Is it possible to make a electrical generator - out of an electrical
trolling motor - to be used on a sailboat?

Do these trolling motors have permanent magnet motors?

Any advice on RPM's, voltage regulation, amp output, etc.....

The alternative is to use the bottom unit of an outboard and config.
it to a PM motor.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions -URL links?

Or any alternative method for a electrical water powered generator for
crusing a la homemade.....

Thanks,

(Mic) wrote in :

Or any alternative method for a electrical water powered generator for
crusing a la homemade.....


It's so easy you'll just be sick:

http://www.otherpower.com/

The rotors are made by gluing strong magnets to an old car disk brake
rotor, still on its bearings. The coils are hand wound pancake coils
placed sorta-close-to these rotating magnets, but not too close or it'll
stall it. 3,000 watts of rectified DC output is pretty simple, but your
rotating propshaft internal or dragged behind the boat, won't produce as
much power as their home-made wooden rotors do.

Notice how SLOW their alternators turn....no noisy gear trains, no belt
drives, no pulleys.....

I can just see an old brake rotor spinning behind the sternrail on its long
shaft trailing out behind your sloop, its copper stator coils shining in
the sunshine against the sea.....(c;

The guys whos webpage this only have a few complaints, one of which is what
to do with SO MUCH FREE POWER!

(Don't miss the hamster powered alternator pages done just for the
kids...(c

(Mic) wrote in :

Or any alternative method for a electrical water powered generator for
crusing a la homemade.....


PS - I like what he says about his new 17' machine....(c;

"So far the machine works quite well. It has such a huge swept area
compared to our previous machines that it seems to start up in practically
no wind, and it's making a little power by the time the anemometer says 5
mph. At 10 mph it's doing around 400 watts and at 16 mph it's up around
1.5KW. Above that I believe the blades are overpowered a bit by the
alternator. I do see 2KW from it frequently and I've seen about 3800 watts
from it a couple times in very high winds, but overall I believe the blades
are held back a bit in higher winds by the alternator. I can improve it by
adding a bit of resistance to the line - this would allow it to speed up in
higher winds and the blades would run more efficiently - but as it is it
seems very slow and peaceful, and it rarely goes over 200 rpm It's
producing quite a bit more power than I can really use. So I'll leave it as
it is, it's quite a good low wind machine I think. Time will tell how it
holds together! It has been fun, the whole project took 3 weeks from start
to finish, I had some friends and neighbors (all of which have their own
homebrew wind turbines) helping along the way which was wonderful."

We'll never have one this big on any boat, but it shows how efficient this
flat alternator really is being so simple.....maybe driven from a
screwshaft dragged behind the boat?

On Sun, 08 May 2005 13:51:19 -0400, Larry W4CSC
wrote:

(Mic) wrote in :

Or any alternative method for a electrical water powered generator for
crusing a la homemade.....


It's so easy you'll just be sick:

http://www.otherpower.com/

Thanks for the link Larry....I have also read Hugh Piggot of
Scorecraig Scotland....

What about the trolling motor idea.....? is it a PM motor? Do you
think it can be done? I like the Duogen of england concept but it
just too pricey.....

Larry I have followed your posts for sometime and usually been well
entertain and informed,,,,,

Thanks

On Sun, 08 May 2005 19:38:57 GMT, (Mic) wrote:

On Sun, 08 May 2005 13:51:19 -0400, Larry W4CSC
wrote:

(Mic) wrote in :

Or any alternative method for a electrical water powered generator for
crusing a la homemade.....
Larry here are some links for ya...

http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca...mcsele/i2k.htm
the project presented is a 2kVA power inverter designed for backup
during utility failures.

http://utterpower.com/project.htm

http://utterpower.com/ST.htm

http://www.green-trust.org/equipment.htm
Cool Home Brewed Equipment

http://www.stewardwood.org/resources/DIYcyclepower.htm
How to make a cycle powered generator

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...2676.Eg.r.html
how do I make my home-made electric generator more efficient?

http://www.generators-hq.com
is an information web site focused on Generators.

http://www.webpal.org/webpal/b_recov.../generator.htm
Discover How To Easily Build a Portable Low Budget Power Generator
" Using an old Lawn Mower and materials you can pick up locally and
cheap"

LARRY LINK;
http://www.qsl.net/ns8o/fd99.htm
Field Day 1999 at the NC8V Caboose
We amassed 1125 QSO's in 24 hours of operation covering 80 through 10
meters in both CW and SSB modes. Operators we NC8V, W8MHV, N8XWO,
AA8EB, WD8RIF, WD8JLM and me, NS8O.

Larry are these friends of yours?????^^^^^^^Chech out their HUT.....

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower...ternators.html
Alternator and Generator Comparison for Wind Power

http://theepicenter.com/tow02077.html
Build a generator from a lawn-edger motor.

I figure the ele. trolling motor has to be a PM motor otherwise it
would be using or need power for the fields,,,

Now the question is what RPM and what about voltage regulation.....

Mic writes:

Do these trolling motors have permanent magnet motors?

I believe that is the case. But the prop pitch is quite wrong for a
turbine.

Water moving horizontally at 10 knots equals about a 4 foot static head
pressure. If you figure out how to economically generate power from that,
get a patent, because there is endless tidal energy available at that
differential.

(Mic) wrote in :

What about the trolling motor idea.....? is it a PM motor? Do you
think it can be done? I like the Duogen of england concept but it
just too pricey.....


It would put out "something", but not anything significant because you'd
have to turn it awfully fast (watch it run as a motor), which you
can't....and its magnets aren't strong enough to produce much power if you
can't.

(Mic) wrote in :

Larry are these friends of yours?????^^^^^^^Chech out their HUT.....



No, I never met the guys at otherpower.com. I stumbled on their website
searching for generators, one night. One must admit they are MOST
resourceful. The power they get from a brake disc is simply amazing.

Rube Goldberg would have been very proud, indeed....(c;

Thanks for the links.

On Mon, 09 May 2005 00:04:26 -0500, Richard J Kinch
wrote:

Mic writes:

Do these trolling motors have permanent magnet motors?

I believe that is the case. But the prop pitch is quite wrong for a
turbine.

Water moving horizontally at 10 knots equals about a 4 foot static head
pressure. If you figure out how to economically generate power from that,
get a patent, because there is endless tidal energy available at that
differential.

Well I have re-research this concept and am providing the following
links:

In the current circumnavagation of a CAT
"Bumfuzzle"http://www.bumfuzzle.com/
In the http://www.bumfuzzle.com/LogsDates.htm
May '05 Australia doing the Tasman crossing figured they use 3X more
power on passage than at anchor.

An I think that making power on passage is more vital than when at
anchor, radar, autopilot, navlights, etc.

Towed water gennys, even if just the prop to a rail mounted genny just
has too many issues.

The idea of a trolling motor as a water gen "may" have potential or a
homebrew version there of.

http://www.sailnet.com/collections/a...eid=jeffre0020
One of the most underrated and least-understood pieces of gear on the
marine market is the water-powered generator.

http://www.re-energy.ca/t-i_waterbuild-1.shtml
Small-Scale Hydroelectric Generator
You will be building an electrical generator as part of this project.

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_hydro.html
There is only about 3 feet of head available at the site, and the
system is producing about 2 amps at 12VDC, fed by a 4 inch pipe. Check
out the page about it HERE.http://www.otherpower.com/scotthydro1.html

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower...aterwheel.html
A while back, one of our neighbors constructed a water wheel generator
using a squirrel cage fan, belt, pulley and surplus tape drive motor
that produced a steady 1-2 amps of power, 24 hours a day.

http://www.absak.com/diagram/index.html
Home Power System Diagrams
Each diagram details the components needed to operate various
alternative energy systems.

http://www.absak.com/basic/water-power.html#3
Impulse Style Water Turbines
These types of water generator* work best in sites where the water
source has high head* (20 feet or more). Head is the vertical distance
between where the water enters the turbine system (in this case, into
a pipeline) and where it reaches the turbine runner.

http://www.re-energy.ca/t-i_waterbuild-2.shtml
Small-Scale Hydroelectric Generator
Build It!

http://microhydropower.net/

http://www.absak.com/catalog/product.../products_id/3

Aquair U.W. Water Turbine
Ampair's 100 watt Aquair UW water generator is a very durable,
versatile solution for home or marine hydroelectric power. The forward
facing 3 bladed propeller drives a permanent magnet alternator
producing up to 8 Amps output current for a 12 volt system.
PDF specification link,,,,on above url
The PDF give an excellent chart of RPM VS. Amp output

http://www.absak.com/catalog/product...roducts_id/712
Aqua4Gen Tow-Behind Hydro Turbine
LVM Ltd's 100 watt Aqua4Gen water turbine is a unique semi-submersible
design. Designed for use as a tow-behind generator to supply power to
recreational boats, it could also be installed above a fast-moving
river to supply power to a cabin or campsite.
It starts to generate power at 2.5 knots boat speed, and produces up
to a continuous 11 amps at 8 knots boat speed when fitted with large
turbine blades (110mm), and 10 amps at 10 knots with smaller blades
(90mm) installed.

http://www.absak.com/catalog/product...products_id/10
Nautilus Hydro Turbine
It will power your home and shop for generations on as little as four
feet of head.

http://www.wondermagnets.com/cgi-bin...at/WMSstore.pl
The World's Strongest Magnets!

http://microhydropower.net/literature.html
Layman's guide on how to develop a small hydro site
http://microhydropower.net/download/layman2.pdf

http://www.kansaswindpower.net/Catalogs.htm
Has Solar, Wind, Hydro, Diesel electric equipment to make your own
electricity plus: DC water pumps, Ram pumps, Waterless composting
toilets, Radios, DC motors, Wood-fired water heaters, Solar cookers,
Fans, Lights, Books. Propane powered—refrigerators, freezers, lights,
heaters, ranges, tankless water heaters and much more.

http://www.kissenergy.com/
This wind generator was designed to supply the energy needs of the
average cruising sailboat from the wind energy available in a typical
Caribbean anchorage.
http://www.kissenergy.com/PracticalSailor.html
Review of this Wind genny

http://www.suntrekenergy.com/hydro.htm
How much power can you generate?
The amount of power available depends on the dynamic head, the amount
of water flow and the efficiency of the turbine/generator combination.
To get an idea about available power in watts, multiply the head in
feet, times flow in GPM, times 0.18 times efficiency. Turbine
efficiency ranges from 25% to 50%, with higher efficiency at higher
heads. To get a rough idea, use 0.30 (representing 30%) as a
multiplier for efficiency.

The pressure at the lowest point of a pipeline is equal to 0.433 times
the vertical distance in feet, called head.

(Mic) wrote in :

Towed water gennys, even if just the prop to a rail mounted genny just
has too many issues.



I've posted a picture of Lionheart's shaft-driven alternator that puts out
15-20 amps at 7-8 knots in binary newsgroup
alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean

This binary newsgroup is DEAD. It's a great place to post pictures for
rec.boats newsgroups.