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bobjacqs
Active Member
246 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Jan 2012 : 18:37:08
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I haven’t competed in my Formula Ford yet but one thing I am vaguely worried about is overheating while queuing up for the start and also the associated drain on the battery of continually stopping and restarting the engine.
When I think of Llys-y-Fran, for example, we drove slowly from the paddock (car park) to queue up on the road down the valley. (In the MX5 I had time to get out and take pictures at this point). Then we drove down the hill and up the other side, queued up again and got into running order in the top car park on the other side of the valley, then drove slowly down to the start line in convoy before starting our runs. In other words there was a fair bit of stop start driving at very low speeds.
So, my question is - Do people fit electric fans to single seaters that otherwise (in circuit racing and sprints) don’t need them?
Also, how many starts should I expect from the onboard battery?
Thanks,
Bob.
Bob Ridge-Stearn: Beam breaking in a 1990 Eunos Roadster. Blogging at http://bobjacqs.wordpress.com/ |
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Muggo
Regular Member
65 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2012 : 19:58:37
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From what I have noticed Bob, the single seater guys have very little cooling on their cars let alone fans! They seem to push the cars around quite a lot, fire up just in time, run and then switch off and free wheel back down - not so easy on your own as the trusty MX5!
They do seem to get better paddock slots and lots less queing though, making life a little easier.
Chris B should be able to put you straight, although maybe you should ask MRS B as she does all the work! LOL |
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jo white
Regular Member
32 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2012 : 20:37:26
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This isnt a daft option but if you have a helper you could also consider using a small hand held blower, (cordless leaf blower) or i have seen people use very small elctric fans not unsimilar to ones in a computer, have it on a switch and use when needed. As for batteries keep a spare as one never knows when one expires and prefered option is to wire in an auxillary jump battery using Anderson Connectors with slave battery on a trolley.
Dont worry too much Bob i am sure you will soon get into the swing of it all
Jo White
www.vulcandezign.co.uk |
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Paul W
New Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2012 : 22:18:51
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| I always take a small battery charger, power inverter and either a jumpstart pack or slave battery then I can top up the charge of the battery for about 30 minutes between each run then you can safely turn off if you need to knowing it will start again afterwards. |
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chrisbennett
moderator
387 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jan 2012 : 10:06:40
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Mrs B could be available for hire but it won't be cheap!
The number of starts you can get depends on the spec of the battery you are using. In the interests of performance weight is everything and the lightweight on board batteries don't have a great capacity.
I've flattened my on board a couple of times in testing despite using a slave for starts.
Chris Bennett |
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robcapper
Regular Member
60 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2012 : 11:50:58
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I wouldnt worry about overheating; we were contemplating building the new car without a radiator.
I'd think carefully about taking a single seater to Llys; nice place in a rally car, but I completely took off over the bridge, and on landing, ripped the sump clean off. The last section too is rather, umm, agricultural...
As for batteries, mine does half a season without a charge. |
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Topic |
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Electric fans – single seaters.
