i have seen bar type magnets and the jaws-clam kind... are either of those neodymium magnets? ive seen some alternators called permanent magnet alternators [PMA].

Your normal alternator has no permanent magnets in it. It uses a copper coil for the magnet, meaning if there's no electricity to excite this (field) coil, you aren't going to get anything out of it because it isn't a magnet without at least a little power.

It's different in a PM alternator because there is always a magnetic field, so all it needs is rotation to start generating electricity. A permanent magnet motor will generate electricity the same way.

Edit: BTW, PM alternators are rare, so I doubt you've seen the insides of any with neodymium magnets. If there was copper wire in between the "magnets" then they weren't permanenet magnets at all. They were probably just iron-cores for the electromagnets.

[This message has been edited by Stubby79 (edited 11-22-2012).]

it was a youtube video for wind turbines... i was very skeptical so i asked here to the people i know have way more experience than i do in this area.

Move a magnet(a magnetic field to be more precise) past a wire, it'll force electrons to move in the wire, generating a wee tiny bit of electricity. Stronger magnets and more wires = more electricity generated.



Armature = magnet (electro-magnet in this case)
Stator = wires (lots and lots of them)
Rotation of the armature (via the serpentine belt) = movement.

The nice thing about using an electromagnet in the equation is that you can vary the strength of the magnetic field by how much power you put into it, thereby controlling the output of the alternator. A permanent magnet altenrator would have to use another method to control the output.

the gauge of the wire and the number of turns also is something important to take into consideration.

quote Originally posted by XgovernmentAgent: it was a youtube video for wind turbines... i was very skeptical so i asked here to the people i know have way more experience than i do in this area.

Not hydrogen appliances by chance? They sell permanent magnet alternators.

Most such generators - in wind turbines and the like - use permanent magnet generators (a DC motor) because they don't require powering a field coil, therefore are more efficient and can make electricity without requiring a "jump" to start the process.

There are self-exciting alternators too. But they still use some of the power they're generating to power the field coil, so there's that much less power for your use(less efficient).

What about the video made you skeptical?

[This message has been edited by Stubby79 (edited 11-23-2012).]

ive fallen into the 'energy from magnets' group recently and want to get a bunch of neodymium magnets as cheaply as possible... saw that wind generator video of them ripping apart an alternator that had a bunch of neo magnets and thought i would ask for clarification on here.

quote Originally posted by XgovernmentAgent: ive fallen into the 'energy from magnets' group recently and want to get a bunch of neodymium magnets as cheaply as possible... saw that wind generator video of them ripping apart an alternator that had a bunch of neo magnets and thought i would ask for clarification on here.

Tons of cheap ones on ebay for neodymium magnets you can buy. You'd probably have to pull apart a decent strength/quality electric motor to find what you're looking for (in which case, just use the motor as is to generate electricity!). At least if you're buying them that way, you can get them in the size/shape you want. You won't find any in a junked alternator thats just laying around. Not unless whoever tossed it didn't know what they had(they'd probably get it fixed rather than replace it as they're expensive).

What're you going to do with them? Build your own generator?

yup. i am aiming at using the magnets repelling force on a disc on the gen stater with magnets mounted in it, kind of like a perendev setup.
searching into magnets can lead to physics, astronomy, nikola tesla, free energy misconceptions, and the end of the world... i found a new world of info and wonder. its pretty exciting.

[This message has been edited by XgovernmentAgent (edited 11-24-2012).]