Portable 12-Volt Battery Charges

Portable 12-Volt Battery Charges FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 31-1-37 Robert Ferreira, Crystal River, Florida: "I came up with a simple, portable 12-volt battery charger that works much like a car charging system. It works great for charging any vehicle with a dead battery. All the information on the wiring schematics that's required to build this charging system can be found in any auto repair manual. "The idea is to use a small engine to belt-drive a car alternator, which is used to charge the dead battery. I use a 4 1/2 hp Briggs & Stratton salvaged from an old lawn edger, and an alternator off a GM car. The engine belt-drives the alternator the same way a car engine does, and it allows the alternator to produce enough voltage to æexcite' the field. Both the engine and alternator mount on a wooden platform that I bolted onto the frame of the old 2-wheeled lawn edger. I mounted a homemade control panel on the cart that's equipped with an amp meter, volt meter, and switches that came off a car. "To charge a dead battery, all I do is start the engine and hook a pair of clip leads to the tractor's battery. A small 12-volt lawn mower battery is used for the field."

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