DC generator

[droid_ca]

has anybody ever built one if so what kind of alternator did you use and what kind of motor as I'd like to have one as long as I can keep it fairly quiet

[Shadow Catcher]

If you search Youtube you will find plenty of examples where some one has coupled up an automotive alternator to a one lunger gas engine i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTNqm1ePMUI Can it be made quiet, depends on your definition of quiet, which is why I went with solar. At Diamond O camp ground in California I heard two generators running at night and it was annoying.
Actually a quieter option is running battery cables from the battery on your TV and charging the trailer battery for a time.

Droid I wanted to say I do appreciate your thinking outside the box, and willingness to submit those ideas for critique. Some of those ideas are ones we or others have had and worked on to find answers and hopefully you have found it of value.

[pete42]

I have never used a gas motor to run an alternator but when I use to work one of the maintenance men
hooked an alternator to a electric motor to try to test it's output.
he said it's bad until I remined him he needed a "field " voltage that is usualy supplied by a battery.
so using a 12 volt battery and the electric motor to spin the alternator he found that it was putting out 14 volts
but the the noise was from bad bearings, since we stocked loads of bearings he was able to repair the alternator.
I'm sure you already knew that an alternator requires a field voltage supply.

pete

[bdosborn]

I played around with the idea of making one and went with an inverter generator to keep the noise down. I rarely use it and rely on the PV system to keep the battery topped off. I did have to run the generator recently when we camped a week in rainy weather as the solar panels weren't keeping up. This re-emphasized to me the need for multiple charging sources for long term boondocking. We use 3 sources (listed in descending frequency of use):

Solar
Truck's Alternator
Generator

Here's a DC generator based on a lawn motor:

Lawn Mower Engine

Here's the nicest DIY DC generator I've found:

On Board Generator

Hard core, *expensive* DC generator

PowerMaker DC generator

The problem with the DIY approach is the noise, it's hard to make a generator quiet. On the other hand, I can charge the battery up to 95% with an hour generator run and a 40 amp battery charger after a typical night of battery use.

Bruce

[mikeschn]

Isn't there any thing smaller, and therefore quieter? It's not like we need to put out a lot of watts, and recharge the battery in 15 minutes flat.

Mike...

[droid_ca]

Ok so if the motor idea is out what about using a steam powered engine

Droid I wanted to say I do appreciate your thinking outside the box, and willingness to submit those ideas for critique. Some of those ideas are ones we or others have had and worked on to find answers and hopefully you have found it of value.

Thank you Shadow Catcher I do try to be useful...That is one of the things I really like about this site is if you have a problem someone on here has already came up with a solution I guess there are many ways at solving things on here

I'm sure you already knew that an alternator requires a field voltage supply.
pete

Pete so your saying that you need a battery source to enable the alternator to create a charge??

My thoughts on building one is you'll be kicking yourself if you go with an alternator as stated above.
As for it being quite good luck with that! There's some on the market that are quite but their built that way.

biziedizie I know deep cycle batteries can last a long time my parents have on one the party boat just for the stereo and it lasts the whole time that the boat is in the water and they live on a lake so that is a long time. As for the keeping it quiet I just thought that maybe if there was some motor out there that was already quiet then you could use it to be adapted and maybe you could use more then one alternator ...obviously these are just some random thoughts at the moment but research maybe needed

I played around with the idea of making one and went with an inverter generator to keep the noise down.


The problem with the DIY approach is the noise, it's hard to make a generator quiet. On the other hand, I can charge the battery up to 95% with an hour generator run and a 40 amp battery charger after a typical night of battery use.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce was hoping you would chime in since you seem to be the go to guy when it comes to external power sources

Isn't there any thing smaller, and therefore quieter? It's not like we need to put out a lot of watts, and recharge the battery in 15 minutes flat.

Mike...

Mike that is why I asked the question I'm sure there is someone on here who has an idea or contraption that they use (other then solar) that is quiet even if you could use it to say help charge your neighbors batteries as well maybe then they might put up with a little noise

[bdosborn]

Mike that is why I asked the question I'm sure there is someone on here who has an idea or contraption that they use (other then solar) that is quiet even if you could use it to say help charge your neighbors batteries as well maybe then they might put up with a little noise

Yes, there is one source that's quiet, works at night and doesn't take up much room but you're not going to like the price:

Efoy

It would be kind of hard to DIY ...

Bruce

[eamarquardt]

Mike that is why I asked the question I'm sure there is someone on here who has an idea or contraption that they use (other then solar) that is quiet even if you could use it to say help charge your neighbors batteries as well maybe then they might put up with a little noise

Yes, there is one source that's quiet, works at night and doesn't take up much room but you're not going to like the price:

Efoy

It would be kind of hard to DIY ...

Bruce

Wow. 25 watts (meager), .9liters/$1 fuel per kwh (at home you pay about 13 cents), and $3,000 plus shipping.

You have to wanna be really cool to buy one of them.

Cheers,

Gus

[droid_ca]

I saw those a while back but too rich for my wallet
that is why I'm considering doing it this way as I usually go camping up in the hills and nobody would hear me anyways but just thought it might be nice to see what other possibilities are out there....keep the ideas coming

[mikeschn]

Mike that is why I asked the question I'm sure there is someone on here who has an idea or contraption that they use (other then solar) that is quiet even if you could use it to say help charge your neighbors batteries as well maybe then they might put up with a little noise

Yes, there is one source that's quiet, works at night and doesn't take up much room but you're not going to like the price:

Efoy

It would be kind of hard to DIY ...

Bruce

I like it. But of course I don't like the price. And we can't exactly duplicate the electro chemical fuel cell technology as a diyer.

But I wonder if something could be done with the little green bottles that would be relatively quiet?

Mike...



Mike...

[bdosborn]

Wow. 25 watts (meager), .9liters/$1 fuel per kwh (at home you pay about 13 cents), and $3,000 plus shipping.

I told you you wouldn't like the price.

I wonder who buys them?

Bruce

[eamarquardt]

Wow. 25 watts (meager), .9liters/$1 fuel per kwh (at home you pay about 13 cents), and $3,000 plus shipping.

I told you you wouldn't like the price.

I wonder who buys them?

Bruce

The price is fine with me as I'm not buying one. I looked a bit further into it and it runs on methanol. I'm even aware of a place that sells methanol by the gallon. But it's small, light, quiet, cool, high tech, and does make enough to keep you going if you're frugal with your usage.

If you spent the money on solar panels you could probably buy enough to get usable juice even on a pitch black night.

So, I'd buy one but 1) Suzy would not be happy (therefore I won't be happy) and 2) I'm not sure where to get the fuel.

Cheers, Gus

[pete42]

yep a voltage is needed to be supplied to the field portion of an alternator.

if I remember correctly a generator has magnets and a alternator doesn't

heck I'm so old I still use a Leiden jar.............

pete

[Gladtobehere]

What about using a pedal power generator?

[Gladtobehere]

I agree with Slow about using the car as the simplest and most cost effective way to provide some electricity in the wild. Or even in the driveway on a cold winter night when the power goes out. We have spent a 100 years perfecting these gasoline powered devices which only have one growing problem. They require gasoline.

Personally, I prefer to investigate the greener approaches and use them if feasable.

We always travel with bicycles so, the concept of having a small stand and generator seems reasonable. And would even fit nicely with a solar component.

I understand the desire to relax, but will not turn a pedal or start my car to keep the beer cold. And it is nice to be within bike distance of the nearest source.