PDXzap
Well-Known Member
These may seem out of place for EBR but considering they are "bikecentric" and have to do with electricity I feel they belong... and in a pinch you could charge your ebike up when no other power is available.

This is my first real pedal generator. I had cobbled a few thing together before this but they were more for study and led to my building this one. It started life as a kids bike I found in the trash. Once I'd pulled most of it apart I cut the frame and brazed it to part of an old chair, also from the trash.
The flywheel is cut from the deck of a treadmill... found in the trash... for that matter, all of this was pulled from the trash except for the belt.
The motor is from a corded lawn mower and it's pulley is an old rollerblades wheel, lathed with a groove to fit the belt and bolted to the motor shaft.
It can be pedaled or spun by hand and the most I've ever been able to crank out of it was around 300 watts for a very brief time.

A friend gave me an old, little used bike stand... I immediately set about turning it into another pedal generator. The motor is from a treadmill and it's pulley is used to contact the bike tire.

I made a power center for genny this out of an old metal tool case and installed a 400 watt inverter, about 20 ah of nicad batteries, and a kit built charge controller that uses a 12v projector lamp as a load to control voltage.
The nicad finally bit the dust and I haven't found a suitable battery to replace it.

This is my first real pedal generator. I had cobbled a few thing together before this but they were more for study and led to my building this one. It started life as a kids bike I found in the trash. Once I'd pulled most of it apart I cut the frame and brazed it to part of an old chair, also from the trash.
The flywheel is cut from the deck of a treadmill... found in the trash... for that matter, all of this was pulled from the trash except for the belt.
The motor is from a corded lawn mower and it's pulley is an old rollerblades wheel, lathed with a groove to fit the belt and bolted to the motor shaft.
It can be pedaled or spun by hand and the most I've ever been able to crank out of it was around 300 watts for a very brief time.

A friend gave me an old, little used bike stand... I immediately set about turning it into another pedal generator. The motor is from a treadmill and it's pulley is used to contact the bike tire.

I made a power center for genny this out of an old metal tool case and installed a 400 watt inverter, about 20 ah of nicad batteries, and a kit built charge controller that uses a 12v projector lamp as a load to control voltage.
The nicad finally bit the dust and I haven't found a suitable battery to replace it.