What I love about watching Robert's videos is that he makes things accessible to everyone in a real-world environment . More to the point, though, it doesn't always work perfectly first time. I have always believed that you learn FAR more from a mistake than you ever will if it goes right, first time, every time.
Robert, I think you're great. I really enjoy your videos. As far as the larger fan motor not operating very well, just think about it backwards. If 12v will operate all the fans at, lets say 300 rpm, then you will get much more air movement out of the larger fan. Consequentially, it will also take more air movement, across the larger fans, to produce the same amount of voltage. In addition, producing and collapsing the magnetic field on thinner wire, produces higher voltages, than thicker wire. The larger fan may have thicker wire on it, say 30-36 awg, as opposed to the 40-50 awg on the smaller fans. Keep up the great work.
i agree - and I think it is that which matters - I think if you mess around with stuff - then you discover - if you just sit and say - oh no because this that or the other - well you discover nothing - go and mess about mate - cheers
Your "big beefy" fan looks to be an older Server fan, Usually designed to be higher RPM at the same 12v and a disregard for noise, so when used as a gen, would need a much higher wind speed to achieve the same voltage as the others, just as you observed :) Great video!
Love the video been watching your videos along time. Audio quality has came along way. Projects like this would be cool to have a second camera view but editing and such would be more hassle. Either way keep up the videos I'm real interested to see where graphene goes
While you are taking apart the computer's PSU have a look at the circuit board. Many of them have bridge rectifiers built it. They have to be extracted and desoldered but they are there and free if you are using scrap. I also like to take the larger capacitors out if they are still in good condition. Switches, wires, wire harnesses and even the occasional coil can easily be repurposed from these power supplies. Just make sure the capacitors have been discharged before you mess with the boards.
I get power generation from simply hooking my multimeter directly to the red and black wires on the fan and spinning the fan. No internal modifications or re-wiring required. Is there another reason why we need to open the fan up and clip connections? Earnest question from a relative noob. Thanks.
Some fans have build in diode to prevent it "pushing back" power when the device is shut down and the fan is still spinning. I think Robert mentioned in some comment that not all fans have these but I did not quite get if it is more efficient to rewire fans. I have 6" 48VDC industrial fan and, when spun, it easily creates +12 volts and couple of dozen milliamps.
@@Teknopottu If I remember correctly, a diode wasn't the reason he gave for what he did. It had something to do with cutting out part of the coil windings(I think). Too lazy to go back and review the video again but I'm pretty sure. I have a large collection of computer type fans from a variety of devices(computers, battery chargers, inverters, etc.) and I've checked them all. They all generate power as is. But who knows? Maybe UK fans have different designs? Doesnt seem likely but like I said; who knows? No one but you has offered me any other explanation lol
@@Teknopottu PS: That industrial fan sounds awesome. A near ready made wind generator once some better blades are installed. I had something like that years back and tossed it. Totally regret doing so now.
@@somuchsillynoise9149 I was interested in the same thing, why gut the fan when it produces power. Reviewed the video and Robert just bypassed the fan components and soldered directly on coils, on other fan (I think) he removed the coil from the components and used it as is. So, I think the point was there is diodes in some fans but still I'm not sure if direct connect on coils is more effective. If not, why open them up in the first place. Quite infuriating.
@@Teknopottu guess it leaves things up to us to figure and decide about ;) I'm putting the PC fan stuff aside for now though in preference to a super capacitor jump starting box. I've collected the mats and will make it later this winter when snowbound boredom kicks in. Itll have a hand crank generator incorporated into it for charging purposes. Itll take a few minutes to fully charge(and a little cranking effort) but it's mostly for fun and personal proof of concept. The handcrank genny puts out a couple of amps at 14 to 15 volts or so. It just amazes me though how easy and accessible "clean" energy already is. How much more so would it be if we stopped subsidizing the fossil fuel industry and put that same money into R&D for clean/renewable energy sources?
If Mr.Science was still alive,he would be watching this channel Robert. This was really interesting and I always learn something new. Now,if you were to build a voltage doubler circuit,then run that through some 500 farad super-caps,you could build one helluva generator with those tiny fans.🤓👍
Add the proper circuit and you have a modified Bedini SSG for charging batteries, but you use one of those coils as the Exciter and collect from the remaining coils for charging. Easy enough to find with a quick Google search. There are Several TH-cam videos to explain the process as well. Also listed in Patrick Kelley's Practical Guide to Free Energy Devices, about 1200 pages of various devices related to Free Energy. PDF file, free & easy to locate. Good way to usefully occupy some of that free time many have recently acquired. I didn't choose the terminology, the term Free Energy has existed for at least 40 years. The technology dates back to Tesla himself.
Another use for cpu fan motors. Remove fins, attach magents, use as a magnetic stirrer. Use a larger cpu fan motor that can deal with more viscous liquids. Computer power supply can provide 3.3v, 5v, or 12v. For different speed.
Computer fans are single voltage. You might be able to get one to work with the 3.3 and 5 volt, but I doubt you'll get one to work with all three voltages.
@@scotttovey ive had cpu fans work with 5v just fine, though more slowly. Im not sure about 3.3v. I have not tried. I have tried with 18v although I didn't try to run it for long.
@@scotttovey Too many amps and not enough heat dissipation were my concern with 18v. I may just sacrifice a cpu fan to see. Five volts on the other hand is not going to draw too much current, unless maybe if you cause it to spin far too slow.
Thank you, Robert. But how much voltage produce from that mini generator? plus you have to be lucky for wind that day.... OK, it's a better thing than nothing.
Who was the spark in your life that inspired your great curiosity and wonder? Hope you someday release that video (unless I missed it, if so please refer me to that video). Great video Rob! 😊👍
Curious, can the outs for the motors all be combined first, THEN run through the rectifier or is a rectifier absolutely essential on each and every motor? I have around 100 of them I want to wire together.
The best solotion for a PC fan is make a lamp, I think! A transparent tube a old filament edison lamp and a windstriming fan to the floor from near the ceiling and the room heat get back to warm up once more!
I'd like to know how much wattage these generator produce. Ive seen wind generator been made but never measure the volts and amp to get a wattage total.. would be interesting.
Perfect! Stepper Motors are really good aswell... because you can connect 1 2 3 or 4 coils depending on the wind...or water.... or whatever .... AND you can set the 4 coils for series or parallel.... or Both... very versatile low Rpm permanent magnet generators. But I love the simplicity of your design here..... Perfek! :o)
I've spun fans and found they give an output without taking them apart first. Didn't check if they would light an LED so is there something I'm missing?
I've always been taught a DC motor in reverse was a generator. Whenever I tried it worked. I don't really understand the extra steps. The board on any fan is likely there for speed, temp, is it possible to simply junk the board?
The big one probably needs more turns on the coils? It was set up for high voltage so it probably has to spin at higher speed, just to get to its sweet spot for a little voltage to come out...??? Great idea though! :-)
It’s bananas and apples. Solar works in the day only. If you were to use excess solar to compress air, or even a mechanical turbine to do the same, you could then use the air when required to turn your newly made fan generator.
Robert, We love your site. We are wondering if you can answer a question. Is there away to use current to test washed go to find out how many layers your graphene has? Or how can you test it?
I’m trying to back engineer a two wire pc fan that was used in a bediniproject some years ago. It has two coils, four wires and I’ve every combination but I can’t get the motor to run. The motor kicks a bit but does not spin. Try as I may I can’t find a schematic how two wire fans have their coils wound. Can’t you help me please?
It being an AC generator would be awesome actually! What type of output could a person expect to get from it and I have been farting around with a brushed magnet vacuum motor that simply spinning by hand creates a spark when you touch the wires together and will power a 12v light easily being spun with a drill now would that thing be spitting out that low off a voltage or would it get 110v if I was to get it spinning much faster
OpenSourceLowTech made a water turbine with a hover board wheel motor that was < $50 and puts out 200 watts. I'm guessing you've run across that though.
Cool beans! I got the diode lighting up from a pc fan. I also cut of the case and the wings, so it really lights up on my bicycle tyre. I want it to charge my phone, though. For this purpose, I repurposed an unused USB-connector for any "Automobile auxiliary power outlet". I have already soldered the positive and negative terminal to wires, but my phone doesn't make any sense of it. Can you point me in some direction for trouble shooting? Sincerely, Anders.
That automotive phone charger is expecting 12v, so you will probably need some kind of battery to store up the generated electricity (like a lithium ion cell or something) and then a boost converter circuit to provide the full 12v to that charger, or set it to 5v and use a USB based charger cable, either way you need to store up the energy before attempting to charge a phone because the fan generator probably can’t produce enough current to charge a phone directly.
@@ThinkingandTinkering Honestly though, your understanding of materials and science is amazing and your videos are indispensable. I operate an industrial power supply repair shop so a tool for grabbing coils without damaging them is important. I tried those over the counter plier booties and they work fine for larger windings. For small coils I use plastic dip on the plier tip.
And if you got one of my previous posts the coil core can have a iron core for better results just coat The core in a ceramic or a graphite/ carbon layer to reduce the eddy current interference. It adds about 30% reduction to your induction resistance, the coating. Well that's what the studies say..
There's a lot of experiments and interest in using inexpensive CPU and other cooling fans to generate electricity...most focus on using wind power but unless you live in a very windy part of the world or high altitude having a constant strong wind on your fans is not achievable so you can't achieve maximum output efficiency which is around 3V DC for a 12V CPU fan with a fairly strong constant wind.. One idea which interests me in using fans for electricity generating is this... Building a wall of small 12V CPU fans interconnected and connecting to cheap inexpensive small solar panels combined with wind to power the wall of fans to generate a considerable amount of electricty and current. And then to maximise the output from the wall of fans, building a second wall of fans close to the first wall. That way, in theory the wind generated from the first wall of fans, powers the second wall. Although the second wall of fans would probably not run at peak output efficiency, it could still maybe provide 30-50% or more electricity than the first wall, even without solar. I wonder if such an idea is feasible? If it is, it would be fairly low-cost to do and highly scaleable!
Another fantastic insightful video, thanks. Would have been interesting to know what kind of current these can generate, or just some comments about potential practical usage. I presume because you didn't give this it was just a fun experiment.
@@ThinkingandTinkering Some method of counting the pulses I suppose, or the voltage, or a combination thereof... I have to think that it would only work on really strong breezes though, simply because internal magnetic drag would want to hold the impeller from spinning. I have honestly never dismantled a wind speed sensor to determine how they pick up a signal, but it seems one would need it to be supremely free spinning to pick up lower air speeds, so something more like breaking or reflecting a light beam seem more practical now days with one of those little laser tachometers to be truthful.
Could you test an idea I had? So take 10-15 12v pc fan motors and attach them all by stacking them horizontally thus making a short tower that stands upright. Run in motor in tower in some series/parallel configuration and run 4 seperate towers in parallel Maybe best to 3d print new, wider blades
A single diode will not convert AC to DC. To convert AC to DC you need either a half bridge or full bridge rectifier. A half bridge rectifier takes two diodes. While the full bridge takes an additional two diodes, it is more efficient in converting AC to DC and outputs twice the amount of electricity. A full bridge rectifier takes four diodes.
@@scotttovey Check this out and please let me know if I was right. One diode - AC to DC Half Wave Rectifier. This is a video from Creative & Duck on TH-cam
@@scotttovey One diode will do the same thing as two, mate. For example, if you have a circuit with a diode in it - will current flow both ways? Nah. It's DC. I agree with you on the full bridge vs half bridge thing, though.
@@kennedy67951 "Check this out and please let me know if I was right. One diode - AC to DC Half Wave Rectifier. This is a video from Creative & Duck on TH-cam" 1) You didn't post the link to the video. 2) It's a bit irrelevant as I know for a fact that it takes two diodes to make a half bridge rectifier and four diodes to make a full bridge rectifier. 3) You can view the circuit diagrams on wikipedia.org at the following url: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifier#Single-phase_rectifiers
Each diode in the bridge rectifier will consume .7 of a volt, So the 4 diodes will consume .28 of a volt for your efficientency ratings approximately 1/3 rd of a volt.. pluss the resistors and the capacitances you will need to add a capacitor for stability. The resistance is the wire diameter and length and any further resistance to establish the correct voltage "if required".
I tried to do this with my 12 cm, 12V fan and it produces only 6 V at quite a high speed. Judging from the blower's power that was facing it during testing and the noise it made at that speed, it looks like it was near its max RPM (around 1500). Can somebody explain how is this happening? Does it have to do with the 2 main coils having a common wire (that links to pin 1 of the IC) and if so, what is the explanation. I feel like not seeing the forest from the tree but cannot figure it out by myself.
That might be just what I need for a air-movement detector for my laser-cutter vent. The extraction fan has failed before now and one of these in the outflow should give enough voltage for an indicator.
Imagine an artificial "tree" with many "branches" leading to hundreds and hundreds of these fans as "leaves" to catch the breeze, all wired back to a charger and battery bank. Could actually be a neat piece of functional art.
You actually don't need to remove it, just put the fan near the vacuum cleaner it will spin it at very high rpm and give you some current, so always keep one in case of emergency
I am new to electricity. I am fascinated with learning how to generate my own electricity. How much electricity this little generator produces? Thank you very much for sharing this video. God bless you.
It could probably produce more in ideal circumstances. But from what I seen it looking like it is probably 3.6-3.8v @20ma. 0.72-0.76w. So not much at all. They are meant to spin at high speeds which means they need really fast wind to get power back out. Or
I plan on building a setup to produce enough power to run heat and lights for leopard geckos including a breeding setup in combination with a small solar generator
Never thought about everytime i vacuum swept out a computer fan and it whizzed around at a million miles, it was probably shorting out the motherboard if there was no protection. if you can short one with 1 touch of static, then imagine 12v going the wrong way
Before modifying they tend not to produce any current past the boards built in. Hence why he had to take these apart to mske them useful the opposite way.
@@ThinkingandTinkering as they make work surfaces with it may be you could wipe a surface with water send a small electric current in to the work surface and get a sterilising affect
No offense, but I like my design better. But I don't know why you took the fans apart. I used 8, identical, 2 wire axial fans, 3 inch diameter. Wired them in parallel. Ran all-thread through the mounting holes of the fan bodys with 3 stacked washers between each (for spacing) bolted together like a "wind tunnel". Wired them to a very small, 12v battery for voltage stabilization. Glued a large, powerful, magnet to the bottom of the "tunnel". Added a long wire to the "total output" (after the battery) and added a 12v car power outlet to the other end of the wire, with a standard car USB charger plugged into it. On the highway (75 MPH in Texas) I can stick it to the roof (outside of vehicle) with the wire running into the window and charge my phone. Yes it would be easier to fix the power outlet in my car, but where's the fun in that? Lol
Alternator went out on my car...that's what brought me here lol....I need these to output at least 16Amps @12v....that's enough to replace an alternator on a car...2 or 3 batteries in series would make up for the car having aux power while not moving....it's either this or solar panels
I have several hundred of these, possibly even thousands from dumpster-diven computers. I was thinking of making a wind wall by assembling all of them in a fence-shaped formation on my property.
I just cooked the electronics on a squirrel cage PC fan by accidentally connecting it to a solar panel in reverse polarity and leaving it in full sun for a minute, the magic smoke was starting to escape; it should still make a good generator!
What I love about watching Robert's videos is that he makes things accessible to everyone in a real-world environment . More to the point, though, it doesn't always work perfectly first time. I have always believed that you learn FAR more from a mistake than you ever will if it goes right, first time, every time.
cheers mate - failures just show you what doesn't work so you can try something else
Please use more close up shots because us older people have a hard time seeing what you are doing
David Greenfield
Only if he learns to focus the camera.
Please use a camera with autofocus
lol can relate to the frustrating sighs at 4:30 and 4:48, maybe a piece of plastic or metal can be fashioned to slide under and wedge or lift.
Robert, I think you're great. I really enjoy your videos. As far as the larger fan motor not operating very well, just think about it backwards. If 12v will operate all the fans at, lets say 300 rpm, then you will get much more air movement out of the larger fan. Consequentially, it will also take more air movement, across the larger fans, to produce the same amount of voltage. In addition, producing and collapsing the magnetic field on thinner wire, produces higher voltages, than thicker wire. The larger fan may have thicker wire on it, say 30-36 awg, as opposed to the 40-50 awg on the smaller fans. Keep up the great work.
I’ve always assumed this was possible. It makes me wanna mess around with them and see what happens if you do weird things with them.
i agree - and I think it is that which matters - I think if you mess around with stuff - then you discover - if you just sit and say - oh no because this that or the other - well you discover nothing - go and mess about mate - cheers
When removing spring clips ( C-clips and the like ) remove inside a bucket to contain the clip from flying away!
A grocery bag or pillowcase would work also.
Your "big beefy" fan looks to be an older Server fan,
Usually designed to be higher RPM at the same 12v and a disregard for noise,
so when used as a gen, would need a much higher wind speed to achieve the same voltage as the others, just as you observed :)
Great video!
That was a jolly good show ole chap, jolly good indeed, and I love watching your videos.
Love the video been watching your videos along time. Audio quality has came along way. Projects like this would be cool to have a second camera view but editing and such would be more hassle. Either way keep up the videos I'm real interested to see where graphene goes
You know oddly enough I was thinking the same thing mate - picture in picture would be good - i'll have to givee it a go i think - cheers
I love your enthusiasm for learning, now I know this is ions ago and you know you only need one or two diodes to get DC
While you are taking apart the computer's PSU have a look at the circuit board. Many of them have bridge rectifiers built it. They have to be extracted and desoldered but they are there and free if you are using scrap. I also like to take the larger capacitors out if they are still in good condition. Switches, wires, wire harnesses and even the occasional coil can easily be repurposed from these power supplies. Just make sure the capacitors have been discharged before you mess with the boards.
Massive collection..... for me, understatement of the year.
Me as well, no doubt in excess of 2000 LOL sad isn't it?
lol - it's almost like they breed lol
i am sorry mate but i am killing myself laughing - the do indeed collect lol
I really enjoy your Productions and appreciate the time that you share with us
I get power generation from simply hooking my multimeter directly to the red and black wires on the fan and spinning the fan. No internal modifications or re-wiring required. Is there another reason why we need to open the fan up and clip connections? Earnest question from a relative noob. Thanks.
Some fans have build in diode to prevent it "pushing back" power when the device is shut down and the fan is still spinning. I think Robert mentioned in some comment that not all fans have these but I did not quite get if it is more efficient to rewire fans. I have 6" 48VDC industrial fan and, when spun, it easily creates +12 volts and couple of dozen milliamps.
@@Teknopottu If I remember correctly, a diode wasn't the reason he gave for what he did. It had something to do with cutting out part of the coil windings(I think). Too lazy to go back and review the video again but I'm pretty sure. I have a large collection of computer type fans from a variety of devices(computers, battery chargers, inverters, etc.) and I've checked them all. They all generate power as is. But who knows? Maybe UK fans have different designs? Doesnt seem likely but like I said; who knows? No one but you has offered me any other explanation lol
@@Teknopottu PS: That industrial fan sounds awesome. A near ready made wind generator once some better blades are installed. I had something like that years back and tossed it. Totally regret doing so now.
@@somuchsillynoise9149 I was interested in the same thing, why gut the fan when it produces power. Reviewed the video and Robert just bypassed the fan components and soldered directly on coils, on other fan (I think) he removed the coil from the components and used it as is. So, I think the point was there is diodes in some fans but still I'm not sure if direct connect on coils is more effective. If not, why open them up in the first place. Quite infuriating.
@@Teknopottu guess it leaves things up to us to figure and decide about ;) I'm putting the PC fan stuff aside for now though in preference to a super capacitor jump starting box. I've collected the mats and will make it later this winter when snowbound boredom kicks in. Itll have a hand crank generator incorporated into it for charging purposes. Itll take a few minutes to fully charge(and a little cranking effort) but it's mostly for fun and personal proof of concept. The handcrank genny puts out a couple of amps at 14 to 15 volts or so. It just amazes me though how easy and accessible "clean" energy already is. How much more so would it be if we stopped subsidizing the fossil fuel industry and put that same money into R&D for clean/renewable energy sources?
If Mr.Science was still alive,he would be watching this channel Robert.
This was really interesting and I always learn something new.
Now,if you were to build a voltage doubler circuit,then run that through some 500 farad super-caps,you could build one helluva generator with those tiny fans.🤓👍
cheers mate - thanks for taking the time to say that and i like the suggestion
I must ask; what wind generator that you made gave you the highest watt output with the least amount of wind ?
Would you show an up close picture of the rectifier diode configuration please? Thank you!
Add the proper circuit and you have a modified Bedini SSG for charging batteries, but you use one of those coils as the Exciter and collect from the remaining coils for charging. Easy enough to find with a quick Google search. There are Several TH-cam videos to explain the process as well. Also listed in Patrick Kelley's Practical Guide to Free Energy Devices, about 1200 pages of various devices related to Free Energy. PDF file, free & easy to locate. Good way to usefully occupy some of that free time many have recently acquired.
I didn't choose the terminology, the term Free Energy has existed for at least 40 years. The technology dates back to Tesla himself.
nice info mate thans for posting - i know Kelly's book - it is awesome
Those little fan are my favorite work shop toy ..when I go to the recycle center I always hunting down old PC
Another use for cpu fan motors. Remove fins, attach magents, use as a magnetic stirrer.
Use a larger cpu fan motor that can deal with more viscous liquids.
Computer power supply can provide 3.3v, 5v, or 12v. For different speed.
Computer fans are single voltage.
You might be able to get one to work with the 3.3 and 5 volt, but I doubt you'll get one to work with all three voltages.
@@scotttovey ive had cpu fans work with 5v just fine, though more slowly. Im not sure about 3.3v. I have not tried. I have tried with 18v although I didn't try to run it for long.
nice mate - cheers
@@kreynolds1123
Hmm, perhaps the design is so simple that voltage is irrelevant, making the primary concern too much amperage and heat.
😎👍
@@scotttovey Too many amps and not enough heat dissipation were my concern with 18v. I may just sacrifice a cpu fan to see. Five volts on the other hand is not going to draw too much current, unless maybe if you cause it to spin far too slow.
Hi sir what about an AC generator? Is this also possible
Once again very informative rob 👍 good man
cheers - thanks for the post
Question is the whirlybird generator on the roof?. When this was recorded.
Yes, improve your focus on closeups. A closeup stable camera mount would help considerably to stop shaking. Good ideals though.
Attach it to a mouse running wheel and the led. The mouse can have some fun switching on the light when it's bored.
or you could just watching it - difficult to say who would have the most fun lol
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣another great video, thanks for the wonderful knowledge you share unselfishly to the world😁✌️❤️🤘
Thank you, Robert.
But how much voltage produce from that mini generator? plus you have to be lucky for wind that day....
OK, it's a better thing than nothing.
Who was the spark in your life that inspired your great curiosity and wonder? Hope you someday release that video (unless I missed it, if so please refer me to that video). Great video Rob! 😊👍
Just a question. Do you have to convert it to dc to light up a led? dont u lose energy by doing that?
Curious, can the outs for the motors all be combined first, THEN run through the rectifier or is a rectifier absolutely essential on each and every motor? I have around 100 of them I want to wire together.
The best solotion for a PC fan is make a lamp, I think! A transparent tube a old filament edison lamp and a windstriming fan to the floor from near the ceiling and the room heat get back to warm up once more!
I'd like to know how much wattage these generator produce. Ive seen wind generator been made but never measure the volts and amp to get a wattage total.. would be interesting.
Perfect!
Stepper Motors are really good aswell... because you can connect 1 2 3 or 4 coils depending on the wind...or water.... or whatever .... AND you can set the 4 coils for series or parallel.... or Both... very versatile low Rpm permanent magnet generators.
But I love the simplicity of your design here..... Perfek! :o)
I ought to have had some waterproof versions of these fitted in my drainpipes last year....
Philipe Jones check out QUINT BUILDS videos on the subject? I had a similar idea myself, but the amount of power generated is so small ...
I've spun fans and found they give an output without taking them apart first. Didn't check if they would light an LED so is there something I'm missing?
I've always been taught a DC motor in reverse was a generator. Whenever I tried it worked. I don't really understand the extra steps. The board on any fan is likely there for speed, temp, is it possible to simply junk the board?
Finally, something I have lying around the house.
when you used the channel locks, did it damage the thin, stamped stator discs the coils are wrapped around? will this affect anything negatively?
the way you wiggle those pliers ... do you do dentistry?
Really does remind me of my dentist. Well, when I had insurance and a dentist
The big one probably needs more turns on the coils?
It was set up for high voltage so it probably has to spin at higher speed, just to get to its sweet spot for a little voltage to come out...??? Great idea though! :-)
On the contrary, higher voltage fans and motors need less rounds per minute to generate usable voltage.
hello how is a person able to compare motors as to determine which is better for converting to a wind turbine ? thank you
you are nothing short of BRILLIANT!
I wish I was your neighbor!
wow - cheers mate
Another brilliant video . It seems that the smaller ,lower input power fans produce more energy at slower RPM.The smallest fan produced more light
yes i saw that too - it seems they have a minimum speed - maybe to do with inertia do you think?
Could you compare costs on these to output with regular photovoltaic cells?
me personally - no - can it be done - for sure - go for it.
It’s bananas and apples. Solar works in the day only. If you were to use excess solar to compress air, or even a mechanical turbine to do the same, you could then use the air when required to turn your newly made fan generator.
MrCarlRobinson interesting concept :)
Wouldn't a pulley remover work more easily to pull the coils?
Hey Rob, do you mind if I include you as a character in my newest apocalyptic survival game?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge !
Robert,
We love your site. We are wondering if you can answer a question. Is there away to use current to test washed go to find out how many layers your graphene has? Or how can you test it?
have you tried playing with 3 phase DC server fans? The kind that have strong PMs and cog when you turn them?
I’m trying to back engineer a two wire pc fan that was used in a bediniproject some years ago. It has two coils, four wires and I’ve every combination but I can’t get the motor to run. The motor kicks a bit but does not spin. Try as I may I can’t find a schematic how two wire fans have their coils wound. Can’t you help me please?
Wouldn't it be possible to put a bunch of mini fan/generators lined up inside the water pipes in a home and the use of water would generate?
It being an AC generator would be awesome actually! What type of output could a person expect to get from it and I have been farting around with a brushed magnet vacuum motor that simply spinning by hand creates a spark when you touch the wires together and will power a 12v light easily being spun with a drill now would that thing be spitting out that low off a voltage or would it get 110v if I was to get it spinning much faster
I would be very interested to see how the "bedini fan motor" works with your supercaps..;)
bedini works best with a cap on the input, so the primary coil gets a more abrupt current flow.
oh - interesting suggestion - cheers mate
Do you recon a feller could repurpose the guts out of and old dvd player into a thorium salt reactor?
OpenSourceLowTech made a water turbine with a hover board wheel motor that was < $50 and puts out 200 watts. I'm guessing you've run across that though.
You made that look way easier than it is..Cool vid!
You can boost the power by adding a hyperbolic cone to the rear trailing side.
Cool beans! I got the diode lighting up from a pc fan. I also cut of the case and the wings, so it really lights up on my bicycle tyre. I want it to charge my phone, though. For this purpose, I repurposed an unused USB-connector for any "Automobile auxiliary power outlet". I have already soldered the positive and negative terminal to wires, but my phone doesn't make any sense of it. Can you point me in some direction for trouble shooting? Sincerely, Anders.
That automotive phone charger is expecting 12v, so you will probably need some kind of battery to store up the generated electricity (like a lithium ion cell or something) and then a boost converter circuit to provide the full 12v to that charger, or set it to 5v and use a USB based charger cable, either way you need to store up the energy before attempting to charge a phone because the fan generator probably can’t produce enough current to charge a phone directly.
Okie dokie, a whole new definition of gently.
one for which your mother didn't prepare you lol - you should see how I treat other stuff!
@@ThinkingandTinkering Honestly though, your understanding of materials and science is amazing and your videos are indispensable. I operate an industrial power supply repair shop so a tool for grabbing coils without damaging them is important. I tried those over the counter plier booties and they work fine for larger windings. For small coils I use plastic dip on the plier tip.
And if you got one of my previous posts the coil core can have a iron core for better results just coat The core in a ceramic or a graphite/ carbon layer to reduce the eddy current interference. It adds about 30% reduction to your induction resistance, the coating. Well that's what the studies say..
There's a lot of experiments and interest in using inexpensive CPU and other cooling fans to generate electricity...most focus on using wind power but unless you live in a very windy part of the world or high altitude having a constant strong wind on your fans is not achievable so you can't achieve maximum output efficiency which is around 3V DC for a 12V CPU fan with a fairly strong constant wind..
One idea which interests me in using fans for electricity generating is this...
Building a wall of small 12V CPU fans interconnected and connecting to cheap inexpensive small solar panels combined with wind to power the wall of fans to generate a considerable amount of electricty and current.
And then to maximise the output from the wall of fans, building a second wall of fans close to the first wall. That way, in theory the wind generated from the first wall of fans, powers the second wall. Although the second wall of fans would probably not run at peak output efficiency, it could still maybe provide 30-50% or more electricity than the first wall, even without solar.
I wonder if such an idea is feasible? If it is, it would be fairly low-cost to do and highly scaleable!
Have you done that with using magnets to make the fan move instead of air?
Another fantastic insightful video, thanks. Would have been interesting to know what kind of current these can generate, or just some comments about potential practical usage. I presume because you didn't give this it was just a fun experiment.
Wonder if you could use it to determine wind speed with...
nice idea i would think so - convert it to a digital speed readout with an arduino?
@@ThinkingandTinkering Some method of counting the pulses I suppose, or the voltage, or a combination thereof...
I have to think that it would only work on really strong breezes though, simply because internal magnetic drag would want to hold the impeller from spinning.
I have honestly never dismantled a wind speed sensor to determine how they pick up a signal, but it seems one would need it to be supremely free spinning to pick up lower air speeds, so something more like breaking or reflecting a light beam seem more practical now days with one of those little laser tachometers to be truthful.
u dont have to edit them cuz they already generate by default i found that out when i was a kid playing with air and pc fans
excellent, i love fannying about with stuff like this, and little solar projects too......cool.
lol - awesome cheers mate
How much energy it need to make enough energy to run led??
Could you test an idea I had?
So take 10-15 12v pc fan motors and attach them all by stacking them horizontally thus making a short tower that stands upright. Run in motor in tower in some series/parallel configuration and run 4 seperate towers in parallel
Maybe best to 3d print new, wider blades
Robert, you really only needed one Diode did you? Just asking. Thanks for the upload.
A single diode will not convert AC to DC.
To convert AC to DC you need either a half bridge or full bridge rectifier.
A half bridge rectifier takes two diodes.
While the full bridge takes an additional two diodes, it is more efficient in converting AC to DC and outputs twice the amount of electricity.
A full bridge rectifier takes four diodes.
@@scotttovey Check this out and please let me know if I was right. One diode - AC to DC Half Wave Rectifier. This is a video from Creative & Duck on TH-cam
@@scotttovey One diode will do the same thing as two, mate. For example, if you have a circuit with a diode in it - will current flow both ways? Nah. It's DC. I agree with you on the full bridge vs half bridge thing, though.
@@kennedy67951
"Check this out and please let me know if I was right. One diode - AC to DC Half Wave Rectifier. This is a video from Creative & Duck on TH-cam"
1) You didn't post the link to the video.
2) It's a bit irrelevant as I know for a fact that it takes two diodes to make a half bridge rectifier and four diodes to make a full bridge rectifier.
3) You can view the circuit diagrams on wikipedia.org at the following url:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifier#Single-phase_rectifiers
@@JimEdmiston
I must have misremembered the circuit from my electronics book. But then, it has been 12 years since I looked at it.
😎👍
What if you put magnets on all the tips of the propellers and a couple large one on the outside 🤔
would have been nice with some voltage and amp meassurements
Interesting but the video needed to have been done in close up on the bench.
meh, just positive negative. I like the format
@@TheSlobinHood meh. So it's got to be 100% positive or 100% negative???
@@Lesfac meh
Each diode in the bridge rectifier will consume .7 of a volt, So the 4 diodes will consume .28 of a volt for your efficientency ratings approximately 1/3 rd of a volt.. pluss the resistors and the capacitances you will need to add a capacitor for stability. The resistance is the wire diameter and length and any further resistance to establish the correct voltage "if required".
Ooooh Knipex, you must be a gazillionair.
huh? lol
@@ThinkingandTinkering Knipex pliers are not cheap.
Mine appears to be built into the board and I can't get either the board or the coils out without risking breaking it, not sure what I'm doing wrong.
thankyou Robert
glad you liked it mate
I tried to do this with my 12 cm, 12V fan and it produces only 6 V at quite a high speed. Judging from the blower's power that was facing it during testing and the noise it made at that speed, it looks like it was near its max RPM (around 1500).
Can somebody explain how is this happening?
Does it have to do with the 2 main coils having a common wire (that links to pin 1 of the IC) and if so, what is the explanation.
I feel like not seeing the forest from the tree but cannot figure it out by myself.
That might be just what I need for a air-movement detector for my laser-cutter vent. The extraction fan has failed before now and one of these in the outflow should give enough voltage for an indicator.
good luck with it! cheers
Could you not take all three windings and use a 6 diode bridge?
Imagine an artificial "tree" with many "branches" leading to hundreds and hundreds of these fans as "leaves" to catch the breeze, all wired back to a charger and battery bank. Could actually be a neat piece of functional art.
cool idea - go for it
You actually don't need to remove it, just put the fan near the vacuum cleaner it will spin it at very high rpm and give you some current, so always keep one in case of emergency
I am new to electricity. I am fascinated with learning how to generate my own electricity. How much electricity this little generator produces? Thank you very much for sharing this video. God bless you.
It could probably produce more in ideal circumstances. But from what I seen it looking like it is probably 3.6-3.8v @20ma. 0.72-0.76w. So not much at all. They are meant to spin at high speeds which means they need really fast wind to get power back out.
Or
I plan on building a setup to produce enough power to run heat and lights for leopard geckos including a breeding setup in combination with a small solar generator
Just bought 10 140mm fans. Would you believe they are glued together and not push fit!
*Uses mains-powered c. 20 Watt fan motor to generate enough electricity to light a 20 mW LED.* Nice principle though. Thanks Robert.
So how do we intergate all this small amounts of power into something that we can actually use to charge batteries?
Capacitor banks & boost converters are probably the best way
Difficult - more difficult - difficulter or just harder to do?
I don't understand what would you use this for Just a light and led
The LED is just to verify that it's generating voltage/current. It's up to you what to do with that energy.
so now if you series parallel a truck load of these together in a hurricane you'll get enough power to maybe charge a cell phone lol
lol - i doubt it mate - but hey you could try lol
Never thought about everytime i vacuum swept out a computer fan and it whizzed around at a million miles, it was probably shorting out the motherboard if there was no protection. if you can short one with 1 touch of static, then imagine 12v going the wrong way
Before modifying they tend not to produce any current past the boards built in. Hence why he had to take these apart to mske them useful the opposite way.
not related but have you thought of making Richlite with your paper
what's rich lite - which I also guess answers your question with a no I hadn't thought about it lol
I looked it up it's a phenolic impregnated paper - cheers
@@ThinkingandTinkering Not sure what use it would be but all the amazing things you do am sure it will keep you awake .
@@ThinkingandTinkering as they make work surfaces with it may be you could wipe a surface with water send a small electric current in to the work surface and get a sterilising affect
A selection bolted onto your roof bars would technically make your car a hybrid 🤣🤣
lol - i suppose it would
No, the increased drag would use more fuel than the electricity produced.
@@MrCarlRobinson 🤣🤣=sarcasm
Sir can i use any type of rectifier???
you're better off using a low votage drop rectifier - maybe one made from 1N34s
No offense, but I like my design better. But I don't know why you took the fans apart. I used 8, identical, 2 wire axial fans, 3 inch diameter. Wired them in parallel. Ran all-thread through the mounting holes of the fan bodys with 3 stacked washers between each (for spacing) bolted together like a "wind tunnel". Wired them to a very small, 12v battery for voltage stabilization. Glued a large, powerful, magnet to the bottom of the "tunnel". Added a long wire to the "total output" (after the battery) and added a 12v car power outlet to the other end of the wire, with a standard car USB charger plugged into it. On the highway (75 MPH in Texas) I can stick it to the roof (outside of vehicle) with the wire running into the window and charge my phone. Yes it would be easier to fix the power outlet in my car, but where's the fun in that? Lol
sounds awesome mate
Alternator went out on my car...that's what brought me here lol....I need these to output at least 16Amps @12v....that's enough to replace an alternator on a car...2 or 3 batteries in series would make up for the car having aux power while not moving....it's either this or solar panels
Im assuming you are from England, what part are you from?
Canterbury in Kent
@@ThinkingandTinkering I had family in Warrington if you are familiar with that area. I believe you are east of there? More SE
I have several hundred of these, possibly even thousands from dumpster-diven computers. I was thinking of making a wind wall by assembling all of them in a fence-shaped formation on my property.
Just plug the hairdryer into the generator?
Do, what do ya think the power factor was there? 😅
*So ... (not Do) lol
I just cooked the electronics on a squirrel cage PC fan by accidentally connecting it to a solar panel in reverse polarity and leaving it in full sun for a minute, the magic smoke was starting to escape; it should still make a good generator!
Interesting, got quite a few lying about, might have a go, have to convert the voltage up a bit.