Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondo
OK, I just picked up the used Kohler 12.5 hp motor. I am going to mount it in the front of the Fiero and belt drive 2-4 of the treadmill motors and see what kind of power I can generate. I will post some pics as soon as I get it in there. Thanks for the help guys, I think this setup will be a lot more efficient than converting the ac to dc.
Hondo
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Just want to add a note of caution to your expectations. All generators produce AC, it is converted to DC by rectifiers or commutation. Silicon rectifiers are very efficient, with forward voltage drop around 2 volts at rated current - like 99% efficient for a 200 volt supply. Schottky diodes have about 1 volt drop at rated current, so half the loss of silicon. Mechanical commutation is notoriously bad, electrical commutaion is quite good, but expensive and complicated. I'm speculating that the generators you have use internal rectifiers. The inefficiency in AC generators is mostly due to using a design that allows the output to be varied independently of the rpm. In general, low cost permanent magnet generators are not variable, except by changing the operating rpm. But that means running your engine at an uneconomical rpm sometimes. However, you can switch your 4 generators on or off so you can have 4 different charging levels, which might work great.
-mort