Hi all, Happy new year!
I'm looking at putting together an air shift system to work with my standalone flat shift ( Clubsport) can anyone give me any info re what PSI/Bar loss there is per gearchange as I want to make sure that I have the reserve for up to 5 downs shifts, I am currently looking at an electric blipper with the gear change actuator delayed by a solenoid.
I'm looking at a 6 litre accumulator tank and a 35 Litre per minute compressor, 150 PSI max pressure.
Many thanks
Frank
@frank Happy New Year! 10 bar is fine, though you'll want to run a bit below that to increase the compressor lifespan. My SR8 runs at 8.5 bar. 35 liters / min means you can fill the accumulator in about 15 seconds, which might be a bit of an issue. That seems pretty big to me, though it may work fine. I believe 3 liters would be a better choice -- any reason you've chosen such a large accumulator?
John
@parsonsj Hi John, thanks for the info, the thinking behind the 6L accumulator is holding enough pressure in reserve, I can look at smaller ones if necessary. With your accumulator at 8.5bar do you have enough air for 5 quick down shifts, as in a fast straight into a first gear hair pin, 6 -1. From data the hard braking and downshifts are over a period of 8 seconds.
I use the car for hillclimbing and here most are quite short a max of about 12-20 shifts per run.
Do you know what PSI your set up uses per shift?
Cheers
Frank
@frank Hi Frank, I've got some data here that I'm looking at that shows my system consumes about 0.45 bar for a 6-2 downshift string over about 2.1s. (about 6 - 7 psi). I can even see that it has started to recover some pressure by the time the 3-2 downshift has completed. By the time of the next shift (2-3) about 6s later, the system is only down about .15 bar (2 psi or so).
My accumulator is at most 2l, and more likely about 1.5l.
Also, I misstated my "full" system pressure: it runs at 9.5 bar, not 8.5 bar.
John
@parsonsj Cheers, I'll have a look at smaller accumulators. Do you know what lpm/cfm your compressor is.
Frank
@frank, have you reached out to Geartronics in the UK? They make a very good system that should work well on your car. I don't know the current configuration of the paddle shift system on your car, but the last time I saw it the electric actuator was mounted on the shifter in the cabin. Apparently that allows for too much "Slop" in the linkage and doesn't work as well as mounting it directly to the engine. I never drove that car, but the person that owned it before me (two owners before me) told me that the paddle shift system worked very well for him. Rilltec in Colorado is the US distributer for the system on that car and I sent the system out to him to be rebuilt before I sold the car. Richard at Rilltec is a really nice guy and might be able to help. With that said, switching to a good pneumatic system like Geartronics will likely give you the best results.
@frank Let me echo what Charley said. I'm using Geartronics components (compressor, accumulator, shift valves, etc.) under MoTeC control.
