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| *Vultures Knob>>>Bicycle Shop |
How would I go about building a a rear carrier mount bike generator? |
I am trying to build a device which would mount on the rear carrier of my 20 inch folding bike, which would generate and store electricity, for anything, within reason that can be plugged in (i.e lamp, computer, stereo etc). I bike about 10-15 miles a day and I would like to generate some power and $ave on my elecricity bill (I already have solar panels) and create some green power. So I want to create, in essence, a kinetically generated charger to mount on my bike, which, when I get home, I can plug appliances into. If such a product already exists where can I get it. If I need to make it from scratch what is my first step? There are generators made to attach to bicycles. They can be found in bike shops, and sometimes auto stores (Western Auto), hardware stores, and department stores. You'd have to use rectifier diodes if you hope to store the voltage. Unlike another poster said, they put out a weird type of AC instead of DC. Yes, I've measured it. It required the AC setting on a multimeter to get a stable reading. I've even managed to get one of these generators to run as a motor using a transformer with AC output. It ran rough that way since it was not tuned for 60hz, but it did run, proving that it was an AC generator. It required manual starting for it to turn. It did not run at all on DC. i don't think your bicycle would be as efficient if you would succeed doing that. i suggest you get a car instead. They do (or did) sell small DC generators that bolted to the frame and had a toothed wheel that would make contact with the tire and would usually power a small light on the front. Unfortunately for you, you would not be able to generate much electricity this way, and any storage device (battery) would be to heavy. (especially for a folding bike) Years ago I had 2 bikes with generators for headlight and tailight power. they worked fine. I would imagine a good bike shop would have one or would know where to get one. If not, check out the following sites: http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm... http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedge... http://www.scienceshareware.com/bike_gen... http://www.freelights.co.uk/ wow you have solar panels..thats cool, now you want to power a light from your bike? great...how about next you get ahold of Bruno down at teh county lock up and find out how to make a microwave out of tin foil...... Kook Small generators that would run a headlight on a bike were common on bikes 40 years ago - I don't know when or if they stopped making them. - I used one when I was a kid. They made it noticeably harder to peddle. Small generators would be less useful on a bike these days because headlights are now made with LEDs which make much more efficient use of batteries and the batteries can be rechargeable. If you wanted to store energy with a bike generator, you would have to peddle even harder and carry around batteries to charge, which would add weight. Ask someone in yahoo answers. Thats a pretty handy site. |
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