Oliver Walker

Ok, I'll try to find a motor.

I think I just killed a hand drill by spinning it, that was stupid. I guess they have a lock to stop them going backwards, and overpowering that is stupid.

From looking around the internet, clearly I need a low rpm (eg. 600rpm?... what's 'low'?), high voltage motor, and there are some suggestions, but mainly of specific north american motors that have been around. I'd love to find something from a car, because it would fit with the belt I already have that fits on my bike, so my gearing questions are sorted. Also, I can just go to a small car repair/scrap yard that I've found that will sell me a part. Is there a motor in a car that might be suitable? I think I read that a fan motor is too fast. Starter motor? I don't know a lot about cars, so keep the langauge simple if you reply please!!

Many thanks.

If I do this, nothing is interrupted by the switch, it doesn't make any difference whether the circuit is connected or not. They seem to be connected within the alternator.

I wanted to break the circuit, becasue I get a reading when everything is stationary, from the battery, so I'll never know if I'm producing electricity or not.

I've sadly just realised I think an alternator was always the wrong thing for me anyway, I want to actually produce electricity from wave power, which will be very irregular. I wanted to base it on a bike generator because there seem to be lots of them, and:
- the bike provides a nice, portable stand and mount for the various parts
- it has good gears/cogs
-the cogs are ratcheteed, so can only move one way, which i need because the waves moves back and forth.

But the alternator seems to be comploicated with the exciting.

It would be easiest for me to either get a motor online, or a car part (seeing as I already have the belt for it now!).

Are there any motors in a car set up that would work... atbest the work with a low rpm??
It doesn't matter if it requires a lot of power to turn, there will be plenty of power to turn the wheel. I'll have the opposite problem, too low rpm.

Any advice would be great!

Correction - when I disconnect the battery and keep pedalling, the terminals give off a reading of 1.2 volts.

There is a little 'vppp' sound when I connect the battery when I'm pedalling, which makes me think something is happening!

Thanks John.

I used the battery from the power drill which of course I already have, so that's one problem sorted for now. It's a 14v battery.

But still now volts coming off my alternator, as far as I can see.

The black wire is connected to the negative on the battery (and the neg on the multimeter).
The two small wires are connected with one another. The large white wire(s) are connected to the positive of the battery, and interrupted by a switch (well, another pair of wires which I connect to one another to close the circuit).

When connected, it has the full 13.88 volts.

I then start pedalling, and cut the switch, breaking the link between the battery and the positive (white) lead.
The multimeter then gives a reading of 0.2 volts.

I also tried connecting the battery to the two thin wires. This means the circuit for some reason gets just around 2volts.

It would be great if you had some more ideas.
I'm dissappointed I can't make this work, everyone else seems to get it up and running in a day!
Thanks

Thank you so much!
Yes, I haven't worked out the pros and cons of motors versus alternators yet. Actually I'm just doing this as a first step, because I know so many people have done it and the materials are available... after I want to use wave power to power it!

I'll get a car battery, just didn't want to get one yet as I don't know if it'll work and it'll be difficult to dispose of if it isn't the right thing.

So can I just connect a positive to one of the small wires and negative to the other?

Can anyone help me?! I have an alternator from a Nissan, and don't understand the terminals (and if I did understand it, I'm still not sure I'd know how to wire it). There are *so* many videos of people having built bike powered generators (using both alternators and fixed magnet dynamos), yet so few clear wiring instructions (with the 'exciting charge').

Also, under one video someone suggested that I wouldn't need a full 12 volts to excite the circuit, and any would do, further thoughts?

Help would be great!

Thanks.