In-car mining rig - bad idea right?

[AndersAA]

Just for the fun of it I imagined putting this mining rig in the trunk of my car:

1) Extra car battery
2) Raspberry Pi
3) An amp-meter that turns on the power when sufficient watts are available
4) A bitcoin mining rig that isn't worth powering at current power costs

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

But then the obvious point hit me: Only terribly inefficient car generators would generate enough extra power to actually get any mining done

No matter how you turn it around, this would lead to extra gas costs right?

[1713942430]

1713942430

[1713942430]

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[1713942430]

1713942430

[cmg5461]

Obviously

- you could also drive more economical and just use the saved money to pay for your electric.

Also your alternator has the potential to put out about 100+ amps at 14.4 volts

[byt411]

Just plug it into the socket of your wall... If it generates any extra, then you should sell your car anyway, Highly inefficient.

[RodeoX]

Bad idea 

It's a freaking awesome idea! 

...as long as awesomeness is your only goal. 

[Cheshyr]

Hrm...  so what would be the $/kWh on that?   I mean, if I'm going to drive to work every day anyway...

$4/gallon.  36MPG.  Average speed across entire commute of 46MPH.  35 mile comnmute.  12V through a 10A fuse...

4.000   dollar   per gallon
36.000   miles   per gallon
0.111   dollars   per mile
35.000   miles   per commute
3.889   dollars   per commute
      
46.000   miles   per hour
35.000   miles   per commute
0.761   hours   per commute
      
0.120   kWatts   per hour
0.091   kWh   per commute
      
42.59   dollars   kWh

edited for bad math.  Also, Q.Q

[Maidak]

Just for the fun of it I imagined putting this mining rig in the trunk of my car:

1) Extra car battery
2) Raspberry Pi
3) An amp-meter that turns on the power when sufficient watts are available
4) A bitcoin mining rig that isn't worth powering at current power costs

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

But then the obvious point hit me: Only terribly inefficient car generators would generate enough extra power to actually get any mining done

No matter how you turn it around, this would lead to extra gas costs right?

FOr the hell of it I did this with a RPI a USB miner and internet through my cellphone a while back.

[Gator-hex]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

[Cheshyr]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.  Then mining with the excess makes you more efficient.  <.<  

I like the idea of an automotive-based hotspot network utilized by mining hardware.

[Gator-hex]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.

This is a fallacy. A car with it's air conditioning on consumes more fuel than one with it off.

[lilfiend]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.  Then mining with the excess makes you more efficient.  <.<  

I like the idea of an automotive-based hotspot network utilized by mining hardware.

except any real excess power you generate isn't going to be able to power a mining rig + by mining on the rig in the first place you increase the load on the alternator which increases its resistance, which makes the engine have to work harder, which makes you burn more gas.

It isn't going to be free, but when it comes down to it, if its some USB miners and an RPI you probably aren't going to notice the little bit of extra gas they'll run you.

What were you planning on doing for network? Just wifi + hotspot on your phone?

[Cheshyr]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.

This is a fallacy. A car with it's air conditioning on consumes more fuel than one with it off.

I thought that was because engaging the air conditioning compressor adds a load to the belt system that was not there with the compressor off.  Likewise, I thought the alternator was always engaged, to provide system power and keep the battery charged.  Perhaps I'm mistaken.  

[Gator-hex]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.

This is a fallacy. A car with it's air conditioning on consumes more fuel than one with it off.

I thought that was because engaging the air conditioning compressor adds a load to the belt system that was not there with the compressor off.  Likewise, I thought the alternator was always engaged, to provide system power and keep the battery charged.  Perhaps I'm mistaken.  

The more power you demand from the alternator the harder the engine works to turn it.
It's like a dynamo on a push bike, the harder you pedal, the more power you generate, and the brighter your lights get.

[Cheshyr]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.  Then mining with the excess makes you more efficient.  <.<  

I like the idea of an automotive-based hotspot network utilized by mining hardware.

except any real excess power you generate isn't going to be able to power a mining rig + by mining on the rig in the first place you increase the load on the alternator which increases its resistance, which makes the engine have to work harder, which makes you burn more gas.

It isn't going to be free, but when it comes down to it, if its some USB miners and an RPI you probably aren't going to notice the little bit of extra gas they'll run you.

What were you planning on doing for network? Just wifi + hotspot on your phone?

Oh, I didn't have a plan.  I've written this all off once my math said $43/kWh.  I was just enjoying the scifi aspect of an army of 4G enabled cars with a little mesh network for mining.  I also hadn't considered the resistance increase on the alternator.

[MarketNeutral]

How else should one pay off his Pagani?

[Kenshin]

Cool idea, never thought of that before. 

[cmg5461]

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS = there is no free power!

You will be burning more gas/petrol to power it.

Unless that power is already being generated by your alternator and wasted.  Then mining with the excess makes you more efficient.  <.<  

I like the idea of an automotive-based hotspot network utilized by mining hardware.

An alternator produces UP TO ~100A.. meaning it doesn't continuously put out 100 amps when the alternator is spinning.  If it did, assuming it's 75% efficient, you'd be drawing 100A/0.75 * 14.4V = 1920W @ 746W/HP = 2.57 horsepower your engine is putting out that isn't going to motion of the car.

Cars are about 35% efficient - 30% in heat removed by internal cooling and the rest out the tail pipe (why turbos are wonderful)
1 gallon of gas contains 131,760,000 Joules - @ 35% efficiency, you get 46,116,000 Joules of energy out of.
46MJ ~ 12.81 kWh.

@ $4/gallon, 1 kWh costs $0.31/kWh

Also don't forget to apply alternator efficiency on top of that too. => $0.31/0.75 = $0.41/kWh

YMMV

[xjack]

The more power you demand from the alternator the harder the engine works to turn it.

edit - was mistaken, disregard.  find posted SPOBI quoted further down in thread.

::walkofshame::

[LostDutchman]

Just for the fun of it I imagined putting this mining rig in the trunk of my car:

1) Extra car battery
2) Raspberry Pi
3) An amp-meter that turns on the power when sufficient watts are available
4) A bitcoin mining rig that isn't worth powering at current power costs

= When enough excess power is available the rig is powered on and you mine for free.... In your car!

But then the obvious point hit me: Only terribly inefficient car generators would generate enough extra power to actually get any mining done

No matter how you turn it around, this would lead to extra gas costs right?

"In-car mining rig - bad idea right? "

Right.

My $.02.

[nitehawk]

I'm just trying to figure out why it would be  necessary

[jongameson]

how do you get internet into cart 

ALSO.  why not just plug a block erupter into work computer.  can't possibly use THAT much power??