[ausev] Power steering pump continuous operation

[Brian Lasseter]

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 6:31 PM, Aaron Choate <achoate at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brian doesn't actually run the ps continuously. He has a switch in the
> cabin so he can turn it on or off at will.

Yes, I do have a switch for my power steering pump (which was very
useful back when the power steering pump was not working correctly).

However, practically speaking, while driving it is distracting to
reach over and hit the switch on my dash underneath the radio.  So I
just leave it on all the time.   It doesn't really bother me.

Here's a table of energy used by various accessories and the
percentage of battery life (based on my 16kwh usual battery life, over
the course of about an hour driving... which is about as long as the
accessories will ever run normally since the car only has a 45 mile
range. ).

  Air Conditioning Condenser cooling fans:  168W, or 1% of the battery
  Power Steering Pump:  400W, or 2.5% of the battery, or 1 mile of range.
  Air Conditioning:  750W, or 5% of the battery, or 2 miles of range.
  Heater:  1500W, or 10% of the battery, or 4 miles of range.

The A/C is well worth the range sacrifice during the summer... and so
far I've only ever ran the heater for 30 seconds to heat up the car
while I'm pulling out of the driveway.  Instant heat is nice... but it
throws so much heat though, that I just run the recirculater for the
rest of the car trip and am quite comfy.  We'll see how much I run the
heater when it's 40 degrees outside.


> A solution to manage the pump depending on vehicle speed would be even
> cooler.

That would be cool... but since I barely manage to care enough to shut
it off once I'm on the road, that's pretty far down my "todo" list.


-- 
TTFN,
Brian "Lasso" Lasseter

"No Sane man will dance."   -Cicero (106-43 B.C.)