Hamster Power

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Haggis11

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I need help/advice re: dc generator for hook-up to a hamster wheel. I understand that I might require a low RPM dc motor for this app. Hamster wheel (with said hamster) operates at 40-60 RPM. Will this generate max. voltage? I want to see if it can charge an MP3 player.
 
LOL, That’s cute. A DC motor might be best. A speedometer / Cruise control sender puts out AC. I’m not sure how much but it could be used on a transformer to get higher voltage but less amps. Do they make steroids for hamsters?
 
I'm not sure about the steroids, but the little guy seems to have max.output when one of our cats is watching him!! Must be frustrating when he never seems to get away....but on the other hand, he never gets eaten either!! Are there low rpm dc motors that output greater voltage than the little high rpm model motors? and would these work?
 
Hi Haggis11,

Maybe you should build a bigger hamster wheel and put
them both in, that should generate some power !

on1aag.
 
Burn the hamster *. The calorific value of a hamster far outweighs the electrical energy it can produce


Especially if its a big fat one


























* above comment meant as a joke only. As an owner and ex-breeder of hamsters I would never condone burning the little blighters.
 
Okay guys, enough about the hamster. I need help with the generator! Any ideas?
(I think we could burn the poop though!)
 
Ok on a serious note, some of the old VCRs had a permanent magnet motor on them with coils on the PCB for the capstain drive. It was a nice flat motor with a reasonable amount of torque for its size.

Might be worth butchering one of those to see if its any good.

Due to the design you'd probably find it pretty easy to "interface" to the hamster wheel itself.
 
Haggis11 said:
Okay guys, enough about the hamster. I need help with the generator! Any ideas?
(I think we could burn the poop though!)
Click to expand...

hi,
Do you plan to drive the motor generator shaft from the centre spindle of the hamster wheel or its periphery.?

The spindle will be slower with more torque and the periphery faster with less torque.
A quick test would be a simple pulley system from the wheel to the generator.
After a few tests you could determine the max efficiency versus the pulley ratio.

Whats the weight of the hamster and the outside diameter of the wheel.?
 
Lol, how much power can you get from a hamster?

I doubt you could get more than 1 watt, even for a short period of time.

What are you trying to power?

It'll take ages to charge reasonable sized batteries, maybe longer than your hamster will live for.
 
ericgibbs; the pulley systems we have tried so far, slow the wheel down immensely - poor little guy can barely move it. We used as loose a 'belt' as possible. Right now, the motor shaft is an extension of the centre spindle of the wheel. Wheel diameter is 12". Haven't weighed the hamster yet.
We are hoping to recharge an MP3 player...in less than the avg. hamsters lifespan!
Picbits; I think I might have an old VCR, but it might be a tad complicated for our purpose...I'll rip it apart and check it out though.
 
As you already know, the power output of a hamster isn't very much

You might consider trying the spin motor from a CD or DVD player, these are very small and light motors - there's no 'clever' way you're going to find a motor that provides lots of power from a hamster, it's just not there to begin with. But gearing up from a hamster wheel to a CD/DVD motor might be small enough to work.
 
There is a project where a hamster wheel turns a generator to light a single LED at about 20mA. Then calculate how may months of continuous charging is needed.
 
Get a bigger wheel and put the cat in the wheel and the hamster outside. But, then, hamsters are more reliable than cats.
 
You could mount magnets around the periphery of the wheel and have stationary coils. See The Pico Turbine and follow the link to the plans.

Mike.
Link edited.
 
Last edited:
Pommie said:
You could mount magnets around the periphery of the wheel and have stationary coils. See The Pico Turbine for details.

Mike.
Click to expand...

Gday Mike,
Your link seems to be broken.?

I hope you are taking good care of my horse, the 2 kids are on their way.
 
mneary said:
Get a bigger wheel and put the cat in the wheel and the hamster outside. But, then, hamsters are more reliable than cats.
Click to expand...
Cats have got too much brains to go running and power a treadmill. They're also too lazey and will fall asleep after a few miniutes.

Use a blue whale and you can power all the houses in your street. These animals can kick out 2.5MW of power, more than a P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft . I don't know how you could get it on a treadmill though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(power)#megawatt_.28106_watts.29
 
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