I'm considering trying either a CSR or Meziere electric water pump. How do to still drive the alternator? My alt is mounted on the passenger side cylinder head, do you simply run a belt from the crank pulley to the alt? Would it need a tensioner of some kind since the belt is no longer wrapped around the water pump pulley? Anybody have some pictures they can post of their Olds electric water pumps and how you made it all work? At least I don't have A/C and power steering to add to the mix.

 

No. Simply tension the belt with the adjustment in the alternator bracket. Obviously you'll need a non-standard belt, so place the alternator at about 1/4 of the way out from the fully "in" adjustment position, measure the circumference of the belt you need, and buy the next shortest one at the parts store.

By the way, go to a real parts store, not Advance or Auto Zone, otherwise the teenager behind the counter will tell you the computer can't look up belts by length...

 

Why not just use an electrically driven alternator?

:-)

 

Thanks Joe, I know what you mean about "belts by length" at Advance and Autozone. If you can't give them an actual in the computer application, they are lost. I use Summit Racing, they have the belts listed by length.

 

Hey, wouldn't that be one of those perpetual motion thing-a-ma-jigs!

 

Already done


free energy for all of us.

Just need to tap off that excess so it doesn't keep building speed ad infinitum.

Thank God they didn't connect shaft to shaft- the belt losses help keep the excess down, and serves as a fuse in case too much power is generated.

heh

 

On another hotrod forum, I had an exchange with someone who obviously slept thorugh physics class and swore that you could put a propeller-driven generator on an electric car and drive forever.

 

Earlier this year I, among others, went through the same thing with several members on a motorcycle forum. These guys kept trying to tell us that you could mount a generator or alternator on the wheels which could then be used to power an electric motor to drive the bike. The sad thing was that they were absolutely serious and would not listen to any of us who tried to tell them that it couldn't possibly work.

I gave up on that MC forum not long after that...

 

Looks like, on average, an electric water pump will add
about 5 amps of load to the alternator.
Will this much additional load require an alternator upgrade?

 

How much power is used creating the extra 5 amps to drive the pump?. How much power is needed to run a belt driven pump?.
I understand there is an ideal speed for a water pump to operate at its most efficient, clearly an electric pump can achieve this, a belt driven pump will almost all the time not do this.
It may be we will see electrically driven pumps in future engines, two advantages occur to me;
#1, The pump will probably use less power because it will not need to circulate adequately at low engine speeds or need restricting at high speeds.
#2, Engine temperatures will be easier to manage, for greater efficiency and possibly cleaner emissions.
The benefits will need to outweigh the costs, however the economies of scale will come into effect if this becomes the norm.

Roger.

 

I understand that the practicality of converting from a mechanically driven water pump to
one driven by an electric motor can be questioned and that it could simply be an even trade-off in terms of
horsepower consumption from the engine.
Since the intent of the original post seems to be physically accomplishing the conversion,
my question is whether the existing alternator has the capacity to supply the additional current
required by the electric motor driven water pump.
Of course this will depend on how close the total existing loads are to the maximum current
the existing alternate can provide.
The ability of the engine to provide the horse needed to drive the alternator is not an issue.

 

60 watts, about the same as one high beam headlamp. That shouldn't overtax anything not burdened with lots of electrical add-ons.

Roger.