Building a Hybrid electric-charcoal

I think I figured it out.
This configuration of magnets and coils may be what called a Halbach array.

We we go back and do the math we have 18 coil with 3 coils per pole for 6 poles.

If we arrange 3 magnets in a Halbach array this yields 6 poles also ( I just did this math based on an alternator from this photo. )

Why would they do this?
Well I guess its a short cut to create a rotating field with fero ceramics glued to a steel stamping and it eliminated the need for back iron to contain and shape the magnetic field.

Why did they design a salient pole stator?
This is not as compact as a lap or concentric winding on a conventional stator with a corded winding.
I can’t answer that except to say maybe it was a cheaper way to make this many poles in a small machine.

Clever Chinese Engineering…
So original thoughts on splitting the winding at three points stands.
Its possible and practical for a 12 and 24 conversion of this machine without a rewind.

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Hi Wallace. Coil reconfiguration is way beyond my meager skills. Why do it? Why not feed the output into a mppt type wind controller? Yes it’s another component but you get good three stage charging with no madifications. Failing that I would go the route of the marine alternator with 3 stage controller popular with the boating crowd.

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I looked into buying one of those range extenders to play with on one of my charcoal set ups , and decided to wait till the prices came down a bit .
Well I waited and as luck has it I got myself a good deal for $650 , its a 3500 W dc 24v generator with a 5000W sine wave inverter/charger and a 2400 watt 100amp mppt solar controller , its also tri fuel so this unit I may wait a while till I give it some good ole chargas , seeings as its auto starts when it detects the battery voltage drops to 22.5, and then turns back off at 28.25 battery volts . I cant wait to see how this runs on charcoal , but for now while my other systems are working well I shall leave this as it is and run it on natural gas . Dave

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Dave… I’m speachless that looks like the holy grail of off grid gennies… I agree DON’T MODIFY IT TIL THE WARRANTEE EXPIRES. That has peace of mind written all over it.
Best regards David Baillie

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i need to send my adress i guess…
I give it a WOOOOOOW I LIKE IT…

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OK I’m obsessing over that generator Dave. I wish someone put together a package like that here. One concern I would have is a heat build up and vibration damage from having the all in one setup. I think I would extend the leads out and isolate it from the engine keep it cool keep it from shaking. Of course then you looses the all in one compactness… just musing here.
David Baillie

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Hello Dave.
I like he combinations of parts used on those Chinese rigs.
I would rather build on that template and use an Arduino to manage the charging myself.

I like it so much its on my wish list.
I have a dead Champion donor engine I just need the alternator now.

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This unit I have bought is ,so new that they have not even printed off a manual for it !! so broken English emails going back and forth can be a bit frustrating when needing to find out how to set value’s of charging rates and engine speeds ect , although it is automatic I would like more control over it to do what I want it to do .
David , Vibration is next to nothing on this unit , I took the gas tank off it to look at the engine and all the electronics are in a separate compartment and so sealed off from the engine , as for the heat …welllllll did you see those fans on the side ? there are fans on both sides of this unit and boy do they suck and blow and they keep going after the unit shuts down till its down to a safe temp and then it just goes to sleep ,.
I am going to be real cheeky and ask them if they will sell me another one at the same price as I may need spares :smirk: Dave

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Is that a tri-fuel carb?
I’d like to buy that too…

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Hi Wallace , yes it is indeed a tri fuel carb , ,when I first decided I would like one of these units I asked if it would come with gas a regulator and fittings and they said no , so I was pleased when I opened up the door to find it did , mind you the gas inlet fitting on the bottom is a 90deg bend brass fitting with a barb on the end , don’t think I will use that to connect gas pipe too though !

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Ya I don’t see that as being TSSA approved lol.

Getting parts is a big problem these days because of TSSA.

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Found this on Ebay.

Looks like the right unit to hack for a conversion.
I would prefer to see a 2000 watt unit though so it could be mated to a modified clone.

Here’s the reasoning.

If you run a generator at less than its rated power you pay a penalty of higher fixed losses as compared to a properly matched machine.
But there are trade offs here too.
The smaller the machine lower its efficiency.

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Hi Wallace , yes that’s the first one I saw when I decided to wait for the price to come down , then about 4 months later they started advertising the one I ended up with , not a lot of difference I don’t think apart from my one has solar and a 5000W LF inverter built into it .
Dave

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That unit in question is the generator only.
Its part of a system.

Unless I am mistaken…

I just want the generator end.
In fact I just want the bolt on section so I can build an engine around.

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Wallace you are correct it is only the generator, its designed as a range extender just for keeping the batteries topped up on electric trikes ect ,and is also perfect for off grid uses where the sun don’t shine as much as it should .
What is the bolt on section you mentioned that you want ? nearly all these bits are available on line .
Dave

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Dave the part I would like to buy is the PM alternator unit only.
I suspect the crank shaft used is the same as the regular generator units based on a single picture.
The one and only good application for these PM alternators is to charge batteries ( or DC capacitor link for an inverter )and we have the perfect application for it.

Since there is no field control the only way to increase alternator output is to increase RPM with load.
This is why inverter generators all increase and decrease speed in response to load changes.
This is a handy feature for a wood gas powered engine for a couple of reasons.
If the load exceeds the prime movers ability to increase power then engine slows down, but it will not stall our stop.

See here from a previous post, this is all I really need to work from.
But It would be nice to know for sure what crank shaft they use ( I have lots of cranks for clones but a limited number of the most likely type they used generator taper, threaded pump and 20mm metric )

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Hi Wallace ,
I came across someone on Ali express selling just the pm alternators off these range extenders , just last week for $77 plus shipping ,and thought at the time it would cost more to get it here (Australia ) than the price of the alternator , but still heaps cheaper than the one in the link you put up that is no longer available .
Just went to have a look for the link to show you and I am damned if I can find it now , but will post it if I come across it again .
Dave

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My eventual goal was to make something like that… I bought this 3 years ago… then had child number 2 :joy: Some day…

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Just to be sure I follow you.

PM for permanent magnet alternator?

Thierry

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If you are looking at the picture I think you are seeing P/N which stands for Part Number