Cute little generator!

[mikeschn]

I saw this cute little generator. I'll bet it has an application for a teardrop somewhere!

Mike...

http://www.universalweb.com/food/generator.htm

[Chris C]

Hey Mike, that really is a slick little generator. Small too! Big enough to recharge the battery when "off grid" for a while...............which is where I like to camp. Thanks for the link. I might just add that one to my "must have" list.

[Steve Frederick]

I wonder how noisey it is??

[Gern Blanston]

According to the site it's 69 decibels. As I recall 60 decibels is normal conversation, 110 is shouting in the ear.

[DestinDave]

At that size and weight you could build a small soundproofed box for it and you'd hardly hear it at all... Neat little item.. added that to my wishlist...

[beverlyt]

Thanks Mike,
Bob thinks this is pretty neat too.
I looked up the small Honda generator...noise level between 55-60? Sounds like the noise level is about comparable to one of those.


Bev

[Q]

Looks like it's got a 4 amp 12V charging circuit. That's not a lot. For faster charging I would suggest a small gasoline engine coupled to a standard automotive alternator. A small Honda 4 stroke engine can be had for under $200 and a used alternator can be had for $20. Add a few bucks for a belt, pulley, and frame and you have a light weight generator that can charge at 25 to 100 amps depending on horsepower.

I have one that I use around the house that consists of a 5 hp Honda engine $160 new from eBay, 6" pulley $6 from hardware store, used alternator from an old Ford (free), V belt $3 from auto parts store, homemade frame from 1" square steel stock, and a piece of nichrome wire for the field resistor. I also added a larger muffler that I had laying around the house. It's very quiet, uses very little fuel, and puts out 65 amps.

Q

[SteveH]

Q,

You are right, it is a very small generator. Even the total output, 350 watts, is only good for 2.8 amps at 125 VAC. It would run a couple of lights, maybe a battery charger, but that is about it.

It is cute though.

[Q]

Steve,

I'll grant you that, it is cute, and it may provide enough power for some uses.

I also have an old 300 watt Honda generator made back in the late 70s. Not quite as small or light weight as that one but it does put out 10 amps for charging a 12V battery. The AC side of it is only enough to handle an electric drill or a few compact fluroescent lights. Runs forever on the half gallon of fuel it holds.

Q

[asianflava]

Last time I was home, I was poking around the garage and found a generator that may be smaller! I think it was called Tiny Tiger and was rated for 300W. I found this pic of one

[Q]

Powderburn,

I'll get a picture of the two homemade generators I currently use later today and post them. You can indeed use a lawnmower engine but you have to use a heavy pulley or something else to act as a flywheel. A standard lawnmower engine uses the blade as a flywheel. It doesn't matter if the pulley is horizontal.

Yes, you can charge deep cycle batteries with one of these. That's what I use them for. My whole house is solar powered and I use the generators to charge the battery bank during cloudy periods.

I unload the generator for starting by unclipping the field resistor. What I do is make the field current adjustable by using an aligator clip which I can connect to the nichrome wire in different places.

If you have a big enough engine and alternator you can charge a battery VERY fast and even damage a battery.

Q

[rd]

As far as turning a lawnmower into a generator is concerned;

http://theepicenter.com/tow082099.html

this might intrigue people. The even sell a (somewhat) universal mounting bracket, you can even convert to propane so only need one source of fuel. How keen is that? I've wanted to try this one myself for grins.

(no affiliation, just thought it was neato)

rd aka caliban

[Gambam]

My uncle has been using a lawnmower/Alt combo for years at the drag strip. A quick walk through the pits you'll see many of these. He built his out of an old cart for hauling 2 old tin trash cans to the curb.

[Q]

Ok, a few pics.

Here are 2 side pics of the alternator I use for an occational top up of my house batteries. It's a Honda 5 hp engine coupled to a 65 amp Ford alternator.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/ ... nator1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/QDM/smgen1.jpg

Here is the field resistor which is just a piece of nichrome wire from an old electric dryer heating element, wrapped around a fiberglass rod. One end of the nichrome wire is connect to the field terminal on the alternator. The wire with the clip on it is connected to the positive terminal. After starting the engine I just adjust the load by clipping the clip to the nichrome wire in the appropriate place.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/QDM/resistor.jpg

Here's a picture of the large generator which is a 16.5 hp OHV Briggs engine coupled to a 100 amp truck alternator. This unit can run very slowly and still put out 100 amps. The pulley on the engine is about 12" in diameter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/QDM/biggen.jpg

Q

Thanks Q
Im interested in a close up of your field adjustment set up if you would please.

[mikeschn]

Here's another way to build your own...

http://www.mikenchell.com/images/generatorbuild.pdf

Mike...