Question about Whirlpool Washer Motor Part # 3951550

You probably have the wrong motor. Google F&P wind generator (or similar). There is a wealth of info on what you want to do. Posy again if you have no luck.

Yes I've read a bit about Fisher and Paykel. Their motor setup is entirely different. My motor has less but larger coils nested upon each other. The whole unit reminds me of a car alternator in appearance. F&P is more of a pancake appearance with 42 sets of coils side by side and magnets are attached to the outter cover to act as rotor. And as mentioned, no way to unassemble my unit. I'll have to bust it apart if I want to get at the innards. Its coils are of a larger guage copper wire ( a tad less than 1/16" diameter ).

Paul

I suspect that you have a single phase AC induction motor- 4 or 6 poles judging from the speeds. It will have a starting winding You could tear it apart but ,as is, it is useless for a DC generator. This motor wont have magnets- if you can see the rotor- it will likely have conductors imbedded and these are shorted at each end.

Don Kelly remove the "cross" to reply directly

From the motor spec, your suspicions have to be correct as to motor type and construction, and this motor could never directly produce DC. It is however possible to generate AC from an induction generator and rectify it to DC. This is probably not a good project for a beginner, but searching on "single phase induction generator" would return some interesting information.

Thanks to all replies. And Merry Christmas to all.

I will look into the suggestions given thus far and do some more research after the holidays are over. Those copper windings I've mentioned are too tempting to just dismiss. As for magnets I was hoping to get some old car speakers and tear their magnets out of them. I have one now and is is quite powerful. I'd like to get 4 or 5 more.

Anyway ... Happy Holidays again

Paul

Wow .. I've delved into a few site about Single Phase Induction Generator use in windpower. Ouch. They sure sound like they know what they're talking about - but I had a little trouble. A couple of sites stood out:

A Single Phase Induction Generator As Wind Generator ? A New Concept and Design

Wind Turbines using Induction Generators

Not to sure about going that route. I'm considering using a circular saw with abrasive metal cut wheel or recip saw with metal blade and first cut around the bearings ( saving some of the cast material ) and then remove the rotor. Then saw the housing in half to get at the windings. Then hunt down some magnets.. I like some of the ideas people have come up with about building their own PMDC generators. I'm not looking to get off the grid. I just want some power in my barn whether it rains/shines or night/day. I'll see more when I can get at the windings.

Paul

I have never seen a motor that couldn't be taken apart by removing 4 bolts. You also need to be aware there are several types of induction motor.

I couldn't find your second reference but the first is simply a use of the auxiliary or starting winding -rewound if necessary, to make this into a 2 phase machine- one phase is energised with an AC voltage of a desired frequency and this will induce voltage and resulting currents in the rotor- these will induce voltage in the other winding. It then becomes a form of control motor as once used in control devices for variable speed operation (prior to the "brushless DC" motor. Fairly sophisticated. Note that the frequency and voltage do vary with speed and load and it would not be good for driving constant frequency devices such as household motors. It would be good for driving rectifiers (as done for battery loads). Simpler may be an old automotive alternator-- which can produce 12 V over a variety of speeds. Such an alternator can be converted to an AC generator capable of 120V at 60Hz (3 phase).

As for alternative device mentioned- you are looking at motors which probably won't handle much of your barn load and may not pay their keep over their lifetime.

For charging 12 volt batteries it is hard to beat an automotive or truck alternator with built-in regulator, readily available at any junkyard. Older alternators with external regulators work fine too, and the regulator can be modified for higher voltages. These are not as efficient as a good PMDC generator, so you will need a slightly larger windmill for the same power output, but you will also be up and running much faster so you will have electricity while investigating possible improvements.

On Fri, 26 Dec 2014 21:20:21 -0500, gfretwell wrote: : snip :

Yes I know what you mean. I have in the past rebuilt auto generators and have opened an alternator or two. But this thing has no bolts. In fact it appears that there are 4 joints that look as if they've been cemented with some type liquid metal or something like JB Weld. Seriously.

I just now took a small cold chisel and hammer to see if'n the stuff afore mentioned would break loose and sure enough it does. This damned thing is 'glued' together.... Wonders never cease..

Paul

Sometimes you have to admit, what you have may not be what you want.

And quite often the best advice is that which goes against your own feelings.