Open Source Electric Supercharger

[neutron256]

So doing some more testing tonight I encountered a problem I was worried about. As the compressor nears top speed there is a slight imbalance in the impeller wheel. It's a balanced wheel but it's almost impossible to make it perfectly balanced.

This shouldn't be that big of an issue, but the 6mm shaft on the KDE outrunner motor just isn't enough to fight the oscillation at that speed and it's flexing slightly allowing the wheel to come into contact with the compressor housing. Sadly I just don't thing that motor is going to work which really sucks because otherwise it has performed amazingly well.

I'm hoping he 8mm shaft on my AquaStar T20 will do the job. I've already mounted it to the compressor, and I just need to wire it up and see how it works.

[AN]

Bummer ... It did cross my mind at one time ... thats a pretty heavy wheel ...
I hope the 8mm shaft is more stable.

[SloS14]

Hope it works out. I really want to see this thing make boost.

[jebuwh]

Just came to say, coolest thread on here. I have been reading like 2 days straight. Are you guys going to put together a kit and market it or just for your own cars? If you plan on selling... Sign me up. Ha

[AN]

well .. vision is to have a diy pdf or something so that people can put it together themselves.

[neutron256]

Originally Posted by jebuwh

Just came to say, coolest thread on here. I have been reading like 2 days straight. Are you guys going to put together a kit and market it or just for your own cars? If you plan on selling... Sign me up. Ha

My personal goal is just to develop it for myself and put the information out there for others who are interested in experimenting with it. If your looking for more of a kit then the Phantom Supercharger is really the way to go.

I appreciate the interest, and stay tuned I'm making some great progress.

[neutron256]

I've swapped out the KDE out runner motor with the AquaStar T20 in the Delta 1280kv configuration. It's working great! The 8mm shaft is stiff enough to resist the imbalance in the impeller wheel and it's running fast and smooth.

I'm really impressed with this setup. I can't wait to actually try it on the car.

[jebuwh]

Originally Posted by neutron256

My personal goal is just to develop it for myself and put the information out there for others who are interested in experimenting with it. If your looking for more of a kit then the Phantom Supercharger is really the way to go.

I appreciate the interest, and stay tuned I'm making some great progress.

Now that's awesome. Yeah the phantom is great, but I would love a bit more power. I will definitely be following. I feel like there is tons more advancements to come. Especially with battery tech and what not.

Super cool stuff guys!

[Luckrider]

I love how the controller even says electric supercharger on it (okay... it just says esc but still).

[AN]

Great progress Neutron ... How much did you push the T20 ? full 30k rpm ? Would love to see a view of t20 revving while off the car for a comparison with the KDE ...

[neutron256]

Originally Posted by AN

Great progress Neutron ... How much did you push the T20 ? full 30k rpm ? Would love to see a view of t20 revving while off the car for a comparison with the KDE ...

Yep I ran it all the way up on the bench for about 30 seconds. The motor got pretty warm but the controller barely heated up at all. It will probably perform even better once I adjust the motor timing. Right now it's set pretty far advanced but delta motors do better with less advance.

I'm working on getting the controller mounted today. I think I've found a great spot on the side of the fuse box. Then I need to get serious about building my controller. The first version will be very simple, if it all works well I might build a more advanced controller with a display.

[AN]

Originally Posted by neutron256

Yep I ran it all the way up on the bench for about 30 seconds. The motor got pretty warm but the controller barely heated up at all.

You can look in getting a motor fan ... they are fairly inexpensive and come for motors of all diameters ... I have seen some at castle creations for a motors that size.

[neutron256]

Originally Posted by AN

You can look in getting a motor fan ... they are fairly inexpensive and come for motors of all diameters ... I have seen some at castle creations for a motors that size.

Since the Aqustar comes with a water cooling jacket I'll probably go that route if I decide it's needed. I've been running it installed and unpowered today and it gets plenty hot just from the heat of the engine bay. I'm not sure how much benefit here would be from just blowing hot air over the motor would do.

On the plus side my butt dyno indicates that the compressor isn't causing too bad a restriction when not running. Maybe drag reduction isn't needed which would simplify the system.

[AN]

Originally Posted by neutron256

Since the Aqustar comes with a water cooling jacket I'll probably go that route if I decide it's needed. I've been running it installed and unpowered today and it gets plenty hot just from the heat of the engine bay. I'm not sure how much benefit here would be from just blowing hot air over the motor would do.

On the plus side my butt dyno indicates that the compressor isn't causing too bad a restriction when not running. Maybe drag reduction isn't needed which would simplify the system.

I was wondering how the water jacket setup would work. Are you planning on using engine coolant ? Which IMHO might hurt more that it helps ... as your motor will always run at around 200 degrees.

Also, how does the water cycles through ... does the the motor spinning action push the water along ? Will you have to install a heat exchanger of some sort ? Do the Hobby ESCs have some kind of motor temp. monitor ? Basically, can the motor temp. be monitored to avoid over heating ?