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| Let's drop in
on Wily and look over his shoulder at his latest project.... |
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Battery Charging Generator
Starter |
Wily was clearing his driveway of snow when he got a call.
It came from a company who makes custom propane fueled electrical
generators. Their devices were modified RV generators specifically
designed for backup power for homes off the utility grid. Instead of
producing AC power, as most emergency power generators, the company’s
generator was designed to charge up a large lead-acid battery bank.
When the battery voltage reached a critical point, the generator
automatically kicked into operation and ran until the battery was fully
charged.
The company said that for the most part their machines worked fine but they
were having problems with their engine starting mechanism. This engine
was started with a conventional starter motor, which was engaged to a gear
on the engine shaft using a solenoid. The solenoid and motor were
powered by a small 12 volt battery. The caller said that the engine
often didn’t start properly. They wondered if Wily had any suggestions..... |
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con't page 7 |
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Wily Widget,
the Lone Inventor
with Gadget & Gizmo |
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| WHAT
THE WORLD NEEDS NOW is a....Emergency
Electrical Power System |
| In times
of a local or perhaps even a national disaster, utility power may be lost
for a prolonged period of time. How could a family cope without
electricity? What I would like to see is a portable emergency
electrical power system, which could support a family for an extended time.
The available power would be minimal but it could be a real life saver..... |
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con't on page 6 |
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Improved
Solar Powered Path Light
By: David Johnson
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Over the last decade or so solar powered garden and path lights have become
quite popular. However, over the last few years I have seen a gradual
decline in their use. I think one of the reasons for this is a huge drop
in quality for these devices. Chinese manufactures have whittled down
their designs until they just barely work.... |
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story con't on page 4 |
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Schottky Diode Leakage Current
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| I got a call
from a company who was scratching their head about the short battery life of
their 3v lithium battery powered product. Their engineers said that the
battery would last for years but testing had shown that the battery only
lasted a few months. They needed my help to figure out where the excess
current was going..... |
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story
con't on page
3 |
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Bad LED Path Light II |
| My wife
knows I love LED products. A while back she spotted a solar powered LED
path light at the dollar store. Stores like that are flooded with
discontinued or surplus products taken off the shelf at other stores and sold
at the dollar store for deep discounts. After removing the plastic
insulator from the battery terminal, allowing the battery to be connected to
the path light circuit, I stuck the thing in the ground in a sunny part of my
front lawn. I let the light absorb some sunlight all day..... |
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story con't
on page 5 |
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Off-Grid Home with Electric Car
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A while back I got an email from a guy who lives
in a nice house high in the Colorado Mountains using an off-grid
power system. He was planning on buying a plug-in hybrid
car. He wondered how many more solar panels he would have
to add to his system to keep his car charged up without ever
burning a drop of gasoline. He said ..... |
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story con't on page 2 |
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