Running without a charging system

So I have discussed this before, the Bugeye I run does not have a charging system. Other than the Transponder, not much to draw upon the battery. I figure for a long pratice/qualify/race weekend though, that I may need to think about what to do for the battery...

I have a 1600 watt invertor generator that I can do 2 things with...1, run a charger overnight or 2, charge directly to the race car battery...Thoughts?

(I really like the system as is, so adding a alternator is not much of an option right now)

Is it an inverter that changes DC from a car battery to AC or is it a gas-powered generator? I have heard that some inverters won't run a charger because they produce an AC square wave, and a sine wave is required to run a battery charger because square waves won't induce a voltage in the charger's transformer. The better inverters will run a charger. I wouldn't run a gas-powered generator all night, though.

How about getting paddock space that has AC?

Of course, you could run an inverter off the racecar battery that runs a charger that charges the racecar battery that...

Dr.
You were doing great until the third part.....)

It is a gas powered generator for camping and has 2 20 3 prong circuits. My understanding is that it is a generator with a built in inverter that makes the power better for running computers and sensitive appliances. It also has a connector that you can hook like a pair of jumper cables directly to a car battery.

What about a solar panel? Might not work at night, but can be hooked up and left anytime the car is not running.

Bruce, what are you running for a battery? If it's just a generic battery, one alternative is to buy a second one, so you have one in the car, and a fully charge backup to replace it with over the course of a weekend.
Most places I race have 110V in the paddock area, so simply plugging in the charger overnight is no big deal.
AS far as the comment about running a gas powered generator all night goes... Why the heck not? I've run one for days when the power goes out.
Jeff

I don't even worry about charging all night. First thing to do is get a good battery, I run Optimaa, I just make it a routine of mine to charge the basttery for a little while between sessions, you'll find it doesn't take long to recharge, I even know folks that run an entire weekend without recharging. I use a gas genorator with a 10 amp battery charger in between, atleast this way I have a gauge to look at.

So, Hap - no alternator at all? What's the weight penalty if I do that?

25lbs in the VSCDA

Hey Hap,

Taylor box came today...nice......Thanks!

I hope to install in a week or 2!

The Denso alternator I use weighs probably no more than 5#. Now, what I'd like to do is get rid of the Optima battery (35# or so) in favor of one of those light-weight racing batteries but wonder how much it takes to turn over an MG engine with around 9.5:1 compression. FWIW I use an original starter--haven't gotten around to hanging one of those high-torque units on the car yet.

Any thoughts here? And for those who know me please don't point out the extra 30 or so pounds around my waist!

D

Bugeye58 said:

AS far as the comment about running a gas powered generator all night goes... Why the heck not? I've run one for days when the power goes out.
Jeff

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Jeff, some guys spend the night in the paddock.

Ah, a <u>noise</u> issue! I understand that. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif
But, some of the newer gen sets are amazingly quiet. You can't hear them above sounds of the normal revelry. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff

Michael Oritt said:

....those light-weight racing batteries but wonder how much it takes to turn over an MG engine with around 9.5:1 compression.

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Michael, I run a Deka Glass Mat battery designed for an electric wheelchair. It's the same size as a standard UF1 lawn and garden battery, and it never had a problem turning over a hot, 14:1, 1500 Spit engine, even before I switched to a gear reduction starter.
Jeff

a Deka Glass Mat battery designed for an electric wheelchair
-----------------------
Jeff--

That sounds interesting--can you give me a model number for it?

I carry a Honda EU1000i (1000 watt) gas generator in my trailer. It will power any hand tools I might need at the track and also has a DC charge circuit. It is whisper- quiet.

Michael, look here.
I'll have to get the exact nmber of mine.
Jeff

https://www.eastpenn-deka.com/assets/base/0278.pdf

tony barnhill said:

So, Hap - no alternator at all? What's the weight penalty if I do that?

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Tony, look at the SVRA rules, thats pretty much the rule set you going to have to abide by, no matter where you run in the SE. There are several weight penalties for a bunch of crazy stuff, like no charging system, no passeger seat, no headlights, etc., but then the base minimum weight (which no one check anyway) is totally unobtainable, so most guys take all the weight hits and for the removeable stuff, because you can't get down to the minumum weight anyway.

Tony I was going to quote the SVRA weight for the MGB, but for some reason it not coming up, just a blank page for all car specs, maybe the webmaster is updating the site, anyway you'll find when you look at the minumum weight, you'll never be able to get close to it, especially with a GT, so take the weight penalties and don't worry about it.

VelodromeRacer said:

Hey Hap,

Taylor box came today...nice......Thanks!

I hope to install in a week or 2!

Click to expand...

Good deal, hopefully the crating did a good job. I'm still looking for you a Tilton aluminum 7.25" clutch flywheel, I located some new ones, Rick Haynes has them, pricey at $500, but they are new, which is pretty darn rare these days. Jeff if you're reading this, Doug needs a Tilton 948 flywheel for the 7.25" tilton/quartermaster clutch, we can't use the Fidanza unit because the spacing is wrong on them, and I advised him against the 5.5" clutch due to the fact you can kill them just driving the car to the grid, Ron Bartell and Dick May have both toasted 5.5' clutches trying to drive their cars to the grid, however the 7.25" will alow Doug to drive to and from the grid with the 1.60 first gear without toasting the clutch.

Doug I will warn you, there's a art to getting the 1.60 first gear tranny cars to moving from a dead stop, you got to rev them up slip the clutch a little and get the clutch totally disengaged and just chug the thing to the grid without constant clutch slipping, it will take a little practice to get used to but the racing first gear is well worth it. Alot of SCCA guys have golf cart or ATVs and just tow to and from the grid, which is a absolute must with a 5.5" clutch.

Hap,

Scotty at Taylor-Race has one, but mentioned that they need to drill the flywheel either 2.75" or 2.5" depending on what 948 I have in my car and that I will need to measure it first.

I did check last night in the parts list I have for the morot and see that the engine I have has a A-247 Jon Stamps racing crank and it goes on to mention that it has 4 extra holes drilled into the crank for a total of 8 to mount the flywheel to...any thoughts?

Also, what did you do for a clutch pedal stop? I understand that the Taylor box doesn't need as much clutch pedal movement as the stock slave cyl. type.

Doug, I didn't use a pedal stop on my car, but I'm not bad to depress the pedal all the way anyway, never had a problem with it. I'm firends with Scotty and Craig, but they have messed me up with measuring before. If it were me, I would call John Stamps and talk to him, about the 8 bolt set up and see if he can help with a flywheel. You also need to find out the source of the taylor flywheel, is it a Fidanza, if so it won't work, Craig also make some billet steel ones, that are big time expensive, but on your end you will have to nail all the measurements, persoanlly I would go that route without calling call John Stamps first.

You say you see you have a John Stamps 8 bolt flywheel, are you looking at it? If not, just going on paperwork, then I advise you look at crank/flywheel hub and confirm, what kind of flywheel does the car have now?