Micro CoGen.

I decided to make the foray into welding together 18650 Li-ion cells to make banks of different voltages. I am learning about battery management systems, charging, and S&P architecture.
We also are using some LiFePO4 cells as well.

Sorry if I sound a bit incoherent. I just got out of surgery, and none is parsing my writing.

I use a mmpt charge controller to take 120vdcsolar panels down to 48vdc.
Perhaps instead of panels a DC motor of some sort could be substituted? I have a 3hp 120vdc treadmill motor...
Of course efficiency is not everything sometimes. Just the fact that the batteries could be recharged in a blizzard.
Any how I am just being chatty. And I appreciate the good work you did 15 years ago. It's still relivant.

Thanks Bob!
The over unity quote came from further up this thread (Thomasonw)
I am surprised it's as high as 47% but that's great.
I was admiring the chart with comparison between rpm and amps. It's very interesting.

Before, I had barrels full of 10si parts. Now 15 years have gone by and I am more interested in 48v. I very grateful to have enough resources to actually be picky about the next alternator.
After all your experiences, what do you recommend for 48vdc?

12v, the 'Rule-of-thumb' has been 1HP for each 100A produced when using a 12v alternator.  Or approx 1HP for 1.4KW?

1HP is 745 watts...so this is a second law violation. You can't put in 745 watts and get 1400 watts out.
I am sorry it took me so many years to catch this...
BTW what are the results from the Denso? Mine locked up and I replaced it with a 55 amp Delco 20SI.

DF

Hi everyone,
I have had a nagging question stemming from the dismal comments about the PMA converted Delcos over on the Other power site.
Is the a graph of the energy curve of the 10SI with it's normal regulator?
Specifically, I wonder what the power into the rotor versus the power out of the stator is, versus RPM.

DF

The engine came out of a boat. It has a water pump that circulates lake water through an exchanger, and dumps it into the exhaust. I gotta replumb that for land use. I would like to try a gas/liquid heat exchanger for the exhaust and run coolant through the lake water exchanger...prolly have to go with a bucket at first.
I am attempting a pic.
DF

Casey,
I better start with old news first, as you still seem to be confused about how the Sun appears to travel across the sky. The image posted above , shows how the Sun crosses the sky. For us, the end of the arcs, where they intersect the Earth travel northward until the summer solstice, and then they begin to travel back to the South until the winter solstice.
If you care to Google weather for Calumet 49913, you will see that our solar noon takes place at 1:50 p.m. so if you were here facing south at 12:00am you would indeed have the sun shining on the back of your head.
   On to new business, I sympathize with your inability to visualize the circuit. That has been the same problem I had while trying to draw a schematic. I had too many lines running too many different places for it to work easily in two dimensions. I discovered it was easier to draw in three dimensions, or visualize the circuit in three dimensions. To do so simply place the dpdt switches in the center of an axis. Place  the batteries , the inverter, and the motor  around the axis, 120 degrees apart. From there it should be fairly easy to visualize 2 leads going from each component to the dp/dt. Truly, the only trick is visualizing the series circuit to the motor.
The next most complicated part, will be installing 6 volt batteries and wiring them to this configuration.
DF

So far I have a bench proof of concept circuit setup and am now looking for high amperage switching. I have the charging circuit setup comma and the hardest part left to do is the welding.

Progress

http://www.solar-electric.com/inverters-controllers-accessories/chco/ouchco/outback-power-smartharvest-sccm10-100-solar-charge-controller.html

looks like MPPT tech is the answer...

I was given three 24volt panels...new...its a great boon, except, I am running 12volt components. So I was wondering if there was a device I could make that converted the 24vdc into 12vdc. What about a joule thief in reverse? thoughts? Links?
The most practical option I have right now is to reconfigure some batts, and a Xantrex 60amp charge controller for 24v, then powering two 1kw UPS's to power some 1/3hp motors to turn 12v SI10 alternators to charge the main bank....waiting....for....the ....laughter to die down. I never said this was efficient or simple, just that all the components are here and ready to plug and play.
So...anybody got something simple to build that could just change the 24v to 12v....

 And saw the reference to Harry Ricardos books. I scanned those in and would forward them to anybody interested. His books especially the low speed engine book, are very valuable for helping me work with all my ancient equipment here.

 Dear veggie, polishing is good when your fuel was made in the summer and the oil is mixed with lard or other oils whose Gel point is in the 50s. When the fuel tank cools down, the hi gel point fuel condenses all of the fuel tank. This sometimes can't get into the filter and plug it up for no good reason. Another reason for polishing is if the fuel tank is open to the atmosphere, the fuel will begin to polymerize, which means it starts to dry like paint on the walls of the fuel tank. Polymerized fuel will plug a filter very quickly. By keeping it stirred up and polished you remove both the hi gel point particles, and the polymerized fuels.

Carl, cut the crankshaft off with a plasma cutter, the intense heat will be local near the taper. The heat won't make it to the rotor. It will loosen the taper.