Rays Super Cell Mod Options

[yellowchinaman]

What is it?
To combine a powerful 12V cell with Super capacitors to make a Super Cell which replaces the normal lead car battery.
Take a look at this video from lasersaber which was made in 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8miq6sDy0wA...avr&index=5


This video inspired me to do this mod. As we begin the transaction to move away from fossil fuel to electric cars, manufacturers had been pushing the advancement in power cell technology.
Better ways to harness, store and utilising power effectively and efficiently. Capacitors now days are no longer like the ones you see in retro hifi amplifiers. They charge and discharge incredibly fast, manager greater power capacity and can hold the charge with minimal loss of power.
The battery its self is slowly advancing too. We have Lithium cells, Lipo, Lifepo and lifepo4 technology around in our every day electronics, many of us are still running liquid or dry Lead cells in our cars.


How:
My Super cell will be very similar to the one lasersaber built.
I too will be using 6 x 2.5V 233F Super capacitors making it capable of managing 15V max.
Theatrically when charged with 12V or more, this alone will start your car up.
I managed to fine one which was built and already encased and weighs 2.5kg.
If your car doesn't start and your capacitors are drained, you will be stuck.
This is why you need a 12V source to feed the capacitors when the engine is off.
This is why you need a hybrid.
The source will be feeding the capacitors after it's been discharged so you'll have a couple of shots at starting up.
For this I chose to go with a 12V Lithium cell which only weighs 500g. Yes that's just 0.5kg!!!

So why didn't I choose Lithium over Lipo or more advanced cells?
Well if you look at the video, the hybrid used by lasersaber had a lipo pack from an RC car. Though very powerful, Lipo doest handle power fluctuations very well and gets damaged very easily. That's why with a jump start it got damaged.
The Lithium cell I bought was designed to be used for motorcycles which charges from the alternator just like a car.
Its very stable and you don't need any power management systems to prevent it from blowing up. However you must make sure your alternator doesn't put out more then 15V.





Why?
Well we all know about the boot relations people do. To free space at the front and to manage weight distribution.
However I found this sometimes not as beneficial as what most people make out as you have to invest in a good battery which isn't big and heavy. Fit in the back loosing some boot space. Run heavy gauge copper cable through the length of the car. Some people earth it in the boot area instead of running an earth cable back to the front and this effects both start up and electrical performance of the car.
If you run an earth back to the front you're adding again more KG's.

As an alternative to this you can loose the weight instead of just moving the weight. Also the cost can even be less then a boot relocation with an expensive lead battery.

In terms of weight comparison:
The average lead car battery is between 22-26kgs. This varies depending on the car and size.
I abandoned my old Halfords battery which was about 23kg for a small racing Caterham Banner battery which weights just 8KG's. The Banner provides 30A of cranking power which was just enough for the engine to turn over. However this battery only lasts about 6 months before it starts to deteriorate and not hold its charge.
I got fed up changing the battery fluids and keeping the car on trickle charge.
Now the Super Cell Mod only weights 3Kg and is about 1 10th the size of my original battery and 1 5th the size of my Banner.



My installation:
Everything is wired up as normal. The Lithium cell replaces the battery. The Super capacitors piggy back as close as possible to the starter motor.




How does this work:
So the 12V lithium is there as a power bank to store and feed the capacitors.
Also its only drain is for the alarm and immobiliser.
The capacitors will charge and hold the 12V power till the ignition is turned. When that happens it promptly discharged everything to the starter motor giving it a powerful cranking power to start the engine.
Once the engine starts, the alternator kicks in and keeps the engine running.
The Alternator will also immediately charges the capacitors and the battery.
The battery only takes 6minutes to fully charge from flat which means by the time the engine warms up, your battery will be at its peak.
The super capacitors only take 30 seconds to charge ready for another fire up.
I am expecting these fully charged capacitors to stay charged for around 2 weeks without running before loosing it's power and the Lithium cell to keep the alarm and immobiliser running for around a year and still feed the capacitors.

The down side:
With such a small storage bank you do have to change a few habits and loose some luxuries.
For instance.
If you have a powerful audio system which works beyond your alternators output, you will suffer from power starvation.
With the engine off you can not run any electrical s such as lights, heating or entertainment as that will drain the stored and even prevent start up.
You need to get into the habit of closing all your doors and make sure everything is off before turning the key. Having your lights on or heater blowing or having your door open means the cabin lights can be on and be a drain. This hinders your start up by draining the capacitors.
So do consider the down sides if you where to do this mod.

[955SFE]

Where did you purchase the items? I am very interested. I was planning to relocate my battery to the trunk. This would probably much easier route. I don't worry cause I only have my stock audio system.