This is fantastic! I already have an electric mower (battery), but it’s so useful to go through the process for all those who don’t understand why we’ve had ICE mowers and equipment (chainsaws, tractors) up until now, and to illustrate the inefficiencies of those engines! We recently converted to a 40v electric chainsaw, and someday hope for our tractor (and car obvs) all running from solar. Good stuff, Zack and Jessie!
There's also a lot of air friction in both the flowing gas through the engine, and in the crankcase. Combustion engine vs electric motor, is like incandescent light bulb vs LED. One is mostly a heater.
@Howdy Justice Pumping air through an engine sucks a lot of energy. Just think of some engine efficiency/power improvements you may have heard of such as straightening the flow of air into and out of the cylinders. This air friction is even worse when the air has to snake around obstacles or change directions, just like water in a rocky stream. Beyond trying to compress air around anything, it also has a thickness, like honey, and stickiness, like glue. The harder you try to move it, the more it fights back. Look up 'pumping losses,' and fluid dynamics in general, to learn more.
@Howdy Justice Its MORE about parasitic drag. Which can be reduced greatly with lighter rotating internal mass. Plus low friction coating from MicroBlueracing.com
I’m building a electric conversion, RC controlled lawnmower. This is a really informative series. In fact, it is the first time I have ever watched a video series straight through, one after the other on RU-vid. Really good job guys!
Zack you really taught your boy well. Jesse knew about 80-95% what happening. Mr. G teaching personality doesn't scare you away. Love it. Keep up the good work!
I want to electrify my old riding lawn mower (John Deere LT180 style). These are extremely inefficient, and very noisy. Ripe for change... Some are already selling new electric riding lawn mowers,but would be more fun to DIY it. Will definitely follow this series as it will have some handy information. Thanks!
Watching this video I feel like I'm back in High School autoshop class. Good to understand how and ICE engine works and what makes it so inefficient so you can better understand the superiority of electric vehicles and appliances and why we need to transition to them.
This is great! And quite timely too. I had just started a 6 week course on small engines run by a local high school one week before quarantine started. We did a little bit of a teardown and then it got cancelled because of the quarantine. I had already replaced my car and my mower with electric but still wanted to know how gas engines worked
Although I know how a ICE engine work I still found this interesting. This is a good video to send to someone who knows nothing about engines and don't see the point of whether its electric or petrol. I will wait for episode 2 before forwarding this. It is worth mentioning that car engines worked like this way back before they started with overhead valves and cams.
Oh yeah good point, this is a flathead Engine with side valves. The most inefficient way. There have been many improvements since then. However even the best of them only get to about 30 or 40% efficient.
@Raphael Krug you are perhaps a bit low there, perhaps more like 8%. Btw @La Chatte Botte, while modern IC engines claim to be 40-even 50% efficient, in the real world of driving around, cruising down the highway even, the 20% number is a better value to use. cherry picking efficiency numbers that are seldom ever seen in day to day operation is not realistic.
it is the expansion of the air that pushes the piston down. because the air goes from outside air temperature to 1000+ it pushes the piston. it is not an explosion. if it were an explosion, we would speak of knock and it would destroy the piston
I may have read some outdated books but the Carboniferous era was supposed to be better known for much higher contents of oxygen than CO2, not sure what isotope was around or if plants where as selective for the capture of CO2 as today. The higher O2 concentration being the reason for the larger fauna. As it seems, the in the Permian area more CO2 was released from decaying plants, after fungi figured out how to break up lignin. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboniferous
You could be right, point I was making is that oil is made from ancient plant life, and we extract it, then refine it into several products including gasoline.
Both of you did a great job, I hope one of you mention Elon's super efficient rocket engine at least to demonstrate that gas powered engines can still be relevant in the future for something positive like space colonization.
I would really like to see how convert a 48V Club Car golf cart to lithion ion using a Jehu Jag35 (48 V) battery pack. We winter in Florida and everyone has golf carts. I am thinking a single Jag35 would be enough to visit neighbors and greatly reduce the weight. Any comments appreciated on where to start after building the Jag35, Thanks, Frank
I would love to see you testing: (1) swimming pool as a battery, and (2) transforming freezing expansion force of water into electricity. 1. One of the most traditional ways to create electricity is water power. On the other hand and easy way to store electricity is to create potential energy by pumping it into heights. We also have pools on rooftops. Could these facts be combined? 2. I'm from an Arctic country so solar energy is out of the equation in winter time - the sun is gone for months and everything is pitch black. But we have ice. Freezing water expands which equals movement with huge power. Could freezing expansion be used to create energy from ice?
Wow interesting ideas. Didn't think about it. I do know that you can get energy from the difference between hot and cold. So maybe outside air temperature versus ground temperature which is always 55 degrees. Or maybe a water turbine from Ice runoff could power a generator.
I really want to convert my sidekick but stupid people keep asking for something called money. As soon as I get some my ride will be so electric you wouldn't believe it
You aren't hemorrhaging energy just changing it's form when going from electrical to mechanical in the first steps the loss is just the heat off it and noise vibrating the air. Ideally a device would be silent and cold while converting from electrical energy to motion but even electric motors have loss as heat base on resistance and bearings etc. holding the shaft. The electric motor efficiency is still higher but think the description of wasted energy in the stages shouldn't be a focus.
mmmm I was rather expecting the words 'we just chuck this bit out' to be followed by chucking it out. Reviewing ICE tech is of minimal interest those of us who already have ICE skills and there's not much point in developing ICE skills in those who don't. On with the show, but perhaps re-title this episode as How (and why) things were before.
Sorry why convert I am using since at least 30 year's electric mower. Not with battery just with cable. Price starting by 60euro www.zgonc.at/garten/rasenmaher/rasenmaher-elektrisch.html
Sorry, can not stand this guy explaining an ICU in an „Looks what I know and I am arrogant enough to tell you!“ manner. Please do not put him up again! Just let Jessy explain it in his way and it will be good. Greetings from Munich, Tom.
So I open my mouth, spay the hair spray in, boom & then I get the roundy roundy motion? You 2 do what ever "modern woman" tells you to do, don't you? hill-air-E-ous!
Another good video. Another crazy example of bad social distancing. You don’t take it seriously? It’s the only thing I’ve seen from you (and wow Elon) that I would call stupid. Are you taking cues from that? I truly don’t get it.
