Building a Generator
1,059,661
Published 2023-11-24
All Comments (21)
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This actually gives people a very easy way of physically feeling how much power it takes to run different types of circuits, I think it would be a cool idea for a science fair or something
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You should move to active rectifier instead of passive diode one. At these low voltages, you lose most of your power in the diodes at the moment. For ultra low drop diodes you will lose 0.2V per Diode which is around 10% for your voltages, for classic diodes (which you seem to be using) its 0.7V per diode resulting in quite a bit of wasted energy.
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Seeing something like this in action really makes understanding electricity way easier than just some formulas
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"Don't know if I could spin it for an hour and 13 minutes" Just 3D print a small water-wheel, attach it to the handcrank, and mount the generator by a river.
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Once the supercaps are charged you can use them to start a car with a flat battery. This way you can (hand) crank start a modern car engine!
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Absolutely LOVE this project Tim ! Attach a propellor, and you have a windmill, add a battery, and you go offgrid camping with full 12V electricity available. Measure available Kw output and explain calculations for windings, batteries, magnets and such, and there's a scientific story to be told too. This could take you in every direction you'd please 🙂
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I have an old Singer sewing machine stand that I've always wanted to repurpose as a manual charging desk; now I've got all the R&D already done thanks to you! Awesome job, thanks a lot
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Next thing to do would be to get a bicycle, add a stand on both sides so you can pedal with the back wheel in the air, and then connect it to the pedals. Or maybe even make a custom bicycle pedal assembly to be able to charge a phone while cycling, regardless of whether stationary or not.
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Its super cool how electrical resistance turns to physical resistance with this thing. Would be a great learning tool for kids!
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Hand cranks get hard after some time but a foot pedal like those on sewing machines is significantly easier to turn for a long time.
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It's amazing how 4 chapters worth of topics of physics electronics have been covered in a single generator building video
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I'd love to see a series of iteration upon this just like your planes - where you try and design better and better generators, finding what works best/worst and create the most powerful hand powered generator you can while keeping it reasonably easy to use and maintain.
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Yes, I agree, you need a passive diode and definitely hook a super capacitor to it. Charge it for a few minutes and then it will charge your phone. That way you don't have to keep cranking continuously. Awesome project is always.😊
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This was fascinating. When it comes down to it, a generator/motor isn't that complicated. Always good to see that demonstrated.
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You have been the only person to ever successfully explain a rectifier to me. Thank you
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Favorite content creator on YouTube. I’m a total electronics novice and feel like I come away with a much better intuition from your videos than I would from other types of learning. Definitely want to print this one!
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Potential upgrades, have a steel plate on either end of the rotor so the magnets have a low reluctance path and you'd have more magnetic flux. (or the same with less magnets) Also a freewheeling clutch thing for if you stop cranking and the rotor can spin freely.
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Cool project, if I may add a safety concern is that you'd really prefer to use female XT60 connector on your generator. As is, the pins can be shorted easily by anything conductive, and that's why power sources should have female terminals - look at your batteries with the same XT60 plug, or even electrical sockets in the wall. Probably not an issue for this one, but it's a good habit to have 👍
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My daughter was just asking a few days ago about how electricity is made. This should be clear enough way to show and tell. Might even print a project for us to build out of this. Thanks for providing the link to the files.
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I'm a big fan of the pedal-type generators. Those are something I could see actually being useful in an emergency. They're a bit bigger, but if you lose power, it's easier to charge up a battery bank with your legs.
