I've never done any research on it but I figure if you can get it to spin the right speed it should put out what it would on a car.

I've thought about the same application using a water wheel and v-belting to the right rpm.

Should work ... can't see why it wouldn't.
I think the key will be getting the right size blade (or water wheel) and enough wind (or water flow) to maintain the neccessary rpm's long enough to charge batteries.

 

There is stuff on it if you look. But big problem is a car alternator spins alot faster than a wind generator. And the fact you have to energize an alternator for it to do anything. When people use alternators they usually convert them to permanent magnets, which is not that easy to do. You want something with the magnets already in it. I have seen designs using the motor from a treadmill or similar.

 

Ah. That's a good idea, too.

 

Take this for what it is. But I believe they did this on the show "The Colony" on the Discovery Channel. They used bike gears to make it turn fast enough.

 

I saw that episode.

 

But big problem is a car alternator spins alot faster than a wind generator. And the fact you have to energize an alternator for it to do anything.

I knew there was some reason alternators were not the thing to use so much as an older automobile generator would be.

Getting something to a particular rpm is not hard if you have enough pulleys or sprockets AND the prime mover to turn them.

 

Before building one you need to get the wind data for your location.

 

Another good motor to use is the ones that are in the small electric 4 wheelers and dirt bikes that kids love to ride.But remember I wasn't the one who told you to tear up jr's toy.You just need to govern it properly ie: speed control.But they do make great generators and they are dc.
Act

 

I have looked into this. All you have to do is change the gear ratio on the alternator.

 

Do you have a link?

 

http://www.thebackshed.com/windmill/FPRewire.asp

 

Thanks! But, that does not look fun.

 

This question pops up here fairly often, and the bottom line is NO. Auto alternators have a number of problems that make them poor choices for Wind Turbines. They need to spin FAST, They require power to operate, They aren't sealed for the weather elements and they are simply very inefficient.

As already posted many people have used treadmill motors. Also used are most any DC motor (permanent magnet) or AC/DC servo motors.

There's a LOT more to wind turbines than mounting a set of blades to a alternator.

I suggest that you check out the Otherpower site. There you'll find all kinds of threads and help. People who have done it all and are more than willing to give advise.




http://www.fieldlines.com/board/

 

Thanks very much for this.

 

There are single wire Alt out there,sold alot of them to farmers for old trks and tractors and I have on on my street rod....1-red and ground the case....The most common are GM style one wire but now they make a ford style too.

 

How about using a generator from a pre-alternator auto ?

As I said, I've thought a lot about a paddle type water wheel suspended into a flowing river current.
With the right belt ratios you could drive a generator a fairly constant speed ... as constant as the water flow.

I've also wondered if there might be a similar opportunity using tidal flows.

 

The old auto "generators" also needed to spin pretty fast and aren't too efficient. Any generator that old I'd question the bearings, brushes and their availability. Most the the treadmill motors are beefier enough to take a small set of blades mounted right to their shafts. Which would eliminate a number of maintenance issues (belts, chains and extra bearings)

 

I thought about doing the same thing. My research pointed me to actual electric generators that function at much lower RPMs. They can be found on eBay for <$50. There is more to it than the generator but I would forget about the alternator.

 

i have a tread mill motor that ill sell.its dc and puts out good power at a fairly low rpm with a drill.puts out more power than my automotive meter will read at higher rpms.it would need a regulator.

 

It's my understanding that when hooked directly (thru a diode) to a battery that the battery will "clamp" the voltage at it's charging level, in other words a regulator shouldn't be required. But as with any/all wind turbines a method must be used to "dump" excessive current when ever the battery is fully charged. Check out the otherpower site and search "dump load".

Remember that it's important to match the blade size/pitch to your alternator/generator.

Note that (when talking wind power) a alternator generates a AC voltage and a generator generates a DC voltage

The bigger/better home made turbines normally use 3phase alternators (rectified and hooked to a battery bank) and then they use a INVERTER to change the DC battery voltage to 120vac.

 

just went out to the shed and got it to play with.hooked it up to the volt meter and it goes above 12 volts just spinning it with my fingers.

 

someone else is selling one just like mine on ebay.

item #120836527301

i took the metal fly wheel off mine.
can someone tell me how i could hook up a regulator to this one?

 

As I already mentioned, you shouldn't need a regulator.
But you will need a diode between it and your battery to prevent the battery from back feeding into your motor.

 

Will solar panels fry if there is an EMP?

 

More than likely toast. Plus any integrated circuit device will be dead too.

 

Are the Wattage Ratings in Watts per Hour?

 

look into VAWT. something like this. ideas all over the net.
http://youtu.be/8MQaT9EbMDQ

 

VAWT's Vertical Axis Wind Turbines have been around for a long long time and have an advantage in that they don't need to turn (follow) into the wind.

But the number of disadvantages are numerous. They deliver fairly high speed but at very low torque. Their effective wind/surface area is only 1/2 of the actual area because there is 1/2 that is moving with the wind, but the other 1/2 is moving (fighting) into the wind. Their area is A=WxH a 6 foot high by 3 foot wide has an area of 6x3=18sqft. But only 1/2 is following the wind.. So 18/2=9sqft. That's a total of 9sqft exposed to the wind (not accounting for that other 9 foot that is fighting the same wind that is spinning it)

a HAWT Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine The area of a circle is A=PI x Rsq.
A six foot blade (six foot radius) has an area of 3.14x6x6=113.04sqft.
and all of that 113.04sqft is exposed to the wind.

If you had a HAWT that is 45 feet tall and 5 feet wide 45x5=225sqft and half that 225/2=112.5sqft (just picture how big that would be!).

You can see just how big of a HAWT you would need to equal the same swept area of a VAWT

Capturing/converting Wind power into electrical power is ALL ABOUT swept area. AND HEIGHT and of course WIND.

HAWTs DO work, but with current technology they have a long long way to go to reach the "current" level of VAWTs.


I'd like to mention that I am in a LOUSY location for a VAWT, I'd need a 200 foot tower to get it to clear surrounding obstructions (I'm in a valley) so I really REALLY wish HAWTs worked!

 

What about an old bike?

Here in the interior of Alaska we don't get alot of wind in the winter, at least not where I live. After reading all the post about alternators, old car generators and treadmill motors I got to thinking, what if you hooked up a treadmill motor to a 21 spead bike. Would take some modification but you could keep the kids in good shape and possibly generate some electricity. I'm not an engineer, so if anybody has suggestions I'm up for it. Happy peddling!

 

Here in the interior of Alaska we don't get alot of wind in the winter, at least not where I live. After reading all the post about alternators, old car generators and treadmill motors I got to thinking, what if you hooked up a treadmill motor to a 21 spead bike. Would take some modification but you could keep the kids in good shape and possibly generate some electricity. I'm not an engineer, so if anybody has suggestions I'm up for it. Happy peddling!

That's been done a number of times. You'll be surprised at how little electrical power a person can produce.


Again, check out http://www.fieldlines.com/board/

Here's one story.. http://fieldlines.com/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=2a76d9d43177f1d580a7a7d2bc3a4bce&topic=145055.0

and another (more current date wise) http://fieldlines.com/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=2a76d9d43177f1d580a7a7d2bc3a4bce&topic=145702.0

 

In that scenario, you are converting food engery into kinetic energy and then that into electrical energy and losing effeciency at each step. Only worth doing if you have an emergency where you need electricity- eg to use a radio to call in a rescue.

Each step loses a hell of a lot of the original energy - better off using the original source as fuel to drive a motor that drives a generator. It is however, a lot easier to put a dynamo on a bike and pedal than rig up a steam engine and fuel that with tinned beans.

If someone was using a stationary exercise bike anyway, and you had the batteries to store the electricity and what ever V kit to run or an inverter to convert it, then it would be a goer. Setting up just to use this kind of power is not economical.

When you consider your time into the bargain aswell, then you could earn a lot more money than what you would save on elecrtricity. Effiency must look at every avenue - could you generate the same amount in cost of electricty peddeling a bike for one hour as you could earn that amount of money working for half of minimum wage for one hour? No.