Turn calories into electricity?

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Exactly my point, you aren't putting out 400w when cycling.

Are you sure your not confused on the resistance and force required to turn my wind genn. Its inch pounds not foot pounds of force needed.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Are you sure your not confused on the resistance and force required to turn my wind genn. Its inch pounds not foot pounds of force needed.

Nope, with you latest you took an 8.7-1 gear ratio (26"-3" pulleys) and then you powered the 26" wheel with a 10-1 gear ratio so you are producing. In the end you claimed 4.2RPM generating 400w.

4.2RPM & 400w requires approx. 900ft-lb of torque.
The cranks on a bike are typically around 7" long
To create 900ft-lb or torque with a 7" lever, requires 1600lbs of force.
But the generator is unlikely to be 100% efficient and with the power going thru multiple gear sets in a homemade system, it's very likely you will need to input an extra 50% more power than the system generates.

Given the sketchy design details you have provided, I might be off by 20% but even at 1800lbs of force, it's unrealistic.

[txg]

Any news on this?

I like the idea a lot. Obviously, this is not a working solution for a main power source but its a good idea to be able to work out on the boat and get some use out of it.

Imagine a rainy overcast day or two. Batteries are nearly empty and there is not much to do on the boat except for watching a movie. So get out the exercise bicycle and run the laptop for two hours without draining the batts any more.

I know, there's always stuff to on a boat, and you could also just read a book instead of watching a movie

Anyways, i know that i can do about 100w continuous and thats perfectly fine to run a normal laptop.

As we do have a folding bike onboard like most people, it wouldn't need much more except for a stand, a generator with a friction wheel and a cigarette lighter plug.

Maybe it could work to use a simple rc-plane outrunner motor like this:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/kd-53-20...___store=en_us