The last headlight you will ever need
 

On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

The last headlight you will ever need
 

John B. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Mar 2014 08:29:42 -0400, Duane
wrote:

On 3/27/2014 7:46 AM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Mar 2014 15:31:25 +1100, James
wrote:

On 27/03/14 11:56, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:22:45 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 3/26/2014 12:29 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

snip

Hmmm... I haven't seen any bicycle powered can openers, but I suppose
one could be designed. Speed reduction seems to be the major problem,
so I would suggest an outboard worm gear, driving a sprocket, with the
power transmitted to the can opener via a speedometer cable. I'm not
sure there's a market, but if you label it "high efficiency" and
"ecologically correct", it should bring in some sales.

You need to work on a bicycle driven coffee grinder. For bicycle
tourists without access to electric power the present options suck
because the manual grinders are extremely slow. Contrary to what was
shown in the movie City Slickers, there are no battery powered coffee
grinders. The closest I've come is this:
http://nordicgroup.us/bikecoff/bcimages/batterygrinder.JPG but this
12VDC grinder has been discontinued.


My goodness but you Americans seem so inapt. One can easily pound
coffee beans into a powder with a mortar and pestle. Just like the old
folks used to. But of course, you probably can't figure out how to
operate one of those.


I do use a hand powered can opener though, and have never owned an
electric can opener.


Years ago, being the dotting husband that I am :-) I bought my wife an
electric can opener. She tried it a few times and put it away and went
back to the manual can opener. I can only assume that the manual
opener worked better for some reason.


Probably useful for people with arthritis or something. Easy enough to
find a manual one that works well these days. Not like the old stab and
cut ones.

I would also love to find a good manual coffee grinder that didn't cause
an arm and a leg so if anyone has a link...

Try http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=289750
they list several in the 10 - 30 dollar range.

Of course you throw confusion into the game with your demand that they
must be "good". Can't you be happy with the plastic junk that others
find so appealing?

Nah. Coffee is important.
--
duane

The last headlight you will ever need
 

On 28/03/14 11:28, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)


Once you have a battery, you have an external power source. But I know
what you mean, most small wind generators use permanent magnets for the
field.

--
JS

The last headlight you will ever need
 

On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 15:57:36 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 11:28, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)


Once you have a battery, you have an external power source. But I know
what you mean, most small wind generators use permanent magnets for the
field.

The ones used on yachts generally do not put out a great deal of
current so having to excite them with battery power can actually end
up with a net loss.

--
Cheers,

John B.

The last headlight you will ever need
 

On 3/27/2014 7:28 PM, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)


For charging batteries a DC generator would be another path.
They are heavier than alternators but that's not a big
factor in every application.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

The last headlight you will ever need
 

"James" wrote in message
...
On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

That was true of the old style car dynamos - less so with modern
alternators.

The last headlight you will ever need
 

John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)

There's often enough residual magnetism in the stator for a car alternator
to self-excite.

The last headlight you will ever need
 

"Ralph Barone" wrote in message
news:571029119417725637.406552address_is-invalid.invalid@shawnews...
John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann

wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)

There's often enough residual magnetism in the stator for a car alternator
to self-excite.

That was often true of field coil motorcycle alternators, one even mentioned
it in the user manual - but you needed about 3 people pushing for a flat
battery bump start.

With PM alternators it was never an issue.

The last headlight you will ever need
 

"Phil W Lee" wrote in message
...
"Ian Field" considered Fri, 28 Mar
2014 17:47:04 -0000 the perfect time to write:



"James" wrote in message
...
On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann

wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

That was true of the old style car dynamos - less so with modern
alternators.

Which mostly come with a pulley attached which is ideally suited to
providing whatever ratio is required. Rather efficiently, too.
If you pick the right one, the regulator and rectifier are right in
the same unit, too (at least on anything that doesn't qualify as
vintage).
Those alternators have a far higher range of useful operating speeds
than DC generators, and although the battery stage is mandatory for
the field coils, if no real storage is required, it needn't be very
big. On many (or even most) boats it's already present anyway.

I'm just describing what I've seen working, in a number of places that
are either off-grid or where utility power is unreliable.
I first saw this setup during the power cuts of the early 70s, when it
became sufficiently commonplace that used alternators, regulators
(many were separate in those days) and batteries from car breakers
yards became very difficult to obtain, with demand outstripping
supply.

Somewhere I've got a PDF on modifying old automotive electricals for
lighting in remote farm outbuildings and even basic home made arc welding
sets - pages and pages of stuff on rewinding DC generators.

Looks about 20s or 30s ish.

The last headlight you will ever need
 

On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 07:36:33 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 3/27/2014 7:28 PM, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:05:20 +1100, James
wrote:

On 28/03/14 03:00, Phil W Lee wrote:
John B. considered Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:52:24 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:47:16 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

600 watts:
http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm
See bottom of page for the "400 watt grid intertie inverter". Sigh.

300 watts:
http://www.pedalpowergenerator.com

But can you do it for 8 hours a day, day in and day out? I really need
to power some tools on the boat I'm working on which is anchored out
in the harbour.

You should be able to power a reasonably respectable car alternator
with even a fairly modest wind turbine, which would seem ideally
suited to use on a boat.
That'll keep a decent 12v battery charged for either direct use, or
through an inverter if you need utility voltage for your tools.
I can't say that I remember using any power tools on boats when I used
to help out down at the yard in Brnham-on-Crouch though.


Car alternators are designed to be turned at relatively high speed
compared with a windmill.

The only option is to gear the windmill so that it turns the alternator
at much higher speed - but then efficiency suffers as power lost in the
gears.

There are better solutions.

And, the car alternator needs to be excited by an external power
course to produce electricity - the reason that they aren't used to
build wind generators :-)


For charging batteries a DC generator would be another path.
They are heavier than alternators but that's not a big
factor in every application.

Yup, self exciting. But why bother? Permanent magnets work better and
cheaper and by taking the power from the field coils instead of the
commutator you eliminate a lot of maintenance.

The guys that build their own yacht wind generator usually use DC
motors as a basis.
--
Cheers,

John B.