First off let me start this by stating that I seem to have a major learning block when it comes to electricity...just can't seem to make a lot of it stick in my head. So I'm hoping some of you EE's and experienced people out there can help me.
My plan is to build a small generator (mainly for personal educational/experimental purposes) that is fully functional. The rotor will be on a spinning wheel that rotates about 120rpm...yeah, it's a spinning wheel to make yarn. Optimally it would charge a 12 volt battery salvaged from an UPS. (I'm not sure that this is even realistic so yell at me if you want)...but if it'll charge a AA battery, I'll be satisfied with that too.
The materials I have on hand are 14 5/8" X 1/8" rare earth magnets. I'm thinking about using 9 coils in a delta configuration.
I've been searching through the forums and can't seem to find the answers to my questions...they might be there, but they're hiding from me.
So now for the questions:
- What gauge of wire would you suggest for the coils for the stated size magnets and hopeful charging capacity?
- How do you decide on the amount of windings?
- How do you know how big to make a coil? Width, length, and height...(It seems that this might be a common sense question...but I ain't got no sense)
- What rating diode or rectifier will I need to charge a 12 volt battery? (I understand somewhat how a diode works, but am clueless as to what a rectifier is and how it works...or are they basically the same thing?...a good link would be helpful)
- Is it possible to be able to charge a 12 volt battery with 120rpm's with any sort of configuration of any sized magnets and coils? And if it is, what would they be?
- Has anyone looked into using acraglas for casting the stator? (It's used to glass bed rifles) I'm planning on using this because I have a bunch on hand since I quit being a gunsmith. (rural living = few or no customers)
- And if I really wanted a spinning wheel to charge a battery would it be better to attach a pulley to an Ametek motor or something of the sort?
The purpose of this project is for me to get an understanding of how the whole system works. In the future I'd like to build a real wind generator. I just need to get past this darn learning deficiency...I seem to have missed out in that part in school. I'd like to be able to power the things we can't do without...our satellite modem, the computer, and a 220 volt well pump (the essentials) in case of a prolonged power outage.
Thanks,
Matt
