On Monday morning I went to Lloyd's Electronics to inquire about a voltage regulator. I explained my project, and the owner recommended an adjustable regulator. He said I could set it at 14.2 volts and that would be ideal for charging a 12-volt battery. That sounds great, except the adjustable regulator must be assembled. The regulator kit includes a circuit board, diodes, resistors, a potentiometer, capacitors, and a regulator. The basic skill required for assembling the kit is soldering. I have done a little soldering on a plumbing project, but I have never soldered wire. So, I am going to put the adjustable regulator and the battery on hold while I prepare to present my generator to my class this week. I can get a soldering lesson next week and then move ahead with charging the battery.
In the meantime, I decided to hook up a cigarette lighter receptacle to PedGen so that an inverter could be plugged into the receptacle and a cell phone could be charged from the inverter. I went to an auto parts store and selected a basic cigarette lighter receptacle. As I was paying for it, I described my project to the employee and asked if he thought I would need a voltage regulator to protect the receptacle. "Yes, you do need a regulator unless you want to use a fire extinguisher." "OK, thanks. I don't think starting a fire would be good for my grade!" The good news is that I can just use a standard 12-volt voltage regulator (I can get away without soldering...yet).
In the meantime, I decided to hook up a cigarette lighter receptacle to PedGen so that an inverter could be plugged into the receptacle and a cell phone could be charged from the inverter. I went to an auto parts store and selected a basic cigarette lighter receptacle. As I was paying for it, I described my project to the employee and asked if he thought I would need a voltage regulator to protect the receptacle. "Yes, you do need a regulator unless you want to use a fire extinguisher." "OK, thanks. I don't think starting a fire would be good for my grade!" The good news is that I can just use a standard 12-volt voltage regulator (I can get away without soldering...yet).