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Return to: General Discussion - Dynamos, Generators, Alternato...
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#Post#: 50603--------------------------------------------------
LED vs Incandescent
By: D E Jones Date: April 9, 2022, 11:56 am
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I am using a 4.5 volt lantern bulb with my little P M Research
generator. This bulb works fine as a single light for this
generator, but additional bulbs really load this generator
down. I have tried these bulbs in series as well as parallel,
and although they are dimmer in series, the system seems to work
better. The P M Research generator is 12 volts DC , and since I
want to run several lights at one time, I am wondering about LED
bulbs, and what voltage I would use. Should they be wired in
series, or parallel ?
Don Jones
#Post#: 50628--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: St Paul Steam Date: April 9, 2022, 8:15 pm
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Not sure I have an answer to your post Don, I have used both LED
& incandescent bulbs and both have their strengths , LED's take
much less power, but pulse greatly at lower speeds but are
brighter, incandescent bulbs light (somewhat) at lower Rpm's to
very bright...until you blow the bulb, I've never blown out an
LED bulb.
#Post#: 50635--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: D E Jones Date: April 9, 2022, 11:55 pm
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Yeah, I've heard of and even seen that flickering problem. It
really is amazing how much power it takes to power regular
bulbs. Right now I have my generator paired up with a P M
research #7 twin , which has quite a bit of power, but to make
it really go, it takes a lot of steam ! However, It is a lot of
fun to watch it really work hard.
Don Jones
#Post#: 50643--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: Adirondack Jack Date: April 10, 2022, 8:03 am
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The problems are total load versus on-off sensitivity.
An ordinary incandescent bulb is a resistive load, no different
than a brake applied to a wheel. Hit the binders on a train, and
things get mighty hot before slowly stopping the train. Just
like our brake, it gets hot and can stay lit momentarily, even
as the generator is on the low end of its output. That
resistance helps a bulb smooth out lumpy low speed generator
power. But yes, run them slow enough, even old car headlights
dimmed at idle.
An LED is a different kind of light. It comes on and goes out
instantaneously, with very little resistance, heat, or delay.
As our generator drops to minimum speed, it effectively flutters
the LED as supplied voltage wavers around the minimum required
by the circuit.
Selecting usable LEDs is another matter. Just as with bulbs,
ratings matter. Those designed to run at very low voltage may
light bunches of lights, but may pop at high voltage if the
circuit is overdriven. I�ve popped LEDs using a battery pack to
check a string. The LED furthest away popped like a shotgun
primer, startled me. Lol. Incandescent bulbs will blow, but
give warning as they get very bright when overdriven.
The key when designing a circuit is either matching output to
load, a tricky proposition when generator speed and output
varies a lot, (and why we use alternators in cars nowadays), or
adding a regulator. I get bogged down with circuit math, but in
essence, you have to match load to output. Either govern the
generator speed or use a regulator of some kind. I�d google the
circuit diagram and parts list for a simple low power battery
charging circuit with a regulator. Otherwise, youll pop a
string of LEDs like fireworks while trying to entertain folks
with your clever steamer, or you�ll cook the wiring trying to
drive too many bulbs.
There are tons of different LEDs and bulbs out there. Thankfully
there are circuit diagrams as well. I used to once know the
numbers, but not these days. I learned after I used an
unregulated output from an (AC STATOR) outboard motor to run
lights. Worked great until I opened the throttle and popped the
bulbs, leaving us out on the water, at night, in total darkness.
#Post#: 54443--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: SteamerJ Date: December 8, 2022, 12:05 am
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With LEDs I would use resisters with the PM generator. With
small ones you can get away without them. If I can get it right
here is my Wileco showman�s without resisters. Anyone feel free
to imbed this video because I forget how to.
https://youtu.be/CpvUjfTXO5o
#Post#: 54444--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: MadeForThat Date: December 8, 2022, 10:07 am
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Hey guys, to help with the pulsing of LED's at low speeds, try
connecting a capacitor into your wiring. Assuming you are using
a dc generator (very important) you can put a capacitor across
from the generator's + and - and it will function as a very
short life battery to cover the power needs of your lights while
the generator magnet makes another lap. This is a bit of a
balance because if the LED circuit needs more power than your
generator is producing at low speeds then you will still have
pulsing. I have also employed a step down converter to step from
12v to 5v to drive LED's. With a capacitor in parallel with the
generator before the converter, the generator is able to run
even slower without pulsing because the converter is limiting
the amount of power flowing out to the LED's. The other benefit
of using a dcdc converter is that it will keep your LED's at a
constant light level regardless of generator speed. So going
back to the original question, I totally think you should do
LED's but understand it will take a bit of extra effort to make
it work for you!
#Post#: 54460--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: MadeForThat Date: December 8, 2022, 8:19 pm
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This is the converter I have used, you can solder your generator
right to the inputs, and then adjust the output voltage with the
little brass screw on the blue box on top. This will pass as
much as 15 watts, so more than enough to light a loooot of
LED's. Cool feature of this is that you can have it output as
low as 1.25V, so you can dim your LEDs as well.
https://a.co/d/feT7mfR
#Post#: 54659--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: princerobin Date: December 21, 2022, 6:03 am
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Wow, these step down converters look pretty neat. I had no idea
they were so cheap and available.
#Post#: 54666--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: MadeForThat Date: December 21, 2022, 9:20 pm
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Yeah, and how amazingly tolerant the electronics are. I just
want to drive the point that the lower you want to drive your
generator, the more capacitor you will need to smooth the
flickering, and (obviously) the less power you can expect to
pull on the output without flickering
#Post#: 54719--------------------------------------------------
Re: LED vs Incandescent
By: KNO3 Date: December 24, 2022, 10:06 am
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How can one find out if the generators we are using are
producing AC or DC?
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