/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Also, what the heck is this blue thing? To turn the engine on, i have to plug in this battery and then it works. Any way to make it easier, through some work?

That's the blue thing i'm talking about. I'm assuming it's to create a spark for ignition.... But i'd like to not have to carry around a battery. Also the battery is shit and needs to be 100% all the time or else it doesnt start well. Spark plugs arent that difficult.

I'll get a drill to get the engine out of the chassis.

>>753820
I only need to get the crews out but they're fucked up and impossible to remove by hand. Sucks.

that little car is not going to be powerful enough to power anything more than a phone charger.

>>753825
It's enough. It's supposed to charge a big ass (in series) battery. Not give power directly

>>753817
That thing in the image is a glow plug starter. You plug it onto the glow plug on the top of your cylinder, which is there in place of a spark plug. It heats it up and enables the fuel to ignite.

>>753819
>That's the blue thing i'm talking about. I'm assuming it's to create a spark for ignition....

The blue thing is the top of the cylinder it acts as a heatsink, the glow plug is screwed in the top.

> Also the battery is shit and needs to be 100% all the time or else it doesnt start well. Spark plugs arent that difficult.

Spark plugs for engines this size are actually pretty difficult. Also - generating a spark at the correct point in the cycle is pretty difficult - you'd want it to fire a few degrees BTDC (before top dead centre).

You seem kind of young / inexperienced to be taking on this project. Learn how engines work first would be some good advice.

Holy shit guys
this guy was so wrong, but i was so wrong too.
this could power a lot of stuff. the sound is deafening, it's so powerful damn.
Now i need to power some shiiiit. do hand crank flashlights and other stuff (dynamo) have a limit speed?i mean, will this be too powerful for a normal dynamo?
once again, the video doesn't give the sound justice. DEAFENING.
>I uploaded it here for you
http://filenuke.com/f/3Q442WO

>>753843
shit, wrong version.
uploaded without sound
here it is, enjoy
http://filenuke.com/f/OW88983

>>753831
Thanks for the advice. I want to learn how engines work, and I thought this was a project that would be nice.
about the glow plug. could you expand a bit on why spark plugs would be difficult here?

>>753829
If it only heats it up... wouldn't there be MANY alternatives to this crappy battery?
thanks for the replies guys.

>>753846
>about the glow plug. could you expand a bit on why spark plugs would be difficult here?

In a gasoline engine, the spark is delivered at a point just before the piston reaches the top of the cylinder (usually 10 degrees BTDC but it differs) - it explodes the fuel and pushes the piston down. This is why engine timing is crucial, it's referring to the timing of the spark. In a Diesel engine or a Nitro engine like the one you have there - the compression alone is used to heat and ignite the fuel - no spark necessary on every cycle. The glow plugs are necessary on the first few cycles because while the block is cold, it will absorb the heat from the compression, after that, the compression will ignite the fuel without a spark or a glow plug.

Your nitro engine works like a fire piston if you've seen one of those before.

>>753846
>If it only heats it up... wouldn't there be MANY alternatives to this crappy battery?

I can't think of one that doesn't use electricity - and a glow plug starter is pretty small in size, what were you thinking of?

I agree that the engine could be used to power a small genny though - you should see 12v easily with the right setup.

>>753843
>Now i need to power some shiiiit. do hand crank flashlights and other stuff (dynamo) have a limit speed?i mean, will this be too powerful for a normal dynamo?

most likely not powerful enough - you would need insane revolutions to see a decent output. To use this engine most efficiently - you will need to create your own generator using strong magnets and hand wound coils.

>>753864
Thanks for shedding light on the subject, really helpful.
Well, the glowplug is 1.2V, 1800mAmps hour. To charge it up, could I use a crank motion thingy? (dynamo again).
It would also be cool to make the glow plug charge with the engine's energy output. I was thinking the following:
Either a solar charger, the crank thing, OR getting a thermoelectric generator and using the heat dissipated from the cylinder. It would have to charge fewer times with a crank motion.
What do you think?
>>753869
I might. I'll try something out and let you guys know.

>>753881
by solar power I mean making a solar charger specifically for the glow plug, no effort from my part required.
Another thing:
Glow plug gives off heat. (Physics 101 here we go) depending on the battery level, will it give more energy when fully charged than when charged at 50%? if so, why? I mean, it's still giving the same amount of electricity... isn't it? 1.2V at 1800 mAh...

>>753881
>I was thinking the following:
>Either a solar charger, the crank thing, OR getting a thermoelectric generator and using the heat dissipated from the cylinder. It would have to charge fewer times with a crank motion. What do you think?

I like your ideas of using all the energy available to you! Cranking to charge a battery always takes too long though imo, unless it's a 3v button cell!

>>753883
>by solar power I mean making a solar charger specifically for the glow plug

the glow plug is just a heating element - you mean for the glow plug starter, right?

Yeah you should be able to charge a 1.2v battery with a solar panel without any problems!

>>753892
thanks man!
about the thermoelectric generator... where is the best place to put it?? from memory i think the hottest place was the side of the blue part of the piston. I guess I could glue the thermoelectric generators to the side and connect them in series to generate an output that could easily charge the battery
awesome stuff man

>>753894
I'm thinking the top of the head would be the hottest part, but the sides would be hot also.. You could even use a little stirling engine atop the cylinder head if you wanted more efficiency, it'd be a bit heath robinson, but very cool!

>>753869
Nitro rc cars run roughly in the 20k to 30k RPM range
They arent really that powerful, like 1mp max revving to the moon

>>753894
What are you even trying to do here?
A glowplug is heated once before you start the engine, after its started the heat of the combustion keeps the plug hot.
This engine spins too fast and has too low of power to make anything usable out of it.
I hate to shit on your parade but thats facts

>>753899
hahah thanks for the advice
is a sterling engine more efficient than thermoelectric?? wuuut

>>753904
just trying some stuff, why the hell not?
the thermoelectric generators would be used to charge the glow plug after the piston has become hot. So, you charge it once solar, or what ever and then plug it in. start the engine, do whatever, and with the excess heat, recharge the glow plug so it doesn't have to be charged with solar next time.
>This engine spins too fast and has too low of power to make anything usable out of it.
nothing useful at all? well that sucks. how much power do you think i can take from there? in mAh, more or less
thanks for the reply anyway man

>>753907
What are you looking to power? charge a phone?

>>753907
>is a sterling engine more efficient than thermoelectric?? wuuut
Totally and it's much cooler looking.


>>753904
>This engine spins too fast and has too low of power to make anything usable out of it.

I disagree - RC engines are often geared up or down - If OP wants to experiment he shouldn't be discouraged. People have made efficient wind turbines with less rpm. The key is to match his output finely.

See this vid OP - this is what you're aiming for - this guy uses an off the shelf brushless motor with a delta wind - but you could tailor your own stator for a better result! Don't listen to the naysayers - they don't know shit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOayHpHfqfI

>>753910
several devices, a phone, a radio, and a flashlight. maybe not all at once. I could probably have a switch that depending on what state it is, goes through different loop with more or less resistence depending on the device I'm trying to charge. but yeah, all small devices.
also, if i'm going for power, should it always be revved up to the max to allow higher voltage? or should stable revs make it (a) less noisy (b) fuel last longer... while producing less power.
if max revs are better, do you think there's a way to make this a lot less noisy? maybe puting it in a box with sound insulation (with exhaust and intake outside)

>>753911
oh shit! this guy did EVERYTHING i wanted to do!
except for the sterling hahah
thank you for the vid man!! and the support ;)
also this guy used a drill to start the engine... is this a lot easier than by doing it by hand?

>>753913
Yeah man it's totally possible. I know because I made a couple wind turbines from scratch and have been messing with rc for years.. You only need to generate 12v to charge a battery bank and /or have a totally useful generator. Look at some vids about winding stators - wye and star configs! Then match it nicely to your motor's output.

Those electric starters are cool because when flipping props, many RC guys lost fingers! A pull start is fine though, but an electric starter is a good investment.

You're welcome for the support - there's a bunch of people here who know fucking nothing but will rush to tell you everything is impossible..

>>753918
still have them lying around? what did you use them for? just out of curiosity

>>753920
They power a small hydroponics system in my greenhouse(I'm kind of into self sufficiency) and some fans that come on when the temp gets too high in there (they charge a bank of 4 deep cycle batteries) nothing like free energy! I like your attitude OP - you like learning shit. Here's a pic of the greenhouse, but I don't have one of the turbines on this machine!

>>753931
that's so cool man. Hope i can live off the grid soon. are you planning on doing that?
also, do you know a ton about radio systems? if you do i have a couple of questions.. what nice anon

>>753941
I think it's very hard to live off the grid totally, but I do what I can. I have a good crop rotation going, keep some chicks etc. Still visit the supermarket, still pay for water and some elec. I haven't begun refining my own fuel yet(!) I know a bit about RC systems yeah, not much about HAM radio..

>>753946
refining fuel's easy to get into. you should look into it. ethanol is a good, reliable source, which you can make at home

>>753951
I will look into it, thanks! Have had plans to build a whisky still for years, just never got around to it.

>>753816
Here's the thing:
How much horsepower (or fraction thereof) does the engine generate? Horsepower converts mathematically directly into watts, and the maximum, multiplied by the efficiency of the generator you connect it to (which will be a figure between zero and one) will be the maximum power output of the generator.

Now, also, that sort of engine can't run for long periods of time without overheating, so it won't be useful for very long.

Also, it'll be noisy as hell. You'd have to run it outside because of the exhaust (which is noxious as fuck and makes smoke from the castor oil lubricant in the fuel). Unless you live on a farm or somewhere where your nearest neighbor is at least a mile away, your neighbors will complain almost immediately about the noise.

Engines of this type are not very fuel-efficient. Also, the fuel is not cheap.

None of this even begins to address the need to convert the output of the generator into 120V AC that something could run off of. That's not something you can hack together out of junk, you'd have to buy an inverter.

Overall this isn't a very good idea, really. By the time you did all this you could buy a small Honda generator, which is quiet and relatively efficient, runs off standard unleaded gasoline, and you don't have to build anything to make it work.

I'd put your engine back in your RC car and just use it for that.

>>754098
Its been a while, but those tiny little motors make about .25-.5 horsepower. And thats a bit misleading because they do top out around 12,000 rpm. The race engines make about 17k rpm.

As we know, hp= (torque*rpm)/5252. So really, their torque is rather tiny.

Another problem OP isn't considering is "that blue thing" is a giant aluminum heat sink which must have moving air over it unless he only intends on running the motor for about a day.

Those RC engines use a nitromethane fuel (up to 30% nitro) with a blend of castor oils in it because there is no oil system for the internals.

I'm with you on this because it seems OP found his old toy in the closet and wanted to frankenstein something with it. Overall not feasible.

>>754098
>you could buy a small Honda generator, which is quiet and relatively efficient, runs off standard unleaded gasoline, and you don't have to build anything to make it work.

I thought this was /diy not /buyoverpricedcrapicouldbuildbettermyself

>>754111
EXACTLY.
I refuse to believe there is NO OTHER use for this other than for a really really fast RC car...

>>754163
Mount a gun on it and use it to scout your area after the world governments collapse and /k/ rules the woods.

>>754111
Fine then you can
>make a charcoal furnace
>design a stirling engine
>make wood templates for casting your engine
>make castings
>now you need to machine some castings so download book on Gingery lathe
>make a lathe
>use it to machine the castings
>assemble your heat engine
>hook it up to generator with a belt drive

>>754435
I'd enjoy doing all that shit - You must be retarded as hell if all of that doesn't sound like a good time to you.. what are you doing on /diy?

>pic related - the crank on the last stirling engine I designed and built

>>754098
>Now, also, that sort of engine can't run for long periods of time without overheating, so it won't be useful for very long.

I've run nitro cars with smaller and larger engines for pretty much the whole day, stopping only to refuel and pit - The engine, provided it is cooled should be fine.

>the need to convert the output of the generator into 120V AC

This would be the hardest part - but OP is a beginner and could use a simple bridge rectifier or a 3 phase rectifier, depending on his generator to make very useful DC.

> By the time you did all this you could buy a small Honda generator,

Buying stuff off the shelf is always quicker, but you don't learn much.

>>754435
Have you ever made anything in your life kid? Or just bought stuff? What is your interest in DIY?

>>754098
>you could buy a
>and you don't have to build anything

you could kill every thread on this board with that attitude.

>>754163
Use it as a dildo and shove it up your ass

>>754747
I think /b finds that sort of shitposting more useful than /diy.

>>754740
he is implying it wont have very good cooling, op would need to add a fan

>>754806
It would certainly need cooling, this is normally achieved by airflow, so a fan would work fine.

>>754111
Doing stupid things because you're bored with your toys is not 'DIY'. If you need a practical generator for power-outage events then you do what you must to accomplish that, and if nothing you have on hand will do the job then you BUY WHAT YOU NEED TO GET THE JOB DONE, not fuck around with shit that plainly will not work. You need a generator and all you have is a shitty RC car engin? You get a generator. Deal with it.

>>754740
>Buying stuff off the shelf is always quicker, but you don't learn much.
In this case 'buying things off the shelf' is the ONLY way to accomplish the goal, which is a practical, usable generator for power outage coverage.

You guys have some strange ideas what 'diy' is supposed to mean.

>>754744
Again: Being DIY does not mean being stupid. You need a generator and all you have is broken toys? You get a generator. You guys have some weird ideas what DIY is supposed to mean. This is not some TV show on cable.

>>754163
Your 'belief' doesn't mean Jack Shit. You can believe Rainbows and Unicorns can cure cancer all you want and it ain't gonna save anyone's life. You have a toy you're bored with that you've now broken, and you think you can power your entire house off it, with a 'generator' made from it and probably whatever other trash you have lying around. It simply is not going to happen. Ever. You want a generator, kid? Ask your dad to BUY you one. By the way he'll tell you it's not your business to do any of that anyway.

Go put your toy back together, assuming you didn't completely wreck it, and go play with it. You can 'do that yourself'.

>>754882
>BUY WHAT YOU NEED TO GET THE JOB DONE

How about just building a more viable generator using a larger engine? You might be too lazy or stupid to build something yourself, but some people enjoy doing things for themselves.

/diy remember

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J98RihPCbOs

>>754888
>You need a generator

OP didn't say he *needed* a generator - he expressed an interest in learning how to make one himself. It's a project that has been done before and will no doubt be done again.

/diy remember?

>>754892
>autistic rant

Didn't your single mother tell you, if you don't have anything nice to say - say nothing! What do you care if people want to learn stuff and build shit?

>>754886
>In this case 'buying things off the shelf' is the ONLY way to accomplish the goal

For someone with limited intelligence / ambition maybe that's true. Don't judge others by your own limitations anon!

I'd have a crack myself and have built similar contraptions in the past. A larger engine would be good though - maybe a small 2 stroke. None of this is rocket science.

>>754892
The average age of /diy posters is usually higher than the other boards - and thus shitposting is kept to a minimum. OP may be a kid, but he has a good attitude and wants to learn. You're the kind of unhelpful, self satisfied, loud mouthed kid I'd like to see die in a school shooting.

>pic related (it's you)

>>754892
>>754910
Ya burnt.

>>754910
ouch

>>753912
The problem with generators is the higher the load you out on it the more resistance the generator will produce.

If i was you I would go the simple route, buy a low kv brushless motor from hobbyking. This will produce 3 phase ac power. Next you connect it up to a bridge rectifier. That will give you dc. Next get a voltage regulator at the charge voltage of your battery. That will give you a basic generator. those motors are not great for your purpose but the high revs will be good for a brushless motor.

You would be much better off with a cheap 50cc engine from home depo and a car alternator

Hey, OP here. Got this motor from a microwave that didn't work. Could I use it as a generator??
Specs written on it are:
220-240VAC
50 Hz
18 W

>>755533
If you have a multimeter, wire that shit up, turn the shaft and see what the output is.

how about an Induction Heater?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bPzaXc85DE

>>755533
it's a shaded pole motor that won't do shit unless you maybe decide to embed magnets in the rotor.

>>755545
Thanks!

>>755533
>You would be much better off with a cheap 50cc engine from home depo and a car alternator.

I agree about the 50cc engine - an alternator requires a 12v input from somewhere though to go live. I think you'd be better off with a permanent magnet motor. Like one from a broken treadmill? Or a small brushless motor from another R/C car.

>>754888
>>754886
>samefagging and not knowing what DIY means...