electric a/c compressor

[jonnyc]

why hasn't anyone come out with an electric a/c compressor?they make electric water pumps.if they had one you could mount it anywhere and not have to worry about brackets,belt alignment,etc.. plus no drag on the motor.
any reason why one couldn't be made?not mechanicly possible?

[yzfrider2]

the new yukon hybid has a electric compressor.

[LS6 Tommy]

An A/C compressor is a big load. It would take quite a large motor to turn it, in turn requiring a high output alternator which may in fact cause more parasitic loss than the belt driven compressor it replaced.

Tommy

[Jim Nilsen]

the new yukon hybid has a electric compressor.

Because there is AC and DC power from alternators and a rather large bank of batteries. If you have a large enough alternator you can generate enough amps to power a small 7500 btu home ac unit. If you sit down and do the math you can find what you need for each component and then double it for efficiency. It may require it's own alternator which brings you into just going direct since an alternator is AC power regulated to DC. It all gets completely different with a hybrid and dual system yet a lot of the components still look the same.

Weight and packaging make it unrealist for a car at this time.

But it can be done at a price and the option of looking insanely different.

I think VA has it covered and the deal from Frank right now is almost enough to temp me.

There is a pick somewhere on the net of a pickup with a window AC unit in the back window and they claimed it worked. For how long ?

It''s thoughts like this that do make you get to package things differently and parts from hybrids will start to find themselves more useful than we know in making packaging a whole new way of thinking. Somebody has got to figure it out someday. They never thought you could make them the size they are now 40 years ago.

[windsor]

sorry to bring this up from the dead...BUT:

http://www.masterflux.com/products/sierra/

http://www.evdrive.com/BMW_project/AirConditioning.html

FYI

[Kory 88Iroc Lt1]

Thats really neat, any idea how much the compressor costs?
Thanks,
Kory

[windsor]

no idea, but I'm sure they're pricey. you could check one of their distributors:

http://www.masterflux.com/company/contact.php

[BigBlockOlds]

I'm not an electrical wizard but I wonder if you could tie something like that into a solar panel mounted on the car somewhere so that the AC is powered by sunlight?

[JEM]

I'm not an electrical wizard but I wonder if you could tie something like that into a solar panel mounted on the car somewhere so that the AC is powered by sunlight?

At current levels of technology any PV solar you could fit on the vehicle might barely be enough to run the HVAC blower fan at medium speed, much less a compressor motor. And that's assuming full, mid-day sun.

[BigBlockOlds]

I wonder how Toyota is doing it? I was thinking I saw a commercial about one of their vehicles (probably the Prius) using solar energy to run the HVAC system.

[TnBlkC230WZ]

I wonder how Toyota is doing it? I was thinking I saw a commercial about one of their vehicles (probably the Prius) using solar energy to run the HVAC system.

I think they are only powering the fan for ventilation. It keeps the hot air from building, but doesn't cool it.

[Milwaukee tool guy]

Cat Skid loaders run there engine fan and A/C compressor with hydraulic's...

[ErikLS2]

TnBlk is right, Toyota's solar panel is only for operating a small fan to keep the interior cool.

Toyota's electric compressor on it's hybrid cars uses 288 volts of 3 phase A/C current. If you can create a power source for the thing you then have to turn the thing on and off. Ever try to switch 288 volts of A/C current on and off? Difficult to do safely without melting things. Get all that accomplished and you could have one hell of an on board welder though.

[KUL FIR CHICK N]

You'll need 2500-4000W to run the compressor. That means you'll need at least a 300A alternator. That's just the beginning of your issues. The compressor and controller cost over $1k, and run on ~300V.

PV cells are only about 20% efficient. To run the compressor, you'll need about 15 square meters of panels, and that's only when you have full, straight-up sunlight.

If you've got an IC engine, it's best to use it.

[TnBlkC230WZ]

I read through some of there literature. They have two basic ways of wring them. either way, they are only drawing about 45 amps. It will mean an altenator upgrade or loose the Taurus fan. The controller is build into the unit and has a lot of features than we would never use. I'm going to email them and see what is up. It just doesn't look that difficult to add it into the Vintage Air systems.

[windsor]

Any updates anyone?

[MonzaRacer]

The hybrid Sierra/Yukon is a 42 volt vehicle using a charging/starting system built in around the torque converter/Transmission and has no regular starter.
The trucks shut off at idle like a stop lights. Hit the pedal it restarts seamlessly.
Saw one of these systems teamed up with E85 adaptation, guy worked for GM and was reprogramming GM ecms anyway so he figured out how to make both programs work together.
The electric compressor operates from that stand point, Ill do some digging and see if there is any good information out on the parts.

[windsor]

http://etischer.com/awdev/aircon.html

Looks like it was done rather recent.

[FULMNTE]

TnBlk is right, Toyota's solar panel is only for operating a small fan to keep the interior cool.

Toyota's electric compressor on it's hybrid cars uses 288 volts of 3 phase A/C current. If you can create a power source for the thing you then have to turn the thing on and off. Ever try to switch 288 volts of A/C current on and off? Difficult to do safely without melting things. Get all that accomplished and you could have one hell of an on board welder though.

Really? The regular household voltage in Europe is 220/240 Volts AC and they switch these voltages with a light switch...
It depends more on the load than the voltage, I think...

[KUL FIR CHICK N]

He's drawing 5A at 330VDC. The compressor he's using is rated at 19k btu, but at 5A he's only doing 14k or less. His compressor draws 2kw at 19000btu (under maximum efficiency conditions). If you were to run that compressor at 14VDC (you can't), you'd be pulling 117A at 14k and 143A at 19k btu. Their largest 12-24V compressor maxes out at about 11k btu (24v), about half of what you need and only 5k btu at 12v.

We've built high voltage EV HVAC systems. They work great, if you have a 300V battery pack. If you have an engine, use it to drive the compressor.

The Sierra/Yukon/Tahoe hybrid uses a 300VDC compressor. It's stepped down to 42 to drive the steering, but the traction motors and compressor are all at 300v.