Viewer suggested upgrades - Answering your questions, Part 2

Рет қаралды 116,705

Күн бұрын

Can we charge a 48V off grid battery bank with a 12V car alternator and small gas engine? Will it overheat? What is the fuel economy (kWh/gal.)?
This video is Part 2. If you want to see Part 1, go here: • The AlternatorGenerato...
Video, Honda EU6500 Inverter Generator: • Not what I expected.
I bought a 12V car alternator off of craigslist for $100. Next was a Predator gas engine from Harbor Freight. In this case, I purchased the 224cc MAX engine, which is 6.6hp. The 212cc 6.5hp engine would have also worked well for this build.
The goal is to make a dedicated generator that can recharge my 48V battery bank. I'm using the EG4 LiFePO4 batteries, which is a little more than 30kWh. Sometimes, during the winter, the solar production doesn't keep up with my loads. That's when I need to supplement my solar with some generator run-time in order to recharge my battery bank. Yes, 48V generators exist on the market, but they are thousands of dollars. I built this generator for about $400.
Intro: 00:00
Mounting Alternator and Engine Together: 02:04
Assembling Components: 05:56
Cutting Aluminum Heat Sink: 07:14
Why the Buck Converter: 09:07
Rubber Feet under Platform: 10:09
Why not use a Boost converter, 12V to 48V: 10:23
Will it Overheat? Thermal IR Camera: 11:10
Capacitor sizing: 16:45
Field Winding Current and Watts: 17:55
Fuel Economy Test, kWh/gal.: 18:31
Full Bridge Rectifier, Built-in vs. External: 22:39
Conclusion: 26:51
Amazon affiliate Links:
Thermal IR Camera, Android (used in video): amzn.to/3oOxHtE
Discount Code Available through the end of April: 05KO745E
Thermal IR Camera, IOS: amzn.to/4243zJ1
Discount Code Available through the end of April: AQZDUH41
Saw, Circular, Metal Cutting Evolution: amzn.to/40Hcyic
Hydraulic Crimping Tool Set, Temco: amzn.to/3JZmzkv
Full Bridge Rectifier: amzn.to/3nvZ0In
Heat Sink, Aluminum: amzn.to/40uxCZQ
(Alternate to the one in the video)
Thermal Paste: amzn.to/3FZ36yX
Ring Terminals, UL, Marine: amzn.to/3K0N3lw
Capacitor, 450V, 1000uF: amzn.to/3lTHopw
DC to DC Buck Converter, 12V 5A: amzn.to/3nug0yK
Charge Controller used in this video (Victron 250/100): amzn.to/40k4kNz
Less Expensive Charge Controller: amzn.to/3K4fZJE
Vibration Engine Mounts: amzn.to/3nmbbaz
Rubber Feet: amzn.to/40DKsoq
Busbar set: amzn.to/3M4plYq
Circuit Breaker: amzn.to/3M3N1w6
Tesa Tape, for looming wires together: amzn.to/3TXUrTx
Electrical Tape: amzn.to/3KkdeVJ
Kapton Tape: amzn.to/3G2VWKe
Bandsaw Blade, metal cutting: amzn.to/3M3yro1
Pulley, serpentine belt, 3/4" bore: amzn.to/3UaXuYF
Serpentine Belt: amzn.to/3zlsATu
Pulley installation kit, power steering pump: amzn.to/3JUeopz
Tap Magic cutting oil: amzn.to/42PruwW
Dewalt Step Drill Bit: amzn.to/3G5DwZj
Soldering Iron, Large: amzn.to/42QY0i6
Solder Wire, Rosin Core: amzn.to/3Zvh6aC
Flux Pen: amzn.to/40qeLPC
Wire, Silicone, 12 gauge AWG, flexible, tinned: amzn.to/3zonJRq
Wire, Silicone, 8 gauge AWG, flexible, tinned: amzn.to/3zlkg6u
Pen, deep reach marker: amzn.to/3M3PKp7
Heat shrink tubing, marine, 3:1 amzn.to/3zC7NeR
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Signature Solar Affiliate Links:
Battery Bank, EG4-LifePower4, Lithium, 30.72kWh: signaturesolar.com/eg4-lifepo...
Inverter kit, Schneider XW PRO 6848: signaturesolar.com/bndl-ac-co...
Chargeverter: signaturesolar.com/eg4-charge...
Harbor Freight Links, Not Affiliated:
6.6 Hp, 224cc, MAX: www.harborfreight.com/generat...
Band Saw: www.harborfreight.com/power-t...
Flux Core Welder: www.harborfreight.com/easy-fl...
Note: I have no affiliate with Harbor Freight.
Previous Video making a battery charging generator from a free treadmill motor: • DIY DC Generator: char...
Disclaimer:
My videos are in no way intended to be instructional "how-to" lessons. I am simply documenting my project for informational purposes. Property damage, personal injury, or death may result, even when following manufacturer's instructions. I cannot be held liable for such damage or injury. It is YOUR OBLIGATION to ensure that you are complying with any local and federal laws as well as code and permit requirements.
David Poz, LLC

Пікірлер: 750

@8180634 Ай бұрын

I can't decide what's better, actually building out this Idea and testing it, or the quality of the video. Both are outstanding.

@DavidPozEnergy Ай бұрын

Thank you.

@flex-ranger2 Жыл бұрын

This has to be my favourite series of DIY on KZfaq currently. You've done such a great job for all us hobbyists explaining all the little tid bits so that we can all have a crack at it. Thank you so much for all the effort!

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Your welcome. Thanks for watching.

@corborst4872 Жыл бұрын

Different approach same result. My home made 48 vdc generator/charger contains a 80's, 10 horse Hatz diesel engine and a permanent magnet hubmotor of an electric scooter/moped. I run the diesel at a slow 1400 rpm driving the hubmotor at about 650 rpm with a belt, put the 3 phases directly through a rectifier and like you did, the DC + and - through capacitors to smooth it out. I can make 2200 watts without stuff overheating, the hubmotor gets about 50C but I'm limited by the bridge rectifier that needs forced cooling at this point, but i can get a whopping 2.7 kwh out off 1 liter of diesel which is about 27% efficiency (One liter is 10kwh) and i was blown away by that result as it is an old NA diesel and some hubmotor i had laying around. With some duty free diesel i can charge my batteries for about 0,45 euro per kWh, which is not bad concidering that gasoline cost me at least double that per kWh....in Europe i might add where gasoline is liquid gold. It would be nice to make a gasoline genny with the same hubmotor setup, i would be curious how efficient that would be, the system would be much simpler, no need for a buck converter to generate an output, the amount of RPM decides how much current is flowing as the engine and hubmotor are loaded up once you hit battery voltage.

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

I like it!

@grantorinoaraucaria4487 Жыл бұрын

Great video, a galon of gas have aprox. 33,7Kw/h of energy, your conversion has 12,5% eficiency. Pretty good for modied alternator predator powered generator set! Thanks for Share!!

@stanislav0803 5 ай бұрын

I found 42.9kWh in 1 gallon it's aprox 10.2% efficiency.

@brianransom16 3 ай бұрын

That method doesn't do any justice be cause its an equivalency in raw power to compare to electric vehicles. ICE are roughly 20% efficient. Typically when generating power from a gallon of gas you get between 4 and 7 kwh. for a small generator this is actually not to bad. The fact its put together a garage is also outstanding.

@srrandall88 Жыл бұрын

Please please continue optimizing this project as a series to get the maximum output... I'm enjoying the journey. Don't stop here

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Oh, boy. There are so many more projects to keep working on. This one will have to take a back-seat right now.

@bumbarabun Жыл бұрын

I think most efficiency would come by getting rid of that belt.

@jacobcarlson4010 Жыл бұрын

@@bumbarabun: Not really. I think in the first video he said that the engine is 6 horsepower. If that’s true, that means the engine can do 4.41kW of power; and his tests showed getting about 4.2. Is worth chasing 210 watts of power? Probably not.

@ckiottest5281 Жыл бұрын

@@jacobcarlson4010 Did the engine run for an hour? 4.2 kWh per gallon but how long did that take?

@renatocunha6974 Жыл бұрын

@jacob seria kW/gal, não kWh a comparação. Que análises excelentes, parabéns pelo vídeo!! 👏👏👏👏 Eu planejo fazer um com automações de partida, desligamento e sensores para um gerenciamento na manutenção do motor.

@RonLaws 5 ай бұрын

for kick-starting the alternator i think there's a couple of things you can do. The less obvious is to find a way to embed a perminent magnet in to the rotor somewhere so that when it spins it seeds the magnetic flux in the stater before the buck converter comes on and the closed loop takes over feeding the winding. A second and less invasive approach would be a small kickstart battery and a latching relay circuit Use a relay with a minimum closing voltage of 12v and tie it to the rotor winding circuit. Connect the buck converter output via the relay's 'normally open' side and the relay coil. Connect the battery to the normally closed side Connect the center contacts to the rotor windings. When there's enough voltage on the output to pull that relay closed it will disconnect the battery from the circuit and switch over to the buck converter, allowing the closed loop to take over feeding current to the rotor. As a bonus, You can cut the battery off when not in use with any kind of switch that serves as the 'ignition' switch for the generator so it doesn't go flat when not in use. as a small bonus, why not add a small trickle charger in there somewhere to keep the battery topped up =)

@davidgrea Жыл бұрын

Loved it and great for learning now get a small diesel engine and do it all again with 2 alternators

@petevenuti7355 Ай бұрын

How you got cookie monster?

@northidahodreaming5657 Жыл бұрын

Your fuel economy result answers the largest question that I've long had. I seems that my 90-120 hours of winter battery charging by an AC generator is not such a inefficient solution compared to a possible DC charging option. Many thanks for all your work and sharing with us.

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Your welcome. I'm glad I could help. I had the same question for years and finally got around to testing it.

@Chris_at_Home Жыл бұрын

We have a remote cabin and have been using a Honda 2000 to charge the batteries when the sun isn’t good for over 20 years. With the eco throttle I don’t think any other generator will charge the batteries as efficiently because as the battery charge tapers off the generator runs slower. I set the charger in the inverter to 10amps AC max to keep from overloading the generator because you should never run a generator more than 75% of its rated output continuously.

@williamvaughan1218 Жыл бұрын

@@Chris_at_Home sounds like your using lead acid batteries?

@incandescentwithrage Жыл бұрын

Your charging solution *is* a DC charging setup, you just have the rectification and capacitor in the charger box, with a step down transformer.

@MicahGallant 4 ай бұрын

Commented on last video. A lot of effort and expense here for a 48 volt charger. What i did was take a 'broken' inverter generator, where the inverter wasn't making power anymore. Used a bridge rectifier right off the AC windings to convert the direct output of the AC into 250 volt DC. Then Wired up MC4 plugs to go to my charge controller. To the charge controller, it just looks like a solar array. Generator was $200 broken, $50 for the bridge rectifier or so. So for a 48 volt charger, cheaper to reuse a 'broken' genny and use a rectifier than to completely build one

@ryanroberts1104 Жыл бұрын

I really like all the detailed info. If you're only taking 2.2kw from the alternator, you should get a smaller pulley for the alternator or a bigger one for the engine, then you can turn the throttle down and still spin the alternator at the same speed. You have more engine than you need, so it doesn't need to run at full speed. A smaller engine could make better fuel efficiency also...something like a 160cc would be good for 2.2kw. You should try playing with the voltage to the rotor, between that and RPMs you may be able to adjust it to run cooler or at a different speed with different voltages.

@tarstarkusz Жыл бұрын

There is a governor on the engine.

@lesthompson5907 Жыл бұрын

that a good point dose it need to run so fast. if it was slowed by the ues of a bigger pully it as a possibility to save fuel by running it slower. been equal to the Honda generator by mens of . efficiency. their is serval different ways to carol of rotter sculpt with a Verica in the siystom. grat thinking son .

@Psi-Storm 11 ай бұрын

I would go the other way. Run the alternator at 50+ A and direct air cool it with 12V fans. That way, you can run the current motor at a higher efficiency level. He said the motor had over 6 horse power, so a bigger or even two alternators, could also work better.

@highdesertdrew1844 Жыл бұрын

I built a generator like this probably 15 years ago, I used a 5HP B&S engine with a spare alternator from my Suburban. I kept it 12V because thats what the solar system at the cabin was set up for. One thing I found really helped was dropping the engine RPM, it allowed me to still pull about 40A at 12V, but I could run it at just above idle, it did a good job of juicing the batteries without blowing my eardrums out. I still have it, I'm going to rebuild it this summer, I really like the modifications you made as far as reducing vibration and I'm going to incorporate many of those features. Good series, liked it a lot, learned a few things.

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Cool. Maybe I'll run another fuel test at a lower idle.

@Deveak Жыл бұрын

How many hours would you say you got out of the block?

@energydreamer5347 Жыл бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy would you consider providing more details maybe by a series of video/s at a beginner level on the secondary components or electronic components that you have on this unit? Thank you!

@midnightmotors7202 Жыл бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy Great suggestion Drew, and great video, David. Most of the store-bought generators seem to rate their run times at half-load. The trade-off seems to be the slower you go, the higher the effiency. Of course this only works if you have the time - most people don't drive down the freeway at 35 MPH, even though we'd save on gas. Choices are good, though. Appreciate the work giving us the information to make better decisions. 🙂

@charlesmoxley739 Жыл бұрын

I also built similar only using a 8hp B&S and a GM alternater charging 3 semi batterys running 3 2500 watt inverters barely above an idle ran my fridge heat lights ect and would only burn 5 gallons of gas at almost 51 hrs of runtime still have this setup for my backup Peace

@philherb3843 Жыл бұрын

When you mostly need this setup in winter, it would be nice to gain the heat, too. Even when you only can gain half the heat and the other half is lost, it would double the efficency. Maybe a generator with water cooling and putting the heat in the house water heating system? Maybe an enclosure with a air/water heat exchanger and another heat exchanger in the shop?

@USSBB62 8 ай бұрын

Thanks so much. I have to say you could see your worry about Heat. LOL. Amazing and completely understandable. You answered all my questions. Once again Thank You.

@1981dasimpson Жыл бұрын

it would also be interesting if you altered the buck converter voltage and see the resulting watt output

@jackoneil3933 9 ай бұрын

Thanks David! Very interesting and informative test. In Alaska connected the exhaust of air and water cooled generators to a coil stainless steel and copper tubing, and immersed the coil as crude stack robber and estimated I was able to recover up to about 20% of the thermal heat energy from the engine. I mounted the generators above the heat exchanger coil inlet and plumbed the outlet out the bottom of a spray-foam insulated fiberglass or steel tanks so the exhaust condensate would drain out. On water cooled generators from 7kw to 600kw we installed coolant heat exchangers to the engine coolant system, removed the engine thermostats and used AMOT valves (Thermostats) in the heat exchanger loop to maximize heat recovery. Combing engine heat recovery with commercial exhaust to water stack robbers recovered up to 60% of the engine heat, so basically the fuel cost of our electric load provided heat most of our space heating. I was thinking a heat recovery might project might be interesting for viewers, and I would be happy to provide insights from my experience if needed.

@DavidPozEnergy 9 ай бұрын

That is very cool. Do you have any websites, books, or videos you could link to? I'd like to learn more about the plumbing and try it.

@jackoneil3933 9 ай бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy That was back in the 90's so I don't have a website or videos. Heat generator heat recovery hydronic heating in Alaska was somewhat common. I worked with a variety of hydronic heating and recover systems from what might be used to heat a small trailer from 2kw to large oilfield camps of several hundred men and megawatts of power generation, and depending on the scale of application you would be interested in I can provide information as the design depends varies greatly depending on the size of the system. The smallest system I did that might apply to a home system used a pair of 2800w air-cooled Honda generators. Basically, I welded threaded fittings to the exhaust outlets of the generators. As I recall the exhaust outlet of the Honda was about 3/4" diameter, and used 3ft of of 1.5" dia. flexible stainless steel tubing to reduce the vibrational stresses on the generator exhaust, insulated it with fiberglass high temp and connected the other end of the flex to, two coils of about 20' of 1.25 copper tubing immersed in a 350 gal steel tank that was about 3ft tall by 3ft. wide and 5 ft. long filled about 2.5ft. full ,and insulated with spray foam. I mounted the generators on a platform just above the top of the tank, and routed the flexible stainless tubing through a sleeve below the water level and connected it to the threaded fitting to one end of the copper tubing coil, and the other end of the tubing to a outlet in the bottom of the tank, so any condensate would drain out the end and into a drip pan. In the Alaskan arctic, in sub-zero temps there was little humidity so little condensate was produced, but in above zero temps you could see a gallon in a day that had had some soot. We used a locally produced gasoline that was more like white-gas / naphtha mix that had few additives and burned pretty clean. so the condensate was likely not too hazardous. The tank was open to the air and I used a small Grundfos pump (UPS15-58FC 1/25 HP 115-Volt 3-Speed Circulator Pump) on a thermostat at the bottom of the tank to pump hot water to baseboard heating element lengths with a fan to heat a small mobile trailer office, the generator delivered about 2000w of power for lights, a microwave, fridge, radios and a couple of 1500w electric heaters, and a few other things. The office was a well insulated ATCO trailer about 28ft long by 10ft wide that had about 3" of spray foam added to on the outside. The generators ran pretty much 24hours, and the system was pretty much self balancing down to about -25f, as the more electrical heating load produced more hot water. The grundfos pump was set to turn off when the tank temp got below 135f. below -30F we typically needed to use a 12V webasto gasoline heater to keep the trailer comfy We used glycol water mix but in warmer some applications water might be ok if you don't have to worry about freezing your coils or tank. I would estimate that the system recovered a about 2000 watts of heat from the combined generator exhausts when they were running at about 50% load. In warmer temps we only ran one generator. I'm thinking that you might be able to recover 1000 watt-hours or more of heat from the from a 4kwh run of your portable generator, and that would be pretty easy to calculate by measuring temp rise in a water tank. it might also be possible to plumb up some iron or steel water pipe for a direct exhaust heat exchange if you were sure to prevent exhaust leaks. If you want to chat about recovery systems and how to use AMOT water cooled generator recovery let me know.

@jjclarkson3261 4 ай бұрын

Excellent video, with plenty of details and VOLUME LEVELS to avoid blowing out eardrums. Liked and Subscribed!

@DavidPozEnergy 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for noticing the sound levels. It takes a lot of time to adjust them.

@jimmurphy5355 Жыл бұрын

The alternator is 3 phase. The way that the phases overlap greatly reduces the output ripple . Even if you don’t use any smoothing cap at all, the ripple in the output is low enough that it probably could go to the charge controller as is.

@kellyj1464 11 ай бұрын

Maybe, but why risk damaging a pricey charge controller when capacitors are so cheap? If nothing else, the internal monitoring software will not be expecting pulsing input voltage and may become inaccurate with some noise. Even with external measuring devices, the system is easier to measure with less ripple. I don't see why anyone would go through all this trouble just to save a few bucks on a capacitor.

@teardowndan5364 9 ай бұрын

@@kellyj1464 The 1000uF capacitor feeding 25A to the load is a 25V/ms slew rate when the 85VDC system already has only about 10V of peak-to-peak ripple at 500-600Hz which is 1.5-2ms. If you put an oscilloscope on this or simulated it in something like LTSpice, you would find that it makes no meaningful difference on voltage waveforms. What the capacitor does do though is wreck stator and diode current waveforms.

@williamvaughan1218 9 ай бұрын

Ford states these alternators as a 6 phase. You have 2 3 phase outputs.

@Greg-io1ip 7 ай бұрын

One note David: If your gas stays cold, the motor is more efficient. Especially if it has a fuel injection CDI ignition instead of carburetor. But nice project. And practice

@linuxguy1199 6 ай бұрын

@@teardowndan5364 Dude 10V of peak-to-peak ripple is pretty bad, that's 10% of the output voltage. If it means a little bit of current spikes that's fine, with the high ESR of a big electrolytic like that a little 100A current spike for half a millisecond won't do anything anyways. Those bridge rectifier packs are usually good for 1500A spikes, 200-300A continuous. But yeah, really he should've made a resonant LC network to perfectly cancel the ripple without causing huge current spikes.

@lorenray9479 5 ай бұрын

Another fun journey into better understanding that which can not be immediately seen, but immediately felt lol

@marklewus5468 Жыл бұрын

Great videos, just a few comments from an old engineer. Small engine carburetors only provide optimal mix for a single RPM, load, air temperature, air density, and fuel variant. Fuel injection (like newer Hondas) would substantively improve fuel efficiency. You might be able to get an FI kit, or set one operating rpm/load for battery charging and jet/set the carb optimally for your RPM/load point and altitude, and adjust seasonally.

@TheBry_Guy Жыл бұрын

wish i lived closer, I'd loan the channel my eu7000 for testing. basically the same as his EU6500 but fuel injected.

@SaltGrains_Fready 10 ай бұрын

He should just use a Honda engine from a used generator. I thought about that also. This HF engine is only 2/3 the efficiency of the Honda engine

@georgemorris7947 Ай бұрын

Hello! I'm really writing to say how much I enjoyed both of your videos on this subject. Thank you! As regards the ultimate limit to the power you might draw from your alternator I suspect you could go very much further using a really large exciter current. Of course all that power has to go into the alternator mechanically, in your rig through the belt: I think the ultimate limit there might lie with the alternator shaft bearings because of the tension you'd have to put on the belt to transmit that level of power! Looking forward to more and all the best meanwhile! Cheers, George Morris

@SirBlmp Жыл бұрын

Next steps.. Super caps to charge field windingings on startup and Remote start lol

@samvalentine3206 Жыл бұрын

With regards to the flexing that we see of the motor plate with the mounted alternator, it seems that a piece of angle iron going perpendicular to the angle iron alternator mount may reduce that flex. Adding some more angle iron to make an "X" or a cross of angle iron in approximately the middle of your plate. I'd bet that would stiffen things up so you wouldn't see that flexing we see in the video due to the harmonics. All in all a GREAT project, one that I think many of us (myself included) have thought of "what if I built this?" and you did! Even though it's not as efficient on a gallon of gas when compared to the Honda inverter generator, not everyone can afford to put down the funds needed for a big Honda inverter generator like that. As you said, folks may have a spare engine and alternator lying around in their stash. Thank you, David!

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the nice comment. I appreciate you watching to the end. After each version, there are more modifications to be made. I wish I had the time for all of it.

@lasersbee Жыл бұрын

Was going to mention the Angle iron Fix..👍

@TheGulnawaz Жыл бұрын

@DavidPoz hello, any plans on testing some Chinese lithium ion storage battery brands. Like Bslbatt, narada, gsl, bluesun. Looking forward 👌

@brennansmith1381 Жыл бұрын

It would be interesting to see how a permanent magnet alternator would perform in efficiency and temperature.

@InssiAjaton Жыл бұрын

The output control depends on control of the rotor excitation. With permanent magnets you would need to figure out some other means of control. Or oversize the charge controller to potentially handle hundreds of volts.

@ericdelevinquiere9902 Жыл бұрын

Permanent magnets could give you a better efficiency, as used in wind turbines, no waste of energy in having to input current to get the thing going. Your controller of course needs to be able to handle the voltage output and could be more costly depending on the specifics.

@ryanroberts1104 Жыл бұрын

It would be more efficient, but probably not by much. The rotor electromagnet is using 60 watts. At 2.2kw that's only 2.7% of the output.

@beforebefore Жыл бұрын

12v @ 5a loss, so 60 Watts lost energy - as compared to a permanent magnet alternator. Have you tried reducing the Stator feed voltage? High stator power is typically only needed at low RPM conditions, and will cause more magnetic drag and energy loss at normal RPM conditions. That DC to DC converter is probably adjustable, most are. You are also wasting power by using passive silicon bridge rectifiers... about 120 Watts lost, since each diode loses about 1.5 Volt during conduction, and you always have 2 of them in full conduction. 40 Amps x 1.5v x 2 diodes is 120 Watts. Using synchronous rectification would reduce that to about 10-15 Watts, but would be expensive.

@dantronics1682 Жыл бұрын

using a controller you get a flat output vs speed where as using a permanent magnet you get a means(bell curve) output. if you are trying to figure this out then look for car dynamo outputs for autos pre 1978

@gabrielpadilla2583 10 ай бұрын

IT WAS fun watching you go through all the trouble but it look to me like you tried to reinvent the wheel. lol there are lot of different ways to achieve better results with less costs and risks . but it was very educational and fun for the people with less understanding of electronics and the ohms law.

@Daniel-Johnson Жыл бұрын

I love the Ingenuity man and just getting to do Hands-On projects like this are so fun it's easy for anybody to go out and just buy something to do the job and that's totally fine I'm not against that if you are not comfortable trying to build something like this by all means don't there's nothing wrong with that but it's so much more fun to try and build it and make it work yourself the end result is always much more satisfying sure you might not use that DIY unit you built all the time or maybe you will but the point is you had a lot of fun building it you learn you discover through trial and error and it just makes it all so worth it great job love the videos on this!

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Well said!

@Jimmeh_B 8 ай бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy This was a REALLY cool project man! Kudos! I know I'm late to the party, but I have a question. When you were measuring the capacitor current, were you measuring AC amps, or DC amps? Potentially, especially if you took the measurement in DC, it's probably nowhere near accurate? Also, depending on the frequency of the ripple, and whether or not that meter reads in RMS, that 180-190 mA may also be anywhere near accurate? If I were anywhere near you, I'd offer to bring one of my Oscilloscopes over to have a look at the output waveform, just for shoots and giggles. Either way man, very cool project, loved it!

@JbVest Жыл бұрын

Yes a part two!! I literally built the same thing with a few of the same parts. It works pretty good at higher throttle I can pull about 2,800 Watts found a little constant current adjustable regulator where I can adjust the current going to the field windings so it doesn't bog down The motor too much. Works great. I found about 2.1 amps to be a good output for my alternator. It's literally just an alternator from an '87 mustang

@beyondboris Ай бұрын

David, I loved your project. By any standard it is a success. Reading the comments obviously you can optimise it in many ways, however, what strikes me as your project's greatest strength is that it is all a made from available parts. Arguably you could repair/keep this thing going in a zombie apocolypse! Anyone can go and spend $3k++ on something sophisticated, but can they repair and keep it going if their life depended on it. As a pragmatic engineer I say, if that was your goal then you 'hit the nail right on the head'. Keep up the good work.

@DavidPozEnergy Ай бұрын

Thank you, I appreciate this.

@andrewmutavi590 Жыл бұрын

Watching this n methane n bio diesel come to mind,in this day n age u simply can't overstate the importance of self reliance when it comes to energy production

@texan2560 11 ай бұрын

Great project and video. Maybe fab up some small fan and mount to the alternator to pass more air over it and keep it cooler.

@dariuscalitz9704 Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the follow up video, and thank you in general for making video's, here in South Africa we have multiple times of power outage per day, thanks to loadshedding from 2 hours to 16 hours a day. So doing stuff diy really helps especially when solar pannels is always out of stock and inverter generators is quite scares aswell, but thanks again for the follow up video.

@Jay-Leigh863 Жыл бұрын

Hi Darius. Im also in South Africa and these rolling blackouts that get called loadshedding is the exact reason I'm here!

@chrisdekock8864 Жыл бұрын

Another south African here! I knew some Saffas would check this out. It is a kak spul there. Mom is still left there, she refused to leave. I packed up in 2019 and came to USA. Mom is off grid with 7kw lithium and 5kw inverter and 1800l JoJo. Just sponsored her with some ecoflow goodies and solar panels for the caravan trip to Scottburgh. I am off grid too, my yacht is on solar power and only needed to run the generator once in last 20 days due to a 5 days of rain. I have a 100amp alternator on my 55hp Diesel engine, and a 20amp and 40 amp DC to DC charge controller for my 6kw of lithium on my sailboat. I can charge all 6kw with 3.5 liter of petrol in the Honda generator in 8 hours. In conclusion of this video, Not worth the effort and cost to go directly DC charging on another engine, although a single cylinder diesel Lister would be lots of fun to play with

@MarkPrince1317 Жыл бұрын

Brother you should try wind generator Best regards from Philippines 🇵🇭 and thank you very much for your informative videos

@coryr6359 2 ай бұрын

Very informative. If a person was looking for a good cost saving approach, there isnt much better than this!!

@carlomilord1374 Жыл бұрын

You kill it! good job. I cant wait to make one.

@jakes1292 Жыл бұрын

This is a great addition to the community conversation. Thanks David!

@tonyshipman257 Жыл бұрын

David, Thank you for sharing the outcome of the mods. I'm glad the input was helpful and worked. Take care, Tony

@wiredforstereo 7 ай бұрын

Next question, converting to a permanent magnet alternator. I assume it would increase your efficiency. I did a project like this over ten years ago. It used an old rototiller engine with an old Cadillac alternator with a deep cycle battery to keep everything powered. Then connected to an inverter. With this setup, during power outages, I was able to operate our propane furnace and some other small appliances.

@SuperBrainAK Жыл бұрын

That was a really well done experiment! Thanks for the tutorial video I'm sure many people could use it to build their own generator.

@rpasco9352 5 ай бұрын

One more suggestion: The belt -will- stretch with use. Why don't you add any typical alternator idler puller/belt tensioner that will always maintain the optimum belt tension ? This will also act as a shock absorber of sorts and reduce vibration.

@SkyNoris Жыл бұрын

Really cool setup David! I enjoy watching these projects and the results develop! Props again for all the hard work involved! I was thinking maybe this same setup could be used to harness wind or hydro energy.

@linkpatrick 11 ай бұрын

I feel like there are so many better ways to do what you're after. But you do this anyway. I love it. I also appreciate you showing all the things that you do to "make it work." Like the washers and the exposed screw trimming.

@RimjobHimself 2 ай бұрын

Here i am. Im back. You just thought me something that should be something i knew. But have never thought about it. The alternator need power to engage the power to getting produced. I a couple summers ago in my car that i had parked in my driveway with a boat on a trailer behind it came out and the battery was flat. Thinking since i live with a kilometer of downhill all the way down to the lake i just figured out i wouldnt do anything about anything and just took the car with boat and all behind and thought it of course would fire up immideately when i engaged the clutch and had the motor turning. No. Noooooooope. My diesel car running at 3000rpm down that hill didnt even make any power at all because as you showed me, the alternator hadnt even enough power for creating a magnetic effect for it to start making power. Short story later, i called my friend wich came on his scooter and i borrowed it back to my place borrowing the neighbors car and brought my starter cables. wont do that again now. This has always puzzled me the last 2 years why it never started. Now i know. Btw im 49. And i work on motorcycles and all that stuff all the time.. guess i never have had such a voltage dead battery ever happen to me before teaching me this.

@JayDee25895 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your time!

@GoingOffGrid101 Жыл бұрын

great test, thats very interesting that it was less efficient.

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Thanks.

@joshanderson1019 Жыл бұрын

One thing that I learned by building these is the gearing for the engine and alternator needs to be about 1:1. That pairs the engine perfectly with the alternator, since it doesn't need to be spinning that fast. The alternator will run significantly cooler and your engine will use less fuel. The reason alternators have electromagnets instead of permanent magnets is because it drastically increases performance at low rpms. Since you are requiring 48v from a 12v alternator, you might still need to spin the alternator faster, but not likely. You should put a small load on the alternator (like 10 amps) and lower the engine rpm until the voltage starts to drop then speed it up just a bit. That will get your alternator at peak efficiency and you can run a gearing calculator to see what gearing you need. You could probably even get away with just running the engine at the speed that you had during the test mentioned above, since the governor will maintain that speed as the load increases. I love your videos and am glad to see you make some of the things that I make for fun too.

@casemodder89 Жыл бұрын

if you load it with 10A you'll find the rpm for 10A. on higher load the rpm will sag much more and the dropping rpm will drop output drastically. you'd need a current and voltage sensing circuit and a servo controlled carb that would lower the rpm on slight loads and rise it on high loads.

@Tumbleweed5150 Жыл бұрын

@@casemodder89 Since this is designed purely for charging a battery bank, the load can be the same all the time. The same rpm will work just fine. No need for the expensive carb. The point above is to find the Amperage you want to feed the battery bank, then figure what rpm to run the engine at to achieve that as efficiently as possible, I believe.

@judahschwarz3552 4 ай бұрын

Alternators use electromagnets so they can adjust the output current based on the varying load rather than having to change the rotor speed

@toma.cnc1 Жыл бұрын

I was wondering "why did i open this video" till i saw your picture!!! Cool look, and nice video, as usual. Thank you.

@janosvarga962 Жыл бұрын

Was fun, had a blast. Better than expected. Thanks.

@TheXxRenzxX Жыл бұрын

For almost all buck/boost converters, the two negative connections are actually untouched/commoned. This is because these circuits modulate voltage on the positive side in reference to this common negative rail. To double check, just check for continuity between -IN and -OUT on your converter. Hope this helps!

@liam3284 Жыл бұрын

Given the voltage ratio, I expect a two active switch buck with a transformer.

@mckenziekeith7434 11 ай бұрын

@@liam3284 even if there is a transformer, in- and out- may well be connected internally to simplify voltage sensing etc.

@charlesdean2002 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for this learning experience !

@michaelrocher5649 9 ай бұрын

Great job thank you for sharing David. Mike

@craignels Жыл бұрын

I think an ohms check will confirm that the buck converter's input and output negative terminals are tied together so that other experimenters may indeed be able to use the internal diodes. Great follow up video.

@craignels Жыл бұрын

But in your case external diodes are still a good call. Newer alternators use diodes that avalanche around 20 to 40 volts. Finding this spec on an unknown alternator can be tough so external diodes remove any doubt.

@TheMacroSlacker 11 ай бұрын

@@craignels A safety feature I suspect

@Tumbleweed5150 Жыл бұрын

Nice looking set-up, and it WORKS! I've known several folks who used a similar set-up to charge their 12V systems. We call them "poor boys", short for poor boy generator, because we couldn't afford the real thing. LOL Thanks for doing these two videos. My neighbor and I both run 48V systems for our off-grid homes. So far, we haven't had to run generators because we get a lot of sun, but this might be a good thing for us, in case of a blackout at night, to put in enough sun so that the inverter will start powering our refrigerators asap. I do have a Honda 6500, but it needs to be taken in to adjust it, as the Voltage isn't right coming out. (I think a neighbor screwed in all the adjustment screws as a joke). I could get the Chargeverter from Signature Solar and use that, once I have the generator running properly. Just haven't gotten the cash saved up to take it into the shop. Thanks again. Love your channel!

@dougbas3980 6 ай бұрын

Well done, it answered my questions from part 1. I really enjoyed these videos ( I am an electrical engineer ).

@DavidPozEnergy 6 ай бұрын

Thank you. I appreciate the engineers who stop by my channel because I get to learn from you. BTW, there is also a part 3 where I fine-tune the efficiency a little more.

@user-vh9yc4kl2l 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the videos great content and well made too ! Regarding the diodes fitted to the original alternator that you removed. These diodes are usually "avalanche type diodes" in modern alternators and do 'zenner' and conduct at around 20-24V reversed to help prevent damage when things fail. So if you do not remove them the voltage you can generate will be limited by the diodes reverse zenner action to about 20-24V. Not a well know fact.

@DavidPozEnergy 7 ай бұрын

Thank you. I didn't know that.

@meo321 5 ай бұрын

Super informative . Thank you so much.

@johnhknapp 4 ай бұрын

I made the 12 volt version of this on a solar trailer I made. It uses a Victron smart battery monitor to signal a Deep Sea gen control to start my predator engine when voltage falls below a certain point. Can't wait to build 48 volt version! I was inspired by this build.

@mckenziekeith7434 11 ай бұрын

This is a great video! You could try using a smaller field voltage. This will reduce losses in the field coil. As long as the output voltage from the bridge rectifier is greater than the battery voltage, you should be able to charge the batteries (might need a different charge controller). This may increase the current in the stator winding, so maybe it will not be a net win. I am not sure. It is just something to try. There may be a specific field voltage that produces maximum efficiency is what I am saying. One other thing you could do is attach a motor controller to the three-phase output (instead of the diodes) and operate the controller in regen mode. That should bump up the efficiency a bit. But there is a lot of learning curve with motor controllers.

@junkmail4613 10 ай бұрын

Back in 1965, I modified the 55 amp alternator on a 55 Dodge station wagon. I setup 12 to 14 volts on the stator field and got out 150 volts at 4000 engine rpm, gauging pulley ratios from 1955 memory, likely 3 to 1 so 12000 rpm. The 1/4 hp variable speed universal brush motor on the drill worked fine except that it wouldn't turn off. Had to unplug it. What did I know, I was just a kid. Anyway, for short term use, 50 amps times 150 volts would be 7500 watts possible or about ten horsepower off that car engine. Half that 7500 or 3750 would be going into the load and the other half would be lost into the field windings. I'm fairly sure your setup was much more stable than mine was. That phone measuring and adjusting the power rating was really cool. Not available back in 1965. Anyway, your alternator was prepared to operate at full capacity in a much overheated engine compartment, with safety margins on their capacities as well. You said yours was a 215 amp alternator, and you ran it at 50 amps and the field ran up to 100 deg Centigrade, but the field rating was 160 deg C, my guess might be linear relationship so 50 amps times 160 deg divided by 100 deg might ask ya to test long term monitoring at 80 amps, certainly within the 215 amp device capacity. I'm also thinking Amperage squared times resistance would suggest 1.6 squared or 2.5 times as much heating, but at higher temperature you have more dissipation. Maybe change motor pulley size to get it up towards 12000 rpm as rated and get more alternator internal fan cooling. (also you'd have more max voltage, not needing as much current for the same power rating. You could certainly draw more power out of that gas motor with your system) Looks like great fun, thanks for letting us watch your exploration!

@linmal2242 Жыл бұрын

Great job David! You could also put some solid rubber wheels on it (two fixed and two pivot with locking brakes) and a handle so you can move it around easily if you need to. Also a mesh guard on the belt to stop fingers from getting mangled!

@samuelclemons6821 10 ай бұрын

very nicely done, sir!

@user-nb5bj9pt4g 4 ай бұрын

Hi David. Nice experimets. I have new suggestions about the fuel efficiency. First engine is 7,5HP (5,595kW) and your alternator produces at peek 2,2kW. This way a lot of fuel is wasted on engine running at half power. Your test with honda generator and dedicated battery charger (with 100A charger current), as I remeber the values, was not run at same conditions so the result could not be compares. So to run engine at full power, adding second alternator will increase total output and could improve fuel effiecency. Second putting bridge rectifies in series could help Victron MPPT charge controller find better point. Maybe alternator current will not drop, but higher voltage will decrease all losses in wires and electronics. Good job.

@mattnbin 10 ай бұрын

There is an old guy living of grid with a similar set up. He gets 10 hours from a gallon of fuel. Running alternator at way slower speed. 12v 30amps charging. His channel is rbodell. All the best to you. Great work!!!

@SteveWrightNZ 7 ай бұрын

Very useful for sailboat people..

@douglasarnoldakers Жыл бұрын

Really fun video. Thanks.

@HOLLIDAYMULTIMEDIA 6 ай бұрын

You are a humble genius Sir. You are motivating me to do my Doomsday prepping.

@TheVillainInThisGame 10 ай бұрын

I really appreciate you comparing the DIY to the off-shelf version, and would love a more comprehensive comparison, maybe a short list of pros and cons of going each way for a generator.

@NoelBarlau Жыл бұрын

Really great information, thanks David.

@mikemoore466 9 ай бұрын

Nice. Now that’s they way I had it in my head that it should look like.

@pieceworkstudios 4 ай бұрын

Just finished part 1 and I'm here for it 👍. All chores on hold! 😂

@DavidPozEnergy 4 ай бұрын

Thank you, I appreciate it.

@pieceworkstudios 4 ай бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy you're very talented and creative. Thanks for explaining things even the types of tools you use. It's very helpful. Sometimes I'll see someone use a tool that I know I could benefit from but haven't seen it don't know what it's called.

@markwitkop7022 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the relevant information.

@bennygarcia888 7 ай бұрын

Thank you very much! Well explained!....

@danp762 Жыл бұрын

Very good video. I was thinking of doing something similar but, seeing how well it would actually work, I think a generator and charger (like in your other video) is a much better option. Thanks for doing such a good job on this, you save me time and money. 😀

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Your welcome. It was fun nailing down whether or not it made sense to build one.

@johnvasko4035 Жыл бұрын

I built one 20 years ago using a Kubota 4hp water cooled diesel signboard engine, a 100 amp gm alternator, and a 12 volt three stage marine charge controller. I built an outdoor cabinet for it with a cooling fan, an electric fuel pump and a 12 volt solenoid valve controlled by a Intermatic 6 hour spring wound timer. The timer controls the solenoid valve to cut off fuel to the engine to stop it. I had to build an external bridge rectifier on heat sinks because the alternators built in one would desolder itself and fail. I'm getting 5kwh/gal of diesel @ 1600 rpm/55 amps. Very quiet, long life. 5 gal fuel tank. 8h/gal run time.

@keithcress1335 Жыл бұрын

That was a blast! Thanks David. Man, any scheme based on diesel or gasoline sure costs a boatload more than the utility rates these days. Essentially a $1 a killowatt hour instead of 10~30 cents a kWhr. I guess now you should get that methane digester going? 😀

@TheBry_Guy Жыл бұрын

or a big hamster wheel and put the kids in it for an hour a day :)

@noanyobiseniss7462 Жыл бұрын

I like the way your using the scientific method to optimize even if you didn't know that's what your doing.

@hound696 3 ай бұрын

Its not as good as your generator, but way cheaper, and still does a decent job. Also its easy to work on and cheap to buy parts.

@catman6605 4 ай бұрын

If you get an engine set up for electric start, you can use the charge circuit from the engine to excite the alternator automatically when started and ditch the buck converter and having to use and external power supply to trip the alternator

@44hawk28 7 ай бұрын

I'm a little bit late to this, however, if you will make sure that when you are assembling anything with a serpentine belt or any other rubber products, spray them down well or soak them in 303 protectant for a while and then let them dry out over several hours at least. Then assemble them after they dry out good, maybe even use them the next day. It will make the rubber or allow the rubber to have far more resilience over time. Another point, alternators used to have an external fan as well. That does help keep the alternator cool because you're using external air flow to help keep the case of the alternator a more active component in Cooling. It's possible to put an external fan on that that runs on very little electricity. Just a small one all it has to do is is keep the air flow across the alternator. A little 5 volt circuit on that should be easy to assemble. With a USBC plug. Does not take much air flow to remove a lot of heat. If you build another one and you have the option to get the same brand alternator with an aluminum plate on the back rather than the plastic, aluminum does not cage the heat inside itself like the plastic cover does. I enjoy the comment on the smoke because the whole secret to any system is to keep the smoke inside it because that's what makes it work lol.

@HirschCustoms Ай бұрын

So I did the same thing with one difference. I used a single cylinder diesel motor that runs on used motor oil. Essentially costing me 1 gallon of gas to provide me with 5 gallons of fuel. This is after 2 weeks of settling and passing the oil through 2 filters before adding it to the tank and adding a inline filter to that as well. This made my fuel for power cost almost nothing as I am a mechanic as well as can pick up oil from any shop in town for free

@andrewlindh5047 Жыл бұрын

You need a fan on the alternator. Many alternator just use a small fan behind the pulley for forced air cooling. This would allow you to extract more amps and run cooler which should be more efficient. Also, as you stated before, direct drive rather than a belt.

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Check out 12:15

@andrewlindh5047 Жыл бұрын

@@DavidPozEnergy Missed that... Thanks.

@JbVest Жыл бұрын

Also vibrations are still one of my issues that I'm trying to resolve, watching video now

@SaltGrains_Fready 10 ай бұрын

Regarding the field. 1) The Buck Boost is saturated at 5A with the voltage setting. You don't know how much more current the field would take at 12V like that. You should connect the field directly to a charged car battery with an ammeter in series with it to see what the field current will be with that setup. The current reading not turning will likely be different than when it's running and producing output. 2) You can run the field with no regulator by taking the DC output and connecting it to the field through a headlight from a car. The bulb has a resistance that changes as it brightens and that is a limiter of current. This kind of configuration can be adjusted with different bulb wattages in parallel to adjust the field current and balance the output to what you are getting now. That's an old trick from back in the generator days. Once you have it set you measure the voltage across the field and it will be different from a flat 12 V. 3) ALSO, By putting a variable voltage controller across the alternator field, you can adjust the field voltage from 0-14 Volts and control the output wattage that way going into the MPPT. THIS will be the best way to tweak the efficiency since as you lower the alternator output you lower the field voltage and current and the thermal image of the alternator working will be much cooler. That should be able to give you a sweet spot that will have less voltage on the field for the adjusted charge rate which will reduce the drag on the engine and allow more kwh charging on a gallon of gas.

@chuxxsss Жыл бұрын

Good work, David.

@norsk54472 Жыл бұрын

great project and good work

@headoverhead2894 4 ай бұрын

Loved the video! Pretty awesome.

@hardhead7056 2 ай бұрын

Rube Goldberg? I think that is his name. Would be proud. That alternator unmolested was just fine before you disassembled it. Variable 👉internal voltage regulator for win.

@tunafish3216 8 ай бұрын

I would take off the rubber mounts and bolt them to the plate. Also you could run it on propane and get no bad fumes.

@aatirehrarsiddiqui8894 Жыл бұрын

Electrical Engineer here. Top video mate. Subbed. Some ideas I would love to see. - If you increase the excitation a bit to see how far you can take it - If possible hook up the AC output voltage to an oscilloscope to see how clean the AC waveform is. The frequency, shape of the waveform that kinda thing. I am curious to see if you can use this setup as an AC generator without all the DC rectification stuff and run stuff like lights fans or maybe even electronics like computers if the AC waveform is clean and stable enough in terms of frequency and voltage.

@Rickmakes Жыл бұрын

It would be cool to see you make modifications to this to meet or beat the Honda's performance.

@JUNDomingo-zk3bi 9 ай бұрын

very nice i learned a lot to your alternator project..very interesting for a beginner like me.thank you for sharing.. jun domingo.. watching from philippines

@hardbrocklife 11 ай бұрын

Definitely one of the best series for a DIY generator. I want to build one with a cheap Chinese clone diesel engine.

@SEXYTECH1000 Жыл бұрын

AWESOME VIDEO , SUBSCRIBED !

@BenMitro Жыл бұрын

Nice demonstration David!! If you wanted to measure the conversion efficiency of the alternator + charge controller, you could replace the petrol motor with an electric motor, measure the power required to drive the electric motor and then see how much power you get out of the alternator (before the charge controller). I think the 100oC on the alternator amounts to a substantial amount lost energy going to heat. You will need to factor in the efficiency of the electric motor, but I suspect that will be greater than 90%. Mayby part 3?

@jimjones7821 Жыл бұрын

an electric motor is NOT 90% efficient

@oliverer3 3 ай бұрын

I've been wanting to design a custom hyper efficient 3-phase inverter battery charger for a generator project like this for ages and this video might be what finally pushes me over the edge. If I pull zero punches and use every bit of EE knowledge I have getting >98% efficiency between the alternator/generator and battery would be fully possible. Can't get rid of the inherent inefficiency of IC engines though or what is lost from the internal resistance of the battery.

@outoftexasRev7v9 Жыл бұрын

If that I may: you, Sir, definitely have talents that are worthy of the Showalter Brothers building an advertising platform around you. I mean only the greatest respect when I say that; you have the enthused appeal and adept knowledge to be the DIY equivalent of a cross between Bob Vila and Bill Nye with a touch of mr. Wizard.

@DavidPozEnergy Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Those are some of the greats.

@kevinfenn9672 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video.

@HomeSysAdmin Жыл бұрын

Great updates, thanks!

@rossbrigolimusic 3 ай бұрын

Great work! Got a couple of suggestions, try a bigger buck converter and see if you can get the fuel efficiency better with lower rpm. Another thing is that buck converter may not last long with all the vibration. You could mechanically isolate it from the engilne or soak it in silicone.

@donscottvansandt4139 8 ай бұрын

Great info. I'm working on a water storage tank / battery. I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck and am experimenting with alternator VS DC.vs Ac. Motors . And using 2 motors one on each side of the driveshaft. I think for my application the DC . Motor is gonna be best. Because easy to get waterproof auto fan motors . But the results are not in yet .