bicycle battery charger

[sidat202]

I have this idea I thought I would share. Alot of my time is going to be spent boondocking and staying in remote areas. Everything I do is off batteries, 12volt and inverters if I need 120volts. So I have this Idea to make a battery charger with my bike. What I am going to do is build a frame that sits on the ground as a stand. Then im going to mount some rollers on the bottom for the rear bike tire to sit on and straps that hook on each side under the seat to keep the bike from falling over. Then I will mount a car alternator to the stand so the pully of the alternator goes against the tire. You can strap the bike on to charge your batteries and unstrap to go explore the area. There are some videos on youtube for this but most of them involve disassembling the bike. My way keeps the bike useable. You just strap on to charge and strap off to go riding.

 

[blars]

I expect you'll find such a system is impractical, if you are peddelling hard you may get 60 watts or so.  How many hours a day do you expect to peddle? Being beside a creek all summer, I looked into pico-hydro but decided building it would not be worth the effort. (I also doubt I could get permission.)

 

[tink]

that really only worked on Gilligans Island.

 

[vokus]

You can put in 220 watts in to your battery for as long as you can keep pedaling... <br /><br />[video]

 

[wilcofan]

Look for an old treadmill that someone might be throwing away... You can take out the motor, which should have a fixed magnet. Using that instead of the alternator will take away the need to provide energy to the alternator.

 

[sidat202]

I figure with the large size of the bike tire and the small size of the alt. pully, plus the gears of my bike. I should be able to turn good RPMs at a comfortable speed. It wont be my main source of charging the batteries.&nbsp; I may also have a briggs motor and have it to run the alt. 12 volt generator. Solar will be my main source of energy.

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

Honestly I would go with a 3 1/2-6 hp Briggs and Stratton lawnmower enjine in conjunction with a alternator (special type I can provide the link later) would be a lot better of an option and take up a lot less space. &nbsp;This set up could quickly charge a couple of 8D 12v Batteries on a minimal amount of fuel and run time. &nbsp;Beats the heck out of tryimng to play "Lance Armstrong"!

 

[Seraphim]

Let's see - a car idles around 800 to 1000 rpm. Using a bicycle tire as a gear, let's cut that by 1/10 (guessing) to 80 or 100 rpm for at least 20 minutes.&nbsp; I can pedal my 'bent at 60 rpm all day, so&nbsp;I suppose it's doable, but I'd sure get bored with the scenery.&nbsp;&nbsp; And it would have to be a tandem so DW can help.<br /><br />Generator.

 

[mad*sparrow]

In WWII they were using handcranks on a generator to provide power for a light and radio setup on islands. Its doable but it does take some time to charge a battery. But if you have a lot of time and need the exercise I dont see the problem. Especially when you dont have other options.