Hand Crank Light

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FAQ about Hand Crank Light

if you take a hand crank light upart can you make a spark with it? I'm trying tomake a potato cannon, but i dont want to spend the money on getting a grill igniter or a stun gun. My dad said if I took apart my hand crank light I could generate a spark but im not quite sure how? Heres a link of the type of hand crank light: http://www.garritylites.com/page653.html Hello nrthelena;
You would probably not be able to successfully modify a hand crank LED light to produce a spark strong enough to be used as an igniter for a potato cannon.
This is because the voltage produced in an LED hand crank device is very small, on the order of a few volts. In order to make a useable spark, you will need thousands of volts.
A PIEZOELECTRIC GRILL IGNITER does indeed produce the required voltage, and seems ideally suited to your needs. They can be bought for $6.95 from the following source.
http://www.teachersource.com/Energy/EnergyConversion/Piezo_electricIgniter.aspx
But, here is the GOOD NEWS: You can probably find one for free if you just look around for old discarded grills. People throw away rusty and dirty old grills all the time, and the igniters are easily removed from them, and usually still work just fine.
Insofar as the igniters are so easy to remove, you may be able to “borrow one” from your own family’s grill or ask a friendly neighbor. You could put it back after you tire of your potato gun, or are ordered to cease and desist after you accidentally lob a spud through a window !
But wait, there is another solution.
You could take apart a piezoelectric ignition cigarette lighter, and use the piezoelectric generator inside. You should be able to get them for FREE if you find one which is about to be thrown away after the butane fuel is used up.

Here is a link to a YouTube video, titled “Cheap Piezoelectric Igniter for Your Spud Gun” which shows you EXACTLY how to do just that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoLD7PB8ZZw&feature=related
And finally, if you are interested in just how PIEZOELECTRICTY works, I include a couple more educational links:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question383.htm/printable
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity
HAVE FUN, and Good Luck.

How do hand-crack torches work? I know the basic idea; you turn the hand-crank on the torch and it generates electricity for the torch to run on, something like 60 turns of the hand-crank givess you 30 minutes of light. What I'm asking is, in essence, how does the kinetic energy get transformed into electrical energy and then into light energy? Sorry if my vocabulary is a bit sparse, I'm not very science-savvy. Maybe I should ass some more detail? I don't mean like a glowstick; I mean like when I turn the handcrank it stores the energy into a battery and then when I turn the torch on it runs off the energy from that battery; How does the handcrank put energy into the battery? Thanks? When turning the handcrank you are turning a generator. The generator then charges a battery. The battery then runs the light.
You are the energy source, the same as the sun solar panel, water turbine or a wind turbine.

whats the best hand crank/solar power emergency radio with a big light available at a good price ? not looking to spend more than 40.00 but need good reception and good time for a few cranks thankyou Real cheap at any Wal*Mart, Walgreens, Home Depot or Lowe's. Also Radio Shack or eBay search for "crank radio" or the brand name "FreePlay" among others.
I'm in So. Fla. and keep a couple around for hurricane outages.
Originally developed by a good samaritan engineer for poor people in Africa who are without electricity and cannot afford batteries.
-a guy named Duh

hand crank flashlight to bike generator? can i take apart one of those hand crank LED flashlights and take out the part that is being cranked to produce the light. and some how put it on my bike wheel and when i pedal the bike it spins and recharges a 12v marine battery? any suggestions??? thanks im not using the battery to power the bike. im using the battery for my boat Max output capacity of those generators is only a few dozen milliamps, if that - if your battery is about the same size as a typical car battery, then it's capacity would be about 100 amp-hours. Therefore it would take dozens to hundreds of hours to recharge it.
An automotive alternator and regulator is much more appropriate. About the right gear ratio for the alternator pully might be the diameter of a 10-speed's rear tire to the diameter of the alternator's pulley, so a belt large enough to fit both plus an idler pulley to keep it tight on the alternator pulley might get you there, and the gears of the bike can fine-tune it to your physical capacity. One way to calculate how much you'll have to pedal -
1) Assume your leg's max pedal output for an extended time to be say 1/5 horsepower if you're in pretty good shape, maybe 1/3 if you're Lance Armstrong
2) Assume bike/alternator/regulator/battery chemistry net efficiency to be about 50% (sorry, that's about the best considering total losses)
3) Assume battery depletion to be 75%, leaving it only 25% charged (this is as far as you should go even with a deep-cycle marine battery)
4) Then minimum required energy in watts into the battery would be the amp-hour rating of the battery times the 75% percent figure times 3600 (seconds per hour) times charging voltage of 13.5V divided by the efficiency losses of 50%
Ex - 100 amp-hour battery * 75% * 3600 / 0.5 = 540000 watt-seconds, aka joules
Divide that by the constant 745 to get horsepower-seconds, which would be 725. If you're going to kick at 1/5hp, then the time you'll need to pedal your azz off would be
725/(1/5) = 725 * 5 = 3625 seconds, or slightly more than 1 hour.
...I think I got that all right....
...or, you could just jumper the battery to your car's battery while the engine is idling for about 20 minutes....

1956 Singer 99 where to find case, light, and hand crank? I just bought a Singer 99 off ebay. It's my first vintage machine and I wasn't careful. It doesn't have a cabinet or case or light fixture or hand crank. Where can I find these parts? Would it be less expensive to get the parts or a new machine. I'm so upset at myself since I did so much research before buying and I was so excited. The serial is AM544235 Visit the website: singerco.com They should be able to help you.
You can find out where your machine was manufactured, using your serial number.
I have a vintage as well, made in Russia, in 1942. Luckily, mine has all parts, and has been well looked after. I display it proudly in my craft room.

Should I leave a hand crank light charged? I have an emergency light/radio that has a hand cranked rechargeable battery. Should I leave it charged or discharged? Will the battery go bad if I leave it charged or uncharged? It depends upon the battery type.
NiMH & Lithium batteries should be stored charged.
These types of batteries should not be allowed to fully discharge, and so you should recharge them periodically.
NiCad batteries should be stored discharged.

How many volts of electricity are needed to light four 4-watt light bulbs? Hello I am trying to make a hand crank generator that will light four 4-watt car bulbs but am without a volt meter. Does anyone have a/the formula that would help me figure out my voltage for this, or any other method? (If you have any expertise on crank generators as well, I'd be greatly obliged to confer with you) Thanks Thank you all. I am quite overwhelmed by this project as I'm completely ignorant in this field, and your help is beyond appreciation.

Hand Crank Electrical injuries? I was in physics learning about electrical flow from a hand cranked generator to light a dimly lit bald. Then we were aloud to hold the two wires, and when it was cranked we got a tingling sensation in our hands. Then someone put the two wires on the side of their ears and cranked it, Is that very dangerous? Playing around with electricity is always dangerous, unless you can guarantee that the voltage is always less than 30 volts. Even then, harm can result if that 30 volts is applied certain ways, for example, across your heart.
Your teacher needs a dope slap alongside the head.
.

Science Project: Hand Crank Battery Charger? I asked another question like this earlier, but this is more specific. I am doing a science project for school. My plan is this: I have a rubber band winder(6:1 ratio), it's hook will be soldered to the shaft of a brush motor. This should(hopefully) induce electricity into the coil when cranked. The electricity will flow into a dead rechargeable battery. Will the battery charge? Do I need a diode between the motor and the battery? Is there anything else wrong? My goal is to power an LED, 2V and up to 24 mA with the newly charged battery. Would the hand crank provide enough power to light the LED or even charge the battery? I'm up for change, all I need to do is to charge the battery with the hand crank. Thanks in advance. yes, you need a diode or the battery will discharge via the coil when it's voltage output is smaller than the voltage of the battery.
Test the output with a voltmeter. I don't know what type of battery, but the output voltage from the generator has to be a good bit higher than the battery voltage.
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How does a hand crank generate electiricity? It seems like flashlights that are powered by cranks take some effort to turn and don't generate enough power to illuminate anything but lame LED lights. Is there a formula to determine the tension vs. power generation in a crank. Or is electrical output determined by revolutions... So tension is created with a big gear spinning a small gear? I'd like to know how the power becomes electricity. There is power & force everywhere, but turning a pulley doesn't spontaneously create electricity... What reaction takes place that generates an arch or charge of electricity. The typical generator works because a conductor has been passed through a magnetic field.
The generator is made up of a lot of conductive wires being passed through the magnetic field.
The more power being generated, the harder it is to turn the generator. Regardless of the efficiency of the drive mechanism you can't generate power without inputing the work.
That power out-put form the generator IS NOT FREE.It takes energy and since it is not 100% efficient, the power in is greater than the power out..
Easy proof.
If you have a portable auxiliary generator handy, find a large load to apply to it. (Possibly a high powered drill).
Have the engine powered generator operating at a constant speed, then start the electric motor of the drill.
Notice how the generator responds.
The engine driving the generator suddenly has to work very hard to carry the additional load and you are sucking more gasoline into the engine to keep the generator turning.
If that weren't true, the power companies wouldn't have to charge you more for the extra power you use, and they wouldn't need to build more generating capacity.

Hand Crank Light is from category: Flashlights.