Just wondering if its doable - gas to run electric ?

[ibdennyak]

Denny, as CEO, owner and operator of north America, you would get paid in fine Ales and exotic pets. Lucky blighter. (I don't really know what a "blighter" is, Jemma?)

With a DC motor, how would I regulate speed? I am thinking some sort of dimmer switch.

Well, my present financial status has caused me to become accustommed to the cheap sh****tuff. Don't know if my system could handle anything else. As far as exotic pets, I have an overweight Rottweiller and lab mix.....or as I describe him...a Rottenlab. Blighter? you got me. Sounds bad though.

Speed could be done several ways. The dimmer switch (pretty heavy duty) would work, but you would waste battery power as heat. If you had a true gas over electric (engine driving a gen driving a motor) just vary the speed of the engine. My hub is brushless and is varied by a controller. Some one posted a very thorough explanation of how they work in an earlier post. He included words liike FET transistors and techy stuff. :???: A brushed motor could be controlled by your dimmer switch, or by connecting the batteries in various series-parallel combinations with a step effect. I kind of like the brushless setup myself, at least until it breaks. Got to be harder to fix. I purchased a couple extra of the PM motors, so when the Honda gets here, I plan to play around with the gas over setup. The motor gen setup should make a pretty good transmission, although there will be some efficiency losses. Another thing you could do is run the engine driving a modified alternator at a constant speed, but vary the output with a rheostat in the regulating circuit, and have that output coupled to a motor. All kinds of ways. I was just looking for light, cheap, dependable, and what do I have laying around. Dang, I never dreamed this many people would be interested in this concoction.

Denny

 

[JemmaUK]

Denny, as CEO, owner and operator of north America, you would get paid in fine Ales and exotic pets. Lucky blighter. (I don't really know what a "blighter" is, Jemma?)

With a DC motor, how would I regulate speed? I am thinking some sort of dimmer switch.

Noun 1. blighter - a persistently annoying person
cuss, gadfly, pesterer, pest
nudnick, nudnik - (Yiddish) someone who is a boring pest
persecutor, tormenter, tormentor - someone who torments

Noun 2. blighter - a boy or man; "that chap is your host"; "there's a fellow at the door"; "he's a likable cuss"; "he's a good bloke"
bloke, chap, fella, fellow, lad, gent, feller, cuss
male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies
dog - informal term for a man; "you lucky dog"


As you ask so do I provide lmao

Denny, I'd be happy to act as a supplier/builder in the UK if you ever get that far .

Jemma xx

 

[ibdennyak]

TORMENTOR You've been talking to the rottenlab.

 

[Danny3xd]

Thanks Jemma!

 

[billvon]

With a DC motor, how would I regulate speed? I am thinking some sort of dimmer switch.

eek! Don't use a dimmer switch. It will provide some impressive pyrotechnic displays that will be, sadly, short lived. They work on AC only.

If you are using a straight DC motor, then have the generator charge a small battery (or even a big capacitor) and use a DC motor controller like an Alltrax. It will 'chop' the DC and allow you to vary the speed. You need the cap to stabilize the voltage a bit.

If you are using a brushless DC motor, then use the battery/cap and get a BLDC controller (Crystalyte makes a good line.) BLDC motors are nice because there's really nothing to go wrong inside them; they are just copper, magnets and a few sensors. All the "action" takes place outside in the controller (which is also the commutator; replaces the brushes on a DC motor.)

 

[ibdennyak]

eek! Don't use a dimmer switch. It will provide some impressive pyrotechnic displays that will be, sadly, short lived. They work on AC only.

If you are using a straight DC motor, then have the generator charge a small battery (or even a big capacitor) and use a DC motor controller like an Alltrax. It will 'chop' the DC and allow you to vary the speed. You need the cap to stabilize the voltage a bit.

If you are using a brushless DC motor, then use the battery/cap and get a BLDC controller (Crystalyte makes a good line.) BLDC motors are nice because there's really nothing to go wrong inside them; they are just copper, magnets and a few sensors. All the "action" takes place outside in the controller (which is also the commutator; replaces the brushes on a DC motor.)

So that's what is in the BLDC motors. I wondered how they worked. Didn't want to take mine apart until it breaks. I may have to explore your brain on the controllers too. You make it sound so simple. Like your explanation of replacing the commutator and brushes. Say FET transistors again, it turns me on. Appreciate the info. Still playing with the idea of over volting these things for more speed, unless there is a safer way.

Denny

 

[dbigkahunna]

Thanks for the heads up on those gen/motors! Just got 2 of them off EBay and will be doing my own experiments. Thanks!

 

[ibdennyak]

Thanks for the heads up on those gen/motors! Just got 2 of them off EBay and will be doing my own experiments. Thanks!

No problem. Let me know how it turns out. Thought they were kind of chintzy at first, but they are a Bosch product. Seem pretty durable. Would prefer bearings, but the bushings are pretty good sized. Besides for the price, get a couple.

Denny

 

[wildwestrider]

A kit.....gee, never thought of that. That could be the career change I am looking for. Actually it is so simple that anyone can do it. Parts numbers and suggestions I can furnish for free. My career in Wisconsin was more heavy equipment oriented, so I had a pretty complete machine shop. Juneau topography and cost vs return doesn't allow that. I really miss my shop.

Denny, its been quite a while since an update. Any further developments on this? Did you build anything with the Honda GX31 you had ordered?

 

[ibdennyak]

Denny, its been quite a while since an update. Any further developments on this? Did you build anything with the Honda GX31 you had ordered?

well, yes and no. I managed to toast the controller due to Alaskan winters. The hub had some moisture inside, and when I hit the throttle one freezing morning, it decided to retire. I really can't complain about the performance though....it just seemed to run and run until the climate got to it. Not particularly fast, but dependable.....and stealthy.

The little Honda was transplanted into a homebuilt cargo trailer running through a minitiller transmission and into a 6 speed 20 inch bicycle wheel. That was another fairly bullet proof setup that I ran for about 1800 or so miles. I posted some pictures in response to a post somewhere, but can't find them again. Love the little Hondas.

Since then I built a couple of rack mounts using various engines driving a v belt configuration into a ring on the rear wheel. The ring idea was shamelessly stolen from a combination of the Gebe setup...Whizzer drive rings....and something that Haggard (a friend from Canada) had built, along with a little redneck engineering. One of them is approaching 8000 fairly trouble free miles. Doesn't take long when they are used as a daily driver.

One of these days I plan to get a new controller and resurect the kinda hybrid. It wasn't a bad setup considering the simplicity. I believe SKY4RK built a similar setup without the batteries kind of using the generator as an electric transmission. It didn't work too well I guess. I will say that one would probably gain more useful power just using the engine directly driving the wheel. Lots of losses converting from one power to another.....but at 200 mpg.....what the heck.

Appreciate the attention. If you would like any more info, send me a PM. I'll read it eventually.

Denny