A car engine generator?

[paplinker]

Well its time for winter storms and power outages to start soon.

A great invention would be a way to convert a running car into a home generator. It would be much quieter and might even run longer than a conventional generator. With a auto engine being so large it seems a lot of power might be generated.

Does such a thing exist or is a great invention ready to be made?

 

[BC38]

It exists - in a limited fashion (sort of).

Your car has an alternator, which generates AC electricity. The rectifier converts it to DC to charge your battery and run all the DC electrical stuff.
It is possible to modify the alternator by removing/bypassing the rectifier and tap AC electricity directly off of it. They only put out a few hundred Watts, but it is doable.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

There are power inverters that take 12V DC and make it 110VAC. The problems arise with coming up with wiring to handle all the Amps a household will draw. But small units are sold at Lowe's and Home Depot every day. One strong enough to run a gas furnace is available but needs direct wiring into the alternator and the cord to the furnace shouldn't be over 25 feet. It will still use more gas than a 5K generator.

Ivan

 

[Salty RI]

I knew a guy back in the early 70's who lived off the grid, he build one using a 2.4 L engine, the iron duke, out of a Chevy Nova.

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[Old Corp]

Don't recall the name brand but at an outdoor show saw a new ATV/UTV that would also serve as a generator. It was capable of about 10,000 kw.
Thought that was a great idea.

 

[GaryS]

There are engine powered generators, but they are very large. I've seen them on trucks, but don't think they'd actually fit on a car.

Fabco makes one, and I saw the MEPS unit in Texas a few weeks ago.

The MEPS units were mounted on 3500 series ambulance chassis, so would probably be too large for a passenger car.

 

[Abbynormal]

Back in the 30' & 40's, before electrification in rural areas, there were generators that ran off the PTO of tractors. They would set the throttle at low RPM and engage the PTO and let there be light. At low RPM, a tank of gas would last a long, long time.

I don't know if the generators of that time had the capability of showing where the cycle were, to be close to 60 cps. Even so, a rig like that would still run lights, stoves (resistive loans) and refrigerators, milking machines and washers (inductive loads).

 

[BigBill]

My older Hobart welder has 200amps at 100% duty cycle for welding and a 4,000 watt generator. I know it noisy.

My plan was to go solar on 12volts for everything, well pump, the rest use inverters were I can’t use 12volts.

 

[DWalt]

I am not sure how large an inverter a car can handle, but probably enough to take care of really essential items in a house for limited time periods. I do know they are available for up to 4KW as I have one for power outage emergencies, but I have yet to need it. You need to be aware that electric motors require more power for startup than running, so for an electric motor or motor-driven appliance (such as a refrigerator or freezer) which draws 2KW for continuous running, you will probably require an inverter capable of supplying at least 4KW peak to start it. In other words, you should be OK using a 4KW inverter to run a motor up to 3/4 to 1 HP, depending upon the specific motor type. I think I would prefer a 10 KW generator set to using an inverter on my car.

 

[kraynky]

They may have changed, if fact I'm sure they have. However I can recall buying the largest power inverter around some 10-12 years ago. My intention was to keep a crockpot plugged in while driving, to finish cooking a dish we were taking to a family Christmas gathering. I failed to pre-test it, but once underway, for a 3 hour cruise (really) it kept throwing it's internal breaker.

I think we ended up eating whatever it was the following day with leftovers. I was not impressed with inverters at that time. I thought about trying to run a skill saw from an inverter plugged into my ATV, while building deer stands. Ended up using a hand saw.

 

[rwsmith]

It would be very helpful....

...to have a power take off on the engine. In Road Warrior Days we might put the car on blocks and use the drive shaft.

 

[amazingflapjack]

Have seen a vehicle placed up on blocks with the drive wheel tire removed and a belt from the rim to a generator, but you still need a generator of about 10,000 watts to power everything in an "average" home. I have a pig tail that runs from the out side of the house-to where I would have my generator if an outage occurred, through the attic, and down through the laundry room, where my electric panel and dryer is. In an outage, the main is turned off, and left of until everything is disconnected and the power is restored- the pig tail is plugged into the dryer plug-and all breakers are kept off until the generator is started and run a while-then the pig tail is plugged into the generator. Then the Dryer breaker can be turned on, and power goes through the whole house, selective 110 breakers can then be turned on. With my 5500 Generac I can run what I need (no a/c-water heater-or anything 220) The pig tail is 10 gauge. If you plan to do this project, seek knowledgeable professional help. I was fortunate in that the whole set up is at the other end of the house, and the generator can hardly be heard inside the house.

 

[paulh]

I did something similar here with a 5000W generator. Runs 3 refers including a Subzero(2 compressors) sump pump, HW heater(gas) several outlets and my well pump(220). BTW I have a brand new Honda 5000 for sale.

 

[rwsmith]

Just looking at a few units......

It's certainly possible to put something together. You might be able to get a bigger generator for less money if you have a cheap engine available, but a commercial unit has all the load and operating controls, is compact Plus you would have to build a frame for it and buy a lot of parts.

But looking at the price of generators able to run a house, it might be worth it. They ain't cheap.

 

[steelslaver]

The only reaso't be able to get by with a 5KW genset for a few days or even a week is running electric heat or air conditioning. Mine will keep the refrigerator and freezer going, run the furnace controls and fan, some lights, even a TV. No clothes electric clothes drier and tthat kind of stuff.

 

[paulh]

The only reaso't be able to get by with a 5KW genset for a few days or even a week is running electric heat or air conditioning. Mine will keep the refrigerator and freezer going, run the furnace controls and fan, some lights, even a TV. No clothes electric clothes drier and tthat kind of stuff.

Got by during Sandy with mine for 3 weeks, no hardship at all except getting gas. Don't worry about heat since I heat with wood and during Sandy cooked a lot on the wood stove.

 

[oneounceload]

A nice Whole house generator is handy if you live with a lot of outages; especially if you can run it on natural gas.

 

[SAFireman]

In the fire service, we frequently add a PTO generator. It allows for a lot of power from a truck engine (pickup truck) or fire engine. I have personally seen and installed everything from 5kw to 50kw.

With the advent of more LED scene lighting, we are seeing fewer generators in fire trucks....plus a lot of depts got FEMA money for stand-by generators at stations

 

[sar4937]

They are called an invertor, don't get your hopes up. Buy a generator, or wait until the next generation on electric cars can back up your home via the garage charger.

 

[Peak53]

There's remains of Model T's at old mines all over this area that had drive belts hooked to everything from generators to saw mills to water pumps and even ore crushers. Hats off to ingenuity!