MOEPED3 is ready to hit the road

I've followed the progression of this project from the beginning. I really love what you have done with minimal resources. I've been told about some of my projects "You know, you can simply buy one of those" more times than I can remember.

You've done better than I with documenting your experiments.

Good work!

Earle Rich Mont Vernon, NH

And Where, might I ask, are the pictures?????

We want Pictures.

Details are for engineers

Pictures are for dilletants

Miles of Smiles, Tom

Those of us that already ride bikes want to know how much your creation weighs, and how much power is produced (IOW, what type of hill will it climb and for how long). BTW, REAL cyclists always pedal down hill! ;)

Regards,

Peter

I am using the AOL newsreader now. I hope this reply crossposts correctly. I crossposted the original with Outlook Express. It was my first crosspost.

Teri and I are condensing her 700 square foot condo and my 400 square foot apartment into our 700 square foot condo. We're bailing. It's not easy, but by our December 31st goal date, we should have 2.1 megapixels (1600x1200), good lighting, high speed internet, and 20 MB on the AOL server.

So there will be pictures.

The whole point of the move is to let me do my work with the computer backing me up to provide transcription of activity live as it happens to Usenet and the AOL FTP server, and my various logs, and what rather slim CAD and CAM capability I have without the previous ten or twelve years of getting dressed, going to my apartment shop, executing a design concept, getting dressed again, going back for redesign or consultation... what a *hassle*!

It's got to the point where my engineering log is kept on a manual typewriter over there with a ratty ribbon, in two word sentences. "Removed chain. Removed pinion. Beveled teeth. Replaced pinion." That's how coarsely I think without a computer over at my apartment shop. There was the option to install high speed there or just use my line there and a modem and laptop but we realized it was about *us* as much as it was about *work*.

After 20 years of subsidized rent in public housing, I am an owner. You must appreciate the difference in perspective.

For now, you may find some pics at

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz

if you use the ftp file list interface.

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Bicycle/ACMotorGenerator/

has some entertaining footage of the cranks being spun.

Have a look around.

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Bicycle/Lighting/Outdoors.jpg

is a couple of 110 VAC compact fluorescent bulbs operating in daylight.

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/MotorGenerator/EndmillInGroove.bmp

is milling the keyway in the Ametek servo motor shaft to accept:

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/MotorGenerator/8ToothPinion.jpg

provided (downloaded) from Northern Hydraulic's site. Actually machined to 2mm web thickness by Jensen, then beveled for the rear drive only with a stone on the drill press, and wire brushed. No pic of that.

Non-mechanical pics:

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Publications/Bump2.gif

seconds lost coasting over hills

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Publications/Bump2Math.gif

is the Mathcad source.

Metalworking content:

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/DrillPressMill/AdjusterAndRod.jpg

which is an up-bias for drilling Plexiglas with Harbor Freight's cheapest drill press.

and of course:

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/FrankenMill.jpg

the self-reproducing four axis mill in all its cold, cast iron glory. Serial

00001 sold to Larry Ritchey for $300, double the cost of materials (a drill press, cross vise, collet indexer, and lathe chuck) on October 24, 1997, and serial 00002 was retained. The lathe chuck and indexer for serial 00002 were thrown out in the middle of that deep depression I had when my first lover died in 2000. I threw out the drill pattern for the interface between the drill press base and the cross vise, too, but that's easy to regenerate. There isn't too much on the MOEPED that was done on the drill press, but that motor mount was facilitated by having a solid base to work from.

Lastly, mounting the ceiling fan motor to a wood block to a Nashbar threadless adjustable stem to the angled front derailer post on the Thunderbolt, allowing the cranks to be driven for drive train alignment or that peculiar constant speed pedaling mode, or to drive the motor for soon-to-be-realized self-excited induction generator operation at questionable efficiency:

ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/Bicycle/ACMotorGenerator/IMG_1701.JPG

I had to *buy* a 5 1/2 inch hole saw to mill that block, in steps, splitting out the waste, then smooth it to the motor case with self-adhesive sandpaper. It's on there to stay, with JB-Weld and 10-24 stove bolts with square nuts, as you can see, wedged against the inside of the case. That's a Lexan top cap on the block, with #8 sheet metal screws full depth. The top two are adjusted to sag the block, or rather first to sag it, then raise it to snug the chain drive, since the adjustable stem is in increments of like 15 degrees. They are locked with red Locktite. There is now a pair of caps on the assembly: the motor run cap, and a rough stab at a self-excitation cap, 30 microfarads, lashed on with a pair of five inch hose clamps. One of the sheet metal screws holds a 12 gage green ground wire against the wiring to keep it away from the crank. Flag connectors purchased at great expense (An entire reel of them. Need any?) allow a compact installation, and "patching" between capacitor run and self-excitation modes. They were crimped with needle nose pliers. They're on there OK.

Of all these, the true dilletante will enjoy the videos most.

I tolerance everything and tolerate everyone. I love: Dona, Jeff, Kim, Kimmie, Mom, Neelix, Tasha, and Teri, alphabetically. I drive: A double-step Thunderbolt with 657% range. I fight terrorism by: Using less gasoline.

Hey, gang.

I got *out there* this morning!

I got up at 4:15 AM and had ice cold coffee left over from yesterday, my glucosamine and other supplements and medications, a pint of Cheerios and milk, then turned on the radio, reviewed this thread and had my regular pint of hot coffee.

Around 5:30 some lady came by beeping the horn on her car asking for the neighbor, Marivel.

Just before 6 I left and went over (it's only a block) to fire up the system. I plugged in the motor first and felt _some_ turning of the pedals as I coasted down Greenwood Drive. I couldn't read the speedo; it was too dark.

Then I started fooling around with the desk lamp and its 20 W fluorescent reflector bulb. I clipped it to the seat frame and it lit up first pedaling, then coasting downhill. I said hello to Wally, out on her daily constitutional. She lost her husband of 40 years in August a year and a half ago. After about a half a year she would speak of him with joy in her eyes, not sadness. That's how people deal with shit. It's actually really healthy to reach such acceptance in only half a year. My mother is still depressed. We lost my Dad last September, 2003. I digress....but this whole project started when Linda died.

I'd installed a #14 cork in the derailer mount tube after drilling it on the Unimat One. Then I glued and screwed in a broom hanger bracket I got in the dollar section at Shopper's Warehouse to form a steering column retainer to keep the front end from flopping around when parked. So I clipped the desk lamp to that thing but the clamp was closed nearly all the way and it wasn't holding well. What to do?

I tried padding it with a rain poncho in a baggie, the kind you use once and then can never repack correctly. Too slippery. Then I figured, why not bet the bank, and put my key case under the clamp. Just right. You use what works.

With the clamp secured, as soon as I hit a bump, the lamp fell to be supported against the AC motor. No problem. It lit up right away and remained lit as I climbed the sidewalk to the end of Greenwood Drive and descended. Closer to the ground, it might make a decent light for navigating terrain. I figured I'd end on a high note.

I took a pic of the lamp on the bike. Then I took snaps indoors of all the major compnents, but there was a lot of visual clutter. I'll upload them soon and post links. In our new quarter, we'll work at keeping down the background noise. I pulled a hanging halogen torchiere fixture out of my trash boxes yesterday. That will help a lot. I have a lamp stand, too, which provides better lighting than the flash on the camera. It's more predictable.

I did not notice any impairment in coasting speed with the 20 W bulb on or off. It seems like I could ride all night. There's a little chain instability at the large cog. I'm considering a 10-32 shoulder screw in the generator shaft and a derailer arm on a spring to damp it.

I do feel drag when I pedal with the wooden support under the dual leg kickstand and the light on, but then I am pedaling by hand, not with my legs. I haven't got the kickstand leg braces in yet. You can sit and pedal as is, but the stand is cam-actuated, and without a brace, it wiggles and wears very quickly. I've worn one out with less than an hour of seated pedaling. It's on the Peugeot mountain bike now. The kickstand legs are square and to drill them correctly they need to be chucked four jaw on a really big lathe with the stand opened, or maybe sleeved, to make them round so they can be drilled at the right angle to put in spokes which will not

*bend* when the wingnuts are tightened to secure the stand. It won't be easy. The camera will help.

Please check both groups for two posts made with the AOL newsreader, which does not cross post. I'll use Outlook Express from now on.

Yours,

Doug Goncz Replikon Research Seven Corners, VA 22044-0394

Hey. Nice weather. Cold and clear.

The system really pumped some power today.

I admit I was scared. Putting around 100 watts into a chain drive I built myself and a motor mount made out of plastic pipe at speeds sufficient to generate that much power, after the chain drop problems I have had, was a concern. As it turned out, the bevled pinion teeth did their job for around three miles.

I navigated Greenwood Drive in ZIP code 22044 to the sidewalk on Patrick Henry Drive and headed out along the Long Branch on the grass next to Brook Drive where the road is interrupted. This isn't shown on any map I have seen. On Brook Drive, I made a left on Olin Drive, then another right onto Brook Drive down hill, and took my feet off the pedals. The motor worked!

There's a little rise there so I pedaled up and over, then it gets steeper, so I tried it again, and noticed that 120 VAC 1 A does put some drag on the bike.

I crested the hill at Lebanon Drive, ran the motor again around the curve on Brook Drive, and headed back.

The motor seems to have changed positions somehow. I can't shift into high front gear. We'll see what that is about later.

I am considering mounting my fog light.... I still haven't tried self-excitation mode. I need to brace the kickstand.

--Doug

Tried self-excitation mode today. Not *that* kind, Tom! That was Wednesday night! :) And I did not go blind...

I only got 0.1 VAC output, so I went for a ride.

It was very cold and sunny. I headed out along the grassy area by the Long Branch of Four Mile Run, took Brook Drive to Glen Carlyn Drive, Manchester Street across Arlington Boulevard, and entered Bluemont Park the back way. I paused to put up my hood, which I'd left down so I could hear traffic. My fingers hurt.

A runner was in the park below. There weren't many people out. The chain drive was quiet. The AC generator drive made more noise than the DC generator drive. I followed the Four Mile Run Trail to the W&OD Trail over the bridge, then took the W&OD under the bridge under Wilson Boulevard. Now, what's that parallel trail called? Not Custis. Hm. Along Four Mile Run Drive to Ohio Drive, then across Ohio where a driver paused for me politely, up

11th, a steep hill, to my new discovery: Potomac Street.

Potomac Street climbs away from Ohio Drive, yields to I think it is Quintana, and then you follow Quintana or whatever downhill to 11th. It's a loop. Brother Jeff and I have been riding Brook Drive and Olin Drive in laps. This is, I think, a more challenging lap, and it's more accessible to W&OD riders. In any case, it's right hand turns with no stop signs the whole way, very rare in this urban area. I returned almost the same way.

Anyway, I need to write to someone whose email address I have lost to get help with the AC generator, or take MET 350 at ODU, or check with Dr. Majewski at NVCC before the 16th, the end of the term.

--Doug