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Author Topic: pedal power  (Read 28435 times)

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2013, 03:41:40 AM »
Ah much better!! I will repost the stator.

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #16 on: August 15, 2013, 04:43:53 AM »
I progress: today I tried to put my homebrew altenator together, without using the jacking screws, thought I would save some time. BIG mistake if it hadnt been four 1/2 inch bolts on the back rotor assembly I would have crushed 8 fingers! :-[  24 neo s at 52 lbs pull each, ouch! I left it alone for now and made a rectifier of sorts, with heat sink

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #17 on: August 17, 2013, 01:05:13 AM »
Hello again: dont know if anyone is interested or not but I worked on my pedal power dynamo again , the last two days I have been working on a frame of sorts, it will hold my batteries, altenator and flywheel. here is another picture.

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #18 on: August 21, 2013, 02:47:05 AM »
Imade some more progress on my pedal power machine today, I pretty much put all the parts together( except a seat) and did a few tests to see what kind of out put I was getting from the altenator. I was able to light a 12V car headlight,  A 12V dc motor ( from a cordless drill) and slightly charge a 12V battery all at the same time. If I keep the flywheel at about 60 RPM , I get about 15.7 Volts. I am having trouble measuring the amps, and I need some help to see if I am hooking up my meter properly? anyway here are some more pics ;D

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #19 on: August 21, 2013, 02:49:38 AM »
was trying to do more than one pic. :-[

Magluvin

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #20 on: August 21, 2013, 03:46:42 AM »
Imade some more progress on my pedal power machine today, I pretty much put all the parts together( except a seat) and did a few tests to see what kind of out put I was getting from the altenator. I was able to light a 12V car headlight,  A 12V dc motor ( from a cordless drill) and slightly charge a 12V battery all at the same time. If I keep the flywheel at about 60 RPM , I get about 15.7 Volts. I am having trouble measuring the amps, and I need some help to see if I am hooking up my meter properly? anyway here are some more pics ;D

Hey Doc  ;]

Most meters, in order to measure amps, you will have to switch the + lead from the right to the far left of the holes at the bottom of the meter face. Then you connect your leads in series with the circuit, so that all current in the circuit flows 'through' the meter. Also, most meters are good for 10amp capability, some up to 20amps, unless you have a shunt for your particular meter to measure higher currents.

'WattsuP' is a device that can be connected permanently and is good for up to 50 amps continuous 100amp peak. It gives voltage, amp hours, watt hours also. Check it out. About $50.  It will tell you what you need to know. It runs on 4.5v up to 60v. Also you can apply ghost power to the meter and then the meter will work with lower voltages. ;]


If you have tried to measure 'amps' with the meter by putting the leads 'across' the gen or battery, you may have blown the internal fuse in the meter. Some meters have a spare inside. ;] But if you didnt switch the + lead from right to far left when trying to measure amps, the fuse is ok because the + lead needs to be in the proper hole on the meter for voltage or amps. For measuring voltage, the meter should be high resistance at the leads, so it doesnt affect a working circuit while doing measurements, but when you switch the leads to the proper port/hole for amps measurement, then there is a very low ohm shunt across the leads 'in the meter'. So putting the leads across a battery or voltage source will essentially short out the source/circuit. And if the source/circuit can provide 10amps or more, the meters internal fuse should blow. Typically a fast blow fuse for replacement.

Mags

Magluvin

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #21 on: August 21, 2013, 03:49:56 AM »
And, thats a big flywheel!!   ;)


That 15v output. Is that from pedaling? Also, is it heavy pedaling, if pedaling, to hold that 15v+?

Nice work.   ;)

Mags

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #22 on: August 21, 2013, 05:27:41 AM »
Magluvin: Thank you for the heads up on amp meter hookup, Its an analog with a needle?!! I tried hooking it between + at rectifier and positine at battery it reads to 50 but if I  even slowly turn the altenator it pegs to 50. is my meter broken?  Once I get the flywheel up to speed (20) seconds and under full output load ? it is very easy to maintain that speed, even easier than riding that bike on a flat surface flat out ;D here is a picture of the gauge

Magluvin

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #23 on: August 21, 2013, 06:04:46 AM »
Ok, I see now. I thought you were using a multimeter. ::)   

This meter should work fine for what you are doing.

Put it in series with one of the leads 'between' your alternator and battery, so that the current flowing from the gen to the battery flows through the meter. If it pegged 50amps, then you must have connected it across the battery(parallel, not series) Unless your pedal powered gen produces more than 50amps at 15v. :o :o ;D   Hopefully the meter is ok.  ;) No fuses in that one I would say.

Mags


Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #24 on: August 22, 2013, 02:52:04 AM »
Well Magluvin I believe that meter is shot :(  I guess that is what I get for shopping at the surplus store. I ordered a new one. I am not very happy with the output of my alternator so I am designing a new one with bigger magnets and heavier magnet wire probably 15 ga. (since I already have it) ;)  And I need to fine tune a few other things as well, Like my drive chains are too loose. But overall I am pretty happy with it ;D ;D

Magluvin

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #25 on: August 22, 2013, 03:18:13 AM »
Well Doc, maybe it was 1.21 gigawatts that did it.  ;) Its possible the shunt burned. But I might think it would be noticeable. 50 amp fuse blow can be heard quite clearly, of which the shunt in a 50 amp meter should be able to handle more. Bang.

Look at the "Wattsup" meter. Ebay or RC hobby and a few other places on line. For your application, I think you would be very happy. It even tells you peak amps, wattage. Im very happy with mine. I use it for my ebikes and to test other projects.

What are you not happy about with your generator?

Im just finally finishing up my version of Lasersabers EZ spin motor. He said the 42awg will test your patients. Well, I have quite a few bobbins that the wire broke before finishing 3300 turns. >:( ;D   One of the issues is maintaining winding speed/rotation or the wire can get tugged by the weight of the large spool. Soldering my coil(24) leads(48) to terminal pins tonight. Check out Lasersaber on YT    EZ spin motor if your interested. I should be set to do a vid on mine soon.

Mags


totoalas

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #26 on: August 22, 2013, 03:24:40 AM »
Mr Delanco's VAWT on a thread by Kyle Karrington  in EF deserve a second look 
If somebody can draw a circuit will be better
If youre tired on the bike ..... then this it    lol

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #27 on: August 23, 2013, 02:14:05 AM »
Hi Mags: That meter wasnt bad after all, It was meant for 50 AMP AC not DC, the guy at the surplus store straightened me out,  apparently AC amps has just a _ straight line under it while a DC amp meter has  first a straight line and then a dotted line under that. I looked on a digital volt meter and there it was, I felt pretty foolish in that store with everyone looking at me and someone even said " you didnt know that!" Well I am too damn old to get embarrassed anymore so I just laughed and said nope!!! But anyway I swapped him out and the new one works just fine! But I didnt need anything close to 50 a 0 to 5 would be just fine. I hooked up an old used car battery today and I was lucky to get 4.5 AMPS at 18 volts, But once again I was very surprised at how easy it was to maintain that speed and  power level once I got it there. Hey I am 63 and in terrible shape, Imagine what a 20 year old in eccellent shape could do!!

Dr

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #28 on: August 23, 2013, 02:29:10 AM »
Totoalas:I will check that out I got most of my information from "HUGH PIGGOT" wind turbine books, They are chockful of useful information. And no I am not tired of pedalling my generator heck Im just getting started, Havent had this much fun in years. The first time I saw the needle move on that gauge I thought WOW how cool is that. I know its a small step, but I am going to keep fine tuning it till I get some decent returns on my sweat equity!! ;D ;D ;D

Magluvin

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Re: pedal power
« Reply #29 on: August 23, 2013, 02:34:19 AM »
Hey Doc

Cool. But still, 50A on the ac meter is strange.  ;)

That old battery is receiving 4.5a 18v?   That battery is bad.  Try a good one and see if there is a difference. A new battery will take quite a while to get to 18v at 4.5A. Actually 18v is too much, so if a good battery were allowed to get(charged) to 18v, the battery would end up bad soon enough.    So dont rely on that test as a conclusion. ;)   I have some bad sla batts that will take on 25v at very little amps. Once they do start taking on a charge of any kind, that voltage will drop and current will increase.

Also you could try some other loads. You said you tried an automotive light bulb. Well try more. ;D Like more together in parallel. Connect 1 and test. Then 2 and test. Then 3......   Putting them in parallel of course. This would give you a good definition(measuring V and A) of what the machine is capable of.

Can you do a vid of it in action. Everybody likes a movie. ;D Id like to see that big wheel spinnin. ;)


Mags