Simple Electric Generator

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Generator Tutorials Experiments Amasci Electricity Science Physics Magnets Em Gadgets DIY Science-fair Demo Demonstrations
wbeaty
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    wbeaty
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  • Comments: 10
  • Updated: 04-Aug-08
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  • Comments: 42
  • Views: 452,598
  • Added: 10-Nov-07

Build the world's simplest electric generator. Spin a magnet, light a bulb!Complete instructions are on the ULTRA SIMPLE GENERATOR website



furkan

  1. Categories: How To, Science & Tech
  2. Related Link: ULTRA-SIMPLE GENERATOR: Detailed Generator Instructions
  3. Favorite On: rjr102808 bigboypr1 gunman_12 udu1 man47
Comments on

Simple Electric Generator

42 Comments | Add Comment
  • use less wire!

    Those magnets produce an AC sine wave. If you instead use a large rod-shaped magnet, it will produce AC spike waveform with MUCH higher voltage. But Radio Shack doesn't sell those. But maybe a glued stack of smaller magnet disks would work? Improved generator with much less wire? Time to experiment!

    By wbeaty 1204161931 Reply Spam [+2] Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • thanks

    Nice vid and very easy 5*

    By MaKeNzY 1194771268 Reply Spam [+1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Yea man

    Well done.

    By Yoko T 1194721911 Reply Spam [+1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • help!!!!!!!!!!

    can anyone tell me the website for the electromagnet please

    By bloodybloak22 1232074033 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • help

    can anyone tell me the website for the electromagnet please

    By bloodybloak22 1232073974 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • help!!!!!!!

    can someone tell me the website for the electromagnet

    By bloodybloak22 1232073887 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • coon, neat

    awesome that is cool

    By nole96 1228433375 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Add a bridge

    If you used an inexpensive bridge rectifier (available from R.S.) it would pulse the light every 180 degrees instead of once a revolution, producing more satisfying results for the experiementer.

    By bassguy256 1227045181 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • can you tell me

    I am trying to hook up a bicycle bottle style generator to a fan blade and cannot get the light to light up. The bulb is good, the generator is good and I am grounding it with a pair of pliers w/ rubber handle. I have tried to spin the generator both ways and still with no results.
    Thank You

    By electricnube 1212536480 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • i build these...

    well kinda, i actually build electric motors for a living for Regal Beloit. That's pretty neat!

    By redtibby01 1203389224 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Nice

    Kind of nice, would be easy for me to do, at least I think so.

    By Dramamine 1203237104 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • waste

    i just wasted 10 bucks on this and it did not even work they are lires

    By shelly0217 1202331056 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • Use the article, not the video

      Did you read the "Debugging" section of the article? amasci.com/coilgen/

      Simple Generator project has been an extremely popular webpage at amasci.com. Science teachers have been using it for many years. If you need help, first thing to do is to read "Debugging" that tells you what to do when it doesn't work the first time.

      By wbeaty 1202349503 Reply Spam [+1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • lol

    its witchcraft

    By bigfatpig 1201904890 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • WATCH MY CHANNEL

    WATCH MY CHANNEL FOR UPCOMING DIY ON MAKING JAM JAR JETS AND OTHER EXPLOSIVE EXPERIMENTS COMING SOON

    By apadredog 1200809457 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • ok

    ive done that but a more complicated version of this but how do yuo harnise the energy released...also just a frendly word of advide use more than 300 turns use the whole container of wire...its better trust me.^_^

    By heartbreaker91 1200357498 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • FOR KIDS

    GOOD

    By alkaC 1199722600 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • wow

    this is awesom
    but when you poked the nail through
    it looked like it went through your hand
    quit creepy realy
    a*

    By sam c j 1197201665 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • tits

    i Thank God for people like you.

    By painteure 1196407445 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Don't spin it while you hold the ens of ...

    ouch ! won't take long to look at it,,,, Drop !

    By excuse_me! 1194912174 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • heh

    now you just need to make something to use that electricity to spin the generator

    By Enignd 1194827538 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • Want Bio Energy?

      Add a hamster to this generator.
      Good for the hamster (sport) and good for you (energy).

      By dimigoa 1194857945 Reply Spam [+2] Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • Eventually

      It will lose it's perpetuum, because there is a loss of electricity along the wires, so no matter how you try it... there won't be a way to generate electricity that sustains itself.
      If you try putting a bigger voltage or a smaller motor you might end up destroying it.

      By addyk2003 1195637741 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • good work

    5 STARS

    By marek080580 1194816488 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • wow

    am gonna make one

    By seaknight 1194798176 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Nice Video

    Thanks for sharing! Very good site indeed, helped me recall and even understand many of the stuff I studied before!
    Keep the good work going!

    By dimigoa 1194789142 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Should try running it to a small capacit

    that would maybe hold the charge to give the light bulb a constant light.

    By Fuckles 1194723814 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • convert to DC

      Yep, add a diode and a capacitor. But diodes take some volts, so you'd want to double the amount of wire. (That, or add a commutator, which is nothing but a synchronous mechanical rectifier.)

      But then it wouldn't be an ultra-simple generator anymore!

      By wbeaty 1194930834 Reply Spam [+1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • cool but unneccisary

      you can take a motor from some old CD player or a personal fan and spin it backwards to do the same thing I used to charge capacitors this way throw em to a friend and yell catch :D

      By B_E_A_S_T 1196423074 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Excuse me.

    Dimensions would nice.

    By gonzoni 1194722536 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • ...

      the dimensions depend on the magnet dude... think a litle bit sometimes it is good to think....

      By hahahahahahahahhahaa 1195055298 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • Dimensions...

      8cm square, 3.5cm thick, see the website project article for experiments and all details. Try this: put a blotch of white-out on one side of the nail, add a battery, then figure out how to run the magnets as a motor. The paint blotch will be your commutator...

      By wbeaty 1194836527 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • cool vid

    nice job

    By f-22 raptor 1194719838 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Do it over

    I think it was a poor video, complete with minimal narration. The video gave me a head ache. Ever hear of a tripod? How about showing us exactly how to do the winding? Don't do it if you aren't going to do it as well as you can. Don't tell me that was your best.
    You want sweetness and light? Do Right!

    By speezorp 1225397249 Reply Spam [-1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • fine

      i enjoyed the video and think it's great

      By mw23mw12 1226864528 Reply Spam [+1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • Oh well

      So much for your ability to differentiate good from bad teaching videos.

      By speezorp 1226865288 Reply Spam [-1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • No polished videos. Ever.

      > Don't do it if you aren't going to do it as well as you can.

      Lol, you found my secret to attracting a large subscribership and convincing lots of kids to build their own science devices. The central thesis is:

      "That video sucks! I could do that project MUCH better than he did."

      (And then they do.)

      After decades in this business I crafted an educational philosophy intended to create new scientists. It's listed on a niche on my webpage, and includes:

      NOT AIMED AT THE TV AUDIENCE, NOR EVEN AT METACAFE. AVOID THE "EXPERT LOOK." Keep my degree hidden; instead do Redneck Science! Carefully preserve the look of an overweight loser in a grubby t-shirt. Blacken a tooth. Don't shave. USE NO LABORATORY, ESPECIALLY NO TV STUDIO. Perform demonstrations on a grubby kitchen counter. Or even better, on a living room couch ...in my lap, w/camera clamped under my chin.

      Teachers love the polished videos, but kids avoid them and go after the crude ones. Perhaps they label and avoid the "education-y" videos which resemble homework? If so, then effective teaching involves hobbyist non-teachers giving crude presentation of coolness. (And it's no trick: if I don't dress up, and use my kitchen as a studio, the crudeness is genuine.

      Another: if science projects are analogous to doing art, then a science project with perfectly detailed instructions is as un-creative as paint-by-numbers.

      People who want a canned project will buy a generator kit from an online science store.

      By wbeaty 1226793251 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
    • Sorry. No.

      I'm sorry my message was not more clear.
      What I meant was - If you are teaching people how to make something, show and teach them WELL. You can build the thing as poorly as you like, but if you're teaching/training then do it so that the student will be able to follow the instructions well. There's not a thing in the world wrong with using a tripod; no great secret in doing bad camera work. Not asking for professional work, just decent work. Good luck.

      By speezorp 1226806573 Reply Spam [-1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Cool!!

    But there is no need for it!!

    By jack_homemade_rocket 1195493586 Reply Spam [-1] Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Another nice vid

    Man great stuff. Another 5 stars from me. Sure hope you post more!

    By Howie_D 1211586063 Reply Spam [-2] Moderate Up Moderate Down
42 Comments | Add Comment