i have a hand crank light that was sounding funny so i opened it up one of the gears had a bad spot on it it still works just not as good as it used to i know it is the bad gear because i tried everything else and it works fine so what i want to know is if i wanted to could i turn it into a usb charger if i wanted to. im getting a new light and wanted to still use the parts on this one that work. if i can i would like to make it into something like a ipod charger or something like that.

 

Maybe you can work out a chart of generator speed versus wattage output. I think most of those output -100mW when cranked rapidly.

 

that could work but if i do make it a charger then i will make it were it does a max out put of 5 v so that no matter how hard it will be cranked it will go no more over 5 v

 

Will you cost more to transform it to an USB charger than buying one.
If not for the learning effect it's not worth it.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/dynamo-hand-crank-usb-cell-phone-emergency-charger-24036

 

You could turn it into a wind-powered LED landscape light, similar to the ubiquitous solar-powered ones. Just replace the solar panel with the generator.