Hotwheels Motors For A Small Windmill

[beyonder]

 Hey,
 
   I came into a few hot wheels toys today out at the local dump...no batteries in them but i pulled a few of the motors out, they should 2 - 3 volts just turning by hand....was wondering if anyone has used those in a windmill?  Or for thoughts on sizing,etc for these? I did a search...didn't find much.  They run off of 6 volts...so how would they be for charging say a 6 volt battery to run some outdoor lights like one of those marker post lights ( driveway marker ) ? 

  Clarence

[Watt]

I would think using these motors as generators would require an elaborate gear setup to spin them fast enough for generator use.  Another thought which comes to mind is the care required to keep any kind of forward or backward load from causing rotor to brush damage.  The motors only have bushings for bearings, if I remember correctly, with no thrust loading capabilities. 

So, I would think they would be more trouble than worth.

[ghurd]

"Hotwheels"?  As in the little car things the kids ride in?

If so, the voltage does not get very high with much current flowing.  I had a couple complete with the (genuine plastic) high-ratio gear boxes.  They were hard to turn and pretty useless with the gear box attached, and pretty useless without the gear box attached.
They may have been better for a 6V system, but 6V is pretty useless to me.

They may be OK for a few 6V LED yard lights, but the controllers could be a sticky spot.
Would need a dump load controller, and an LVD.
The dump load controller would need to be kind of oversized for the system because (I think) if the turbine started making charging current, that current would be pretty high.

I highly doubt the motors or gear boxes are all the same. 
Might be worth experimenting, though I would not put much time/money/effort into the early experiments.
G-

[beyonder]

Hey thanks for the responses

   I decided to keep them for something else, maybe another kids toy or something lol.........i tested 1 motor and it got to about 14 volts ( used to 1 1/2 HP motor to test it ) and well long said.....it melted it lol.   Money isn't really the issue since i have a ton of scrap materials here that i need to get rid of anyways ( we're move across canada this summer and  don't want to haul it 5300 km lol ).

 
 Does anyone know what type of magnets are in these things? ( I haven't pulled them apart yet )

 
 Clarence

[Watt]

I think they are ferrite

[Nil]

If you have a large paper shredder laying around you could look into the motor from that. I had one setup as a for a while and was able to get some power out of it. It was a large(I couldnt fit my hand around it) DC ~150 volt motor. I don't have any specs on it now though, it currently resides as a ceiling fan in a cabin a couple hours away.

Just an FYI to look into.

[bj]

nosy curiosity got the better of me.  Where  are you moving to?

[silentblue1987]

i tested 1 motor and it got to about 14 volts ( used to 1 1/2 HP motor to test it ) and well long said.....it melted it lol. 

Lol, I figured something like that would happen but it's a genuine try. One thing to consider is they are designed for 6v, anything over 6v is running overcurrent and they will self destruct as you discovered.

Best scenario is find a 12v or higher motor, they won't melt as easily and should produce decent usable power.
Something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Magnet-Motor-180VDC-1Z851/dp/B000TKFBQ4

[ghurd]

One thing to consider is they are designed for 6v,

The ones I had were 12V.
G-