I'm sure its possible, has anyone here done it? I need a generator to power a sawdust blower and an exhaust fan. 1hp and 1/2 hp motors respectivly. I have a power unit. All i need to know is are there capaciters or any other devices needed to make this work? Thanks

 

wouldn't it be easier to buy a 4 to 6 kVA generator?

motors are optimized to generate so you will need a larger motor.
I dont think there is anything else that is needed however. just drive the electric motor.

 

Not really, i can pick up a giant electrical motor for scrap price. I'm already running this power unit to operate my machine, and i can rig up a belt and pully system to power a "generator". that way i dont have to pour fuel into another engine.

 

2 HP is about 1500 Watts, perhaps an inverter if your existing power unit has 12 volt power available.

http://www.qsl.net/ns8o/Induction_Generator.html

 

Thanks for the link.

Its actually a 24 volt machine. I looked into the inverters but i can get a bigger motor for cheaper.

 

Check the web for rotary phase converters. These are mainly 3 phase motors providing 3 phase power. They do require some capacitors. I know a guy that runs his machine shop with them. Runs everything in the shop including NC machines.

 

A rotary phase converter isn't really what hes in search of. Basically all they do is create a third phase from a single phase source by spinning an induction 3 phase motor and applying single phase to two of the leads. The third phase will then be generated by the motor.

Using an electric induction motor as a stand alone generator can be done but its really impractical and you won't get the performance out of it that you would want. You don't have any real voltage regulation and you have to supply vars with capacitors to the motor to actually generate. It would be fun to do though.

I've thought about making an induction generator and tying it in to my service just to see how much I can slow the meter down. All you really have to do in that situation is spin the induction motor faster than its synchronous speed. The frequency will remain locked at 60 hz because you're tied into the main system, the system will provide vars for excitation (which you don't pay for at home) and you can push watts back out of the excited motor. It would be a fun experiment, but again not practical unless you had a big waterwheel or something.

 

Why not pick up a cheap generator head, I've seen many that are meant to be belt driven.

 

That would be ideal, i just havnt noticed them being as plentiful. I can pick up an 8kw off of eBay for ~550 shipped to my door. (just the generator)