Custom T3 12v Mini generator

[guzzi]

Hello all

i have put this post over on my Thread on the Syncro forum but thought some of you might find it interesting as well


This is project I have been working on for my camper (when I get it)
Its an "emergency" use or wilderness use 12V generator i have built with my camper in mind.....

I have tried hard to make it small enough to fit into the battery box behind the seat, I have i think been largely successful except it is a cm or so too high (i will have to see the affect of this when i get my camper). I think if I am really keen I could replace the spark plug with a bung of some sort whist it is stored and it should fit....?

Anyway, it is emergency/wilderness use because the engine is from a chain saw and therefore very antisocial! I am thinking of boxing it in to some degree but to be honest if I am in a position where people might be (justifiably) annoyed by it then I shouldn’t need to use it in the first place.

All this assumes that I will be going on Ray Mears/Bear Grills type exploits which I aspire too rather than campsite hoping (please no).....Time will tell!



I am going to do a build blog on this website, give me a week or two to kick this off properly but there should be a few more pics there and a video of it running (noisily!)

http://gardenequipmentreview.com/review ... rator.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can see i have yet to do the electrical side (although i have done the calcs and have a diagram so shouldn’t be a problem...., famous last words?). The alternator is 40 Amp by the way.

[jamesc76]

What is your actually going to use it for ? Have you tried it under a high load, just thinking if it will cut timber it should hold up?

[ringo]

Awesome - nice one.
As James says - whats its output power?

Ringo

[guzzi]

my main aim is to make a smaller, cheaper one of these: -

http://www.boab.biz/images/BOAB%202.5hp ... n%2010.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I still need to do the elecrical side of things so am not sure what i will put out, i will update that blog that is linked above as i go

[T'Onion]

Very neat , but the ones you link to are £600+ ,At that price I'll be sticking to my little two stroke genny

[guzzi]

Yeh £600 was a little rich for me too, hence i made my own. Also there’s no way i could have fit that in the T25 battery box behind the front seats.

I recon this owes me about £200, so still not a giveaway, especially as I doesn’t include my time but I also have a cheepo 2 stroke geni (cost me £50! honestly how do they make it for that!) and it weighs a ton and is very chunky. Plus i am the kind of sad case that likes fannying around in the garage......

[jed the spread]

I have a a small honda genny that is very quiet and fits nicely in the well above the cab on the Westy. The lead reaches to the electric hook up point in the side of the van and can run up on the roof if i wanted it to. I took it to the Syncro 25 years event but never really needed it, but it did stay on the van even though i gave it abit of a thrashing.



You wont use that much power really in the warmer months just lights and they use very little as does a compression fridge especially if you go for the twin batteries. In our old van while wild camping in the winter we found the ebber used the most power and a twin battery set up like the one your looking at would do the best part of a week if we stared the engine when we first fired the ebber up when it draws the most power then turned the engine off when it was warmed up. We now run a propex and this winter wild camping one battery was enough for our needs as it uses less but i understand your shying away from gas.

jed

[guzzi]

yes, i am doing the 100% diesel route, gas always makes me a bit nervous, plus i like the idea of not having to worry about getting gas abroad, well that’s my pitiful excuse, to be honest its as much to do with the fact that i have the braking strain of a kit kat when it comes to new and shiny things, people have been using gas successfully for generations without any problems haven’t they?

I am glad you say you think you could get a week out of two batteries to run the compressor fridge. Does that mean that you could park up for say 5 days in the summer without ever starting the engine?

In terms of the genni. I have tried to make it small and light enough that i can have the peace of mind of always having it there even though i won’t need to use it much.

[jamesc76]

I do like it, just cant see it giving enough power to charge your batterys faster than running the engine would do?

[guzzi]

I will do some trials to see how it does. It definitely wont be able to compare with the engine running if i had one of those sterling charger things like Syncrosimon has (which i might yet fit in time) , but i have a nasty picture of myself being up a snowy mountain miles form anywhere with a flat engine battery, unlikely i know but i have caused a flat battery on my cars several times, admittedly my fault every time but i am still more than capable of causing such calamities!

[ghost123uk]

I like that

I too have a habit of making things just as a "project" - often with no good reason !!

I have often thought that an alternator, driven by "whatever", if coupled to a suitable inverter, would be a good (cheap) way to get mains power. (though a 40 Amp alternator will only produce around 400 Watts flat out)

[DiscoDave]

I do like it, just cant see it giving enough power to charge your batterys faster than running the engine would do?

but in an emergency you may not be able to start your engine if the battery is flat!


it's a great idea, you've made it cheaper that the hoda poweded one, tho i think you could possibly do it cheaper with tax and test than theirs, the smaller bit is more impresseve!

well done!

[jamesc76]

No I do understand it, but I have a slave pack with me that would start the van!

Tho its shiney I want one!

[guzzi]

Glad you like it.....

like i said above i am doing a little blog about how I built it anyone is interested, I thought there might be a few groups who might like to build something like that (4x4 groups, boats, campers n stuff).

To be honest it owes more to ironmongery than engineering skills than anything else. Most people could make it with a hammer, a hack saw, a drill, a vice and a file, as long as they could get someone to machine the pulleys.

And of course it’s well tested mechanically but not at all electrically, so bare with me yet....!


Anyway I will start updating the blog soon so keep checking back every week or so if you’re interested.

[boatdog]

I dont get it! i understand the "something to do in the shed" bit but whilst your trying to build it small enough to put in the battery box why not just put one of them other things in there, think they call them spare batteries! if your that worried about not starting the engine just put it on a split charge and carry a set of jump leads that way you can jump your self(so to speak) even better stick £200 worth of solar panel on the roof and charge the batteries as you go, well in daylight hours. what happens if you make your genny carry it around then when you need it theres no petrol in it. i personally have gone for 2 leisure batteries an inverter and a 60 watt solar panel.