electrical wizardry

"puddler" (Levithelandseal) 03/22/2014 at 16:00 • Filed to: None

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so, got a powermate 1850/1500w generator, and after a carb/plug cleaning it runs like a champ. my maths told me it's capable of supplying about 12.5 amps & it'll run all day on 2 gallons of gas.

I have a couple of questions i'm not even sure how to google. what would it take to convert a bigger electric motor into a generator? and if I were to spin an identical (electric side) generator off the same engine (engine is overkill) would it be able to produce 200% of the power? it's a toy now, but will eventually be needed & I wouldn't mind going tim allen all over it. straight pipe anyone?

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > puddler 03/22/2014 at 16:08

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I'm not quite sure what you mean by 200% of the power. But to put things simple, you can't get more energy OUT than what you put IN. All generators/engines/powerplants in fact LOSE energy to heat.

So if I understand what you're asking correct, nope, you can not gain power by running a generator of a generator.

davedave1111 > puddler 03/22/2014 at 16:12

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Series, double the voltage; parallel, double the current - if the motor can handle it. I'm not sure if you can really just hook up an electric motor in reverse for full efficiency. In theory, yes, but in practice I think you want an alternator.

davedave1111 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 16:13

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I think he meant powering a second electricity-generator off the same petrol engine.

puddler > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 16:14

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more like spinning two electric motors to produce more amps. I've loaded this thing down with a vacuum, squirrelcage fan and leafblower, all at once, and spun the engine up to 4500 or so & everything sped up a bit. I can run a serpentine belt off the coupler to spin something else, but if it's not worth the trouble, then i'll leave it be. i'd like it to be able to charge a 12v deepcell while I play with another 12v deepcell & pair of trolling motors (kayak) it doesn't kick enough juice to run my battery charger.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > davedave1111 03/22/2014 at 16:14

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Ah... well.. the result would be the same.

puddler > davedave1111 03/22/2014 at 16:16

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yea, if I spun an alternator, the generator can produce the field current. thanks. gonna brain-stew this for a bit.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > puddler 03/22/2014 at 16:20

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I can't explain this down to details since I'm not a native speaker of English, but a very simple answer would be "nope". Sure, you might be able to get a bit more efficiency out of said generator with more than one output, but not much. But this all depends on how efficient the generator is as it sits now. Heavier load translates to heavier fuel consumption.

davedave1111 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 16:21

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Huh? Why? The engine would be working harder, but if I understood rightly he said it has power to spare at the moment. It'll use more fuel, but generate more electric power.

davedave1111 > puddler 03/22/2014 at 16:22

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Oh, don't place too much weight on my word. I get confused between generators, alternators, and dynamos right about this point.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > davedave1111 03/22/2014 at 16:23

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But then he'll have to take loss due to resistance into consideration as well. I really wish I was a bit better at explaining technical stuff in English (I used to work with powerlines and stuff, so I actually know this stuff :P)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > davedave1111 03/22/2014 at 16:25

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Ahh... my bad... I thought he was looking to get MORE power out of it. If the engine/genny delivers more power than he can use he can hook more stuff up to it. I got caught up in that whole thing about 200% of the power (you can't do that, hehe)

davedave1111 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 16:27

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I don't even know how that comes into it. It's so much easier in school physics textbooks than reality. So yeah, I wish you were better at explaining it, too :)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > puddler 03/22/2014 at 16:28

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I think I may have misunderstood something here.. Did you mean that your genny delivers more power than you can currently use from one output? If so, then YES you will get a better result with more than one output. I thought you were talking about gaining power.

puddler > davedave1111 03/22/2014 at 16:29

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everything I do, I do it as mechanical as possible. electricity is a foreign mistress, that seems to burn me whenever I get too close. either way, there's only one way to learn.

puddler > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 16:33

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the generator puts out 120v, which is fine for running household stuff, but it doesn't have the 'flow' of power i'd need to run more than it's designed for. it seems like it's a like running 2 waterhoses, with the tap only opened halfway. I've found some interwebs stuff i'm reading through catching up on my knowledge of what i'm trying to do. I appreciate the thoughts, though.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > davedave1111 03/22/2014 at 16:34

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If we skip the whole series or paralell stuff, and just go straight to higher voltage it's quite easy. We use higher voltage to avoid using HUGE powerlines... hence the need for transformers (no, not the robots). But yeah Ohm's Law seems and IS rather simple, but we fuck shit up because we start to think :P

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > puddler 03/22/2014 at 16:36

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Ahh.. I completly misunderstood you then.. sorry about that :) And make ure to read up about ohm's law while you're at it.

davedave1111 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 19:50

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Oh, I see what you mean now. If you want to calculate the power output beforehand, yes, you have to take all kinds of things into account. But you can also just hook it up and see what it puts out.

davedave1111 > puddler 03/22/2014 at 19:51

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Nice thick rubber soles are the way to go :)

davedave1111 > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/22/2014 at 19:52

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I guess that's why I was good at tech support - working out what people meant when they don't quite know the words to use.