Can My Chevy Alternator Run My Bicycle's Cigarette Lighter?

[5-7HEAVEN]

tinman...you ARE The Man! Thanks for the info I'm saving. Good to know that a battery is unecessary...less weight.

How are you going to mount your dynamo?

Gungatim, thanks. I also saved your information.

[xPosTech]

Yeah, dynamos eat power all the time, not just when asked for. Have you thought of a small import (Toyota, Nissan, etc.) alternator? They get pretty small and most have built in regulators. Find at the wrecking yard.

Back in the seventies a friend of mine in Tulsa heated his dog's house with a small windmill powered alternator feeding a hundred feet of wire in the floor. He used a 9V transistor battery to excite it.

I guess he wanted it warm in case he ever had a need for it.

Ted

[5-7HEAVEN]

Yeah Ted, I guess I could look for a cheap import alternator,maybe even a motorcycle alternator with built-in reg.

[jvirginillo]

This looks interesting

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=110305473712

[Gungatim]

That ebay generator does look interesting. I wonder if it could be fed into a standard voltage regulator from an older car (the ones with the square black boxes in the 60's/70's) to regulate the output. it could be manually lowered onto the wheel at night when needed for power. Even if it slows you down some, you probably don't need to be running at full speed in the dark anyway...

[s_beaudry]

Found this step by step "how to" by accident today...

http://theepicenter.com/tow082099.html

[5-7HEAVEN]

jvirginillo, thanks for the ebay auction tip.

I bought it.

Gungatim, I'll be asking the experts regarding the proper regulator to use. The seller was only a little helpful, said it was single-phase, could power a 55-watt headlight. According to ebay description, the alternator is 2" diameter and 3" long.

Quick measurements show that this tiny dynamo can easily be mounted UNDER the Staton friction drive housing in front of the roller, and run parallel to it.

The Staton spindle will "grow a nose" and a pulley, and a short belt will link to the alternator and its pulley. Ratio might be 1:1.

This is all off the top of my head. There is more than enough room under the Staton housing if the seller's dimensions are true. To disengage the alternator, you loosen the mounting bolts and remove the belt.

Orrr, on my dual-engined bike, I simply raise my engine "on the fly" with my custom Hurst shift lever. Then the front engine AND alternator are disengaged from the tire.


EPIPHANY!!!

At night, when I'm riding with my 55-WATT headlight on and come to a stop, the engine's clutch disengages. The alternator stops spinning and making electricity, so the headlight draws power from a heavy SLA battery. HOWEVER, if I raise the engine and throttle it to keep the clutch engaged at a stop, the friction roller ANNND alternator pulley will be in motion, creating electricity to run the headlight without interruption!

I don't need to install ANY battery on my bike!!!

Well, maybe a tiny battery to keep the alternator excited.

The rest of the installation should be academic and depend on the v-reg's hookup.

Let's see...car headlight, tail light, brake light, cellphone charger...that's all I need.

I can hardly wait to start this project.

[5-7HEAVEN]

Well the mini-alternators arrived yesterday. No instructions or diodes which I paid for. It has two identical 20-gauge wires leaving the alternator. The plastic pulley is part of the alternator housing, so the entire housing rotates as the rotor, not the stator.

The 1/4" endplate is stationary with three mounting holes and the wires protrude from its center hole. This means a 2" elongated hole would need to be bored through the Staton aluminum housing instead of a 1/2" elongated hole. Scratch that mounting location. This puppy needs to sit atop the rear friction drive assembly on my girlie cruiser, and above the 5:1 output shaft of the Staton gearbox on "Mr. Hyde".(First, the outside-drive gearbox needs to be modified to create a 5:1 output shaft, but that's another thread.)

Since the alternator's maximum output occurs at 1,000 rpm, a gear reduction is needed to keep its revs down as the engine spins at 8000 rpm. Sooo, using a 1.25" pulley on the Staton's 5:1 output shaft and the alternator's 2" pulley would produce an 8:1 gear reduction to do the job.

Now to find a pulley and belt to match.

Since the gearbox's shaft doesn't spin when the engine idles, the bike would need a very strong but easily activated bikestand to prop the rear tire AND the rider off the ground and keep the alternator spinning at a standstill...or have a battery onboard.

With friction drive, it becomes more complicated because of a lack of gear reduction. Because the 2" alternator pulley is part of the rotating alternator housing, it would have to be belted to a 1/4" pulley to attain 8:1 gear reduction.

There is no such thing as a 1/4" pulley.

Sooo TWO jackshafts and the proper pulley combination would need to be installed to create 8:1 reduction.

Hmmm, not too simple as I presumed. Doable, but more involved.

[5-7HEAVEN]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-V...1%7C240%3A1318


Well the mini-alternators arrived yesterday. No instructions or diodes which I paid for. It has two identical 20-gauge wires leaving the alternator. The plastic pulley is part of the alternator housing, so the entire housing is part of the rotor, not stator.

The 1/4" endplate is stationary with three mounting holes and the wires protrude from its center hole. This means a 2" elongated hole would need to be bored through the Staton aluminum housing instead of a 1/2" elongated hole. Scratch that mounting location. This puppy needs to sit atop the rear friction drive assembly on my girlie cruiser, and above the 5:1 output shaft of the Staton gearbox on "Mr. Hyde".(First, the outside-drive gearbox needs to be modified to CREATE a 5:1 output shaft, but that's another thread.)

Since the alternator's maximum output occurs at 1,000 rpm, a gear reduction is needed to keep its revs down as the engine spins at 8000 rpm. Sooo, using a 1.25" pulley on the Staton's 5:1 output shaft and the alternator's 2" pulley would produce an 8:1 gear reduction to do the job.

Now to find a pulley and belt to match.

Since the gearbox's shaft doesn't spin when the engine idles, the bike would need a very strong but easily activated bikestand to prop the rear tire AND the rider off the ground and keep the alternator spinning at a standstill...or have a battery onboard.

With friction drive, it becomes more complicated because of a lack of gear reduction. Because the 2" alternator pulley is part of the rotating alternator housing, it would have to be belted to a 1/4" pulley to attain 8:1 gear reduction.

There is no such thing as a 1/4" pulley.

Sooo TWO jackshafts and the proper pulley combination would need to be installed to create 8:1 reduction.

Hmmm, not too simple as I presumed with friction drive. Doable, but more involved.