Sarah,
Go to http://www.homepower.com and you might find those articles. I
KNOW they've published them in the past and have them on their CD-ROMs.
As Gerald J. says, all that's required is a mounting for the mower
engine and alternator and a belt drive.
Although this will work, it's not real efficient for charging deep-cycle
batteries because of the way the regulator works. It will cut back the
charge rate too quickly, making recharge of "low" batteries a long-time
proposition. In one of the HP articles, they show how to control the
alternator manually so you can prevent stalling the engine from the
initial excessive load, then keep the charge rate relatively high until
the battery is 70-80% charged, then taper it off. I believe that West
Marine and perhaps Ample Power sells special alternator regulators that
do this automatically, but they're fairly expensive. They also sell
special heavy-duty alternators that will handle this kind of usage
without failing.
There's a bit more to it than meets the eye. :-)
<<Jim>>
Sarah Calhoun wrote:
>
> Jim: any clues about where these articles might reside (the web is a big place) --
>or what an appropriate search phrase might be to locate the
> kits? It doesn't seem like it would be all that difficult, unless the lawnmower
>engine to car alternator connection is tricky for some reason?
>
> --Sarah
>
> Jim Clark wrote:
>
> > Bob:
> > There are some articles on the web about using a lawnmower type engine with a
>automotive style alternator to charge batteries and
> > to drive an inverter for some fairly reasonable cost 110 vac.... at 2.00 to 3.00
>per gal... I think you might be better off with the small
> > engine... There are even kits available to take the misery out of building the
>device....
> >
> > Good Luck
> > Jim
> >
>
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