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Old 04-09-2020, 01:17 PM   #1
tubman
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Default Crazy idea of the day

First I will admit before I start that I have too much extra time on my hands. I'm am stuck in Marathon for the foreseeable future, and have already finished the three carburetors I usually bring with me to rebuild in my spare time.

I had the TV on, and looked up just in time to see a commercial about a new battery-powered leaf blower that they say out performs gas blowers and puts out 650 CFM. That is an impressive number, and it immediately hit me that that is way more than the average engine (particularly a flathead Ford) needs. I immediately thought : Electric Supercharger; build a box for the carburetor to keep it pressurized, mount one of these, and you could have instant power at the push of a button. Kind of a "Poor Man's Nitrous". Everybody knows that flatheads respond well to supercharging and you only need full power for an occasional short period of time, so I like the idea.

Of course, every instinct I have tells me that this wouldn't work, but when I try to reason out why it wouldn't, I can't come up with anything. Can any of you explain to me why this won't work? Not enough pressure? It would be interesting to put a pressure gauge on one, but of course they don't do that in the commercial. The do use it to move a fairly large object back against a gas unit in the commercial, and it modes it quite easily. It's supposed to blow at 200 mph, so does anyone know how to calculate pressure given the speed and volume?

Oh yeah, it'll run an hour on one charge.
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Old 04-09-2020, 01:24 PM   #2
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Ya could mount one on each rear fender with a control up front, kinda like the JATO assist?
200 mph in the Mercury, ya may also need to take the visor off and mount it on the trunk to improve aerodynamics.....
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Old 04-09-2020, 01:32 PM   #3
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

The TV show "Road Kill" had a similar idea using 5 gas powered leaf blowers. If you can try and locate it to watch. It was on the "Velocity" channel, now "Motortrend" channel in my area.
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Old 04-09-2020, 01:43 PM   #4
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Google Torqamp and check them out...the one they sell put out 6PSI from a 7kg battery pack and a 5kw electric motor.
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Old 04-09-2020, 02:08 PM   #5
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Denny, here is some text from the Road Kill article.
I couldn't get the video to load for me, anyway here's some text.



They said it would never work. "They" being Internet keyboard commandos, "it" being using garden-store leaf blowers to supercharge an engine for more power. We, however, have proven that you can make more power on the dyno by cramming extra air and fuel into an engine with gas-powered leaf blowers; we did it on our "Vette Hack" car in the Nov. '10 issue. What we didn't know was if the power gains would add up to speed on a real track. In a recent episode of our Roadkill show, we found out the fun way.
Buying a 1978 Chevy Monza Spyder with a small-block and a four-speed, we took it to the shop of HOT ROD Drag Week superhero Jeff Lutz in Callery, Pennsylvania, and laughed our tailpipes off as we mounted five Husqvarna huffers under the hatch and piped 'em to a carburetor hat. We made almost 20 hp and 20 lb-ft throughout the power curve! Once the rubber smoke cleared a little, we rolled to the ECTA's standing-mile race in Wilmington, Ohio, (see the coverage on page 90) and conducted some marginally less than scientific testing that proved (spoiler alert) virtually nothing! With the blowers fired up, the car gained maybe 1 to 2 mph in top speed. Why so little? Probably because the leaf blowers work best at low engine speeds when less air is being consumed, and they are less effective for the constant, high-rpm pull of the standing mile.
Was this all worth $1,600 in blowers? No! Do we care? No! Because, frankly, on Roadkill we get paid to have stupid fun with cars for no practical reason, and you don't pay anything at all to watch and laugh. With us or at us—your call. The leaf-blower episode is at 320,000 views and counting, with an even mix of guys who don't get it and those who think it's the most hilarious episode yet. Go decide for yourself: watch by going to YouTube.com/MotorTrend and searching "Roadkill Episode 16." You have to do it if for no other reason than to read the comments with a variety of wacky theories about how leaf blowers will or won't really perform. We think we'll have outdone ourselves with episode 17 by the time you read this, so watch that, too.
You read about the Roadkill show with leaf-blower superchargers, so now ask yourself how we could possibly score corporate backing for those hijinks. Yup, thanks to both Dickies and Gunk for sponsoring upcoming episodes.




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Old 04-09-2020, 02:14 PM   #6
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I new a fellow that did motocross racing with a smaller version of this idea, and said it worked very well kind of like an electric supercharger.
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Old 04-09-2020, 02:16 PM   #7
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

I thought the thing was pretty impressive on TV, too. Did a little checking and at Amazon, the 600 cfm'r comes in a package w/ battery and charger for (sit down) $356.99. I'm not even sure that is with the (big) 7.2 ah battery. There are wimpier batteries offered for this thing. The bad-ass battery only goes about 15 minutes on "turbo". And a spare 56v, 7.2 ah battery only goes for $320, reportedly. Reviews run the gamut from "sucks" to "I luv it". I believe "murre" noted the pressure to be pretty low? Link to a YouTube review below! Yeah Denny, you need help! Dick D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjT-b6h_WoA
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Old 04-09-2020, 02:42 PM   #8
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

here is youtube videos about leaf blowers & electris turbochargers. the 3rd one is the best one.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbGWgvJN1_8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXar6Sfy4MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yrxbcB4CwA

electric turbo on a "Smart car"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBaQ2HqfVgk
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Old 04-09-2020, 02:56 PM   #9
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

You might want to check in to "electric ducted fan" .
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Old 04-09-2020, 03:06 PM   #10
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Back in the 50's, there was a flathead supercharger that was powered by a starter motor.
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Old 04-09-2020, 03:25 PM   #11
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Ayers View Post
Back in the 50's, there was a flathead supercharger that was powered by a starter motor.
Yes I was just thinking about that. Apparently it wasn’t a good idea.
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Old 04-09-2020, 03:35 PM   #12
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

I checked a lot of this stuff out, but my original thought is with the way battery and electric motor technology have advanced just recently, anything more than a year old is seriously out of date. Those guys in the video are talking 48 volt batteries. while the leaf blower I saw uses a 56 volt battery. It was kind of annoying to hear that one guy on the third video referring to the units as "turbos" when they are actually superchargers (they do look like turbos, though).

I expect that the bottom line on this is that the leaf blower is seriously overrated and doesn't put out anywhere near 650 CFM.
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Old 04-09-2020, 03:42 PM   #13
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphM View Post
Yes I was just thinking about that. Apparently it wasn’t a good idea.
Correct. I really think it was just for drag racing. I can't see a starter last long spinning over for a long period of time.
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Old 04-09-2020, 03:51 PM   #14
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Modern brushless motors are lightyears better for this kind of operation.
Cooling of the engine and battery will limit time of operation but it´s not out of reach to build a working unit.
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Old 04-09-2020, 04:16 PM   #15
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

You guys need to get hold of Red Green. That dude invented way better than this stuff years ago, and on a tighter budget, too!
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Old 04-09-2020, 05:48 PM   #16
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Just a thought here. The 650 cfm might be accurate, however if your normally aspirated flathead is pulling 650 cfm at full throttle the only thing that will be achieved (at full throttle) is overcoming whatever restriction on air flow is in the leaf blower. At low rpm, where the flathead is not pulling near the cfm's the leaf blower may help push a little extra fuel/air in.


Also, the design of the fan in the leaf blower is for maximum air flow with no restriction on inlet or outlet, it may not be nearly efficient with outlet back pressure (yep, a pressure gauge test)
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Old 04-09-2020, 06:23 PM   #17
Jack E/NJ
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

I think max 400cfm or less is more normal for a FH. Jack E/NJ
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Old 04-09-2020, 06:35 PM   #18
tubman
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Quote:
Originally Posted by ford38v8 View Post
You guys need to get hold of Red Green. That dude invented way better than this stuff years ago, and on a tighter budget, too!
Not to worry; I was planning on mounting it with duct tape.

Another bad thing about Florida; they have no idea who "Red Green" is and don't carry his show.
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Old 04-09-2020, 06:40 PM   #19
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Tubman;
This link will make you remember.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwDvF0NtgdU
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Old 04-09-2020, 07:12 PM   #20
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Default Re: Crazy idea of the day

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack E/NJ View Post
I think max 400cfm or less is more normal for a FH. Jack E/NJ

Quick calculation (if I'm correct) on a 255 cu. in. flatty turnin' 5,000 RPMs, at 80%(?) efficiency, normally aspirated equals 295+ CFM. DD
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