This excellent URL was sent in telling how to convert a lawn mower
engine to make your own power generator, it ain't free, but its a neat
thing to have around if you need it, here is the email;
....For information on building a homemade "poorman's" generator go to:
Click on tip'o the week where you will find a menu that says build your
own generator.
You will find infomation on building a generator out of a lawnmower
motor and a GM alternator.
They sell a bracket (about $28) to put the whole device together for a
reasonable price. I bought one it works great.
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This will take you directly to the tip of the week if you want to read
the entire thing, the essence is extracted for the archive;
http://www.theepicenter.com/tipoweek.html
How to build your own generator, scroll down to Emergency power in the
left frame;
http://TheEpicenter.com/tipoweek.html
Be sure and read the entire URL as there is a lot more information and
capture it if you are interested in such information. I love the idea
of using a lawnmower as an emergency power generator. They indicate it
can generate as much as 500Watts depending on the inverter and
generator.
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"My stand by battery charger for drag strip / RV use is now a "one wire"
Marine alternator of 75 amp rating on a board (a 2 x 8) with a 3 hp
horizontal shaft Tecumseh running the pulley. My first one, since sold,
was a 3.5 hp Briggs & Stratton from a vertical shaft mower.
I cut a slot in the front of the mower deck (but in retrospect, if I had
to do it over, I would cut the back) and added brackets made from old
1.5" angle iron for the pivot and an old (from the junkyard) slotted
alternator bracket for the adjuster.
By re-using the mower deck, I had a place to mount the entire works, on
wheels with an easily-attached (and detached) handle. If I had been even
remotely bright at the time, I would have cut into the back of the deck,
so that the alternator and mounts were under the handle, instead of
sticking out the front which made the entire rig about a foot longer
than it needed to be. Oh well.... (Live & Learn!)"
"I actually used old bed-frame rails for the angle iron to make the
brackets. (My neighbor was tossing out an old bed, so the steel was
free!)"
"It isn't difficult to make this work. If you are after a system to
charge a battery between rounds so you can run the race car without an
alternator, it works great!
As a standby power source, the most expensive thing is the inverter. It
has the advantage that you can run it to charge batteries, and
subsequently run the inverter off the batteries for some light and
silence!
In an emergency there is a battery in your car, one in your spouse's
car, one in your neighbor’s car, etc. so there is no shortage of ability
to store some power.
Deep-cycle (marine/RV) type batteries are greatly to be preferred, but
if you don't have a boat or RV already, you are not likely to have them
around, and the object of this project is to keep costs down while still
avoiding "being powerless".
If you are only after some light, use 12 V light fittings and bulbs, and
save the cost of the inverter. Or use an inverter to run the
heat-recovery fan in your furnace/fireplace, and cycle it with the
refrigerator / freezer to minimize the size of the inverter required and
still use the 12 V lights."
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A related idea that produced 7KW from an idling car engine is given at;
http://www.keelynet.com/energy/dynamo.txt
-- Jerry Wayne Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-3501 KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187