TOOOOOooooooooo Coooolllll!
The turbos needed to be re-worked after I got them from the supplier as the performance was poor to non-existent. After that was done, a circuit was made to change the 3-phase AC to DC (thanx Wayne for the help). The 3 AC wires from the turbo are attached to the center of the circuit board (as in the picture). There's 9 terminals in the center for the 9 wires (from the 3 turbos). The DC output is at the ends. To run up the turbos, compressed air was used. Winding these things up is pretty cool. They make a whining sound, especially at high speeds. They put out about 14VDC at 80psi. The DC outputs will be attached to the battery to charge it. The air compressor (which is used for the air brakes), runs the battery down after about 8 hours of running. With the turbos charging the battery, that shouldn't be a problem anymore.
Here's the circuit board. I just bent over the diode leads and soldered them together.
The total cost for the electronics was under $10 (and that was for all three turbos)
| Turbo AC to DC Converter Circuit Parts List | ||
| Description | Part# | Qty |
| Diodes 3 amp 100V fast recovery rectifier | GI851 | 18 |
| 3-Pos PCB terminal block | TER-203 | 3 |
| Resettable circuit protector, 1A - 2.5A | CPX-100S | 1 |
| Solderable Perf Board | PC-2 | 1 |
| Plastic Box (made for above perf board) | TB-2 | 1 |
| Parts bought from "ALL ELECTRONICS CORP" | ||
| www.allelectronics.com | ||
Here's a circuit diagram for one of the turbos (3-phase AC to DC)
Circuit drawing from www.allaboutcircuits.com
Here's the turbos hooked up for steam and all the electrical wiring done. The white tubing insulation was used on the steam lines. Copper tubing was used for conduit to run the wires through.
