Micro 12v Generator Project

What a great thread, just as a matter of interest, Peugeot make a petrol 50cc liquid cooled engine, electric and kick start. The engine is in their Speedfight Scooter, quite a few engines for sale on Ebay.
 
Shiver Me Timbers said:
What a great thread, just as a matter of interest, Peugeot make a petrol 50cc liquid cooled engine, electric and kick start. The engine is in their Speedfight Scooter, quite a few engines for sale on Ebay.
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I did look at that as an option originally.....those ones are 2 stroke....the very new ones are 4 stroke, but expensive...
 
its been a long time since the last update here.....and unfortunately, nothing has been done on the Micro Generator Project, i think i mentioned in an earlier post that a have changed direction and now have a 2.2kw electric start diesel generator installed in the rear locker.......we decided (in the middle of the micro gen project) a while back to move from a Marina berth to a swinging mooring so the power demands went from needing a small lightweight 12v power source every now and again, to definately wanting a decent 240v supply on board....

anyway....was about to put the Honda GX25 back to a water pump, i still have all the bits, and its a 30 minute job, I will probably then keep that onboard as an emergency bilge pump, but then i thought i would offer my MicroGen for sale should anyone be interested and want to finish it off...

It is basically a Honda GX25 (1hp) engine on a stand with a Denso Lightweight alternator attached with a drive coupling. It also has a water cooled copper manifold and associated piping to cool the head (which can easily be removed)

It also has all the original WX10 pump bits, although it would need a hole i had to drill "plugged" to make it work as a pump again.

To finish it off simply, you would need to solder up an adjustable alternator regulator (circuit diagram shown earlier in thread) and attach that, with the standard exhaust it would be ready to go and generate power, in my tests it was good for 30amps max but 10-15amps without getting too noisy....or you could go mad and try and complete it with all the other bits and bobs i made up for it, water cooling etc etc...all will be included...

Anyway, let me know, the WX10's as pumps go for £130+ all day long on eBay see here so will sell it for that if anyone is interested in a project + £7 postage.
 
Just got in from work.If the microgen is not yet sold,it is now!! I've not yet worked out how to PM,but I know how to reply.If you PM me I can send you a cheque.
Cheers
Caiman
 
Just came across this thread. Interesting project. Made something similar when I was very young <10 and came across the same problems as found here, but didn't have the knowledge to do anything other than have a long wire to act as a current limiter to stop the engine stalling.

FYI Honda once made a 6/12/24 volt DC genny called a 'ED300' I found one on a scrap pile a few years ago, and that would do 30A+ flat out. It was pull start had auto choke and auto load (adjustable). They appear on ebay from time to time. Only downside is they are not regulated but stick a large 12v bank on them and its not an issue anyway.

I very nearly started on a similar project recently with a 3.2hp 2stroke outboard engine. I decided in the end it was not worth the effort, but I quite like the idea of this little honda engine. I would however water cool the whole thing if its piratical. I did look at my ED300, but given its rarity, and side valves with access plate, it didn't lend itself well to welding a water jacket around it.

Back to this project however. I think without doubt I'd have picked up the field windings to control alternator load. Using a basic ADC from the PIC to vary the field winding current I'd have used this to make my own voltage regulator, and thus program in battery charge curves for bulk/absorption/float/optional equalise stages.

Like I said, makes me want to have a go :)
 
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Quite like that. Would be interested to see how the alternator deals with connection and disconnection of a load, however not too sure on the switch panel looks a bit flimsy to me, and using the most el-cheapo parts etc.
 
For those that aren't sure where the serial number is on their double door Dometic, the tag is located on the upper side of the lower food compartment. The model, serial number and product number will be listed on this tag.
 
I have reported the above post. Text below:

Strange Behaviour.

This new user has to date made 5 posts. Each is added to a fairly old thread: 2 weeks, 3 months, 10 months, 4 years and 5 years respectively since the previous post. In each other case the post appears superficially relevant to the subject, but a bit "odd". This example, however, on a very specific technical thread has missed entirely: the thread subject has nothing to do with refrigerators.

Some users are speculating that this may be a "bot" of some kind, rather than a human.
 
thought maybe I should update this again...
a few years have past....and I've been using a home brew engine/alternator charger (to jump start engines) the whole time......but a few days ago, I decided to tackle this project again....

The original idea was a small, light, high output 12v charger.

this is a very early prototype of the mk2 version, 2.5hp Lifan engine, hopefully good for around 100amps.
Servo throttle control, LCD display and full alternator load/voltage control.

Using a pot on the board you can set the RPM (basically to control the noise level) to whatever you fancy and it adjusts the output accordingly.
I've had it running and it looks promising, I've got an issue with the RPM measurement (sample time) and the PID software on the controller (it hunts too much) so once ive cracked that (waiting for a new oscilloscope to arrive) i'll tidy it up and update some more.

That is if anyone is interested :-)

I also have the Ardunino outputting NMEA2000 (I think!) so I am hoping to have it sending out NMEA2000 values.
Something to do over the winter.

gen.jpg
 
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Give it a go, what you got to lose?? I actually am experimenting with the slightly larger gx35 for a lightweight 4 stroke outboard. Cracking belt driven OHC engines they are. Have you thought about fitting a larger gx50 silencer box?
Good luck, Steve
mattnj said:
Well, if trying something makes me daft then yes, again please less of the negativity, i am not saying that it will work i am trying some things out here, and just sharing my experiance, maybe i just wont bother sharing....thats the point of the project, yes its soldered, but it is getting 10l/min of cold water through the whole assumbly that butts right up to the head, so god knows how hot it will actually run at the soldered joint, one way to find out!

No doubt there is some maths to some about latent heat of water, melting point of solder blah blah blah, but ive made it now, so think i will just pull the chord and see what happens thanks :-) if it melts, blows up and makes 1amp, i will still be happy, had fun making it with my son thanks....
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Greetings. I just read through every post. I made one of these and the alternator stalls the GX25 as soon as excitation occurs. Not sure if the alternator is cooked or not. Amp out put is only reading between 1-14amps. With a fully charged 800ah batter or even 10ah battery i can get it to run but no noticible output. MATTNJ Have you made your regulator schematic public. If so i would love to copy it :) i can weld and solder but i dont know much about the electronic side. Any help would be appreciated. I tried to PM but i dont have the option. Cheers
 
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