help on sons hybrid gokart

[wagonef8]

So I have a project I have been working on with my son its a Razor ground force gokart 24v. I was going to keep the electric motor and just add a 50cc engine to it for alternative power cause my son hates waiting 6 hours for it to charge recently a friend suggested I use the 50cc and run alternators and still keep it electric drive train I have to Honda alternators can I run them in series

So my questions is their any problem with the setup is their any switch that I can get so it turns on when batteries get low

Thanks in advance for all imput

[Daox]

I'd recommend getting an extra battery pack or two you can charge while he is riding. It would be easier, much less maintenance, and no noisy stinky engine.

[GRU]

yes, another battery back would be alot better than messing around making a hybrid.

[wagonef8]

Thanks but I already have all the parts to convert to gas and where is the fun in getting an extra battery my hobby is fabrication and being a Mechanic maintenance is not a problem at all and the louder it is the more my son thinks is cool

Thanks ill just have to Google some more

[Ryland]

I totally agree with the extra battery packs, you could even fabricate a bracket to hold cordless tool batteries, then he's have faster charging lithium batteries with a bit more zip to them.
But to answer your question, a 50cc gas engine and a single car alternator should be plenty! specs say it's two 12v 8amp hour batteries and that they can run for 45minutes at a time, so it's drawing around 10 amps... a bit more then those batteries are really designed for so a 2nd pack on the go cart is going to more then double his run time.
Anyway, you don't need two car alternators, you just need one and you need to either adjust the voltage regulator or remove it all together because you can regulate the voltage by spinning the alternator the correct speed for that voltage or in a car it would otherwise be to high so it has a regulator on it, also your alternator can put out up to 50 amps (at a high enough speed) so putting out 10 amps shouldn't be a problem at all, it might even be over kill, 10 amps times 24v is 240 watts or about 1/3hp, losses of course in converting mechanical to electrical, but even at that a 1hp gas engine should be able to put along and keep that go car running for days on a single tank of fuel.

How Do I Charge a 24V From a 12V Alternator? | eHow.com

How to Adjust a 12-Volt Voltage Regulator | eHow.com

should give you some ideas on how to adjust what you have.

Off the top of my head I can't think of an easy way for it to automaticly start up the gas engine when the voltage gets to low, unless you already have an electric starter on the 50cc engine... but I doubt it and alternators make lousy motors... you pretty much end up building a motor from scratch.

[wagonef8]

Thanks that answers everything
and the 50cc engine comes with a stater integrated already