Technical Oberhausen electric supercharger found

Hi, I like to collect weird old speed parts and I recently got this electric supercharger off of ebay. I'm going to try to make it actually function. It is obvious that it will need some modifications. I put up a video of the dis***embly and some commentary. Does anyone have more info about these? Has anyone tried to make one work? What about a byp*** valve, it is missing so I need to know what they look like. Thanks, Joel

 

Pretty sure I saw a post on those on the HAMB. A home made byp*** valve could be made from a regular valve with a reverse ground seat so the valve spring pressure holds the valve down on its seat.
Neat find - looks to be in good shape.

 

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. It looks to me that the motor on it is just a garden variety automotive starter motor (complete with a J.C. Whitney chrome cover). Have you gotten far enough into it to determine if that's what it is?

 

A lot of threads here:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search/711655072/?q=Oberhausen&o=relevance

 

you do realize it is very cool snake oil right?

 

Good bit of history on the company in this video. Same guy went on to do the Turbonique drag axles

 

I have heard that, but maybe those reports stem from the experience of someone who just slapped one on a motor and didn't follow up with any attempt at improvement. For example, the unit I bought has no anti-backflow valve. That would make it useless.

 

That video has some great info, thanks!

 

If it is just a starter motor, I'll have to agree with the "snake oil" ***essment. The average automotive starter motor puts out, at most, 2 HP for very short periods of time. Expecting to add more than a fraction of that violates the laws of the conservation of energy.

 

Can it even spin fast enough for
engine @ idle to creat boost ? , if it can as engine rpms go up , instantly Boost has to drop to "0" any engine bigger then 140 cid .
There is No gearing multipliers.for vane speed to increase as engine rpm's increase.
Maybe its not for Boost , to raise compression , more like bolt on bigger cam , just to increase air Volume when intake valve opens .
Off idle , torqued up on brake .
just for first 60 feet .

 

but then again.....probably not!!(refer to the above 'laws of physics')

 

The math has been done, the amount of amperage needed to make it useful will meltdown most automotive electrical systems. It’s only good for looking neat in a display case.

 

One thought rolling around in my head is to hit it with 24 volts. I have a flow quick flow bench . I'll do some bench testing before I even think about putting it on a car and see if it actually blows a measurable volume of air.

 

I watched your video, @Hemi Joel but not the others.
I'm sure most or all of this is already in your head.
First impressions are
Probably terrible fuel atomization/distribution Let's route 3 2 barrel carbs through 4 vertical holes and numerous 90 degree angles.
As mentioned, a valve of some sort needed to presurize. Common 2-stroke reed valve? Exact time period will help define available parts. Might help with the starter motor too. 6-Volt, right?
The thrust mentioned. When not engaged, it would not matter. When engaged, the starter bevel will push it down. I'd want to see the 6.5-1 reduction gearing and seal before considering shimming. It might even help with smoothing engagement.
I'd look for SAE spaced 4 bbl gaskets to figure out the bolt spacing for the 4 bbl mount. It might be a case where the 2 drilled are shared with a couple different spacings in the other direction and would need to be finished depending on the intake. It may be able to be mounted long or trans, too? The current 2 holes might be after sale just like the hogged out 3-2 hole.
It will be interesting to pressurize or vacuum this to see how much it moves when disengaged. Rig up a shop vac at the 4 bbl inlet side and tape off almost all the 3-2 side?
I also would carefully inspect and confirm the sealing and lubrication of the shaft. I can't think of a single turbo or supercharger that doesn't have a reservoir at least, if not pressurized supply.

 

I'm sure it can put out a significant volume of air. But for power increase you also need a pressure increase at the same time, and I doubt you get much of that.

 

You might do a search on Google Patents for possible patent drawings that would reveal what parts are missing that you'd need to build to make it work. Even if this doesn't turn an engine into a tire shredding monster it will sure turn some heads!
Check for a patent number on the device, or the box it came in.

 

The Brian Lohne's video that Taboo posted actually has some patent information.

 

Mine uses a Ford engine starter for power.

 

I'm using an 18v lithium. My starter has been upgraded. According to my long time friend, starter and alternator guy, I'm now good for 1 full minute of thrilling supercharged power.

 

Eric, have you run it on an engine?

 

While it would seem that the Oberhausen unit is sort of a snake oil that was not able to work for it's intended purpose, I do think this is an example of where the concept was simply ahead of the technology available at the time.

Presently, Genesis offers what they call an "e-supercharger", which is a 48 volt, electric supercharger that works to improve low end, low rpm power before the engine produces power with conventional turbochargers. Clearly, the system works. Additionally, Audi has also recently used an electric turbocharger to use an electric motor to spool virtually instantly before the exhaust can catch up and produce boost conventionally, eliminating turbo lag.

I think the Genesis application is closer to the Oberhausen in that the electric supercharger is the sole source of boost at low rpms where the turbos are byp***ed, rather than in a supplemental role in the Audi. What it is is more of a proof of concept, even if it took 75 years for the technology to catch up to the idea.

https://newsroom.genesis.com/genesis-gv80-coupe-whats-an-e-supercharger/

 

One of our more astute members, @Hnstray, has a signature that says : "In any conflict between Physics and Style, Physics always wins”

 

yes... !

at this point,might as well get freiburgers leaf blower into this convo.!!

 

A buddy of mine and I were way ahead of those guys in this. Probaby 15 years ago, we tried supercharging his golf cart with a variety of leaf blowers. We started with his 12 volt model and progressively borrowed more and more powerful ones, ending up (I think) at a 48 volt model. None of them worked. Because of the way the golf cart was made, it operated in "blow thru" mode. I think the problem was our crudely made airbox.

 

I think one of the first tests that I will do is bench test it with the exit blocked off and see how much pressure it can build dead-headed.

 

Just try to keep it NDT!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondestructive_testing

 

You know what ****s?
I sold THAT Oberhausen on here and USPS said it was destroyed in shipping and it cost me $3000 and they wouldn’t insure it.
I know it’s that one because it has a one off homemade carb plate and one of those pictures is mine.
I’d like to know how it went from “lost” and uninsured to being on eBay.

 

It had matching Oberhausen y-block “supercharger” valve covers when I shipped it too

 

https://www.carthrottle.com/news/heres-why-rob-dahm-took-his-ups-complaint-video-down
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CTHhfm0GNc
and another channel has the original video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbCGzlfZEow

Do I think you can push the post office to refund? Doubtful. But this is not unique.

 

Also, I’ve owned three of these and am friends with John Cooper here in Indianapolis who has the only street driven Oberhausen I know of on his 29 roadster.
I just sold another nice one that WAS running on a car too