Results 1 to 10 of 18

Thread: alternator load vs fuel economy

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1

    alternator load vs fuel economy

    not many studies done on alternator loads effect on fuel economy. i attended a class on gm's new strategy to turn off the alternator under cruising conditions and the results are nil on an individual basis as far as fuel economy goes. tenths of a gallon in the name, but on a national scale equals alot of savings. which means alternator load does very little to fuel economy. the extra load a hho generator puts on the alternator does not lower fuel economy enough to negate the generator but may cause the alternator to fail prematurely.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    1,418
    not many studies done on alternator loads effect on fuel economy. i attended a class on gm's new strategy to turn off the alternator under cruising conditions and the results are nil on an individual basis as far as fuel economy goes. tenths of a gallon in the name, but on a national scale equals alot of savings. which means alternator load does very little to fuel economy. the extra load a hho generator puts on the alternator does not lower fuel economy enough to negate the generator but may cause the alternator to fail prematurely.


    Wait a minute if that was true then you could run your car on HHO. NO CAN DO. I think you should test it and report back. There is no free power!! Just try putting a load on a generator set and see how it pulls the engine down and requires more fuel. This does not take a rocket scientist.
    "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb."

    ONE Liter per minute per 10 amps which just isn't possible Ha Ha .

  3. #3
    putting a load on the alternator does load the engine down. but it is a small amount. just by running the fuel pump and the coils is around 8 to 10 amps, running the blower motor is around another 8 amps and the wipers is another 5 amps, and nobody complains of getting worse gas mileage at night when its cold outside. gm says they save around 1% fuel mileage. i will test it with my car. hard to do because it is a base model and only has a heater headlights and wipers. and i don't see hho generators as free energy because water is the fuel, its not from nothing. i just think modern engines need more r & d to harness the hho enough to run completely on or at least get more mpg. i think of it as instead filling the car with gasoline, building a small refinery and converting crude oil into gasoline in the car. yes it would lower efficiency, added weight and electrical load. actually i don't even know if that would be possible but is sounds good enough. i think there's alot more we can get with hho on demand.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    1,418
    If you are planning to make only a couple hundred milliliters a minute then it will not make much difference just using 3 amps. The average reactor takes 15 amps or more to make 1 liter a minute and if you are going to make 3 LPM then 45 amps will be required. Many have experienced a loss in mileage when not done right or no gain because of the drain on the engine by the alternator. I suggest you do some testing and report back.
    "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb."

    ONE Liter per minute per 10 amps which just isn't possible Ha Ha .

  5. #5
    alright ran into a little problem. with my car being base model and all, i looked up the fuse ratings for everything electrical. turns out everything added up is only about 30 amps and that being optimistic. im gonna have to find an old blower motor in the shop and rig it up to do this test. my alt is rated at 60 amps so i thought a good safe range would be 45 amps. im going to make this test with the least amount of variables as possible, so im going to use a pulse width calculator to calculate fuel consumption as i drive and i'll use my shops oscilloscope to monitor injector pulse width so it will be real time. ill do 2 runs of each loaded and unloaded alt, and in 3 different rpm ranges idle 40 mph and 60 mph. gonna be busy this week so ill probably wait until the weekend to do the test

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Posts
    490
    Alternators have a peak rating designed to withstand said peak amperage for X amount of time. This is important because if you are constantly hitting that peak or "pushing the edge" you will potentially end up with a dead alternator and you probably know where things break down from there. That being said, I think your approach is the right approach and I could almost bet money that many individuals here are overdriving their alternators right now (asking why they are losing MPG). I say this because not much talk happens in the direction of pre-install alternator condition on these forums. You could have a 60A peak rated alternator and it could only be capable of 45A peak because the brushes are worn, ect ect. Post the test results back as any info is helpful info for noobs here.

    Related: http://www.hhoforums.com/showthread....4007#post54007

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •