Total rookie here. Prob an easy question for you guys/gals

[memetics1]

Total rookie here. Prob an easy question for you guys/gals :)

Hello,

I just found this forum through google. I have a question about a diy bike pedal powerered electrical project. I need to ensure that the equipment I plan to generate power for will be supplied with enough amps/volts ect. given the design i have in mind and the relatively constant peddling that will be done. I'm thinking that a one on one email exchange would work the best rather than do the whole forum thing where you have 20 people answering the same question and ultimately debating amongst themselves about specifics and what would work best. :) I know there's not a whole lot of detail included here. This is the first attempt for me at getting some advice from experienced folks in this field of study. I have electrical specs for the device that will be powered and the conditions to be expected. Your help would be very much appreciated! It's a really fun simple project, honestly. I'm a builder/ nuts and bolts/ engineer type guy, and don't know electricity stuff. Just need a little guidance :)

Thanks!

Sam

 

[vk6kro]

Electric bikes have been discussed many times here in the past.

Maybe you would like to do a search for "electric bike" or "electric bicycle" from the search window at the top of the screen.

I doubt that you would get a flood of replies, though. It usually becomes a problem of supply of batteries and suitable motors.

If you have no electrical experience, an electric bike seems a bit ambitious. Guidance from this forum, if any, can only help with general principles.

Welcome to the Forum, though.

 

[schip666!]

A rule of thumb: human legs in good shape can produce about 200w pedaling flat out. Pro-road racers maybe up to 400w. But for how long, eh?

The trick is to minimize mechanical and electrical friction. Find the best alternator or generator you can afford and make sure to gear everything so it runs at it's optimum RPM.

 

[Mike_In_Plano]

I think it would be fun if someone sponsered a human-powered house in a theme park. Everybody gets to wait in line, is rushed through to enjoy some air conditioning and TV, and they all have to meet at the back for 20-30 minutes of pedaling to produce their portion of the extravagent lifestyle they shared with a bunch of other people for maybe two minutes.

Electrical production is sooo taken for granted.

 

[vk6kro]

I have seen a system where a motor was used to directly drive a bicycle with a large belt.

The motor pulley was about 5 cm in diameter and the rear wheel drive pulley was slightly smaller than the back wheel. The whole thing was driven by two 12 V car batteries connected in series. It ran for about 2 hours. There was no pedal assist.

Commercial electric bikes are available that have an inconspicuous battery and a motor in the hub of one of the wheels.

You can also get kits for converting a normal bike into an electric one:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/24v-500w-Electric-Bicycle-Kit-DC-Brushless-Hub-Motor-F-/140526164827?pt=AU_Scooters&hash=item20b8031b5b
This does not include the battery.

 

[memetics1]

So I want to attach a a car alternator to the drive shaft on a peddle powered bicycle to ideally power an electrical machine. The electrical specs for the thing I want to run are: 120 Volt, 13 Amp, 50/60 Hz as per the manufacturer provided spec sheet. I know that there's an initial spike of draw when you turn it on. Dont know if that would require more out of the power plant...

The scenario would be peddle, peddle, peddle. Use said device. (need to know how much usage can be expected out of the device for x amount of time given the scenario). I imagine that the alternator can be retro-fitted to the drive shaft of a bike, either by friction drive, belt, or chain. Going to a battery, then to a power invertor and then I can just plug in the machine. Use it a handful of times. Go peddle around for a chunk of time (need to know how much peddling to =required power to run machine for a semi-extended amount of time) and then use it some more, and peddle around again to recharge. I want to have the power production, and recharging of the batteries to be totally dependant on the peddling.

This is where I need the advice: Optimum routing of components? Componants needed? can it be expected to power this machine given the scenario?

I like your idea too, mike. But I'd need more bikes :)