GENERATOR- YOU DO THE IN/OUT POWER MATH

[magnetman12003]

This You Tube video shows and tells all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj388d43Ufo&feature=channel

[happyfunball]

What are your calculations

[gyulasun]

This you tube video shows and tells all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj388d43Ufo&feature=channel

Hi Tom,

Would you mind placing a 47 or 56 or even a 100 kiloOhm (choose one from your box, a potmeter is also ok) normal resistor in series with your bulb and see if the measured current goes down proportionally, measured with the same clamp-on current meter? 

Otherwise, I am afraid the revolving magnet fools the current measuring head of your meter.  It starts from about 41mA and goes down to 27mA. 
Normally a neon bulb like you use takes between 0.4 to 2mA current when the voltage level reaches the so-called break down voltage across its legs.
There are special types that take up between 5-10mA current when they reach their breakdown voltage

Because you do not use a series resistor with your neon bulb the only current limiting factor in your output circuit is the coil's inner reactance which consists of the DC resistance of the coil and its AC inductive reactance.  Would you check the DC resistance of the coil with a digital Ohm meter? 

Here is a link on neon bulbs of some types, it includes recommanded series resistor values too: http://www.plusopto.co.uk/pdfs/incanlamps%20pdfs/Neon1.pdf 

I hope this helps clarify if I am wrong on your clamp  meter flux pick-up from the revolving magnet.

One more notice: a neon bulb do not take up any current under its break down voltage,  works just like a Zener diode. This means that feeding it with AC voltage, current can only flow whenever the positive or negative peak voltages exceed that breakdown voltage (55-90V, type dependent), under those values the neon bulb behaves as if it were not there as a load at all... 

rgds,  Gyula

[Low-Q]

The rotating magnet is inducing a magnetic field in the AC-meter which fools the readings. Use a long wire so you can measure the AC-current from a greater distance. Then you'll see that lamp doesn't pull that amount of current (If so, these lamps should be banned ).
A magnetic field around a single wire, even at high AC-current, is nothing compared to a spinning magnetic field from a big block of a rotating neodym magnet.

Vidar

[magnetman12003]

You might be right about all of that. I am currently constructing a minature full wave bridge rectifier.
I will dump all the AC output into it. Sure there will be some power loss but it then becomes very easy to compare input to output power as both are now DC.  Hi frequency AC is tricky to measure correctly.