Electric Superchargers?

[tk-421]

What do you guys think of these?

http://www.electricchargers.com/

They claim 30+ HP increase and they even have a dyno chart from a '94 B16A2 Honda to prove it. Of course, which dyno they used and under which conditions is pretty much unknown.

[redduck]

I'll believe that when me shat turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.

[tk-421]

hehe I was thinking the same thing.
Although I kinda dig having a switch that turns this on/off on demand.
Maybe it's worth trying out for $100 bucks?

[joey1320]

Originally Posted by tk-421

hehe I was thinking the same thing.
Although I kinda dig having a switch that turns this on/off on demand.
Maybe it's worth trying out for $100 bucks?

hey how about this, you give me $100 and i'll send you a walgreens' hairdryer.
i mean is the same thing you will do if you buy this crap...

oh yes it's garbage. is crap. is useless. give me your money and continue on like nothing ever happened!!!

[redduck]

better yet you could hook up a leaf blower to your intake. you can turn that on and off when you please as well.

[tk-421]

Hey... everything is possible, right?
Your comments so far are entertaining, but lacking in actual information. Why is this thing useful/POS?

[redduck]

basically this is just a fan in the air intake. theoretically it will speed up the air into your air intake giving you more power. in reality you are just obstructing air flow.

[blueskana]

Give it a try and tell us how it goes.

[xed]

Originally Posted by redduck

basically this is just a fan in the air intake. theoretically it will speed up the air into your air intake giving you more power. in reality you are just obstructing air flow.

Exactly. For it to work it would need to suck more than it blocks by being there in the first place.

So the real question is ... "How much does this thing suck?"

[blueskana]

"Suck, suck, suck, suck......"

[ChinoCharles]

Now wait a second... in theory the effectiveness of this unit would rely completely and totally on the design of the blades themselves, correct? It is operating by the same general principle as any charger out there. I don't see why this is such a bad idea.

[joey1320]

the reason why it won't work is because for the "supercharge" to work it will have to spin at really high speeds, which this crap won't be able to do, in order to be able to create "boost".

if you want an electric supercharger, contact Thomas Knight. he is the only one with a worthy electric unit.

heres a link to one of the mag reviews:
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/04..._supercharger/

just look at how many batteries it will take to properlly supply power to a real "electric superchager"...

[RShatchback]

I know there are "electric superchargers" as they call them - that act more like a shot of nitrous rather than a sustained level of boost that a turbo or supercharger would traditionally give. I've seen them before for various applications - you push a button similar to a nitrous set up for a short burst of boost that the electric unit creates. But they dont cost 100$ and they arent even comparible to nitrous kits - they are in the thousands...

[cleong]

If you can't compress the air in the intake to pressures above the 1 atmosphere you nominally get at sea level, you won't get any supercharging effect.

That is the basis of forced induction, the air gets compressed per unit volume.

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by cleong

If you can't compress the air in the intake to pressures above the 1 atmosphere you nominally get at sea level, you won't get any supercharging effect.

That is the basis of forced induction, the air gets compressed per unit volume.

From Wikipedia:

Mexico City and its metropolitan area which extends over the state of Mexico, are located in the Valley of Mexico or Anáhuac a 9,560 km² (3,691 sq mi) valley that lies at an average of 2,240 m (7,349 ft) above sea level.

@cleong: Does the fact that my car is usually at a higher altitude mean that I would need to compress more air to achieve said effect?

[cleong]

Yes it does. It is proven and thus commonly accepted that in thinner air at higher altitudes, your car loses power due to the thin air which has less oxygen in it (poorer combustion). Same reason why you'd be breathless if you spent all your time at sea level and suddenly got brought up to a mountain and made to do physical work.

In your example of Mexico City being 2.2km ASL, I'd say the car wouldn't be putting out its quoted HP. Forced induction obviously helps, but it wouldn't be as effective as it would be at sea level where the air is denser.

Maybe someone else could help out with regard to super/turbocharging, because I think we've pretty much explained why these electric superchargers don't work. They're in effect large electric fans, place an additional load on your electrical system, and don't generate the compressed air necessary for the theory to work.

[nick1983]

It will work. The only question is, How well. The whole purpose behind a turbo/supercharger is to move more air into the engine. That is the idea behind the electric one.

Think a hairdryer, just without the heaters. It does push more air than nothing. Therefore you are getting a positive result.

[joey1320]

Originally Posted by nick1983

It will work. The only question is, How well. The whole purpose behind a turbo/supercharger is to move more air into the engine. That is the idea behind the electric one.

Think a hairdryer, just without the heaters. It does push more air than nothing. Therefore you are getting a positive result.

well you won't really get a positive result if the electric motor can't spin fast enough to create pressure. pretty much you will be turning the air as it goes into the intake manifold, thats all.