Recent content by LittleBrother

  1. L

    Is a Coreless Electrical Generator the Future of Renewable Energy?

    Is a "coreless" electrical generator anything new? I'm a self-taught computer programmer who came up with an idea for a coreless electrical generator. I didn't even know how a motor or generator worked at the time, so I did a lot of research. Just for fun, I built a prototype which resembles...
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    Designing Electronics: Understanding the Logic Behind Circuit Design

    Here's the first circuit I built: (It's not my design. I found it on the internet.) +-----+ | 7805| | | | | +-----+ | | |...
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    Measuring RPMs with a Digital Multimeter

    I have a Digital Multimeter (DMM) which also measures frequency. Can this be used somehow to show RPM's of a DC motor while it is running at various stable speeds? Or is there an inexpensive device which can be used to show RPM's? If I have to build a device, my thoughts are to mount a sort...
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    DIY DC-DC Voltage Converter: Step Up Output Voltage

    I was reading about ignition coils used in older cars. They operate on DC current and create about 25,000 volts from 12 volts. From what I understand the current builds up in the coil, but nothing happens until the distributor rotates into the right position at which time a magnetic field...
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    How Much Power Can a Mini Wankel Engine Generate?

    If portable power is what you are looking for, check this out: http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/xpower_400_p.html I picked one up at Sears for $80 on sale. It's rechargable from a solar panel, or from your vehicle's cigarette lighter, or from household current, or a gas-powered generator.
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    How Much Power Can a Mini Wankel Engine Generate?

    So, in short, you want to use the Wankel internal combustion engine to run the electric motor as a generator. Of course the only power you will get out of the Wankel engine is mechanical. The maximum amount of electricity you could get out of the motor (as a generator) would depend on the...
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    Simple electrical engine theory

    Try this link: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/electricity/generators/index.html LB
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    Three questions: Motors, Generators, Batteries

    Cliff_J: For your resistor to reduce the current flowing in your electromagnet, you need to find the resistance of your wire and its current handling ability. LittleBrother: I found that 18-gauge copper wire has 6.385 ohms per 1000 feet, and can conservatively carry 2.3 amps for power...
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    Three questions: Motors, Generators, Batteries

    Thank you all for your replies. 1. I see that the iron takes on the polarity of the windings on it and repell with a great force. 2. I see that the windings become electromagnets when current is generated in them, and cause the 'drag'. 3. Still not clear. Is a resistor (fixed or variable) the...
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    Three questions: Motors, Generators, Batteries

    Question 1: Why use an iron core armature? I took an old electric motor apart to study it. I noticed the armature has windings around an iron core. Iron is used to concentrate the magnetic flux. But iron is also attracted to the electromagnets used to repell the armature windings! It seems to...
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    Designing Electronics: Understanding the Logic Behind Circuit Design

    Thank you for your responses. Cliff, thank you for the links. F.Y.I. I don't have the option to attend school (restricted to bed mostly), so I only have the Internet and books to learn from. Any help would be appriciated. (Book titles+authors, or links to web sites.) Thanks, LB...
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    Designing Electronics: Understanding the Logic Behind Circuit Design

    I've been reading, trying to learn electronics. Everything I've read so far seems to be either components or finished circuits. I want to read about the 'inbetween' process. The 'why' for each step of the design. Why use this battery. Why use that size wire. Why put a resistor here. Why use a...
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