Alternator to Motor Conversion

http://www.alternatorconversions.com/
8)
Does anyone here know how to do this conversion?

EDIT:
Whoa, hold up... free is cheaper ~
8) 8) 8)
http://www.fossilfreedom.com/alternator-conversion.html

J

I think Fechter knows how.

*

Wow, I've never taken apart a car alternator before. Put that on my "crap to investigate" list. :wink:

Cool, thanks...

Just think:

- you can find alternators of many sizes

- they're readily available

- used ones would be dirt cheap

- they're built tough and for high speeds

- ? fun

- ? profit

- ? fun fun fun!

- ?

- ?

- ?


8)
J

EDIT: You don't need to use a car alternator, it's too big for ebikes. You can use a small motorcycle alternator!

That second "-?" is "Profit". :wink:

Downside is that making one work really well is probably more trouble than it's worth. :?

Link said:

Downside is that making one work really well is probably more trouble than it's worth.

Click to expand...

I can't believe a brainiac like you would think that...

Link said:

That second "-?" is "Profit".

Click to expand...

Sh!t yeah, nig

cha-ching $ $ $

my palms are itching...

and so are my nipples...

perhaps I need to moisturize : olo :

J

I got one a few weeks back for free with intentions of taking it apart to see what was up. Looks easy enough really, and I have a ton of magnets.

I've actually tried using the idea of replacing the field coil with a big donut magnet. This does not work for crap for several reasons, mostly because the shaft is magnetic and shunts most of the magnetic field. It's also pretty hard to take the rotor apart (takes a hydraulic press).

The stator and windings are pretty close to what you would want, so if you can design a rotor that fits in the place of the original that has really strong magnets, you would have something.

I also thought of machining off part of the rotor teeth and gluing some magnets in. The problem with this is the magnets will want to fly off at high RPM. You would need really good glue.

Ideally you'd want the rotor to have at least 1/4" thick or more steel behind the magnets and use arched magnets that exactly match the radius of the rotor. The gap between the magnets and the stator should be 1-2mm. As a comprimise, you might be able to find some relatively narrow flat rectangular magnets that you can tile together to form a curved surface. There are several magnet/stator pole configurations that can work. The simplest is to just use the same number of poles as the original rotor.

Here's an alternator stator from a Toyota:

Here's the rotor:
Note the slip rings are worn completely through the copper

doesnt seem worth it, 1 HP?

A godzillion thanks for passing on all the valuable info on this fechter!

I imagine I'll have to build a rotor with steel over aluminum to avoid shunting (like I understand what shunting really is, tee hee), and use some kickass neo magnet bars or somesuch... similar to dogman's WE BD36 rotor...

I'd have to mechanically secure the magnets (as opposed to gluing) because unlike a hub motor it's the rotor spinning the magnets outward at high RPMs and not the stator.

Fabbing a rotor is very doable since I live in an area with many small mom 'n' pop machine shops so I can have simple lathe work done! When I say small, I'm talking machine shops in their homes.

I'm very excited by this as I plan to work a small alternator/motor into one of the *Sanyo Gear Box hubs, instead of an RC motor.

Other thoughts...

I had a dream last night (true story) that I was using my Journey Kit Controller on an alternator/motor installed on a 26" bike. In the dream, my logic was that the PAS mode is nothing more than a sensorless mode. This was why I was getting WOT in PAS mode. Is there truth in this? Did I just have a premonition ??

I'll have to test it by unplugging the hall sensor wires and ride in PAS mode to see if sensorless mode kicks in. **

J


*I found out that the Sanyo hub I've been eyeballing is only a single stage reduction so an RC motor would not even be close to being feasible.

**At the moment, I have my motors disassembled for some wild ideas I had two weeks back, soon TBA!

dirty_d said:

doesnt seem worth it, 1 HP?

Click to expand...

How much HP do you think is the alternator conversion putting out in this video ?

http://www.alternatorconversions.com/

J

dogman, I'm not convinced that the stator heated the magnets enough to affect the adhesive because you would've burnt out your windings first.

The dark deposits aren't burns, it's maybe iron dust due to the magnets rubbing on the stator ONLY after the adhesive failed and magnets came loose.

Am I wrong?

J

Dunno, Dee. Considering this IS Wilderness Energy stuff, who knows what they're using to stick the magnets to the stator?

Link said:

Dunno, Dee. Considering this IS Wilderness Energy stuff, who knows what they're using to stick the magnets to the stator?

Click to expand...

Potstickers with minced cardboard filling and Melamine Milk... ha ha!

*woops*

J

Mmm...potstickers...

A certain hawaian who should remain un-named told a tale of using alternator bits and pieces, mixed with voodoo dust and mauwiwauwi twigs.... :lol: ( those with senority know what i'm talkin bout loL )

Hey folks! Wasnt the original "Randy/Miles" motor built with an alternator as a base?
otherDoc

Yes, as was the "E-cycle" motor. The idea was existing stators were dirt cheap from automotive sources.

http://www.evalbum.com/876

Papa said:

http://www.evalbum.com/876

Click to expand...

Dual Motors, baby... I'm all about that.

Ypedal said:

A certain hawaian who should remain un-named told a tale of using alternator bits and pieces, mixed with voodoo dust and mauwiwauwi twigs.... :lol: ( those with senority know what i'm talkin bout loL )

Click to expand...

voodoo dust and mauiwaui twigs sounds like fine ingredients to me.. but don't forget a dash of Chemical X...

Oh snap! the rotor has built-in fan blades ... I didn't notice this the first time. So this was an alternator??
With kickass neo magnets, no less.

Wowee...

*power*focus*thrust*

*power*focus*thrust*

*power*focus*thrust*

my mantra...And Mile's AlterMotor is my Mandala 8)

I used to be such the Junk Yard Dawg back in da day.. problem here in Japan is that there aren't any Pick Your Part yards! Only highly efficient recycle centers. Looks like I'll have to buy a refurbished alternator.

johnrobholmes said:

I got one a few weeks back for free with intentions of taking it apart to see what was up. Looks easy enough really, and I have a ton of magnets.

Click to expand...

I'd love to see what you can come up with. Are you seriously thinking of building an AlterMotor? If so, when?

Since the these motors are so lo-tech yet sooo money, I'm trying to coin a word, which one sounds better?

Motornator?

or

AlterMotor?

J

So what happened to this certain Hawaiian?

Seems he fell off the grid! I can't view any of his vids. *rhyming again*

He sounds like a very interesting chap, but everyone likes to use his name like a seven letter word... :lol:

J

Curses. Even my oh-so-gangster knowledge of etymological structure isn't enough to think of anything better than "altemotor". :?

And I guess that Randy got banned because he was a bunghole. I wasn't around then, so I can't really say how big of a bunghole he was.

It will be a while before I get to the project. I may have another company make the rotor for me, as my expertise is not quite enough to make a high quality one. I would want the magnets held in a frame and not just glued on.

Draper has brains... his bunghole personality got him banned. He (like another ES member) knew a lot, but wouldn't share. He opted to bagg on other members and bragg on hisself (or his motor) in the hopes he would get development $$ from Kokam (or another) battery company.

Ironically, his notions about overheating hubmotors were correct; he didn't have the data to prove it:

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5949

I suspect he roasted a couple of hubbies before he went to the altermotor model.

johnrobholmes said:

It will be a while before I get to the project. I may have another company make the rotor for me, as my expertise is not quite enough to make a high quality one. I would want the magnets held in a frame and not just glued on.

Click to expand...

You could use a slot that went over the edges of the magnets a bit, but this would shunt part of the magnetic field unless it was nonmagnetic stainless or something. Ideally you'd want something resembling a dovetail so about half the magnet sticks out above the rotor core. Finding magnets like this would be nearly impossible and grinding them is equally difficult.
You still need really good glue too. Something that won't fall apart at high temperatures.

On the Honda Civic and Insight hybrid motors, there is a band that goes around the outside of the magnets. A band could be made of thin stainless steel or made from Kevlar or carbon fiber. You could DIY a Kevlar band by using thin Kevlar thread soaked in epoxy and carefully wrapped around the rotor.

I was thinking an aluminum dovetail or pocket. Still not decided on this one. I need to hit up Neu again and see if they have any extra 3" or 4" rotor pancake motors.

Would be great to get an aftermarket rotor for something like a honda alternator. Very common, cheap, and big enough for a bike.