Average is about 150 watts. I sustained that for around 30 minutes.
You can't see it well in the pictures. I have more that would show the front panel,
but this machine runs the output of the primary from the microwave oven transformer,
into either, a salvaged 500 watt ups transformer or a 25 A, fullwave bridge. So I can
get wall current or direct current. (It wasn't till later I realized I could have had both.)
AC wise I could output about 200W, voltage was 125v @ ~ 1.7 amps and 75hz
DC wise I had 16.5V @ 15 A.
Of course the harder you pedal the higher the output, so this thing can peak pretty easily.
I have a short 30 second video of me pedaling and powering 300 tiny incandescent Christmas lights.
they brighten and darken as my output varies. Which is why I have the DC side.
Sorry I got lost in the numbers. I watched a dvd by pedaling and powering a power inverter,
that in turn ran the dvd player. It's one of those that has it's own 7" display as well.
To level the output and give me a chance to coast now and then, I built a NiCd battery
pack that can regulate my output to a point that the inverter won't shut down if I pedal
too fast or too slow. All in all not the most efficient way of doing this, but I have only
half a shoe string to built this on and the point had been to build out of junk one could
find in a junk yard, a machine that could produce useful power.
I never realized till I cracked open my second MOT how easy it is to open the core of
the transformer so it could be used as a power pickup. You grind away 2 thin welds
and the bottom pops off clean as can be. The primary winding is right there in front.
You gotta watch out for the secondary of course. it's going to produce about 560-1000 v
I actually wired a 13w fluorescent bulb to this since the current is quite low and it
tells me I'm up to speed.
A list of the parts pretty much are here:
Pedal Rate ~ 120 - 150 RPM
Parts Used: 1 ProForm PFEX-70170 Exercise Bike.
1 Panasonic 1200w MOT (Microwave Oven Transformer)
12 2" x 1" x 1/2" N42 Magnets.
2 blocks of 2x4 as a standoff and mounting for MOT.
1 25A fullwave Bridge Rectifier.
6' #8 stranded utility cord.
1 500VA ups step up transformer. (scavenged from a junkups, this
was only to get direct wall current from the machine, which is not nearly as
efficient as we all might hope. See the power difference. between AC and DC)
2 17" long 5.5" diameter hose clamps.
1 bottle Gorilla Glue
1 roll ductape to fix the magnets to the flywheel, wrapping around
the outside of the wheel.
12 Magnet separators and packing foam peanuts to keep the magnets
seperated evenly on the flywheel.
1 Wall Mounted AC outlet.
1 20A 3 way light switch (for choosing AC or DC output)
1 set of post binders for dc output connections.
