Bicycle Generator

Using an alternator, mountain bike and an inverter, we build a bicycle generator, and make 110 volt electricity, run a human-powered 220 Watt food processor, and more! Ahhh...the power! To see it charge cell phones and power a TV, check out: • Bicycle Generator to w...
Thank you! What would you like to see next? Please comment & subscribe.

[@Tokahax]

I'm an engineering student who today was asked to look into building an off-grid water-wheel generator for a friend in Colorado, and I very much appreciate how you explained the details. Nice work!

[@AnelTV1]

As a mechanical engineering student i love these kinds of videos, how people can be so creative and think of different and new ideas to generate put a use to something. Who cares if it was just chopping a onion? He set out and did something really cool and we can learn and use that towards many of things. Awesome video man, i'd love to see some more cool videos like this one.

[@agleicher8362]

it slices but does it dice

[@haizi7179]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Videos with this type of essence are gems

[@gulfsurfco]

Proof of concept.

[@your_local_gacha_girl5077]

Could you reccomend any other cool videos like this? I also feel the same as you and want to find more original ideas to stimulate my mind

[@scoobydoobydoooo]

This is the difference between smart hardworking engineer types and armchair experts. Optimism.

[@dustdevil317]

There's a dozen ways around the complexity you have in your circuit. First off, GM made this thing called 'a one-wire alternator' that auto-hots the stator when the alternator starts rotating. You can also wire this yourself with a non-one-wire alternator. Alternatively, put a 12v wet-cell or rechargeable in the circuit that has the inverter in it, and simply hot the charge circuit as you need. Finally, if you take that rotor out, remove the brushes and did some machine work to change that armature over to a permanent magnet configuration, then you would have an always-hot stator, without need to 'hot' the stator (the main reason that alternators have powered stators is to conserve price and weight, but for an AC generator, you can drill and insert N52 neodymium magnets to make the stator 'always magnetized').

[@pinky1933]

Hook this up to your television set so you have motivation to work out because when you stop, the tv will turn off. lol

[@danmatthews3102]

OMG ! That's the best idea I have ever heard of ! Except that every time I go to the refrigerator during commercials, my DVR will have blank spots. Does that mean it will not record commercials any more??? OMG AWESOME !!!!! Thanks !

[@spectatormag946]

You are a freaking genius!!! Top comment!

[@nevereverlistens]

Not really self-sufficient, it still requires a battery, it was better to put on a 110 generator, then a inverter would not be required. Too-much junk not required

[@likabaws1153]

pinky1933 That is actually a pretty decent idea! =p

[@PGIFilms]

pinky1933 That's what they do in the prison run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona. The inmates only get TV if they take turns peddling a stationary bike to power it.

[@davidblomdahl5518]

Wow, thank you for the explanation of the difference between alternator and generator. I've asked at least a dozen people over the years that have electrical related careers/self appointed experts and not 1 person could tell me. You are a valued asset and should be spared if zombies ever take over.

[@Jetmugg]

Nice job explaining how the alternator works and a nice demonstration. Someone else posted - you can use a "Self Exciting" alternator from GM, also called a "1 wire" alternator. At 1500 rpms, the regulator is self-exciting, providing power to the field coils. Using the alternator to charge a 12V deep-cycle battery can provide a nice "reservoir" of energy. As you know, 200W continuous output is a lot for most cyclists. 100 Watts is fairly manageable for people who are in decent shape.

[@martiwoodchip4518]

That's very clever there Einstien but I think that I have you beat!, I set up a water wheel down by the river and plumbed a 4" water line from about 150 feet up stream past where there is a 5 foot drop. With the water coming out of the end of my pipe with considerable force it flows onto a home built water wheel that spins a shaft connected to a gear box and increases the speed 150 to one. with this set up we mounted a real 110 volt generator head and wired it to an extension cord routed up to my house. We comfortably can use about 600-900 watts of 110 volt free electricity which is more than enough to run all of my LED lighting and electric fan blowing air over my wood stove. The only thing that I now need to set up is a remote water cut off valve so it can be safely shut down when leaving home. The weight and force of water is very powerful and if you set it up right you can get free electric power with minimal water flow but you do have to have at least a good 5+ feet of drop and 4" pipe diameter or larger. A simple diversion screen angled sideways keeps the inlet of my pipe clear of river debris. Picts and video coming soon!. Marti

[@benbraceletspurple9108]

That would be nice if it wasn't illegal.

[@ryandanielable]

Marti I´d love to see the setup and costs of this!

[@bluekeet]

please make a how to video on that plz and let me know about it so i can watch it.

[@benbraceletspurple9108]

Then I'll make a video on why that's illegal.

[@CondoreComputing]

TOKENWINNER A8 if you do it properly with fuses and cutoffs and are nor connecting it to live circuits that are connected to the grid it is not illegal

[@tankertemplar752]

I loved this episode of Gilligan's island. Nice to know the professor was right after all!

[@MyJigarpatel]

This type of generator should be put in gym. So people run bicycle to loss weight and also get benefit of electricity generation.

[@Ag89q43G0HyA]

They should!

[@ScorpionRegent]

I agree most gyms consume energy on machines that people use to exercise. A smart gym would generate energy and give members discount and other incentives for the amount of power generated.

[@zionsky7761]

@@ScorpionRegent thats a great idea

[@zionsky7761]

@@ScorpionRegent kinda like slavery but with more steps 🤣

[@gur262]

@@zionsky7761 yeah but. So what. I mean. ... That is what's done in some jails.

[@RODALCO2007]

Great system, Physical work out and generating electricity, way to go !

[@JahanZeb1976]

This demonstration is a little bit tedious to to it practice all the time due to big physical effort involved. Anyhow this demonstration is way better than the free energy magnet motors scams allover the youtube. Those scams are not able to product a single volt or a mA. Those scammer are only able to produce money from youtube out of their scam videos. This guy has a very clear concept of car alternators. His illustration is real that is why I love his work.

[@tumimbanghymarvannd.8603]

LearningZone Does the free energy magnet generators generate electricity? If not why does the bulb turned on?

[@EddieVanHalen1977]

Why are you the only one in the world that can explain the difference between a generator and an alternator. You made it so easy to understand. You think and speak clearly. Thank you so much for a wonderful science video. I love learning science on youtube. I learned nothing in schools.

[@kedocom]

This would be great for kids .... let them bicycle their energy for computer and tv ..... keep them active and in shape :)

[@commentator4ever498]

Lol

[@tazmun]

For any real world applications there should have been a 12 Volt Lead Acid battery connected to the circuit as is intended by the alternator design. DC current isn't totally smooth coming off an alternator as it still has some pulsation in it. Batteries not only act as a storage device but also as a filter smoothing out pulsations and voltage spikes. Continued usage would probably result in failure of the inverter, solid state devices connected to inverter, or static noise in any audio device.

[@chriskeel3096]

But capacitors would be even better than batteries

[@electronicsNmore]

Works very well. :-) Be sure to check out my version(recently uploaded), no other video on YT shows my setup or power output. Thanks

[@johnsuarez1404]

Can you link the video

[@jimthomas777]

@@johnsuarez1404 , Any alternator will work if the rotor is electrified or remove the rotor and add a PMA , no need for a small battery or switch , it starts making power as soon as it starts spinning , I have 4 of them , they make around 18 volts and 1200 to 1800 watts depending on speed

[@jasonannesley5889]

Hi enjoyed watching your videos. It gave me the knowledge to build a backup up off grid 12v charging device similar to your design. I used a second hand 100 amp alternator, cycle turbo trainer, old jump lead switches etc. Basically I can pedal in high gear with little stress on Crank & alternator rotation. Pushing rear wheel by hand has alternator pulley & rear wheel rotating freely. Obviously when exciting you can feel load slightly but you can cycle immediately in high gear. Tyre, inner tube & turbo trainer tiny freewheel resistance roller removed. Belt goes round backwheel & alternator. Turbo trainer folds in half with alternator attached. Bicycle comes off turbo trainer & can be used as normal by just adding tyre & Innertube. Bike kept in campervan with turbo trainer & can be used to jump-start van or charge leisure batteries. Beats charging with a slow battery trickle charger. Basically fully off grid backup. So glad I watched your videos explaining everything in detail. Something I have always thought about making. Now I have & it works well. Lol.

[@joseph181516]

Can you upload a diagram of electrical connections?

[@stefan-sh7xj]

Go to great scoot channel, he created good video about this kind of setup, personaly i have tried to bulid this, but no chance to get it efficient enough.

[@tripwalters3146]

This is actually how I chop most of my onions now.

[@MrNamegame]

What you could also do is use the derailer to vary the amount of power output you are giving...if whatever you are using is starting to cough out on your electricity, you just keep shifting up and pedaling at the same pace. This will allow you to be able to be more energy efficient with your body too, as since you may not be using as much electricity at some points rather than others, you can gear it down and therefore tire yourself out less as you are still pedaling at the same speed, but with less pedal force applied. Also, if you want to use this setup for a very, very long time, you may want to replace the plastic pedals with metal ones. I find that on a normal bicycle, even if you do not stand up and pedal using the bike, you can still wear out those cheap plastic pedals so easily. With a set of pedals that AT LEAST has a metal frame of it's own aside from the steel pegs inside, you can expect the pedals to at least be able to withstand you pushing the bike hard everywhere you go for about 3 years if the steel frame is the worst available on the market.

[@wraith0127]

Ok, this video gets a like. (I rarely give them out, even on some of the most popular videos) This deserves a like, however, for a few reasons, first, I learned something new about an alternator that I didn't know. Second, I learned how it is possible to use a salvaged alternator for something productive. And, I got to watch one of the most entertaining ways of chopping an onion I have ever seen!

[@chickeyy1792]

2013 KZbin when viewers actually gave useful feedback

[@edwardliquorish8540]

In a serious "blackout", a few of these together, could help keep emergency services/hospital patients alive, as well as a T.V. Thanks for sharing. Every car owner should have an inverter. Cheers.

[@slenderkid1018]

You can ask Auto Zone for a single wire GM alternator and they will know what you are asking for. Tell them to test it for you. That will put residual charge in it. Now, you can hook it up to a battery and you only need the single battery wire for it to work. Of course you still need a ground wire to the negative of the battery. Now when you start pedaling it will spin up and the residual will be enough for it to take off charging. No switch is needed. I did that on my diesel boat. Auto restorers do that on 6 volt conversions or generator conversions to alternators... You are welcome.. 40 years in electronics.

[@dhruvjat8150]

Your profile picture speaks otherwise

[@hakunamatataadventurebus5944]

I'm pretty sure that Delco makes self-exciting alternators that are used in some trucks and boats. They're known as single-wire alternators and use residual magnetism in the rotor to excite the voltage regulator.

[@CentralFloridaHipHop]

This is awesome. Would've never thought this would work. great video

[@cgod241]

you have a cool bike ,you started with good construction of the bike mount then just slapped two angle brackets to mount the alternator, quality work means so much more

[@patrickjaroch5084]

Knowledge is power. great video.

[@jfbaker5351]

TUDUM PSHHHH!

[@thirdyearwarped]

How many watts was the food processor? When you flipped it on how difficult did it become to pedal? Those wattage output meters on gym equipment made me want to create a setup similar to what you have. Thanks for the video.

[@schlaznger8049]

To think all these years I just used a knife.

[@amhater]

I must be tired or something but that gave me a good laugh....

[@swiperfox3145]

+schlaznger Aside from the knife, I need some goggles too. Onions make me cry.

[@a1hardwood]

+schlaznger i think a knife would use less calories.

[@marchlander1]

+schlaznger I have pocket bike in the shed doing absolutely nothing. All I have to do is make a stance to make it stationary(no problem just gotta get to it), get another gear(because I already have one from other bike) and electric motor and hook the chain on. Heh, I'm so dumb.... now I can start thinking about some real lights and powertools and all that fancy stuff.

[@MrRedFox13Photography]

lolz

[@elvislives-gl4rv]

I do the exact same chopping at my house. I use a knife. No bike, no inverter, no altenator, no problem. Works every time.

[@mrknowitall4858]

I want to make this for my wife so she will exercise while I get free electricity. it will be a win win for both of us.

[@mollylemonk]

Imagine it with 180mm cranks (asuming yours are shorter, I believe they are) and a 54 x 11 gear ratio with a fixed-gear rear cog, which self-propels and sort of keeps pedaling under its own momentum!!! Much easier on the legs once up to speed. Great concept, im curious to see the potential of this brilliant thing

[@robertgantry2118]

You should hook this up to your TV or other electronics if you have kids. Tell them if they want to watch TV or youtube they have to power it with the bicycle.

[@Jamwardz15]

Robert Gantry by the time they're in their teens they'd be ready for the Tour de France lmao

[@robertgantry2118]

Jam :D

[@JesusRamirez-ci2le]

Very cool. You have explained it very well. Thanks. I probably have more than 100 older style alternators that will work great for this kind of project. I could let them go for cheap.

[@easyenergysaving2645]

I could burn fats, produce my own electricity and save money!! wow!!

[@JasonGorr]

Riding your bike to power batteries? Clever idea!

[@bonflores8849]

Thanos would be proud. "I spinned the wheels to spin the wheels."

[@wizardofx]

I remember seeing this setup in the movie Soylent Green. One day, we may all be using this to power our lives, if we don't straighten out our geopolitical business.

[@uday20101]

That awesome explanation down to earth, put it on ebay i'll be one to buy one such

[@cee4788]

He would rather you do it yourself thats why he is showing you how to do it, keep your money its worthless

[@CCMPULM]

I am interested in the materials list for the frame to hold the bike, as well as the belt for the tire alternator. Many thanks for a very good instructional video.

[@pbc1951]

That little batt pack to start the alt to working, All you need is one 1.5v battery, you don't need a full 12v. one single cell will make enough magnet and the alternator will pick it up from there !!

[@JimTheZombieHunter]

+Paul Couch Not even that. The iron laminations (in an alternator that has been connected once) retain enough residual magnetism for self excitation. No external current source required.

[@tyb678]

+Jim Vicious some alternators aren't self-exciting

[@williemssammy7839]

Wow You're Genius

[@bobbofly]

Yup - this is actually the principle behind "one wire" alternators. They have a certain type of voltage regulator to take advantage of that left over magnetism, & a lot of times even an alt with a normal regulator will work that way, quite by accident.

[@chitibusu]

I have same system on my home. No way to produce enough energy with self excitation. You need at least 12V/1Amp

[@victortsinnijinnie6617]

I am figuring a way to do this for my 1992 ford f150. I have a spare alternator and want to make a generator out of it and have my inverter inside my truck cab. This is awesome and only this it was burnt out and probably need parts to replace. Nice video. Gonna try this

[@mitster85]

i love the irony of how his spinning something to remotely spin something else

[@jacksbackable]

Job Applicant just like paying taxes to a Government!

[@ChrisTravisYT]

Looks great! How to you choose the belt? Obviousy it has to work with the pulley, but what about working with the rim of bike? Some sizes or styles better than others? I was just going to go with whatever I could get from the junkyard when I go to get the alternator. What length is good?

[@snowdog90210]

Why are all you people commenting that this is a useless experiment? If you have a fat wife, you can make her bike to power the stove or oven.

[@bamaslamma1003]

What if your stove is gas?

[@wkruit]

Very recognizable for older people who lived through the Dutch famine winter of '44 - '45...

[@milkmanpeter]

how long would it take to charge dead car batt to full charge

[@m.paulsen2290]

Lets assume you are an average fit guy giving a continuous output of 150 Watt/hr and your car battery has a capacity of 50Ah at 12Volt which adds to 600Watt-hour mathematically it would take you 4 hours to recharge it.

[@garlihu]

The average male power output is 2.74 W/kg for 5 minutes and the functional treshold is 2.2 W/kg, so for your 150 W/hr you'd need a 300 kg male. Are 300 kg average males able to cycle for 4 hours continously? : ) home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/power-profiling

[@bigsnwballs]

With the right type of alternator and bank setup, you could setup the gearing to optimize the output right? Like rigging up a GIGANTIC sprocket on the bicycle, I'm talking like custom made, then you get many more turns of the alternator shaft per pedal?

[@jeffreywalker9959]

This was like my idea to create jobs for everyone...goto work in the human generated power plants, except I envisioned horizontal wheels where you turn it like in CONAN THE BARBARIAN, and if you fall down they whip you, no workers comp, no benefits except full on protein lunches, and the most amazing pay.

[@FatinAli123]

This is a good video and a good idea but i was just wondering is it safe to plug the grid tie inverter to the wall outlet in the UK

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

Use a self-exciting alternator and you won't need an external battery to start it up.

[@jonmcconnell7229]

Milosz Ostrow

[@Fanzindel]

You can use the battery that you then would be charging, just like in a car. Nothing silly about it and it controls the charging voltage at the same time.

[@davidrichie7130]

Great idea! Problem is self- exciting alternators have to constantly be used or else they loose their charge which wouldn’t work well for a set up like this which most people only use when the power is out or when they go camping. Unless there’s an easy way to re excite the alternator?

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

@@davidrichie7130 - Self-exciting alternators rely on residual magnetism in the armature to start up. The magnetism should remain for years, even if the alternator isn't used.

[@borrego77]

Great idea, I wonder how did you do the wiring from the alternator?

[@ClownWhisper]

You would use much less energy chopping an onion by hand with a knife,.... Just saying

[@MrYeshwanthln]

LOLZ!

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

Is that a sad movie you're watching? Or are you just too tired from chopping onions via a bicycle?

[@MrNeboff]

it's how conservation of energy works.

[@camalo171]

Great vid. I have a question though. If you simply want to charge up a battery bank (a set of car batteries for instance), could you simply hook up the alternator directly to the batteries to charge them. Then I would hook the power inverter to the batteries, so that I can have power after I stop pedaling. Would that work?

[@wathefuckisthishit2961]

..you could probably blend more efficiently if you got rid of the electricity and just hooked up the blender to the bike. have a band go from the wheel and spin it

[@chickeyy1792]

Kind of a late reply, however, even if you managed to hook that up, it only works for devices that have moving parts, so for example, any kind of chargers wouldn't work by your theory

[@MrNeboff]

@@chickeyy1792 exactly. this is a demonstration of mechanical energy converted to electrical energy .

[@leemesenhimer2072]

The Delco alternator shown is a type SI: Other alternators can be used, but their hook-up would be different. The switch on the bicycle should be a momentary push button with this SI. This gives the rotating field its initial current too get started. Then auxiliary diodes in the alternator take over. And some resistance, such as the not-charging light in a car, should be added to this wire: Otherwise these auxiliary diodes may try to charge the battery and be overloaded. Also, this alternator-starting battery can be a lower voltage. Or a 12V car battery can be wired to the BAT terminal of the alternator. No current will ever be taken from this BAT terminal by this Delco SI alternator. And the voltage-sensing wire, also connected to this terminal, will draw very little current. The alternator-starting button and current-limiting resistance would also go to this car battery. * A Delco type CS can be used instead if the SI. Resistance in the alternator-starting wire is very important: The alternator regulator grounds this command wire when there is no output. And the initial field current is drawn from the BAT terminal when the other wire receives the go command. Other brands of alternators often work like the Delco type CS. * Lee - retired electrical engineer

[@thomasdinan7043]

I think The one he has is a CS type, only because the SI Type housing they look totally different

[@adampoklemba128]

Hah! Spinning a wheel to generate power to spin another wheel.

[@bonflores8849]

Tbf a lot of our electricty comes from turbines in power plants, which are basically wheels as well. 😂

[@MrNamegame]

I have an idea: Have a high-torque electric motor of the lowest power usage you can find and hook it up to the pedals to make it perpetually run. You would need a setup to limit the crank motor's power input enough to keep it from blowing, but aside from having to have fans of some sort to keep both motors cool, it would be nice.

[@josephb.2722]

+prizedcoffeecup there is no such thing as perpetually running motors, it just wont work because there is always some power loss, its the basic law of physics

[@jerryfleming4013]

An alternator creates AC voltage and the internal (DIODE) rectifier converts the AC voltage to DC. The internal voltage regulator regulates the DC voltage to around 14.5 volts DC. The external inverter takes the DC voltage from the alternator and then converts it back to AC voltage to run the food processor. I wander if we could just regulate the alternator AC voltage to 110 volts and what the wattage output would be? Hmmm Also you can use a self exciting regulator and do away with the battery source.

[@kerrysisler6185]

On the side; there were a couple of cars which had 110V alternators. It may be possible to find one as a spare part...

[@radarmus]

Interresting fun to see how the load was handled by the bike, maybe some battery would be nice for store of power. :-)

[@bumblinggimp]

This is great - think I'll try something like this myself. How hard is it to pedal once there is a load on the alternator? Do you think it would work modifying the rear wheel to a flywheel so you don't have to pedal continuously?

[@Y10Q]

it's so hard that most people don't want to do it for more than 10 seconds. It's like sprinting at your maximum speed and for most people that is a 10 -15 second maximum event. Alternator takes like 3-5hp from a car when it's charging the battery.

[@FranTruthseeker62]

This has implications in a no grid power situation. A way to Function with 110V appliances with human power. Very good presentation. With a couple of good batteries and a solar panel or 2 many niceties of life could be continued.

[@vkorchnoifan]

Can you use the bycycle to recharge batters that can run a three bedroom trailor or home ?

[@محمدالبوسعيدي-ذ7ض]

محلو المقطع

[@DumitriuDaniel]

Any answer?

[@DumitriuDaniel]

Actually I Guess You can hook 3-4 alternators toate charge some solar batteries... Free energy and sport

[@spystyle]

I wonder if you could add a 2nd pulley to the alternator, to spin a 2nd alternator, and get more energy without noticeably more resistance ? I wonder if you could add batteries and maybe a solar panel, then exercise for an hour a day to run a small house or cabin ? I dig this :)

[@alexanders860]

Would it be more efficient to hook bicycle chain directly to the food processor spindle? :)

[@Themysterymove]

Define efficient? What about a laptop? A radio? A rechargeable battery charger set? He's got AC current there. With that, he can run more than a food processor. Also, blackouts don't mean an end to margarita parties anymore.

[@alexanders860]

Themysterymove Actually it was a joke, there is a smile at the end :) What really would be cool is to attach some generator and battery on the bicycle and use it as an electronic brakes, so it will charge when you are braking.

[@Themysterymove]

But I want a blendercycle, too.

[@dancooper1914]

Alexander Smirnov Every time someone mentions generating electricity, some idiot comes along and mentions regenerative braking. In this case, you're not braking and power from regenerative braking isn't even needed. You use the power (in this case, to chop the onion) as needed. You're not storing power.

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

If you pedal backwards it puts the onion back together!

[@SteviePeeOutDoorLife]

this isn't about money saving,this is about being self reliant when power goes away

[@brucejohnwayne7783]

What if everyone in a city did that for 20 minutes everyday? How much would we become less reliant on converted fossil fuels for energy?

[@garlihu]

A human powered system can generate the value of some 0.243 USD in an hour (if you're strong and you have a very efficient system). That means a hudred thousand guys in 20 minutes can make $8000. If one single device costs a a few hundred each, you can make a profit in less than a billion years ; )

[@brucejohnwayne7783]

garlihu Thanks for the answer. 0.24 is quite a bit.

[@garlihu]

The main problem is that it's very expensive compared to the power you can produce. A human being can generate 100 Watts of power and about 60% of it is heat. My maximum output is approx. 400 W but no longer than a half minute and I'm an avid cyclist. So basically you need to spend hundreds of dollars on a device which will produce so little electricity that you can easily charge your cellphone with it but you can't really charge your laptop battery. (My power supply consumes 70 W).

[@MidnightMarrow]

I was on a stationary bike, newer digital one. Gives all your stats RPMS etc but this one gave Watts generated as well. The bike had speed settings up to 21 which gave quite a bit of resistance. I was cranking it over 70 RPMs and was generating over 2000 watts according to it. Because of that I was trying to figure out a way to possibly generate that with a pedal based system and perhaps a load of Ultra Capacitors for quick charging and storage.

[@garlihu]

+MidnightMarrow 2 kW? It sounds like you're a superhuman. Tour de France cyclists' full power output is 100 W on the long run. My temporary maximum was around 400 (maybe 500) W (for 20 or maybe 30 sec). 2000 W for one hour equals 1720 kcal. My daily(!) energy need is 2100 kcal. That's for 24 hrs including quite a lot of physical activities. I doubt that anyone can produce 2000 W for more than a couple of seconds. I mean there must be a measurement issue with that bike. 2000 W is 2.68 horsepower. That's a lot!

[@electropentatonic]

Food processor is a large load too, I'm impressed.

[@thomasjones9394]

What did your wife say when she came home and saw the bicycle and stuff in the dining room?

[@koitorob]

Erm...ON YER BIKE?

[@jonathanmatinez]

Lfmao 😂 She’ll wipe ur ass with the bike

[@chickeyy1792]

"Great job Charles! You'll be fit AND we'll cut electricity expenses!! 😍"

[@danielvmcnutt]

She never made it home with no alternator

[@martinananas7894]

Divorce

[@AntonioMaggetio]

Ever since the movie platoon...this idea stuck with me as a kid.

[@mnovo]

they body is more efficient at 85-95rpm. You will last longer at any workload

[@joebob3719]

But that's the nice thing about using a real bicycle drive-train, you can select the gears for optimal human output.

[@johnalenwork53]

@ 200 amps an Alternator will pull 8hp!! Facts Awesome Idea brother!!! GOOD JOB!

[@DVICK83]

Dang, that's a lot of work to chop some onions...

[@barryfoster8535]

+D “SUBSONIC” Vick LOL! You are so right. I could have chopped an onion by hand using 20 times less power. What is the point here? It certainly isn't about making life easier or saving energy.

[@magicalsimmy]

+Barry Foster The point wasn't the onion. The point was that we can generate power in more ways than burning coal and other unsustainable methods. He's showing what's possible on a small scale. Is it entirely practical? Probably not, but it's fucking cool as hell. ;) I'd use it to charge my mobile devices. If I don't exercise, I don't get to play Clash of Clans on my iPad. There's motivation to exercise right there, and fuck knows, in our indoor, couch-potato culture with a growing diabetes epidemic, we need SOMETHING to motivate us to get off our asses. :)

[@sparticus214]

At least the bike has a transmission to increase wheel RPM 3times peddle rpm but you really don't need that many speeds because max gear is the same as a 6speed but its easier to buy solor" equipment because it only cost a few hundred to build a system to power 1 appliance.

[@mommawife4707]

I'm sure that's just an example to show that it works. The main point is to show how to produce electric energy with a bicycle in the event of a power outage.

[@mommawife4707]

+Momma Wife Or for people who can't afford expensive solar panels or back up generators.

[@AlexeyGorin777]

Great experience! Have you measured the accumulated energy we can get during 1 hour of such biking?

[@intheshitter]

You have a really long arm

[@anitaloyd9999]

Thanks you for sharing your time and details to the people of Earth.

[@MrMetallicMentality]

Holy shit, it's Hank Hill.

[@chapelfive]

How did you decide on the alternator setup vs an electric motor and some sort of charge controller? I've seen others using 24v scooter motors as the generator but they need some way to control the voltage going into the battery and, it seems, they lose some power if they pedal too fast because the charge controller diverts it before it hits the battery. Is the self regulating alternator setup the best you think?

[@nswiss19751]

Hella work out to chop a onion!!!Neat!!!

[@thejaviesable]

Very neat, you can save your tears for later

[@maheralhsn3743]

Nathan Swisshelm فيك

[@UltraInvestigations]

Nice setup. Very practical because the most expensive part, the bike, does not have to be bought just to have this rig.

[@kirkmarkland-hart4818]

Hook up a 12 volt battery to your system. Much more practical.

[@williamkunte5361]

And what will keep that battery charged you Tweeb? 🙄

[@concrete230]

i do want to say to the owner of this video. thankyou. i have seen a few negative comments on here. till i see your video post about why this video is not a good idea. keep your comments to yourself. i myself am a visionary. believe that every good idea sooner or later helps someone to figure out how to make the electric light bulb. thankyou for the video...

[@solotalent]

i just use a knife to cut onions!!

[@koitorob]

I don't eat onions, so this is a total waste of time for me.

[@stevegan100]

great job man!but i have a question...istead of having the 12 volt battery pack you have a normal car battery would it charge after swiching the swich?good job thanks

[@ericholley893]

5:22

[@coccoborg]

awesome! would love to use this as a water wheel generator for a cabin in the woods near our vacation home. Will see if I can find a free/cheap alternator to use.

[@NikoxD93]

not very efficient to convert your energy into electricity and then in onion cutting motion but electricity is more universal than onion cutting motion :p

[@TheVariableConstant]

Very efficient way to lose weight and burn extra calories :)

[@mihc15]

TheVariableConstant Can u imagine a hall of bicycles connected to a generators =D. U cycle and u get paid xD.

[@hillaryhart2093]

mihc15 yeah all the health clubs could be powering the cities, and how about if you get a payback for how much energy you produce during your work out?

[@fuckyougoogleplus8667]

Hillary Hart Even if every single health club had these bikes hooked up to generators and every bike was being peddled by Lance Armstrong with a veinful of steroids in him, it would not even power the health clubs themselves. You have to peddle for like 15 minutes just to make toast.

[@hillaryhart2093]

Funny! At least people are trying things and experimenting, if average people are doing these cool things then imagine what the really amazing scientists are doing. It's fun and healthy and positive so who cares if it isn't the "answer".

[@justinfontaine14]

Great video. Thanks for sharing. I have been tinkering around with a alternator wind turbine. I am using an alternator similar to the one you are running. I have not been able to get it to produce a charge. The way it is hooked up now is I jumped the "s" wire to the positive output, run direct to a 12v battery and a direct ground to the neg. terminal. I beleive what I am missing is the switch. The alternator will not generate power with out the switch I guess?

[@passedhighschoolphysics6010]

All of that to save $0.12 in electricity. Guy might be good in science but failed in business math.

[@almostpositive]

Give it a couple decades or so...

[@wheelsupat7]

At what point did he say that this is more efficient and economical than plugging the food processor into the wall?.......oh that's right....he didn't.

[@passedhighschoolphysics6010]

Are you willing to pedal your bike for 12 cents an hour to power 1 50 watt light bulb for me?

[@mibars]

I'm pretty sure he isn't doing it to save on bills, but for fun, to excercise and demonstrate the possibilities. And if you live in rural area it might be even useful when power goes out to generate a little electricity to for example recharge batteries used for UPS/inverter without the need of running noisy gas generator

[@passedhighschoolphysics6010]

mibars - Any ideas how much work or pedaling one would have to do charge a UPS battery or to keep a 60 watt light bulb lit? To charge batteries for a UPS or inverter it would take someone three weeks pedaling several hours a day. Not very practical. To keep a 60 watt light bulb lit one would have to pedal continually at a semi-strenuous pace like 20-30 mph on a level street. Just go to a gym and see how many people can do it? Even fit people can't do it for more than 20-30 minutes.

[@PttrsnMrgn]

Could you just run a straight axle through multiple back rims/alternators creating more power? Using said power to run an electric motor to make it where you only have to get this started and then eventually run itself? Or would the electric motor be an energyhog?

[@nagaming1941]

why not using a motorbike. free electricity with gasoline

[@jesseanderson1484]

gas aint free....

[@NewPhilosopher]

May as well get a diesel generator instead if you were going to do that.

[@davedumas0]

free electricity with gasoline OMG i hope you are trolling lol

[@acebestwords]

The purpose is to get free energy right? if you do it like you said, then you using fuel to create electricity.

[@gerunkwon2598]

NA GAMING [the_point]>>> Your head-------> O

[@jimwaverly663]

Neat idea to generate a flexible working potential like electricity to be inverted or not to use for work. However, this specific application could have been accomplished so much easier with just a knife and a chopping block :)

[@cynthiaavishegnath2107]

Wouldn't having a flywheel (or simulating one by supporting metal plates on the spokes) create moment of inertia that would allow you to gradually move upwards in gear ratios?

[@Waqulah]

Finally! Someone else used good sense. Way to go! 10+ speed bike...duh. right. Work smarter not harder! Way to go

[@concrete230]

the 12 volt charge that you hooked up to the alternator. is this something that you built, bought?

[@passantgardant]

I don't know if Leo is a prepper, a tinkerer, or a tree-hugger. But the point of prepping isn't efficiency, but self-sufficiency. I would want a bicycle generator to be prepared for when I don't have access to other, less labor-intensive, forms of power. Pedal power is ON-DEMAND, which is highly valuable when you're living off-grid at the whim of the elements. My system provides 99% of the time with no manual intervention. I run a propane generator once or twice a year. But without propane...

[@telephonetelephone9040]

roughly how much power does it use from the batteries in comparison to the power produced? is it producing much more than when you would just use the batteries to power the thing you want to run on electricity?

[@HellboundKIU]

what if you tried hooking up that there blender motor to the bike wheel with a large fly wheel( that you'd probably have to give a pushing head start since it won't have enough torque to do so on its own) creating perpetual motion (not science fiction btw look up how a gyroscope works or bicycle wheel demonstration) which would cause enough force to keep the wheel spinning? it's really not that complicated but I mean just an idea and would like to see if maybe you could get creative about it and see something else with that generator. also I was just wondering does that generator on the bicycle generate enough power to turn on a heater? or perhaps a hot plate?

[@slidetoc]

Give this guy a cookie for giving fat people the courage to do sports while watching TV when there's no elecricity.

[@JusmaVids]

I was thinking something similar to this. I may be wrong, but by my calculation, a person cycling at 15 kmph produces an average of 714 RPM at the wheel. Hence, if I could technically find a motor/generator that produces 700 RPM at 48-60V, wouldn't it then be possible to generate significantly more power to run laptops for a couple of hours or something? Assuming, four people cycle an hour each at at least 15 kmph.

[@arkadiusdewerewolf1900]

Awesome, great work. For an average, person how many need to paddle with that system in order to store 1 kilowatts?

[@reforgedcriterion1471]

And the episode of Black Mirror pops into my head.. Fifteen Million Merritts. lmao.