Wiring help

[DustyDog]

Hi, i have a lawnmower engine and Battery, which i want to link up to a alternator for an emergency power system (inverter to be bought soon), can you just wire the live and neutral outputs of the alternator direct to the battery terminals or do you need something else inbetween, such as a charge regulator, how do you tell the difference between a internally regulated alternator and one that is external, and.... can you run an inverter from a battery while the alternator is running, because i do believe (could be wrong on this) that car alternators produce 14 volts-ish, would this damage a power inverter??? I have looked on youtube etc but just wanted to make sure, i do not want to boil my battery and also have looked at the idea of using my cars fag lighter socket to charge said battery, any ideas fellas (and girls) Thanks.

[Brambles]

I found this a while ago.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/vansant131.html

Not sure whether it answers any of your questions as I was going to Ask Andy about it myself. I know very little about this sort of thing but I would like to have something like this standing by.

[DustyDog]

Aye Brambles i had the same idea, i was kinda aiming it towards Yorkshire Andy, will have a look at that link, thanks.

[Yorkshire Andy]

http://www.teamhealeytexas.com/Technica ... ng%201.htm

Any help?

[Illini Warrior]

you should look over the DIY generator parts available from The EpiCenter .... make your project 10 times eazyer and will probably answer a few questions also ....


https://theepicenter.com/cgi/order.cgi/ ... l&cart_id=

[preparedsurrey]

Basically its as you have said but you do need to make sure the alternator body is earthed and connect up the charge warning light or it won't work. Virtually all modern alternators I have come across are internally regulated.

Most smaller invertors are designed to run from the fag lighter socket or direct from the battery while the engine is running so handling the voltage in shouldn't be a problem.

The most tricky bit will be getting enough tension on the belt for it not to slip once you start pulling large amount of power from the battery, Ideally you wouldn't just connect direct to the shaft of the lawnmower engine as they aren't designed to handle side loadings in that way and you may end up wearing out the main bearings prematurely.

[Yorkshire Andy]

As he^ said...

best bet if you get it from a scrappy is to get the cam pully and auto tensioner off the car and the belt.......

the cam pully then fits to the engine (remember some form of fly wheel to make starting easier) then use the V belt you got and go to a decent car shop or engineering factors to get a shorter belt of the same width ...

[DustyDog]

Thanks for replies, do you have to have a charge warning light, how would I wore that in and yes I had already thought of getting a knackers yard tensioner when I get the knacker's yard alternator, I'll post some pics when I get around to putting it all together. Thanks for link Andy, think I may have come across that site in my searches.

[Yorkshire Andy]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/120848688659?nav=SEARCH

http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/LR. ... Wiring.jpg

[90.]

Hi, just couple of points to be aware of.
The output of the alternator is dependent on the speed it is turning, different alternators have different charge curves & most give peak output above 2500 rpm.
You can tune the output current by changing the pulley to give the best output, I would include a voltmeter and ammeter on your setup to make it easier to setup without over-reving the engine and making lots of noise.

Have a look at what you want to run from the inverter, total the power requirements & have a good look at the inverter specs.

regards
90.