DIY axial alternator for a 6/1

[mobile_bob]

i have been trying to reach the windpower guys, their forum is down for a hardware changeover
and should be back up this saturday, anyway there are a couple examples of diy built alternators made
for direct drive on a 6/1 lister.

one particular unit i have been following was built by this guy who has it connected to an outback MX60 mppt controller
and is charging a 48 volt bank and has documented iirc 3500watts peak output.

now that is a very efficient homebuilt alternator, and as a homebilt it can easily be rebuilt or repaired at will.
the unit is directly attached to the 6/1 crankshaft so that there is no drive couple, no brg issue's to contend with
and is permanent magnet field so no brushes or slip rings either, all in all an excellent example of what can be done.

the use of the mx 60 iirc is more for the buck converter function and accurate charge control of amperage and voltage
for proper battery charging, allowing the engine to run at anywhere it wants to run,, and because he is charging a battery
bank and providing power via an inverter flicker is no problem for his setup.

maybe not the ulitimate in inverter/generator, but a darned good option in my opinion that needs more exploration and interest
here amongst those thinking of going offgrid with a 6/1.

on the up side is the parasitic drag is very low, due to the flat shape of the rotors, and there is no cogging due to the air core
stator, so one could also use a belt to drive an st head as well if you wanted to for 240volt loads such as a well pump.

soon as i can contact these gents, i will do my best to get at least one of them to come over and show us the unit
i think many will be quite impressed.

bob g

[mobile_bob]

i don't know if this is the same guy, but basically the same setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyJYdHzwsy4

bob g

[EBI-WPO]

Mobile Bob,
Hope I'm not violating any rules here, but below is a link for a manufactured (by off gridders) stator for windpower. They also sell magnets and rotor kits etc.

http://www.forcefieldmagnets.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_30&products_id=185&osCsid=1065e64099f7ef09765a30e44a2c42cf

Terry

[mobile_bob]

not a problem for me

they are the guys at otherpower.com, that have been upgradeing hardware his week
they should be back online saturday and i am going to do my best to get a couple of those
that built the lister axial flux machines to come over and give us a show n tell.

bob g

[Capt Fred]

I posted a bit about this in another thread, here goes again with a few more details

This buddy of mine who I collaborate with here on island is running a 12/2 listeroid with what he calls a "wall mill"  a otherpower style wind generator direct drive wired for a 48volt system. in addition to that he has two stepdown transformers one for each leg - that drops the output voltage of 120 down to 60 volts - then bridge rectifies to d/c and runs it to his 48volt outback grid tie inverter - pumps his extra power back to the grid - works great, reliable and cheaper than the mx60 (mind you i'm a big fan of the mx 60, will buy one for my solar system but it's a bit pricey compared to a transformer and bridge rectifyer system.)

I've carbon problems with my engine running wvo - can only manage a consistant 4.5kw load - not enough to properly load the engine - my inverter isn't a grid tie (had planned on being completely independant of the grid) so will pick up a sunnyboy - won't need the transformers with that system - just the bridge rectifiers pump a coupla kw back to the grid - run the engine a little less and with a more appropriate load.  Have seen the grid tie system working - looks like a great way to load the engine and build up some credit with the power company.

Cheers, Fred

[Halfcrazy]

The Gent with the Axial Flux running into a MX60 is Roy from Windsine in New York he is stopping in tommorow here in maine to visit i will let hime know and see if i can get him here. He is truly a wealth of knowledge.

[electronbaby]

Hello Ryan, and Bob and the rest of the group. Ryan told me about your forum and I figured Id drop in and say hi. :-)

Ive been with the Fieldlines.com group for a long time, so some of you might know me from that forum.

Im the fellow with the axial flux listeroid MX60 combo in NY (I see someone linked my youtube vid also).

If I can be of any assistance, or add anything to the group, just ask. Ill try to pop in here as often as I can to share.

Have Fun!!
RoyR

[mobile_bob]

i followed a bit on your listeroid axial alternator, and would sure
appreciate you telling us all you can about it here, and if you can post some pictures
please feel free to do so.

we surely would like to know all about what you have done

bob g

[Geno]

Here's a relevant page from the Otherpower site.

http://otherpower.com/listeraxialflux.shtml

Thanks, Geno

[BruceM]

How about a big claw pole generator (thanks Bob G) which replaces a flywheel, with some fancy electronics to make it a starter, too?

[mobile_bob]

Bruce:

every since i found the referrence and sketches of Brown's alternator of 1891 i have had the
burning desire to build a big one.

i am thinking "how cool would a 24" rotor be?"

of course i would have to couple it to the changfa s195
but i see no reason why it could not be coupled to a listeroid.

and yes, it could be made to also be a very good starter motor with a little effort
and some power electronics.

i guess you could build the rotor, make it fitted with a taperlock hub so it could be mounted
to the lister/oid, and then take it to a tire wheel balancer to get it tuned up before mounting.

i suspect something of that size might well be well upwards of the high 80's % efficienct

its the stator that bothers me, if i ever come across a stator that is large ID, i am going to grab
it

a single stator core ought to be enough to make several machines, because usually they are quite long
and for our purposes ~2" in length ought to be enough.

who knows maybe stator core laminations can be bought new for a reasonable price? never really looked
into that before.

if it worked well, even if it were only as good as an ST, talk about bragging rights!!!
if it turned out to be better than an ST? man oh man,, that would really be a killer white paper.

bob g

[BruceM]

True, Bob, a Listeroid sized stator would be a lot of coils.  I don't know if air coils would work well with the claw pole rotor.

Some multiple of 12 poles at 600 rpm, I think.  For a claw type rotor, I suppose that means 24 poles. 

What a project!
Bruce

[Apogee]

Ecoair alternator design...

Look at the rotor.  I wonder if we could do something similar in the diy arena...

From their FAQ page:

"Eco-Tech alternators employ new, proprietary, permanent magnet technology to generate 80% of rated output at idle. "

From their Fuel Saving Calculator page:

"Eco-Tech Alternators are more efficient than commonly used competitive units, 80% efficient versus 45 to 55% efficient."

Good article:

http://www.eco-techalternators.com/pdf/052000_04.pdf

Here's the company's site:

http://www.eco-techalternators.com/

(No, I don't have any affiliation with them in any way)

Enjoy,

Steve

[veggie]

Hi All,

I thought I would revive this old thread to see if there have been any new developments.
The video posted back in 2009 caught my attention immediately.
This one...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyJYdHzwsy4

Since then I have not seen much in the way of "off the shelf" axial generators.
The reason I think these are ideal for listeroids is that it eliminates the large base and belt drive configurations that we must build, effectively reducing the footprint of the Generator setup by 50%.

Does anyone know of an "off the shelf" axial flux generator for sale these days.?
I realize that these can be built from scratch but if I take on one more "build-it-from-scratch" project
right now my head might explode  

I'm looking for something that could be adapted to a Listeroid with a bit of modification or adaptation.
The fact that these can be wired over to a Midnite Solar (or other) charge controller makes it ideal for bank charging.

cheers,
veggie

[DanG]

The folks at FORCEFIELD - Otherpower - WonderMagnet started providing stand alone dual-rotor units a while back..

http://69.175.14.181/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=227....

Except:  "DUE TO A BACKLOG OF ORDERS, WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING ORDERS FOR THIS ITEM. Please Email us for more information"