I know there MUST be some people out there who still trust (a bit) in
Lucas, so how about this.
A friend of mine who likes spending long hours of solitude in his caravan
by riverbanks seeking creatures under the water with a rod, was faced with
a limited life caravan battery. In the hours of darkness, he likes to watch
TV (in colour of course, which uses more power than mono) he enjoys two
electrically pumped showers a day and uses all the interior lighting to see
where he's going within the van.
Under these conditions, a 12v battery for a diesel car (65amp) didn't last
two long. We've overcome it using a dynamo from a Standard (Triumph) 10
saloon, what was left of the distributor assembly and the engine cooling
fan.
Basically, distributor housing and shaft provides the horizontal rotation
to which the dynamo is clamped in a crude but effective bracket. Fan is
attached to where the belt pulley was, and wedged in place with a roll pin.
Wibble wobbles a bit as it rotates - but not loose.
The whole is mounted on top of four interlocking ally tubes held vertical
with pegs driven into the ground - flagpole fashion.
Result? No more flat batteries - and in a gentle breeze, 16 feet up, he
says he's getting 12.5 volts at around 7 amps which keeps everything nicely
topped up powerwise. Total cost for materials from a scrapyard, plus the
rope was about $8 - and it works brill!
So Lucas ain't SO bad.
John Mac
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