«Previous    Next»
Portable 12-Volt Battery Charges
Robert Ferreira, Crystal River, Florida: "I came up with a simple, portable 12-volt battery charger that works much like a car charging system. It works great for charging any vehicle with a dead battery. All the information on the wiring schematics that's required to build this charging system can be found in any auto repair manual.
  "The idea is to use a small engine to belt-drive a car alternator, which is used to charge the dead battery. I use a 4 1/2 hp Briggs & Stratton salvaged from an old lawn edger, and an alternator off a GM car. The engine belt-drives the alternator the same way a car engine does, and it allows the alternator to produce enough voltage to æexcite' the field. Both the engine and alternator mount on a wooden platform that I bolted onto the frame of the old 2-wheeled lawn edger. I mounted a homemade control panel on the cart that's equipped with an amp meter, volt meter, and switches that came off a car.
  "To charge a dead battery, all I do is start the engine and hook a pair of clip leads to the tractor's battery. A small 12-volt lawn mower battery is used for the field."


  Click here to download page story appeared in.



  Click here to read entire issue




To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.
Order the Issue Containing This Story
2007 - Volume #31, Issue #1