Wind Up Torches

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FAQ about Wind Up Torches

how long do i have to wind a torch up for? i'm going camping at the weekend and i hate the dark. i always have some sort of light on through the night in a tent. roughly how long would i have to wind the torch up for to get say 1 hour light? Don't know about any "wind up" torch, but on a normal Coleman camping gas lantern it takes about 20 pumps for an hour of light.

Wind up torch schematics or components list? Im looking for the schematics of a wind up torch or even a components list for one. I have one on order which I can take apart if Im stuck but I would prefer to get a printed list. Can any one help? Try this, it might help you some of the way,
http://www.instructables.com/id/Wind-up-torch----hand-cranked%2c-dynamo%2c-LED---Amend/

How to calculate number of turns needed of a wind up torch? I am trying to design a wind up product similar to a torch for my project, and it requires detailed calculations (it does not specify which). However I do not have a physics background and this is very confusing. - What components would I need for a wind up night light? - Assuming I want to have the light going for 2 hours, what calculations/equations will I have to use to work this out? Thanks in advance if anyone can help me out. I don't know what your idea entails, but it sounds like you are in way over your head.
Any wind-up mechanism is going to involve angular springs. If the wind-up is to last 2 hours than you have to match up the properties of the spring with the release mechanism that you choose. An easy idea is a plastic ring with little right triangle teeth radially expanding outward. The driving spring will rotate the plastic tooth ring in one direction while the bias spring will resist that motion. The spring constants, the lengths of the springs, and the casing design all play roles in how this device will work.
You can use modeling systems to design it. This sounds like a job for ADAMS, or Working Model. You will be able to figure out the exact right values for your system's properties, so that it works the way you want it to work before you begin building it.

Is there such a thing as wind up water heaters? We're trying to economise, we already have a wind up radio and torch, but does this work for other things? our biggest fuel expense is heating the hot water tank. Thanks. Heating water takes a significant amount of energy, literally hundreds of times more than the amount needed to run a radio, so it is beyond the ability of a single human to realistically produce that amount. A quick calculation indicates that even hooking a generator to a stationary bike (as I once did to run a tv) would not produce enough power.
Depending on your situation, you can get significant savings in water heating costs by making a solar collector using coiled black plastic pipe on your south roof or south wall of a garage and using a small electric motor to circulate water through it and your water heater. You would, of course, also have to have a timer and electric valve to prevent water from circulating at night. You'll also need a small expansion tank and a backflow preventer. If you decide to look into this idea further, there are lots of online sites to help you with your research.

Powerful wind up torch/dynamo? Does anyone know of a powerful torch that you can wind up or in someway charge it by hand or solar power, that doesnt cost too much and is quite powerful. Thanks. QVC sell some wind up torches - I've had one for a while and it's great. http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.517200/walk.yah.UKGD-U085

What is the name of the electricity-generating process where you wind up a torch to get light from the torch? Just wondering if the wind up process has a name, or a Wikipedia article or something? The fundamental process is electromagnetism, where a wire passed through a magnetic field induces current. In such torches the mechanism is a dynamo, which the crank is linked to the dynamo shaft, which has the windings on it, which link the generated current to the load with brushes and a commutator, the magnet being stationary. For the squeez torch, the handle has a rack which turns a gear, which turns a magnet on over a fixed coil.

How does a wind up rechargeable torch work? It has a dynamo inside it, when you wind it up, that is the driving force for the energy.

Are South Africans stocking up on wind-up torches and radios? and solar powered appliances to cope with Eskom´s latest power load shedding tactics? When is the switch-over from frozen goods (that need electricity to remain frozen) to sun and wind-dried products going to take place? *ADD* Wow, Mrs Rissa, one could have thought that I had read the article before posting my question. The wording is identical. Thanks, interesting info. We bought our wind-up torch and radio in Germany. Odie, good to have generators on stand-by. **ADD** Odie, you can club together with your whole neighbourhood, and make your own power using this Sunny Island System!! That should get Escom thinking!! http://www.sma-australia.com.au/au/solar-technology/products/island-grids/sunny-island/index.sma **Edit** What happened to miss rossa? Ran out of power? Aquirius, the power gamie is going to continue in the winter also. They cannot supply enough power for the whole country at the same time, so they just cut off in the Cape to supply somewhere else, and cut off somewhere elsse to supply the Cape for a bit. That way, there is always some psrts of the coutry that have power, and alsways a few who are in the dark! And that is what they call "power shedding"! Yes I already bought 2 generators. One for my house and another for my office. Since installing it last year the engine has never been cool to the touch (it starts automatically during a power failure). I had to get it because the alarm system and electric fence backup only last 6 hours and I don't want to get robbed. One huge downside is the smell of the diesel fumes. I have extended the pipe to above roof level but that smell still finds its way in. I looked at solar and wind options but they are still impractical and not efficient enough.
As for frozen foods or stockpiling of any kind, no I don't think we have reached that point yet.
ADD
Hello Otto and Cakes.
Thanks cakes for the link, I had a look at it. I had a look at similar devices in South Africa. I regularly install them in my manufacturing company. I worked out the following. If I were to switch on everything (stove, geysers, kettle, AC all the lights and so on) in my house I would need a 85KVA generator/UPS. A good 3KVA UPS which can give me 3 hours of backup under full load costs R28000. You can daisy chain them which means I would need 29 units a room dedicated to store them all.
Solar panels only last about 10 years which is about the same time that it would take to pay themselves off. The initial investment would come to around R850000 and they would take up my whole roof.
So in the short term I am finding more efficient lights and considering changing my water heating and cooking systems. That is why I decided a generator was a better option for now until newer technology is developed. The solar water heating systems have the same drawbacks as the solar PV cells, they only last about 10 years which once again is how long it takes to pay themselves off.
All is not lost I can run my house on a tiny 0.8KVA generator as long as I switch off everything short of the lights, TV and PC's.
It is all very costly and the technology hasn’t matured enough to be practical.

How do wind up torches work? The question says it all. How do wind up torches work? When you turn the handle of the wind up torch a generator is driven, via a gearbox, this generator in turn charges a small Lithium ion battery. The battery is in turn connected through a switch to the light bulb (usually 1 or more LED's)
When the battery has run down, the handle is turned again to recharge
Hope this helps
Good luck

How can i make a wind up torch/flashlight? i need to make an electricity efficient torchlight so i decided im going to make one that is wind up please tell how i can make it and if possible suggest a store from which i could buy it i live in south africa and i have tried calling most big name stores to en quire about it but all of them have said that they do not stock it I don't know where you can buy one where you live, but I can tell you a little about how they work, and maybe you can make one.
The generator in a wind-up handheld flashlight is like a small motor with a lot of gears attached to it. The crank lets you turn the gears, which spins the motor at high speed. Sometimes a small battery or capacitor is added to the output of the motor so that there is light for a little longer than just when you're cranking it.
You could use a cheap cordless drill as a source for the motor and gears- they're already attached to each other, and in the "low" speed mode, there should be quite a large gear ratio.
Another version I once had included a small flywheel on the motor, and a method to let the motor and flywheel keep spinning after you stopped with your hand power. It would only go for a second, but it was enough to make the light more even while you were using it.
If you make your own, the hard part will be figuring out what your output voltage is, and finding a type of light bulb that will both be bright enough and won't burn out all the time.

Wind Up Torches is from category: Flashlights.