DIY Generator on a budget.

My brother and I put this together a few years ago. "Luck favors the prepared."

For those of us (myself included) who don't have a huge amount of money to spend, here's a perfectly effective alternative to shelling out as much as $1500. on an emergency generator.  Great source of emergency electricity and it's cheap too!

Gather the essential parts to the generator



A gas powered motor (Preferably a horizontal shaft. You can use anything from lawn tractors, to weedwackers, snow blowers, you name it!)
Car or Marine battery
Alternator (MUST have a built in voltage regulator. I used a GM from an S10 Blazer. Also makes it much easier if it's a V or A belt style)
V or A belt
Gear pulley (If the motor doesn't have one already)
Power inverter (I used a 400 watt)
Some sort of platform (Plywood and 2x4s in my case)
screws, bolts and washers

I measured out the distance between the motor and alternator and built the platform to match. (Alternator needs to turn clockwise) Bolted the motor in place, then attached the gear pulley, belt and made marks to put the mounts in place for the alternator. Bolted the alternator in place. Then ran the charging wires to the car battery and tightened them down. Then just hooked up the 400 watt inverter to the battery and it's off and running!



Took about 2 hours to build after I had all the parts. My expenses were as follows.

5 HP Subaru/Robin Engine - $15. (from a farm auction)
3/4 inch Gear pulley - $7. (Tractor Supply Company)
Alternator from a Chevy S10 - $15. from a local U-Pull-It
Car Battery - $10. same location
V belt - $1. same location
400 Watt Power Inverter - $30. (Pep Boys)
Platform was made from scrap lumber and I have a bunch of drywall screws and nuts and bolts from prior projects so they didn't cost me a thing.

$78. and a few hours of work and I can make my own electricity if I want to! Never hurts to have some "just in case" stuff lying around.

 
  That's pretty cool!  How noisy is the motor?  With that setup you can run multiple inverters.

it's pretty loud. Partly because these motors were used on snow blowers and rototillers and the like and partly because it causes enough vibration to make the plywood platform vibrate and move a little.

The refinements planned include

Making a bigger muffler to deaden sound.
Taking apart some old motor mounts to reduce/eliminate vibration.
Welding up a tensioner pulley to make it more adjustable.

And yes, overkill for just one inverter. They make bigger ones too so these could be used to power appliances if needed.

It at least keeps your brain working coming up with stuff like that. 

During our recent power outage I hooked jumper cables to a 2000 watt inverter and connected/turned my truck on so I could cool my freezer until I could get a generator to power the house. 

Those Hondas are quiet but expensive. Harbor freight often has cheap models for around $300 that can run most of a house during an emergency.  Not one I would want to use all the time because they are also loud but it's an option for those that don't work well with motors or electronics.