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hello,

I am looking into the idea of buying an ex military hand crank generator, there is one advertised on ebay (although in america) that is idea, its been converted to charge 12V batteries. the only problem is that it is quite costly to ship in to the UK,

I've looked at other ones online that are for sale in the UK, and was wondering how easy it would be to convert to so that it was usable to charge a 12V battery (ie a car battery etc).

anyone got one, have experience etc?

-it's called masochism!
Foot-cranked gennies can just about light a smallish bulb - hand-cranked is going to be "diddly squat"
At most it'll give a very few watts (probably enough to power a low-power transmitter, for which it was doubtless designed)
Spend the same money on a small photovoltaic panel - it'll do a lot more, without the effort!

thanks for the feed back martin -

so in your view, this would be a total waste of time?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... =p3907.m29

on every single count, it's the original white heffalump!
By the time you've paid to have the bally thing hauled halfway round the world, it's a lot of money - you could certainly buy something like a 20w photovoltaic panel and controller, and have change.........
To put 6 amp/hrs into a 12v battery, you've got to crank the blessed thing for an hour - you WILL be dead at the end of it, the resistance you have to overcome is phenomenal.........in summer, take your 20w pv panel outside, face it due south, angle it at roughly 45 degrees to the sun, and run the leads to the controller, then the battery, and put your feet up...........4 hours later, there will be as much charge in the battery............
The pv panel will last at least 25 years - the generator may last a few years, but I doubt you would!
These are designed for fighting-fit service personnel to use in an emergency, for short bursts - any longer than a few minutes would be excessive!

Hello martin,

I am planning on buying some Solar Panels - so you don't need to sell me on that.

I wasnt going to buy the one in america, as I've found a Source of a Hand Crank in the UK - for £50 - and could probably manage to convert it to charge 12V batteries

http://www.armyradio.co.uk/arsc/custome ... =86&page=1

so - basically, to use one of these (even if I adapted it so that it was foot powered - like a bike) rather than hand, would be a waste of time in your opinion?

reason I ask, is that I live on a narrowboat (recently bought) and will be buying both a small wind turbine, and also some 80W PV solar panels, but wanted also to buy a back-up alternative that didn't reply on wind, or sun.

cheers
graham

for the miniscule amount of power they can give, they really are just a waste of money - and to get the one in the link to charge 12v batteries will cost a small fortune in electrickery!
You've presumably got a diesel main engine - in emergencies, run that for a few minutes! (a car-type alternator will probably give 40 or more amps, so you're talking a ten-minute burst to give that same 6 amp/hrs!)

Martin wrote:for the miniscule amount of power they can give, they really are just a waste of money - and to get the one in the link to charge 12v batteries will cost a small fortune in electrickery!
You've presumably got a diesel main engine - in emergencies, run that for a few minutes! (a car-type alternator will probably give 40 or more amps, so you're talking a ten-minute burst to give that same 6 amp/hrs!)

cheers martin,

indeed I have a BMC 1.5 diesel engine that charges batteries when run.

so, you're right - I should just focus on my Solar and Wind systems for charging, and leave any pedal power to me cycling about the countryside!

bang on right! - you're wise to have both pvs and a wind turbine - the pvs are at their best in summer, the turbine in winter - ally them to proper controllers, and some decent batteries, you should have all you need!

Martin wrote:bang on right! - you're wise to have both pvs and a wind turbine - the pvs are at their best in summer, the turbine in winter - ally them to proper controllers, and some decent batteries, you should have all you need!

yeah, so far I've narrowed it down to probably a 85W Kyocera Solar Module
and a Rutland - not sure if I am going to go for the 503 or the 913 - I can't quite afford the 913 - but I've seen a second hand Rutland WG910 for sale, so keeping my eye on the price of that.

anyhow, I'll stop looking at hand crank generators now!

don't bother with the tiny Rutland, they give bog all output - the 913 is a good reliable one (as is the boxy one) - Navitron are sellling a really good 300 watt turbine - their "portable" model for under £300 - I've got one waiting erection in my back garden - nicely made, and have "everything built in" so you don't need a controller or dump load for the turbine!

When I was in the navy similar hand crank generators were used very effectively to wake people up for shifts during the night. You gently peeled back the duvet from their feet and clipped the red wire to one toe and the black wire to another. At the alloted time for wakening them up you cranked like h3ll

Martin wrote:don't bother with the tiny Rutland, they give bog all output - the 913 is a good reliable one (as is the boxy one) - Navitron are sellling a really good 300 watt turbine - their "portable" model for under £300 - I've got one waiting erection in my back garden - nicely made, and have "everything built in" so you don't need a controller or dump load for the turbine!

thanks martin, just checked their site, and they seem out-of stock for the portable one (300 watt ) so will give them a call see when they are getting more in - looks just what I need.

The British Army did have a portable gen-set powered by a steam engine a few years back.

I saw a Ricardo one at a steam fair a few years back. It had a wood-fired boiler, a single cylinder, enclosed steam engine and a 6V DC alternator. The whole thing packed down into a wooden crate.

At a farm dispersal sale up here, they sold a much larger steam gen-set. It had a high-speed, single-cylinder enclosed steam engine couple to a 10kW 230V DC dynamo. You'd have had to find your own boiler, though.

Steam gen-sets used to be very common in factories and industrial complexes. Most had enclosed single-cylinder steam engines, but there were a few small steam turbine powered ones (particularly off locomotives and ships).

I wouldn't mind having one in my generator room—if I had enough timber to keep it fired!