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Washing machine generator. Homemade generator from the engine from the washing machine

AT household it is useful to have a power source that will autonomously ensure the operation of devices in the event of power outages in the network. generator from the engine washing machine for charging the battery, made by hand, will solve this problem.

How to make it from the motor of an outdated washing machine, we will tell you step by step. We note at once: for this we need, in addition to necessary materials and tools, technical knowledge and skills, patience and time. But the savings on the purchase of an industrial power generator and the resulting amenities will justify the effort.

How to convert an engine into a generator

The main difficulty lies in the alteration of the rotor from a direct drive induction motor. Consider this using the example of the Vyatka washing machine with a capacity of 180 watts.

You will need:

  • pliers;
  • Screwdriver Set;
  • locksmith scissors;
  • cold welding;
  • lathe;
  • rectifier;
  • neodymium magnets - 32 pieces, sizes 5, 10 and 20 mm (buy through the online store);
  • tin;
  • glue;
  • sandpaper;
  • scotch;
  • epoxy resin;
  • protective glasses.

From the removed and disassembled electric motor washing machine- the machine, remove the rotor. On a lathe, cut the core to a depth of 2 mm and cut grooves 5 mm deep for the magnets according to their dimensions.

For a homemade template, cut a strip of tin according to the circumference according to the size of the entire part. Using the template, mark out the rotor to evenly place the magnets. 8 pieces will go to one pole (and there will be 4 in total). Carefully and carefully with superglue or cold welding, secure in place.

Wrap everything with several layers of paper, securing it with tape. Cut a hole to fill with epoxy. After hardening, remove the shell. Sand the surface on the machine with sandpaper.

Install the part in the motor stator.

The peculiarity of the generator is that it rotates at a higher speed than the engine. To solve this problem, use a tachometer to determine the number of revolutions of your collector engine. Add 10 percent to the result. To achieve the calculated indicator, select capacitors of the appropriate capacity. They must be single phase. Please note that the device squirrel-cage rotor gives higher voltage. To get 220 volts at the output, use a step-down transformer.

Testing

Produced by a generator made of a collector motor, the current is supplied to the battery. It is connected to the charge controller and the module. By using a DC voltage inverter from the network, it converts it to AC for power household appliances. To find out if your product gives the necessary 220 volts and 50 hertz, you need to test.

You need:

  1. battery;
  2. rectifier;
  3. controller;
  4. tester.

After ringing the outputs of the motor winding with an ampervoltmeter, find two active ones after the alteration. Cut off the old ones.

Connect the found contacts through the rectifier to the controller. And the last one is with the battery terminals.

Connect the drill to the rotor with an adapter and turn it on for 1000 revolutions. Measure the voltage at the battery input with a tester. If everything is done and assembled correctly, it will be the desired one - 220 volts.

Important! Check winding sticking. If it is large, the generator power will be low.

Application possibilities

So, I managed to create my own generator. Savings at the same time, according to the most conservative estimates, will amount to more than 4,000 rubles. Indeed, in the distribution network it costs from 6,000, and you will spend only on the purchase of magnets (1,200–1,400 rubles). The scope of use of the unit, which gives up to 2 kilowatts of power, depends on your imagination and desire. Can be illuminated country house by connecting to the motor of a motorcycle or chainsaw.

Interruptions in the central power supply, as well as exorbitant electricity bills, are increasingly forcing people to think about an autonomous power source. Let the generator be low-power, and work only as a backup source of energy, but it can help out at the most important moment.

We also decided not to stand aside and offer a “workable version” of converting an asynchronous motor from an old washing machine into a fairly powerful 1.5 kW generator.

Getting ready to build a generator

If you decide to “quickly bungle” your own home-made electric generator by “riveting” the engine from the washing machine, it’s better to immediately discard the illusions to the side, because it won’t work “quickly”. To begin with, three main problems will need to be solved:

  • how to partially remove the core of the old working engine from the washing machine and prepare grooves for magnets on it;
  • where to get neodymium magnets for the generator rotor;
  • what to make a template for attaching magnets.

Let's solve the first problem. Let's take an asynchronous motor from an old "washer", disassemble its body, and then, using a lathe, cut off part of the core to a depth of about 2 mm. Let's put the engine aside for now. Next, we will need to purchase a set of neodymium magnets, it is easiest to order them in an online store. We are waiting for the magnets to come.

After that, we cut out on the machine the grooves on the motor core, 5 mm deep, for the magnets. Here you need to masterfully master the lathe, it is best to call for help some familiar turner. After you prepare the motor core, you will need to think about what to make a template for attaching magnets from. We used a strip of tin, although we admit that other material with similar properties may be suitable. We cut the strip along the length and width so that it fits exactly on the surface of the core.

The tin strip must also be prepared, namely, mark it along its entire length to place 2 rows of magnets on it so that the magnets are located at the same distance. Further, to convert the electric motor of the washing machine into a generator, we need superglue, cold welding, you can take epoxy resin instead of welding, as well as sandpaper.

Note! It is better to take cold welding, it is easier to work with, besides, it will immediately help to better fix the magnets, making it easier for you to stick them.

Assembly and testing of the generator

We have prepared everything that is necessary in order to make a generator from a washing machine engine, now you can start the assembly process. We note right away that only a very patient person can do this work with their own hands. The magnets constantly jump off and stick together, the glue flies in all directions, falling not only on the hands, but also on the face, so be extremely careful and follow the safety rules when working with potentially dangerous chemicals. We do the following:

  1. We begin to make a magnetic rotor of the engine to turn it into a generator. We glue our tin template for magnets across the engine.
  2. A homemade generator needs magnets, so we, according to the risks noted in advance, put magnets in two rows on superglue.

Important! The distance between the magnets and the angle must be the same, otherwise, during the operation of the generator, frequent sticking will occur, accompanied by a drop in power.

  1. Carefully fill the space between the magnets with carefully kneaded cold welding. It has the consistency of plasticine, so there should be no problems.
  2. With our own hands, we grind the generator made from the engine of the washing machine with sandpaper. To speed up the process, you can clamp the body in drilling machine, but you can do everything with your own hands without tools, it will take a little longer.

We have finished making an electric generator from a washing machine motor, now we can proceed to the long-awaited tests. In order to check the generator, we need:

  • rectifier;
  • solar charge controller;
  • multimeter;
  • motorcycle battery;
  • the generator itself.

You also need to think about how you will turn the generator. Fingers are not an option, you will not be able to provide enough turns. It is best to use a screwdriver or an electric drill for these purposes. We find two wires of the working winding on our generator, and cut the rest. We connect these wires through a rectifier to the charge controller, and in turn we connect it to the battery. We throw the multimeter crocodiles on the battery terminals - that's all and it's ready to test the generator.

We charge an electric drill into the chuck (you can use a screwdriver), a generator pulley and spin it up to 800-1000 revolutions. At the output, we get 270 volts with moderate sticking of the magnets - not a bad result.

Prospects for using such a generator

Many are wondering, well, we made such a generator, and what, how to use it in the household so that it brings benefits? Personally, we made this generator with an eye on self-manufacturing gasoline power plant from a morally obsolete, but working Soviet Druzhba chainsaw. According to our calculations, the design should have turned out to be cheap, which cannot be said about factory gasoline stations.

As a result, we managed to realize our idea. We connected the chainsaw engine to our generator through a drive belt, securing everything on the frame from the same chainsaw. I didn’t even have to weld the frame separately. Our power plant has been working properly for the second year, supplying all energy consumers in the country house. There is enough power to light two rooms, to ensure the operation of a computer and a TV.

There are other options for using a homemade generator. The article eloquently describes the process of manufacturing an installation that, using the natural force of the wind, can supply energy to the same country house or garage. Some suggest using this generator to power the ski lift. In general, connect your imagination, and you will also find a couple of ways.

In conclusion, we note that the manufacture of a home-made generator is fraught with certain difficulties. The main difficulty lies in gluing the magnets when creating the rotor. But you can go in a simple way - order a ready-made magnetic rotor. In this case, the generator will cost you 200 rubles more, but you will save a lot of time.

Problems with electrical energy, which usually arise unexpectedly, force many consumers to think about the device of an autonomous power supply. Moreover, exorbitant bills for the use of the industrial network are also pushing for this. Installing an autonomous power source in the house is considered a profitable business. This device is able to come to the rescue when the industrial power supply is switched off.

Its power indicator is relatively small, but this is quite enough to act as a backup power source. Purchasing a generator on purpose is an expensive pleasure, but making it yourself is quite realistic. Today we will consider how to make a generator from a washing machine engine with your own hands.

Preparatory work

It seems to many that making a homemade electric generator from is a simple matter. Drop all illusions, because you will not be able to quickly cope with such a task. First of all, three main problematic issues should be dealt with:

  • how to remove part of the core of the electric motor from the washing machine, arrange special grooves on it designed for magnets;
  • where to get neodymium magnets in the generator rotor;
  • what material to use to make a template to secure the magnets.
  1. The first question is solved as follows: a core is removed from the asynchronous motor of a spent washing machine, which is cut two millimeters deep using a lathe. After such refinement, we put the engine aside - we will have to look for neodymium magnets, and it is best to use the help of the Internet. Having found the store, you should apply for the purchase and wait until the right product is delivered, since the device cannot be made without magnets.
  2. On the machine, we prepare grooves in the motor core for magnets, their depth must be at least five millimeters. You will need good lathe skills, or seek help from a specialist.
  3. After spending preparatory work on the core, we prepare mounting templates for magnets. You can use a piece of tin, other materials with similar properties will do. The strip is cut to the appropriate length and width so that it can fit exactly on the core.
  4. The mounting strip will also have to be prepared, for which markings are arranged along its entire length in order to place the magnets in two rows in such a way that the distance between these magnets will be the same.
  5. As additional materials for work on alteration into a generator device, we need superglue, epoxy or cold welding, sandpaper.

Having prepared everything you need, we can begin to work. We immediately warn you that it will take a lot of patience to make the desired element from the washing machine engine. The magnets will constantly jump off and stick to each other, you will smear everything that is possible with glue, so we recommend that you use caution and safety requirements when working with potentially harmful chemical compounds.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

  • we make a magnetic rotor of an electric motor in order to convert it into a generator. We glue tin templates across the engine for placing magnets;
  • according to the previously applied markings with the help of superglue, we fasten two rows of magnets;
  • all the free space remaining between the magnets is carefully filled with cold welding, previously kneaded by hands to a plasticine consistency;
  • grind the device with sandpaper. To make it more convenient to work, it is recommended to fix the case in a drilling machine.

The process of manufacturing a generator from an engine is completed, it remains to test it in action. To perform the check you will need:

  • rectifier;
  • multimeter;
  • charging controller;
  • motorcycle battery;
  • homemade electric generator.

Think about how the rotation will be carried out. You won’t be able to do this with your fingers, because you won’t be able to create the required number of revolutions. We recommend using electric drill or a screwdriver.

We determine a pair of working wires on the prepared device, cut off the rest. We connect the wires through the rectifier to the charge controller, and then to the battery. We fix the fasteners of the multimeter on the battery terminals - the generator is ready for testing.

We charge the generator pulley into the cartridge of the power tool, with the help of which the promotion will be performed, and give revolutions in the range of 800 - 1000 rotations. As a result, with moderate sticking of the magnets, 270 volts should be obtained, which will turn out to be quite an acceptable indicator.

What is the best way to use such a device? If you install a generator on a chainsaw, you get a small power plant, the energy of which will be enough to light two small rooms, run a computer, and even watch TV.

It is possible to connect the generator to a hydro turbine installed in a domestic waterfall or fast-flowing stream.

Some install wind turbines and generate electrical energy from the mechanical energy received. For this, generators are suitable not only from an asynchronous, but also a collector motor. An alternative power source is quite safe, able to start at a wind speed of two to three meters per second. But with ten-meter gusts of wind, such a generator will reach its maximum efficiency, although four meters will be enough for home consumption, allowing it to generate 0.15 - 0.20 kW, which will be quite enough to light the room and watch TV.

At 1 - 5 kW, feel free to turn on the computer, refrigerator and even the washing machine. But 20 kW will already be enough to supply heat to the heating system.

It is best if the windmill you install turns out to be three-bladed - as it is the most efficient in operation. Use a steel bar as its basis, on which you attach the generator, blades and rotor. Consider protection for the generator so that it does not suffer from adverse weather conditions. For the moving part of the wind turbine, provide a hinged mount. We lay a wire from the generator along the length of the mast, bring it to the shield, connect the controller, inverter and battery device. As you can see, the connection diagram is simple.

Conclusion

With patience, you can make a generator yourself from the electric motor of an old washing machine. electrical energy who will come to your aid in difficult times. Besides, with such homemade installation You can start saving money on utility bills.

Homemade generators are not new. Many craftsmen make them by converting electric motors from various household appliances or construction tools. Our task in this article is to deal with the possibility of making a generator from a washing machine engine with our own hands. We will immediately make a reservation that it will not be possible to make this unit, so to speak, in a quick way. This is a rather lengthy process, where you will have to use the services of a turner.

Stages of work

What exactly should the turner do? First, you will have to disassemble with your own hands asynchronous electric motor from a washing machine that is designed to operate from a 220-volt outlet. After that, the motor core is transferred to the turner, who must cut off part of the element on the machine to a depth of two millimeters. Further, grooves are made in the core with a depth of 5 mm, where several neodymium magnets will have to be inserted. Grooves are best done after the magnets themselves are purchased, because the size of the groove is made according to the dimensions of the magnet. By the way, the latter is not a problem. You can buy them today in the store or order in the online store.

Template preparation

So, the core is ready, now you can move on to processes that fall into the “do it yourself” category. To fix the magnets on the core of the washer, you need some kind of device. It can be made from tin strip or other similar technical specifications material.

The length and width of the tin strip is adjusted to the dimensions of the core diameter and the width of the grooves. That is, the template must exactly lie at the place where the magnets are installed. Pay special attention to the fact that the distance between the magnets must be the same.

Generator Assembly

Everything is ready, you can proceed to the assembly of the electric motor-generator with your own hands. Let's just say that this process requires a lot of patience. There is no need to rush here. The thing is that the magnets will be installed in the grooves of the motor core with glue. Their small size creates difficulty and inconvenience in installation, the glue slips, its splashes will fall on the hands, sometimes even on the face. So it is not worth neglecting labor protection measures. Still, the adhesive composition is a chemical solution, quite active.

So, here is the assembly diagram, how to make a generator with your own hands:

  • a prepared tin template is glued across the rotor;
  • then neodymium magnets are installed in the prepared grooves, here it is very important, as mentioned above, to accurately observe the installation distance and the angle of inclination of the elements, because even a slight deviation from these two parameters can cause sticking, which will necessarily lead to a decrease in the power of the homemade generator;
  • now the gap between the magnets must be filled with a special material called cold welding, it is very similar to plasticine;
  • and the last stage is grinding the surface with sandpaper, it can be done by placing the rotor in a vise, or on the floor or table;
  • the whole electric motor is assembled by hand.

Generator testing

To check how the generator we have assembled works, you need several additional elements. Namely:

  • small capacity battery, can be from a motorcycle;
  • rectifier;
  • multimeter to determine the charging power;
  • charge controller.

The generator connection scheme for testing is as follows: two generator windings are connected through a rectifier to the charge controller. The latter is connected to the battery. The multimeter is also connected to the battery terminals.

The most difficult thing to check is to turn the rotor of the electric motor. Manually reaching the required rotation speed will not work. Therefore, it is recommended to use either a drill or a screwdriver for these purposes. You connect one of these tools to the motor rotor (there are different options here, and there are many of them) and start spinning at a rotation speed of 800-1000 rpm. If the generator you made produces a voltage of 220-300 volts, then this is an excellent indicator. If the voltage is very low, then it means that the rotor was assembled poorly. This mainly concerns the installation of magnets (uneven installation and not all elements are attached at the same angle).

Where to use

We managed to make a generator from the electric motor of the washing machine. Testing has shown that it works. So, what is next? Where can this unit be used?

In principle, if you find the energy that could rotate the rotor, then there are problems with electricity, for example, in a small country house would not. Therefore, home masters offer several commonly used options:

  • Install the generator to the gasoline engine. For example, it can be an old Druzhba saw or a motor from a motorcycle.
  • Connect to a windmill, thereby making a wind current generator.
  • Connect to a hydro turbine, which is installed in a makeshift waterfall or a fast-flowing stream.

The last two options are the cheapest, since there is no need to buy an additional energy source. These are environmentally friendly installations operating on alternative fuels.

And one moment. Make a 5 kW generator out of the washing machine motor and it will no longer work. Therefore, do not rely on the fact that from this unit you can make a device that is completely replaceable electrical network. But for a couple of rooms or for a bath (garage and so on) it will do. The maximum that such a generator can produce is 2 kW. In addition, do not expect 380 volts from it either.

Let's add that from the engine direct current you can also make a generator. Moreover, in some washing machines, such units are installed. In these motors hallmark graphite brushes protrude.

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