50W 6Amp Alternator for Bicycles that WORKS!

[loquin]

BTW. If you use schottky diodes, you can reduce the forward voltage drop to apx. 0.6 volts (using a bridge rectifier) as each diode has a forward drop of only 0.3 volts. This would be a gain at the boost/buck regulator of about 6 watts (at full generator output,) or, close to 10 percent.

[loquin]

For reference, 50W is equivalent to 1/15th HP.

[HseLoMein]

hey guys, im back, I have completed my bike and full DOT Lighting setup, i will post pics tomorrow.

[GearNut]

Very cool!
I wait in anticipation......

[HseLoMein]

Happy Turkey Day!

Here is a pic of the completed bike. IT is a chain driven 250watt motor, to a generic single phase regulator. There is the full gamut of lighting. 55/60w headlight, 5w parking light, indicators and working brake and tail lights all DOT Approved.

Here is the Album
http://picasaweb.google.com/hselomei...eat=directlink

[GearNut]

Now that looks like a durable setup. I have seen similar motors at the local electrical salvage shop. If and when I run a shift kit I may copycat your setup.

[Ivan H]

That is a neat set up, isnt it. I have a mountain bike with SBP shift kit & am thinking I can mount a YAF-54 alternator high up behind the seat tube & either machine a V into the boss of the 17 tooth sprocket on the jackshaft or mount a pulley on it to belt drive the alternator. I haven done the math but it should be roughly in the viscinity of the rpm needed. I'll order the alternator & let you's know how I go. Cheers

[Rapidrob]

Thank you for the link to the CHICOM alternator. Ive been using tire driven,chain/cog driven ,and even a constant chain adjuster driven generator or alternator on my mini-bikes for over 30 years. I saw the first article in "Mini-Bike" magazine in the late 60's and thought it would be a neat thing to do. With today's much better and smaller alternators, it really makes sense to do it up right.
Nice build on all you guys bike's, you all worked hard on the designs.

[Fabian]

With the alternator setup running from the jackshaft, there's real possibility of creating a combined generator/electric start?

[drokmed]

Hi all, my first post here.

I found a solution for your voltage regulator/rectifier, to regulate the voltage coming from the alternator. I read this entire thread, hoping to find the solution here, and when I didn't, found it elsewhere.

For those of you using the CHICOM alternators (used in windmills), such as the:

CHICOM YAF-54 Small Alternator, Mini Generator:
http://small-generator.com/buy/index...&products_id=8

or the next larger CHICOM Small Alternator, Mini Generator:
http://small-generator.com/buy/index...&products_id=9

or even bigger:
http://small-generator.com/buy/index...products_id=10

Here is the list of all available at that site:
http://small-generator.com/buy/index...=index&cPath=1

Since those alternators are used in windmills, I searched the windmill industry for an appropriate voltage regulator, but didn't find it. What's up with that???

I found the solution, in all places, in the solar panel industry. They make some seriously robust regulators that can easily handle the above alternators, and have tons of more very nice features.

This site has a whole slew of very nice regulators, here's the big list:
http://www.ecodirect.com/Solar-Charg...roller-s/1.htm

As you can see, most of those are huge and very expensive, way too much for what we need here. However, if you look at their cheapest units, well, they can easily handle the above alternators, and are quite robust, having features from the much more expensive models.

Here is the cheapest one, can easily handle the above alternators:
http://www.ecodirect.com/Morningstar...guard-sg-4.htm

For $25, that one can handle alternator output up to 30v and 4.5 amps, and automatically convert it to 12v for you, cutting off any peak above:
http://www.ecodirect.com/Morningstar...guard-sg-4.htm

The one I want for $36 can handle up to 10 amps, but it's the International model, not for sale in the US
http://www.ecodirect.com/ProductDeta...FQioPAodJ34Ayw

They have many more, that just keep getting bigger and bigger.

Make sure you read the difference between the MPPT and PWM Charge Controllers, it's interesting reading.

I have been researching a similar project to your bike, except mine will be a bit more. I want to put a California-legal motor on a 3-wheel bicycle, add two batteries, and load that sucker up to handle lights, a stereo, tv/dvd player, and other goodies.

I found a cool custom machine shop that makes diy conversion kits for 2, 3 and 4-wheel bicycles:
http://www.staton-inc.com/store/cata...Kits-28-1.html

They also make custom gear drive boxes for you, to attach the motor, and even the alternator directly, many pages, here is one of them:
http://www.staton-inc.com/store/cata...nts-27-10.html

For my 3-wheel California-legal bike, I'm looking at this one, to directly connect the motor and the alternator:
http://www.staton-inc.com/store/prod...ve-904-27.html

Or this one:
http://www.staton-inc.com/store/prod...ft-833-27.html

I've been researching my bike solution for a while now, still in the planning stages, but have links to many more interesting sites, if anyone is interested. I stumbled across this site too, and this is where I want to be!

I hope these links help somebody.

Cheers,

Daryl

ps it is extremely hard to post on this site, due to the extremely hard to read "Image Verification" box. You guys must have 20/20 vision. I don't. It's aggravating.