Car Electrical Power

[durus]

Hi. I need help.
A while ago I saw on the internet somewhere that a company was making little motors for cars that will fit in the boot. These motors were designed to supplement the engine in order to generate power for the car's electricals. I need to purchase something like this but was having trouble finding it on the net. So if anyone else can point me in the right direction it would be great.

[DumHed]

are you trying to run some kind of monster stereo system or something?

maybe just a bigger alternator would do it?

[durus]

No it's more down to my GF's dad having a luxury car collection and the batteries keep going flat. I was just trying to work out if there's anything we can put in the cars help with their power hungry nature when not running or to get the main battery to charge up faster...
And it's for me too, cos every time I turn the aircon on in my lancer I feel this massive power drain when driving, it sucks ass.

[DumHed]

If the cars are not running the best thing is to get a small trickle charger for the battery, and leave it plugged in.

With the aircon though, it's using power directly from the engine, not just electrical power - so you're kinda stuck with it :)

[durus]

Can you give me some details on trickle chargers and or suppliers?

[plext]

Any automotive parts supplier and most larger hardware stores will handle battery chargers.

As to the aircon, DumHed has hit the nail on the head. Either stay hot, or add horsepower.

[durus]

Or change cars.
Not sure about the trickle Chargers as I am unsure about power outlets in the garrages and the alarm setups of the various Benzes/BMs. Will have to check with the Dealers.

Thanks :)

Oh yeah and I plan on getting a Series 5 RX7 (sooner) or an RX8 (later).

[DumHed]

for the trickle chargers Dick Smith and Jaycar (or other electronics stores) sell various small plug pack style chargers designed for car batteries.

Generally they have alligator clips to connect directly to the battery, and if it's connected and left on the alarm should have no problem. (you will have to run the cable out from under the bonnet though)

Obviously you need some mains power available, but without that there's not going to be any easy way of keeping the batteries charged unless you disconnect it from the car - and then you won't have any alarm.

[ToaDady]

i've seen solar charers that do the same. the cheepy ones don't have a regulator built in so spend the better money and get one that "floats" or has a built in regulator, the put out about 500ma so there not that big of a charger

[DrDivad]

you sure he's not thinking of Hybriod Electric, in which case if thats what he's thinking i don't know that you can exactly, 'mod' your car to be hybrid in any $$$ economical way

[That Bloke]

Originally posted by DrDivad
you sure he's not thinking of Hybriod Electric, in which case if thats what he's thinking i don't know that you can exactly, 'mod' your car to be hybrid in any $$$ economical way

I was thinking the same & so I wasn't answering.

To just buy a Hybrid is $46,000+(Au) but to retrofit an existing car to a hybrid would cost upward of 60 grand.

[itchee]

You'll find that most of the plugpack style chargers will only keep voltage in the battery but not charge it as such if you're having this problem ...

If the battery is flat, you'll need a proper 12/24v battery charger, if you just want to stop the battery from going flat (due to load generated by your car alarm for example) you can just put a plug pack onto the vehicle and that'll sort you out (make sure you fuse the positive with a good 5A fuse and check the milliamp draw from whatever weird shit you have in the car thats rooting your battery to make sure the plugpack can handle the load.

It may be a good idea to check the running voltage of the car to make sure your alternators don't need a good fscking too.

With ignition off, a 12v full size car battery should show about 12.1-12.5 volts. When you are idleing the voltage should jump up to 13.8-14.1.

Jaycar sell a good 12v 350ma plugpack/trickle charger to stop your alarm draining the battery for about $30 (#MB3517).

itch.

[durus]

I'm just back from QLD all sun burned and stuff.
I was not talking about Hybrid cars.
Some time ago either online or in a magazine I saw an article about a company which made a small lawnmower style motor which will sit in your boot and generate electricity. For luxury cars which can use a lot of electricity this is a big thing as their power drain due to electricals can be significant. I wanted to check out how much these things cost as if they were cheap enough I'd consider one for my car.
My main concern though is simply that My GF's dad's cars keep getting flat batteries if we don't run them for half an hour or so every couple of weeks (which is a pain in the ass).
Thanks for everyone's help though.
Have to try the trickle chargers out this week/weekend.

[Plough]

I do believe you are missing the problem all together.
There are car batteries and there are car bateries.
For long time no use you will need a DEEP CYCLE battery. These are built to stand there in time being slowly drained over weeks, months, and then delivering a power hit to start the vehicle when required. Your normal car battery (short cycle) is only built for start, stop, start, stop of our cars electrics, startermotor.

All boats , earthmoving equipment ect have deep cycle batteries.
The best part is they look like a normal battery, and are very similar in price. You won't get one from Kmart, but a auto battery supplier will have hundres of them to choose from and will be able to tell you just what you need.