Hey All, I was hoping someone on the forum could help me with my next problem... I'm trying to source the internal parts of a wind-up charger (gears/circuit board) for my project. Rather than specifying it from scratch I'm hoping to find a low cost module that I can design a case around. Any ideas? I've tried places like Alibaba etc. but they just have the completed product. I've never had to source parts before so I might be missing an obvious place to try... Thanks for any help. James
I'm not sure how where you wish to put the balance point between fundamental design and plagiarism but your concept is interesting. I might be tempted to go down the clockwork radio route. This is because it takes a boring amount of time to charge a battery - hence I would delegate the boredom to a clockwork motor into which I can put quite of bit of my energy fairly quickly! Charging modern Lion batteries is electrically quite complicated but there are clever chips that manage the process efficiently and safely. A good electronic component distributor such as Farnell or RS will stock these and provide access to the relevant data sheets on how to use them. Alternatively you could use a ready-made car powered battery charger (which will have the necessary controls built in) and use your dynamo to supply the 12 or so DC volts. On the gears etc (if you cannot find them in an old clock work radio), again Farnell or RS or Maplin or indeed model shops should be able to help you. Perhaps the ultimate "battery" is indeed just a clockwork motor and dynamo - forget about chemical storage! Good luck
