After watchin scrapheap challenge my son came to me and said that he was going to rip the motor off his mums new washing machine and turn it into a dynamo just like they did on the scrapheap
I did not see the programme but He said they spun a motor by means of a bycicle and produced power enough to light a small bulb
Surely this would not work with a motor designed to run with alternating current
Am I wrong ?
I dont think washing machine motors can be straight forward ac induction types as they have to run over such a vast range of speeds (think of the spin speed and then look at the drive ratio - no wonder they scream!). Havn't had to delve in the back of the Ariston (and on and on) for a while, but ISTR that the motor looks like one of the old 'universal' (AC/DC) types with a laminated stator. I think it also has a commutator. My guess would be that they are AC driven, switching sections of the field winding between series and parallel to get the various speeds, however the construction would be equally applicable to DC and thus ok for conversion into a dynamo.
BTW. See MK.2 in:-
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