Every microwave oven has a drive to rotate the food. This is necessary so that the micro waves evenly affect the prepared food from all sides. If you have an old and unnecessary microwave, then this drive can be removed from it and it will look something like this:
If this is not available, you can always buy it at Ali Express but a ridiculous price of 1-2 bucks.
This is essentially a synchronous electric motor with a gearbox inside the housing. By the way, it is precisely because of this gearbox that the output shaft of the motor is offset relative to the center.
A special feature of this motor is that its rotor is built on permanent magnets, and therefore the motor can not only convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, but also vice versa.
The output voltage will naturally depend on the rotation speed of its shaft, but due to the internal gearbox it is small. The output power that can be obtained using such a generator is about 3-5 W.
Testing an electric motor from a microwave as a generator
Let's check this out. Let's connect the motor to the tester to measure the voltage.
We will rotate the shaft with an ordinary awl to create a convenient lever. There is a hole in the shaft for this.
Even with slight rotation, the motor produces approximately 150 to 250 volts. And if you increase the rotation speed a little more, the readings reach 550 V!
Connecting the loads
Now let's try to load our generator. To begin with, let's take a 220 V and 3 W LED lamp.
As you can see, it shines very well.
Next, let's take a fluorescent lamp and connect it directly without any trigger circuits.
It's burning! Electronics for ignition are not needed, since there is plenty of voltage.
Next, connect a 220 V incandescent lamp.
Alas, it did not catch fire. The generator power is clearly not enough. This is understandable.
We connect the charger from the mobile phone.
We connect the mobile phone to the charger and rotate it manually.
Charging is in progress, the cell phone is getting infected!
Conclusion
There are many applications for this generator. Tourists, hunters, and fishermen will definitely appreciate the idea and will most likely adopt it. The advantage of such a current source is that it is always ready for work and is not afraid of dampness and cold, which is what all lithium-ion power banks are so afraid of.
