03YellowPony

Umm...yes?
[8D]

alexr

send some this way

03YellowPony

Ummmm NO? hehehehe

alexr

waxyourboard

Basically, if you run even 18 volts to something in your car that's not set up to run 18 volts, you're gonna break something. All your lights would be extremely bright... for a couple minutes.

You don't really need a 48 volt battery to run a 48 volt system... just four 12 volt batteries. Wire them in series, there ya go. Yeah, now you have four batteries in your car instead of one. Good luck with that alternator, too. Most alternators can be easily modified to put out up to 17-18 volts usually (When your car's running, you actually have a 14.4 volt system, depending on load)

The problem is stepping down to 12v electronics. Either you use a converter, which is lossy and you'll lose any gains you make anyways, or you just plug and play.
Sure, lets say a subwoofer amp (that's what i can relate to... used to be into car audio) draws 120 amps at 12 volts at full volume. Lets say it makes 1000 watts (arbitrary number, play along).

If you up the voltage to 14.4 volts, and you still want to make the same 1000 watts, yes, the amperage draw will be less, lets say 105 amps. But making that same 1k watts, the amp will no longer be at full volume. Turn it up all the way, and you'll still be drawing 120 amps, but making 1200 watts.

I(current)=V(voltage)/R(resistance) Because the resistance of most electronics remains constant, if you up the voltage, you up the amount of current it draws (the number of amps)

Now that you're making more current, you're gonna me making more power

P(power)=I(current)*V(voltage)

So by quadrupling your voltage (12-48) you've just increased your power going to each device 16-fold, Which is why most hybrid cars use a 48-volt system to power the battery packs.

Basically, any gains made by switching to a higher voltage system would be immediately negated via the cost of upgrading the charging system, and then the loss created from transformers.

(Sorry for the long explaination, woke up at 6 today to go to Crew... and it got cancelled. A couple mountain dews later, and i'm here)

alexr

all you said was what i said, i just dumbed it down because i dont have the expectation of anyone on here being an electronics major.

oh and yes, you would need a 48V battery because using 4 12V batteries in series would defeat the whole purpous of the switch. and by upgradin the system to 48V, the lights wouldnt get brighter, they would get dimmer because they would be working off of less current. current powers electrical devices, not voltage.

waxyourboard

Current = Voltage/Resistance. The resistance stays the same, voltage increases, current increases. There is a direct relationship between voltage and current.

Four 12v batteries wired in series would equal one rather large 48v battery (just like two AA batteries in series = 3 volts).

alexr

your theory is a bit off, its when voltage increases and resistance stays the same, current decreases. try it.

trust me, i majored in electronics for 3 years.

waxyourboard

current = ?
voltage = 12
resistance = 2

12/2 = 6 amps

current = ?
voltage = 48
resistance =2

48/2 = 24 amps


either way, it's a terrible idea