Rats on motorhomes! (1 Viewer)

GREENTUB

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Just a thought -why not have RATS on motorhomes? In my military aviator days we had a deployable RAT! - Ram Air Turbine - to produce a few amps when the main noise generators, or engines as they were known, had, for reasons various, stopped making noise and driving their respective generators.

Has anybody thought about producing a roof mounted pod with a RAT? Given that motorhomes generate circa 60mph winds over the roof when underway surely it can't be beyond the wit of modern engineering to harness this power and plough it into the batteries. Sure there will be some fuel penalty due to increased drag but no more than Satdomes and TV aerials and think of all those lovely amps. Over to you clever people.
 

rainbow chasers

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There was a chap who made a similar system using the spinning air vent you see on van roofs, don't know what happened with it! I might have a surf and see if he ever got into production!
 

pappajohn

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Just a thought -why not have RATS on motorhomes? In my military aviator days we had a deployable RAT! - Ram Air Turbine - to produce a few amps when the main noise generators, or engines as they were known, had, for reasons various, stopped making noise and driving their respective generators.

Has anybody thought about producing a roof mounted pod with a RAT? Given that motorhomes generate circa 60mph winds over the roof when underway surely it can't be beyond the wit of modern engineering to harness this power and plough it into the batteries. Sure there will be some fuel penalty due to increased drag but no more than Satdomes and TV aerials and think of all those lovely amps. Over to you clever people.

i seem to be missing the point here....
yes...60mph wind when travelling a 60mph but your engine alternator is already charging the liesure batteries as you drive, and if the engine aint running you aint going forward so you aint making a 60mph wind.

seems a pointless exersize to me and just producing even more drag with increased fuel costs.

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The Wallace

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You get owt for nowt!

Whatever energy could be derived from a roof turbine would have to come from increased output of your engine. Since no one has yet designed a generator that is 100% efficient you will need to provide more power from the engine than you get from your RAT.

In aircraft the RAT is only deployed when there is no other power available and the parasitic drag of the RAT with its reduction in glide distance has to be balanced against the need to provide power for essential controls to give crew time to plan a controlled crash or to eject.

PS, it's too early for April fool jokes.
 

pappajohn

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to give crew time to plan a controlled crash or to eject.

would that be the same as an emergency involuntary landing .....:ROFLMAO:

a crash is a crash....intentional or otherwise:thumb::winky:

remember...takeoff is optional....landing is compulsory. :Eeek:

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GREENTUB

GREENTUB

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AH! Jaylo (or Big But) Yep! agree with all the drag stuff etc but what if you would need to drive for 2 hours to replace the shortfall in you batteries from the previous nights frivolities with a RAT aboard you might be able to reduce that to, say, 1 hour given the output of both the ALT and the RAT. Moreover, if it was deployable, i.e. you could put it into the wind as and when your amp shortfall required, you wouldn't lose to drag when there was no gain.
 
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Have you not seen Seat's latest idea? "Aero-Tonto technology" :ROFLMAO:

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The Wallace

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Cheaper to fit a higher rated alternator.

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hilldweller

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Sure there will be some fuel penalty due to increased drag but no more than Satdomes and TV aerials and think of all those lovely amps. Over to you clever people.

Instead of going motor-->speed-->wind turbine-->regulator-->battery.

Why not motor-->alternator-->battery.

Cut out the losses from drag, the wind turbine, regulation. And it works at most speeds.
 

zaskar

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Just a thought -why not have RATS on motorhomes? QUOTE]

.......cos if it's owt like the one we've got on the Nimrod here at Woodford, you wouldn't be able to here yourself think!!!!!:ROFLMAO:
OMG, you've never heard a racket like it!:ROFLMAO:
 
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GREENTUB

GREENTUB

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I can see that there is little interest in my Tertiary Regulated Auxiliary Power concept for a free running RAT! But as an early poster spotted - April is some way off. Happy Motor Homing everybody.

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pappajohn

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half a dozen of these driving a genny in a locker would be fine.....feed on your leftovers so no cost. :thumb:::bigsmile:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDFsStQHU6Q[/ame]

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