kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

An electrical engineer I work with posed an interesting idea for our large scale cars:

Create a generator circuit that is driven off the crankshaft rotation.

Basically use some sort of small pully between the crankcase and the clutch. Put a belt or small chain on the pully. Have the belt/chain drive an electric motor which will act as a power generator. Feed this into a power regulator circuit with a small storage cap to regulate the voltage down to 6 - 6.5 volts.

When the car is started it will immediately drive the power generator which will light up the electronics. When the engine stops running the electronics would also shut down but you would not necessarily need servo control in that situation. You could put a battery in the circuit that would get a small charge when the engine is running that would have enough power in an engine shutoff to run the electronics long enough to safely control the car to a stop.

This could eliminate the need of recharging a battery off the car and make the vehicle self-sufficient like a regular car.

I don't have any plans to actually do this but I thought I would see what you guys think of the idea.

Ken

J_D

nah - too much can go wrong.

Plus it puts extra drag on ur engine.... and with steering servos, and the amount of juice they drink.... would affect ur performance alot...

none the less it would be cool to see one

I think plugging the battery;s into a wall every month or two is a bit easier

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

I don't think it would put much extra load on the engine but of course it does add a lot of extra unnecessary complexity to the model.

Just thought it would be an interesting new discussion topic while we all wait for our Bajas

skulldoctor

i have a small alternator made just for that, accept when your running the vehicle it charges the onboard battery ,so you never need to charge them. i havnt put it on yet, but i found the perfect place to install it {on my mb} . i got it from australia. its for sale

its brand new,never used. im not sure if im ever gonna put it on or not.

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

Can you post a link and/or picture of the product?

skulldoctor

i dont hav any links,but was just trying to find a pic but couldnt find one. il keep looking,worst comes to worst il dig it out and take a pic

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

Okay, so I'm not crazy. Here's one I Googled up:

http://www.sullivanproducts.com/GenesysMainFrame.htm

It's designed for aircraft so it is not suitable for car applications with the dirt and mud.

The company talks about developing custom generators for the military for long-range drone use.

Very cool stuff.

USABaja5B

Do a search for R/C blimps and generators. They use them alot for keeping aloft for hours at a time. At out local drag races, they use one to do filming of all day events.

Anomie

That is pretty slick, and doesn't seem to use much power from the engine. I can see how it would be a nice accessory for a plane, or even a car if one was so inclined.

kinggeordie

i like the idea be interesting to see it work. the small charge you were talkinabout to bring the vehicle to a safe stop - a capacitor could be used

hndaman1

My Feedback: (6)

why couldn't we use a charging coil off a pocketbike?since the flywheel is prettymuch the same thing right?I have seen the pocket bikes at our local autozone with the weedwacker engine with electric start with a 29cc 2 stroke engine in them, with lights and turn signals, so they must have a charging coil in them, les wieght then all the other stuff you mentioned

Soloratov

My Feedback: (1)

It is true many pocket bike engines have charging coils...mine does, but its a 49cc. Chances are, you won't find them on anything below a 43cc engine. A lot of pocket bikes need to be plugged in. Thats half the reason I chose this engine for my truck project. Be careful and research a lot though, pretty dure none of these will fit on a zen motor, just too big, and they are mounted inside the engine case itself, right next to the electric starter.

kinggeordie

yep totatly agree but mabe somthing like a chainsaw or petrol lawn mower could be the answer

mike_humphreys

Nice idea Ken but certainly for racing it would not be allowed although if you get anywhere with it then keep us all informed.

Mike