bycicle headlight generator?

 

Would this work?:

Use a 12 Volt bycicle headlight or LED generator, the type that uses 2
magnets.
Attach both magnets to a windvane and use the generator to run a 12
Volt lightbulb or charge a 12 volt car battery?.

Just wondering.
Thanks for any input.

 

justme wrote:

I'm assuming by 'windvane' you mean something that spins in the
wind rather than something that points into the wind. Attach a
generator to something that spins and you get electricity so
it'll work. How well it works and how much power you get is
something else entirely. You would probably be better off just
to build yourself one of those picoturbines or the like.

http://www.picoturbine.com/

Anthony

 



Yes but not with any meaningful power. If you think about the power of the
bulbs or LEDs that you are driving then that is the power you'd get out of
it on a wind turbine.

Do you get 12V bicycle generators? I thought they wouldn't put out much more
than 6V. Mined ewe it is more years than  I care to remember since I had a
bike with a dynamo.

--
Malc

"Okay, it works now. Or at least it malfunctions in all the expected ways."
 - Mark Edwards, asr

 



Sounds like a Wile E. Coyote solution to a simple problem. To get the same
energy from a wind vane, you would have to pedal harder than you would if
the generator were attached directly to the wheel, because of the
inefficiencies that stack up in such a contraption. Better yet, a small
battery pack can power your headlight for many more hours than you'd likely
have energy to pedal, I'm sure.

But I understand you may be keen to make this idea work anyway. LEDs work on
DC, and if they don't have an internal diode rectifier, you should install a
rectifier bridge in the circuit. Because of the wide potential variance in
voltages of such a thing, you should incorporate some type of speed governor
to the wind vane. The simplest is a set of spring-loaded air cups that swing
out at a given speed and create drag to prevent it from spinning faster.
The other method is a self-regulating wind vane, that consists of many
blades, and is incapable of turning too quickly because of all the inherent
drag.  Both of these speed governors will add considerably to the wind drag
on the device. I'd suggest keeping things as simple as possible, use
batteries instead.

I sincerely doubt you are an engineer, because you wouldn't be very
employable with an attitude for making things much more complex than they
need to be.

 


Maybe I am just nuts, but I think he is talking about attaching the
generator from a bycycle to a windmill, and not attaching a vane to his
bycycle.


It is really nice that you choose to insult the guy because you were not
able to understand what he asking. Maybe you should develop some
communication and personal skills along with those engineering skills.