC is outweighed by the IC fan's hp drain on the engine. Where that point is, I don't know. After all, the temperature of the air entering the IC and the surface area of the IC remain the same no matter the size or power of the fan.

The alternator's running a good 100 amps the whole time at 14.4v. Even if you managed to drain the alternator's power, you still have a battery to power the fan while it was running short distances.

i've actually tested the loss of power of a fully drained alternator via sine wave played through powerful car stereo. There was no noticable difference in acceleration.
 
Jayls5 said:
The alternator's running a good 100 amps the whole time at 14.4v. Even if you managed to drain the alternator's power, you still have a battery to power the fan while it was running short distances.
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The alternator doesn't supply a constant 100 amps. It supplies only what is needed depending on the accessories that are being used and the amount the battery is discharged. An alternator that is supplying the minimum current (only for ignition and the various computers, when no accessories or lights are in use and the battery is fully charged) will be easier to spin (less engine hp required) than one that is supplying more current.

Jayls5 said:
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i've actually tested the loss of power of a fully drained alternator via sine wave played through powerful car stereo. There was no noticable difference in acceleration.
I don't understand this.

Anyway, as I said before, the temperature of the air entering the IC and the surface area of the IC remain the same no matter the size or power of the fan. So there would be a limit to hp gains as the fan becomes more powerful.
 
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unclenick said:
Funny to ask, I am working on a NOS set up for my car, to cool down the intercooler before I make a pass. I am not going to spray into engine but just outside of intercooler. I''ll let ya know if it works at all.

You coudl get the same benifit, but much cheaper using CO2 instead of N2O. CO2 is cheaper for refills and will still provide lots of cooling when sprayed ono the intercoooler.
 
Increasing the volume of air over the intercooler is limited by the HP of the electric fan only if that's the only function involved.

But it's not. There is surface area, heat conductivity of the materials involved, ambient air temperature, intake air charge temp and rate of movement of the air charge through the intercooler.

Just looking at the benefits some have seen from the double intercoolers, I think it's safe to say that the stock intercooler does not have sufficient surface area to fully benefit from the flow rate of the current IC fans people use. Flowing ambient air over the stock intercooler even faster isn't necessarily going to cool it further.

Those small fans also seem to be pretty limited in an application where you would be trying to pull from a source of air much larger than a 3" circular pipe.
 
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