skulldoctor

well i dont have it installd yet,but i do hav the item. i got it off ebay and it came from australia. its for all engined rc vehicles {trucks,cars,boats,planes,etc..} its calld "alter mini" . il try to take a pic of the item latr today and post it. im redy 2 go play w/ my beetle for a little while first
sounds like u dont believe me ??

skulldoctor

i jus did a search on ebay, this is the same exact thing i have. i bought mine over 2 years ago so i dont know if its the same guy i bought mine from but this guy is from australia so it mite be him. atleast u can go see the item and read how it works.

p.s. it is the same guy i got mine from.i recognz his id.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

the **** in the link is e b a y so fix it in your browser or it the link wont work.
or u can go to e b a y and search for alter mini ,its the only one on there

ibstar

run a belt of clutch bell to an electric motor
and you have power
but it will be AC like mains and we need DC so we need to convert it
randy feel free i aint got time to write a AC to DC guide

skulldoctor

the size of the alternator is perfect for the beetle. i plan to mount the extra pulley to the pinion gear
,the pinion gear has a space on the oposite side of the teeth,it mite have to be turnd down abit on a lathe so the pully fit tight on there but it looks like itl work gr8. the motor will mount directly above the pinion gear. i will post pics wen i install it,but it mite be awhile.

randyg-rcu

Actually, you have to do a lot more than that... I'd need to write far more on battery charging than on ac-dc. And I'd like to at least pretend I have a life, thank you very much.

Short answer: with lead-acid batteries, like on a car, a constant voltage (as output by a car charging system) works well... but on nimh or nicd batteries, a constant voltage charge won't work, so you have to use a bit of electronics to make sure you aren't overcharging the battery and/or slowly discharging it. Plus, if the alternator uses field coils (like on a car), you have a complicated driver circuit to build, unless one comes with it.

Liking simple designs, I'd probably design the driver to measure the charging current of the battery, and adjust the alternator field coils to regulate it to C/20 or C/10. That way the battery would receive a constant trickle charge whenever the engine was running, and if you make the assumption that the car won't be left on without the engine on, the battery should never need more than a trickle charge.


EDIT: I just noticed your post was about using an electric motor, not an alternator... with a motor, the output will already be DC (_not_ AC), so asking me to write about ac->dc isn't relevant anyway.

(but, does still have all the same issues of how to properly charge the batteries without over/undercharging)


--Randy

ibstar

yeap all to much and really not worth the hassle
£25 buys a quick charger so why bother

AceCoolie

Awesome info Randy! Thanks for taken the time to write that all out. I'm definatly printing a copy to keep for reference.

CowboyBob

I'll second that opinion...I know that writing something that technical, in a manner that most people can understand, takes a lot of time and effort (even if the subject matter is second nature to the author). So thanks for taking the time to "school" us about LED's :-)

randyg-rcu

Heh, thanks.

I like teaching... spent two years teaching computer engineering. Then the New World Order decided that college should program students into good little robots instead of teach, and I got handed a new syllabus and told to use it or quit. Haven't worked in the educational system since, and likely never will again.

(I think classes should engage students intellectually... the new version of the class they wanted me to teach was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen. The course material was completely watered down... probably less than 1/10th the material covered. Homework would be required, and lots of it. Before I gave very little homework, and NEVER "do this, now do it 20 more times with different parameters" type assignments. With the new class, I was required to assign weekly assignments, of many hours of busywork. Student's wouldn't learn anything; they'd just be doing busywork. and more busywork. and more busywork. And I was required to make homework 50% of the grade. And I was required to fail any student that got less than 50% on more than 2 homework assignments. And tests were supposed to be worthless "do the same thing you did on the homework, but with different numbers" wastes of time. Groupwork was required, and any student not working in a group or demonstrating non-team behavior would be failed. Students liked my class. I even got a teacher of the year award for it. EVERYONE thought the new class would suck, except for the department. The class served no function other than to program good little robots, and FAIL anyone with a brain. Students would learn nothing. The class was a complete waste of time from an educational viewpoint. But, it was probably 10 times the work as my version, with 10 times as many rules to go with it. Not work as in thinking or learning, work as in busywork. "Do what you're told, when you're told, and you'll get an A. Learn anything, or otherwise have a brain, and you'll get an F." I can not come up with words to explain how ridiculously much of a good-little-robot training camp the new class was. I sent the department head a rather long letter detailing why every single part of the class was ****ed up... the next day my keycodes stopped working, and a new teacher's name was listed for the class. Apparently they knew I'd object to their "improvements," and had already hired my replacement. I tried to track down where the new requirements came from, and got nowhere, except for a few other equally pissed teachers saying they found out it came from above the department level... and some of these teachers were at other universities! Apparently it was a state, if not federal (one of the people I spoke with was in a different state, yet had the exact same experience) directive.... and before I type a rant equal in length to my LED post, I'm going to go find something else to do.)


--Randy

AceCoolie

kirkieboy, how did you get your lights so cheap? I went to the maxxlights web site and 2 headlights & 2 taillights was $45. The 4 floods for the roll bar are $100!

kirkieboy

I suggest that you call Will (the president) personally. He's great in regards to customer service. Just call the number on the website and say that Kirkland sent you. Or you can email and say the same. Either way he'll hook you up.

AceCoolie

Thanks. I talked to him today. He's very nice. He said you ended up useing 2 floods on each side for the headlights. Is that correct? How did you mount them? Do you have any pictures of the mounting?