Battery Trickle Charger Trials Going Well

[anchorman]

Responding to concerns by Big Kev that his Battery may become depleted if either of his RAVs are stood for longer periods, SHCM came up with an idea for creating a trickle charger that didn't depend on daylight like the solar powered versions or to risk over charging like some of the mains powered and rather expensive types.

He is the electronics genius and he has worked out that with Kev's big diesel Battery the residual losses would be in the order of 50 milliamps per day at 15 degC. This is quite challenging in his electronics sphere let alone when he asked me to help out with the mechanics of it. How do we devise a charger with a very low output that wasn't temperature sensitive and didn't need an independent supply? Wind or sun were not reliable alternatives and where Kev lives could result in too much power being generated.

Another primary consideration was cost. Kev wanted a very cheap solution (no surprise there) but if the device was to become marketable then that had to be a consideration too.

The solution.

Harnessing the right input in calories to milliamp output has been established. After various trials we found that the best fuel would be a sustainable and green (eco friendly) biomass source. I came up with the generator by using an old Scalextric Mini Cooper motor which was carefully fastened to pick up on the power module. The modular design of the turbine allows for the charging of more than one Battery in series or in parrallel. The diameter of the turbine can be adjusted to give various outputs depending on the Rated Amperage Tenuation (RAT) of the power module. I'm no good at electronics so our Black Country guru came up with an ingenious device that converts the rotary motion of the power module into DC output through a series of clever circuits and the early prototypes used mainly LEDs for trial purposes. The main problem was feedback of the battery voltage if the turbine got wet from a discharge of the power source (we called it sweating) in which case a short circuit occurred and that cost us several power units. I cut some slots in the turbine to help cool the power source but it resulted in excessive tripping or in serious cases, crippling of the power unit. Another time we arrived one morning to find the diodes had failed which caused the generator to act like a motor. The power source had been running at very high speed all night until it eventually killed it altogether but we laughed it off and just improved the design.

Eventually we decided it would be simpler to change the RAT and go for something with a slightly lower output which in the event turned out to be more economical especially as we could afford to starve the calory intake of the biomass fuel by putting a small restriction in the throat of the power unit. The most effective solutions are the simple ones and this restriction was achieved with an elastic band doubled up several times. It took some patience but after finding there was too much bite, SHCM asked me to device a noose type restrictor that could be operated by simply pulling on a chord. A few power sources later and we got the feed just right.

No doubt most readers will be wanting to purchase one of these battery chargers having seen just how effective they can be and eventually we expect to be able to roll out the launch but we still need to know what effect this will have when used in the locality of D-CAT as we are not sure if sparks will fly! However, we have managed to film the early LED unit in action so you should be able to get a feel for how it works before we release it in Kev's garage. The charger in the film actually uses two power sources but we are undecided if this is a good idea given that the static doesn't cause them to fight or even one source getting screwed altogether. Still it was nice to get this one running by the end of March.

The producers would like you to know that not many animals were harmed in the making of this film

[Hoovie]

Looks like it should work very well :)

I didn't se any mention about the situation if the generator system was reversed in polarity, should the R.A.T. start in a S-N direction rather then N-S?

With regards to sparking, It looks from the video that a Faraday cage has been employed. good idea there

Oh, and would that be a DMHW or a SMHW in use?

Put me down for 2

[Tech01]

Perfect !

[jedi134]

That will come in use when I go camping :D

[Manxrav]

On the Isle of Man we don,t call them RATS, they are called "Long Tails"

Regards Clare

[three5]

Anchorman/SHCM,

I must urge caution with this approach, rodents of this sort create an odour that can be sensed readily, particularly by those of a sensitive nature. In fact, I'm sure that I can smell the prototype now.

Postscript: I've just looked outside and it is the local farmer spreading some sort of recycled biomass on his fields - it is very easy to confuse the two odours.

[shcm]

He no rat, he hamster!

I didn't se any mention about the situation if the generator system was reversed in polarity, should the R.A.T. start in a S-N direction rather then N-S?

The full production version will be using a small AC generator and full wave rectifier, so no problem there

The really beauty of this is the scalability. We already have on the drawing board bigger systems powered by a team of capybara for jump starting.

However, we should not take all the credit and forget the unsung heros of the backroom development team, without which we would be nowhere. Here's a tribute to them:

Anchs - All this out of one silly email??? Just shows you how ideas grow. Also, yer ferkin' madder than me!

Oh, we have Richard Hammond lined up for the commercial launch.

[anchorman]

Kia have trained their hamsters quite well;

[Tech01]

My Latvian friend, R.J.Mazurkwi, has just e-mailed me, asking you all to be careful with the voltage droppings which may occur with this Project.

What a good day it's been!

Chrissie

[Manxrav]

This thread reminds me of one on the BBC website at the moment, regarding the UK Goverment beginning to check every computer for Terrorist threats and such!!!!!! Would need a big workforce for that to happen.

Regards Clare

Or could that be looking for a little monster that infultrates Toyota forums?

[Hoovie]

This thread reminds me of one on the BBC website at the moment, regarding the UK Goverment beginning to check every computer for Terrorist threats and such!!!!!! Would need a big workforce for that to happen.

Regards Clare

Or could that be looking for a little monster that infultrates Toyota forums?

You know, it is hard to work out if that BBC story is an April Fools joke or not.

Considering the people who have been quoted in the story are not known for having a sense of humour and [i cannot image they] would play along, I think it may be both unbelievable AND real

Not that it would get past all the necessary votes to be passed into law anyway.