Using Stepper Motors as Generators (Rectifiers, KBP 307 IC, & Alternatives) 

That's very nice of you to say, thank you :) It definitely has been blowing up recently and I could not be more grateful.

So sweet of you to say, I really appreciate that. Thank you. :)

Hey, thanks! I'm glad it was helpful. :)

Love to hear it! Thanks!!

Of course, glad it helped :)

Of course! My plan is to charge 18650 cells, which I will then use to charge my phone. Balcony-sized windmills are blessed if they generate even a few watts. Mine typically produce close to 15v at peak, but is closer to 5v during standard use.

@@christophersfactory So do you just use a variable input voltage converter to get it to the LiPo charging level? I have a bunch of these cheap amazon converters, but I don't know if I should trust them, and also how stable they are with wildly variable input voltage like this.

@@ObsessiveEngineering A good question, I suppose you could hook up a dummy load and a hand-crank and just see how they handle the wildly variable voltage. Personally, I often just use the 7905 linear voltage regulators. Even though they're trash as far as efficiency, it's a small price to pay in exchange for not having your house burn down from exploding batteries 🤣

@@christophersfactory could you do a video on harnessing the power to charge batteries?

The reason stepper motors are good generators it's because the have a low KV rating. So it's takes a reasonable rpm to get usable voltage out of them. Normal brushless DC motors like the ones used for drones need thousands of rpm before you get a few volts from them.

I use JLCPCB, but they don't sponsor me yet so I don't recommend them ;) Jokes aside, apart from the long shipping times, they're awesome. It's usually, like, $2 + $2 shipping for 2 layer boards up to 80x80cm I think? They're pretty good.

This would be really helpful to me as well!

I'll thrown in some notes about printed circuit boards (PCBs). These aren't items that are "chosen", rather they are designed by the person creating the electronic circuit specifically for that circuit. Are you familiar with schematics? Do you know how to read a basic schematic? These skills come in handy. Usually, the designer has an idea. S/He makes a list of the components needed, like for example diodes and capacitors, like in this video. Now the designer sketches out how these components are connected, plus how anything that is external to the circuit is connected to it. This sketch is the schematic. The next step is to build the circuit to see if it works (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't). To build the circuit, the design can use a breadboard and jumper wires, or s/he can freeform it, like Chris did in his video. Here, the design might have to make changes to make the circuit work, or work better. Once the circuit has been thoroughly tested, and the design is happy, the next step is to create the PCB. If this is a one-off circuit, the designer might choose to use a protoboard, and not a PCB. If the PCB is wanted/needed then the designer goes to his/her computer and gets a CAD (Computer Aided Design) app, like KiCAD. There are options, from open source aps that are free to use, commercial free to use with restrictions, or crazy expensive apps. Once the design has the app s/he captures the schematic into the app. Once that is done, the designer creates the PCB by providing dimensions (size) and other parameters. The software then creates the PCB, but the connections are usually messed up. The next step is to order those connections so that they look nice and don't criss-cross. This is called the routing process. Most CAD apps can do this automatically by simply selecting a command from the menu, but won't always choose the best routing, so it is recommended that in the future when you feel comfortable designing PCBs. For now, just let the software do it. Once that it done, there might be other tasks you might want to perform (too long to present here). Finally, you generate something called Gerber files. These are the files that are sent to the machinery that will manufacture the PCB. Once these files are generated, they are sent to the company that will manufacture the PCB for you. In his video, Chris mentions jlcpcb. This is one of many. I've used this company. The company usually manufacturers a set number of PCBs, maybe 3, 5 or 10. They will not produce just one. Some will charge more, some less. You upload (or transfer) the Gerber files to the manufacturer, pay up, and provide shipping information and in 2 to 4 weeks (varies) you'll have your very own, designed PCBs!

You will need two rectifiers :) Because the coils are offset from each other. If they're connected to the same rectifier, their voltages will always cancel out.

@@christophersfactory thank you!

Well, I think it was perfect as I sped it up to 1.25% to watch it and it was just right. I do have an electronics background. So good range.