Another Dumb “Charging” Idea

[Jamme]

Here it is: taking a wind generator with a broken blade and repurpose it as a rowing machine to put a couple of Ahrs in the batteries while doing exercise.
Think basic — an old skateboard as a seat, etc.
Wouldn’t it be nice to think that the next ice cube in your margarita is the result of your own sweat!

Go ahead and kill me [emoji3]

[senormechanico]

Go ahead. We're waiting...

[PippaB]

We took an ancient permanent-magnet wind alternator and attached it to one of those desk bicycling units in place of the drag device. If you worked at it you could get 5A@12V out of the whole thing. It was a fun project, but certainly not worth spending much money on as a charging system, more of a satisfaction thing.

[Nekton73]

Having spent more than a few hours on an ERG you'll probably need a flywheel to conserve the energy you put in during the drive phase while you transition through the finish, recovery and catch, or your stroke rhythm will be very difficult to maintain and you will waste a lot of the applied energy. You'll need an auto retract for the pull cord as well, not a simple mechanism. Flywheel weight and the space needed to set it up probably not practical. You could pull the specs from a standard ERG to get an idea of the amps you might expect to generate, the space needed, and the weight of the flywheel. Maybe just convert one for use on your boat and attach your generator if you have the room



However, you might have more success with a recumbent cycling setup. Pedaling would allow you to maintain constant drive on the generator. Parts are simple and easier to stow when not in use. There are examples of cycle powered generator setups out there; gyms that allow people to generate credit income during workouts, 'green' entertainment shows that use people power to supplement electricity usage, etc. Displays on a cycle ERG typically have an energy readout in some form, usually joules, so you could hop on one and get an idea of how much you could produce given your fitness level.

[wingssail]

I thought about this once, the idea of using an exercise bicycle to generate electricity while staying fit on board the boat.

My scientist friend informed me that a healthy human can produce about 1.2 hp (0.89 kW) briefly. One could generate 50 and 150 watts for an hour of vigorous exercise. Say 75 watts (since we are not most of us, really fit people). So that is about 6 amp hours of power in an hour of exercise. Not worth it.

While attempts have been made to fit electric generators to exercise equipment, the energy collected is of low value compared to the cost of the conversion equipment (Wikipedia)

[wyb2]

Seems relevant

Man vs toast:

https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ

[Jamme]

Originally Posted by wyb2

Seems relevant



Man vs toast:



https://youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ

Haha thanks for that!

Hopefully in a man v. toaster intelligence competition we have better chances to win collectively as a species!

[Madehn]

perhaps you could fashion a propeller to attach to the generator portion that would stick up in the wind and harness the free power of the wind while you practiced 12 ounce curls while supervising the system.... oh wait........seriously i can remember powering a lightbulb from an exercise bike setup to turn a generator-- it was serious work for questionable payback-- interesting but not really worth the hassle-- i opted for more solar and bought a pedal kayak that i absolutely love for the exercise and fun. Good Luck