bicycle powered "alternator" chargers

[heartlandcruisers]

does anyone know where i could get a system to charge car batteries on a bicycle?
i have a trike build for a client but i have not heard of such a charging system
doesn't mean it don't exist it means i never heard of it.
does anyone know any companies that make these systems.
he mentioned valpraiso trikes,so something in that area is what im assuming he wants.
also if anyone could make setup let me know how much and hwere located.
he wants it to run A steamer, water pump ,and a coffee pot for a mobile coffee delivery trike(if i got it right)
any info would be greatly appreciated
thanks
Sean

 

[heartlandcruisers]

sorry the one im talking of is called velpresso not valpraiso

 

[rickpaulos]

Youza. You got superman on tap to do the pedaling?

Coffee pot draws 1000 watts! Typical human would wear out doing 100 watts in about 30 seconds.

Auto alternators require a battery to make the magnetic field in the armature and they need to spin pretty quick. Most car engines idle at 1000 rpm but the alternators are 'geared up' by using small pulleys on the alternator and larger pulleys on the engine crankshaft so figure the alternator is doing 3000+ rpm. A fast bicycle pedaling speed is 100 rpm so you would need to gear that up about 30x! Even so most car alternators only put out 75 to 100 watts. Enough to run the car electrics with a bit left over to recharge the 400 amp battery. You would need a couple of large car batteries with larger inverters to get 1000 watts at 120 volts for the coffee machine.

There are a ton of videos on u tube on this very subject.

Psst, lots of citys have installed nice street light fixtures with electrical outlets on them for xmas lights. Just plug in to one of those. Use a black extension cord and park the rig so as to hide the cord. Most cities require vendor permits and I'd bet many have provisions for plugging in to prevent the noise from generators.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

yeah that was about my reaction when he came to me as well lol
i am stuck on how to build such a thing
im beginning to think it's impossible to do .
i will talk to him about the plug idea and see what he says
thanks for the response
sean

 

[Crassly]

You can buy 1000/2000 watt portable generators that are very small and quiet operating.

 

[bikejunky]

Velopresso, it uses gas to heat the H2O and a belt drive grinder, has no electricity envolved at all.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

that would be the one
i wasn't sure of the name of it but yes that is it
i know nothing about these this is the first time i ever even heard of such a design
but i need to keep clients happy
we shall see what i can come up with
Sean

 

[heartlandcruisers]

yeah i have already pulled away from this idea i have no idea what he,s talking about
i have researched everything i know and cannot find anything to even come close to what he wants
so im moving on i have clients with normal requests that are waiting so im getting on their projects.
can't please everyone as much as I'd like to lol
Sean

 

[user 135]

I know you are moving on but here are a couple of links.

http://www.econvergence.net/
http://windstreampower.com/products-pag ... ox-system/
http://pedal-power.com/

 

[kingfish254]

That Velopresso has an interesting rear-steer-by-wire

 

[Wildcat]

Some of the college kids who were in on the Occupy protest here in Jax (tame compared to the other cities) were using the power outlet on the light posts until a city councilman shut it off, then they had a generator hooked to a bike, but it only powered a lightbulb and their laptop providing the live feed to the internet. I;ll see if I can find a pic or info on what the output was and how tough it was to pedal the thing.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

The company I work at makes the U-ground connector that NYC uses to tie-in to lamp posts.

the yellow thing:

 

[heartlandcruisers]

That Velopresso has an interesting rear-steer-by-wire

yeah that thing has some cool technology
i emailed them to see if they are in production yet
that rear steer idea is wicked cool and definitely high techy
i am researching the velopresso a bit to see if there's a market for such a design around here
we shall see what happens but they are cool

 

[DougC]

If you want to experiment with making your own bicycle-generator, then what you want to start with is a "stepper" motor. It will generate the most power when spun, you just need to use diodes to get the pulsing-AC to DC. (did any posts get lost in the change-over? I coulda swore I typed this out already...)

As for OP's idea,,,,, good luck but probably not workable, even using a stepper motor.
If you used propane for all the heating it would still be quiet & clean. And a full BBQ tank of propane can heat up a LOT of cups of coffee.