Showing posts with label Automobile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Automobile. Show all posts

16 October, 2015

Fuel economy in a car: Charging battery the Arduino way: 2nd and last part

26650 LifePo4 A123 batteries (2.3 Ah)
After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of changing the car battery for a homemade LiFePo4 one as we discussedI've finally discharged it for the following reasons :

22 August, 2015

Fuel economy in a car: Charging the battery the Arduino way - Part One


In this post we will see what details we consider to adapt a vehicle to save fuel by switching off the alternator when we are not interested to charge the battery (and take advantage of braking, engine braking, etc. to do so), taking advantage of lessons learned in the previous post . This It is especially useful in a diesel , where power consumption is much lower than in a gasoline car.

Currently any measure is little to lower the consumption of a car, and although we are in a period of decline in fuel prices, this is transitory, because as with any commodity product high demand prices will soon go back up (or keep at the highest possible price that permits its competitors).
We can change the wheels to a eco profile ones, change the oil by other more energy efficient (as we discussed), etc. And one of the points of great savings capacity (between 1 and 5% savings) is in producing electricity, generating electricity with oil is very expensive. Some people even partially hybridized vehicle for changing the alternator motor / generator and replacing the battery with a LifePo4 (Forum GoldenMotor).
You have to evaluate the suitability of this modification, as the lead-calcium batteries do not allow more than 20% discharge without damage, so there is little room to use them with a programmed charging. Ideally mount a LiFePo4 battery, but can cost more than 200 €, only useful and profitable to people that uses them a lot in short travels in the city (taxi drivers and transport vehicles).
The most innovative engines are now including programmed battery charging, so that is only activated when the low voltage level is reached, although I do not know what kind of battery this cars uses and what the procedure in detail.

Curiously, in the following video you can see how the workload on the alternator note clearly appreciate the drop in rpm (and automatic adjustment by the control unit) of this PSA 1.6 HDI diesel engine:


20 July, 2015

Current state of the art LED options in H4 / H1 car bulbs

Model H4 LED high performance
Tired of changing the H4 halogen lamps of my Xsara Picasso car, I was looking for alternatives in LED, checking the state-of-the-art in H4 Led lamps, If I could find one well worth installing, so getting savings in fuel and maintenance .
Is it legal? : To carry LED lamps  outdoor legally in Spain, for now we only have the option of installing a complete approved headlamp, and that must be installed by a certified workshop to carry the certificate to the periodic Technical inspection, because the headlamps are designed for a type of lamps with which it lights the same way (lumens and openness); this could cost easily €150. These lamps in theory can not be used on public roads (although for racing/testing purposes). There is no problem changing the ambiental interior lights to Led ones.
In the following video I commented highlight of these LED lamps H4 "SunnyLight"  and installation:


13 July, 2015

Avoid the discharge of the car battery when not used using a simple relay and interruptor

Relay connection scheme
An old Fiat Bravo was draining battery when not used for a couple of days, and the battery had to be recharged every time: The electronics had an excess of consumption, far surpassed the admissible 0.3 Amps.
After reviewing the possible cause (alternator regulator in poor condition, or something that was connected) by removing fuses and checking consumption every time, I did not found the source of the problem, so we decided to place a switch controlling a relay to disconnect the battery when the car was not in use.
Thus the battery, although the car is not used for 1 full year, only 30-40% is discharged (typical self-discharge at 1 year for batteries Pb / Calcium). Furthermore we lengthen the life of the Central Computer by completely disconnecting it. 
I also take the opportunity to see how these relays are for my next project, which would be programmatically control the battery charging to save fuel by turning off the alternator.
NOTE : Keep in mind that if the battery gets disconnected, you lose the date and time of the control panel (if any).

Using a relay just have to carry three thin wires into the cabin to turn the switch and voltage indicator, because power is handled as close to the battery as possible.

26 April, 2015

Turn off RadioCD in a Xsara Picasso car: Connection to the burner

We dropped the front screws and side to find the lighter wiring
RadioCD included by factory in the Citroen Xsara Picasso does not disconnected immediately after removing the key, so remains on a couple of minutes after the unit is disconnected.
In this case it is advisable to connect the red wire RadioCD "ON" (not the one going to the battery, but the activator) to positive cable of the burner, and then this hassle is avoided.