My Window Motor - Charges Like SSG

[supermuble]

I built a Bedini/Cole window motor. This is my first one and I didn't know what to expect. Something I didn't know or expect, but these motors, if adjusted a certain way, they charge just as good or better than the SSG motor. At only 1200rpm, the circuit has 200 volt spikes that can be used to charge a secondary battery. You can hear the inductive kick backs as an audible loud clicking sound each time the 200 volt spike occurs. This is with 14.0 volts input current, 1000ma. Not as efficient as a Bedini SSG for creating the spikes, but you also get torque so it is more exciting to play around with.

I went with Bifilar (2 wire coil), didn't have 3 spools of wire laying around. The main coil is 19 gauge, 4.30 ohms, the trigger is 30 gauge 42.0 ohms. I would say roughly 250 to 400 turns of wire, just a guess. I had to keep winding the wire till it looked like a big bulky birds nest. I wouldn't recommend using 30 gauge for the trigger, I don't think it gives enough trigger current. I got the magnets from Home Depot. They were $1.00 each. The rotor is made out of 1" PVC threaded caps. I screwed them together and put superglue to hold the threads. The caps have 6 little ridges so you can tell exactly where to glue the magnets (pretty nifty). The central axle is sourced from any HP Color Laser cartridge, just throw it on the ground, snap the axle out and you get 2 bronze bushings and a chromoly axle! The aluminum pipes that support the coil was also found inside an HP toner cartridge - just cut it to length. I chose to use ball bearings just for kicks, sourced from a Nike Roller Skate Wheel - 1 bearing per side. The new ball bearings create a lot of drag, so they will need many hours to break in.

I used the Bedini/Cole circuit here: http://www.fight-4-truth.com/Window-Motor%20JB-RC.jpg
I didn't use the correct transistors, I used 2 NP3055's and a TIP42 65w PNP since that is what I had laying around. To make it run, I had to change the base resistor to a 100 ohms on the PNP with a 1.5K potentiometer. The inductive spikes occur when you have approximately 100 ohms going to the PNP base (instead of the 3.3k shown in the picture).

So, if you adjust the motor to maximum speed, 2000 rpm, the inductive spikes go away, and the input current goes down to 800ma. However, at this speed, I worry that the magnets might fly off, since they are merely hot glued on. I am going to build a separate large charging coil identical to the first coil. This motor will also run at 900 rpm at 260 MA 9 volts. But it isn't much good for anything, with only 60 volt inductive spikes.

So how the heck does John Bedini's motor have the same batteries after 15 years. I've added a 2nd charging coil, adjacent to the old one. Now what I do?

Please post pictures of your window motor. I really need to get more information from other people. There is not enough information on the window motor.

[supermuble]

TESTS REVEAL NORMAL LENZ DRAG 

I spun this motor with a Dremel cordless tool. 600ma - 3.5 volts @ 1000 rpm. The motor speed decreases by 50% or more when you short circuit the main 4.3 ohm winding.

The design suggested a limited Lenz law because of the layout of the magnets, however when I use this motor as a generator, there is severe magnetic drag.

Perhaps my magnets are too small for the rotor, and I need to copy Bedini's exact window motor design where the magnets have no spacing between them? It's quite possible that I misunderstood the design criteria.

[supermuble]

To see if the magnetic layout on the window motor is critical, I have built a new rotor that more resembles the John Bedini window motor shown on the internet video. I noticed that in John's schematics and in his pictures, there is not any spacing between the magnets. I did notice that the magnetic field has been enhanced using the LARGER 6 magnet configuration on this tiny little rotor. The strength, both attraction and repulsion of each individual magnet is about 25% stronger than a single magnet. The magnets are strongly attracted to the plastic rotor, and when gluing the last of the magnets on, they jump out of your hand and stick to the rotor.

I am going to run another test and see what the torque difference and magnetic drag difference is with no other changes except using magnets that are 2X larger.

This thread is open for random discussion about the Window motor. 

[HeairBear]

You are one busy builder! How much have you spent on coil wire?

[supermuble]

I got the wire online for about $60 for 2 spools. I wish I had wound Trifilar instead of bifilar, since I could use the charging winding properly and then I might be closer to having what "mike" had with his perpetual window motor. This project is harder than a regular Bedini project, because it is a pain in the ass running the axle through the windings, trying to get it to spin without anything scraping.

What I found. DO NOT use small magnets. USE the largest magnets you can fit on the rotor. The old rotor would NOT work with default circuit. However, with these larger more powerful (heavier) magnets, the rotor can run down to somewhere around 100 rpm. I can't even believe the motor can operate at such a low speed. It is fun to watch. I can see now how you could get something like this to run off a capacitor. At the lowest setting it is drawing less than 80 ma (0.08 amps). When you disconnect the battery, it will run for about 5 seconds on a capacitor at 100rpm, before the power drains away.

So I am waiting for someone else to post a pic of their motor?