The best way would be to use a bigger HP motor with a pulley probably twice the size of the one on the alternator so that you can probably run it at 2000 rpm and it would be spinning the alternator at 4000 rpm which is probably its max output rpm. The alternator may even peak out at lower rpm. I didn't check the one you put up but as it was direct coupled it may have been peaking out at maybe 2000rpm
Sorry for the grave digging but this is such an interesting topic I thought I would share what I've learnt.
I've thought about a similar thing myself, I thought to myself of using LPG/Butane instead of Petrol primarily for environmental reasons but also for reliability reasons.
Please also use LPG. Save the earth and all that.
Forget using a car alternator, they're built for a single purpose. ANY project involving this WILL require using a direct drive washing machine generator head.
Forget using pulleys also. Its too costly to go down this route and finding an A pulley to fit a victa requires butchering one from a self propelled model and with very little guaranteed success.
Look familiar? It looks like the motor from a modern washing machine.
This is what I mean:
Using this project combined with a programmable charge controller you'll be able to charge a battery bank of almost any size. I would recommend using a set of multiple windings at different voltages so you can charge a 12/24/48v battery bank.
It will require significant machining work but its not anything too difficult.
Hi CaptnK, Welcome here and thanks for bringing back up an interesting subject. This was about 3 years ago and I think the better way these days is to use solar to charge the batteries. You can easily pick up for a few hundred dollars a complete 2/3 kw kit somebody has pulled off their house to upgrade to a bigger system. Sure it takes up more space but once setup it can tick along for years producing free power. Just another option
That or simply use those little 2 stroke 650w-850w generators that go for $100-$200. They are very common.
I agree its insanity.
A custom generator with Victa parts would be interesting for a survival generator project but entirely pointless.
It would need to be vertically oriented with a custom frame made out of box steel and a large cast iron pulley ($$$) bolted onto the old Victa motor and a custom engine head. The cast iron pulley being used to keep the engine running smooth and power output delivery consistent. I MIGHT do it at some point in the future but I'll need to buy a pulley off of a self propelling Victa to see if the motor will even crank over without a plate attached on the bottom. Which I'm doubtful it will stay running. So you would need at a minimum fabricate a flywheel which is no small feat or take the blades off of an existing plate thingy underneath your lawnmower thingy and make up a cover for it to keep things safe. The hardest part would be finding a generator head which would justify the cost of the project, ie practically nothing AND at the same time the generator head would also need to run at the same RPM as the engine feels comfortable sitting at.
A lot of work.
As I said in my prior post, it would be easier to simply use direct drive with a washing machine generator head.
If you wanted to pretend that its still the 1970s-1980s and Victas are still commonplace and cold war is imminent I guess it would make sense to use a Victa motor. Especially if it has points ignition and not CDI. That way it could be EMP proof. With a nice rusty patina to it it would look nice too with a faded army paint job.
I would use a powertorque one though because parts are more available than a full crank. But yeah a full crank upright generator would be interesting to look at.
You'd have to be crazy to do it though because its so pointless. The only way it would make sense is if the Victa factory reopened and started making powertorque motors again or we were cut off from getting replacement Chinese generators. So? Considering the current state of the world it MIGHT make sense for a small project...?
Just wish someone would do it first instead of me so I can see how it turned out.
tilt a cut flywheels are designed for running with no load or minimum load due to the cast iron band attached to them, a tilt a cut engine pulley would probably do the trick too. I do have an oddball 125 power unit here with a normal output shaft you would expect to see on a horizontal briggs motor.
Captnk, I assure you you can get a Victa to run without a blade disc - I started a 1977 Contessa FC the other day without a disc because I forgot I took it off. Minorly kicked back.
Ran lumpy, but ran
Joe, I also have 2x 125's with regular briggs type shaft (7/8?) no taper - presumably since they were 'power units' being sold to other companies they had to do them
I have been thrown on my backside by a SPFC TAC just by not using a blade - kicked back so hard it broke the rope
CaptnK, Sorry nobody got to try it first but this whole idea that LRT was working on got completely wiped out not long after it was being discussed here when Garvoc where he lived was completely destroyed by bushfire and they lost everything.
