Because a old PC fan wrote an entire story on YouTube, and many tried to turn an old PC fan into an electric generator, I kept thinking about how to do it without cheating (you know what I mean....). After some tests, I managed to achieve something simple – specifically, a magnetic transmission from the PC fan to a magnetic sphere inside a copper coil using a magnetic attachment and then without it. It may sound complicated, but it's actually quite straightforward. Here are the results:
Video :
1.Test 1
2. Test 2
I disabled the fan blades to minimize air resistance; you can use a 3.7V Li-ion 18650 battery with an input current around 0.00x A. As a real-life application, I powered a Christmas setup by supplying low amperage AC to its LEDs, even though they were originally designed for DC.

))

 

As a novelty, it is quite interesting and eye-appealing!
Congratulations on your ingenuity.

And I say novelty, because until you measure the efficiency,
Pout/Pin, this cannot be a labeled as a practical generator device.

 

I am trying to imagine a PC cooling fan working as a generator, unless it was one of the much older kinds that used a brush-type DC motor. The ones with a bldc MOTOR i DO NOT SEE HOW THEY CAN WORK AS A GENERATOR, without modifications to the motor. I have no clue about what the " magnetic transmission from the PC fan to a magnetic sphere inside a copper coil using a magnetic attachment. " might be. And the video attachment did not work for me.
Fora wind powered generator, using free wind, efficiency is less critical if one is an experimenter , but really important if one is a utility company.

 

And the video attachment did not work for me.

You didn't miss a thing. The fact of the matter is it takes electricity to make it work in the first place so it's most likely just another person who doesn't understand physics and tip toeing on the lines of banned subjects.

 

Actually, using a fan with a motor as a generator is ok if you are not blowing the air back on the fan. An older automotive radiator fan will produce a bit of power in the wind, and that is indeed free power FROM WIND. Not self powering, just capturing some energy. So 10KWH of wind delivers 3 KWH of electrical power for free.
But a computer fan with a BLDC motor will indeed require some conversion effort to become a generator.

 

I am trying to imagine a PC cooling fan working as a generator, unless it was one of the much older kinds that used a brush-type DC motor. The ones with a bldc MOTOR i DO NOT SEE HOW THEY CAN WORK AS A GENERATOR, without modifications to the motor. I have no clue about what the " magnetic transmission from the PC fan to a magnetic sphere inside a copper coil using a magnetic attachment. " might be. And the video attachment did not work for me.
Fora wind powered generator, using free wind, efficiency is less critical if one is an experimenter , but really important if one is a utility company.

Hello ! Lets start with the magnetic transmission .
Creating magnetic transmission between two magnets is based on the interaction of magnetic fields. The PC fan motor contains a magnetic strip (as part of its construction), and when it rotates, its magnetic field interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet used as the rotor in generator X. In this case there is no need to modify the motor. Here is an example of magnetic transmission in one of my tests :
Video magnetic transmission :

https://youtube.com/shorts/OsoDwfQaA1s?si=IaOxzkXW6ZHBnaw2

Video Pc fan electric generator project :
https://youtube.com/shorts/DeMULsR_dqI?si=en88JhnD2FYGIMuz

I made this project, because YouTube is full of scam movies regarding this subject( " Pc fan generator ") and I decide to show people how can it be done for real, of course I can use any magnetic field, I wish to interact with the rotor of the generator, in this particular scenario I chose the PC fan case....
Best regards s.t. !

 

You didn't miss a thing. The fact of the matter is it takes electricity to make it work in the first place so it's most likely just another person who doesn't understand physics and tip toeing on the lines of banned subjects.

Hello !
I believe you missed the essential point. It's not nice to insult without reason, in fact, it's not good to insult at all.
The part about the laws of physics clearly didn't sound right. It's evident that the rotor of the generator/motor can be engaged using the power of the wind,water, sun, H -He , aliens , Harry Potter, etc... and NOT electricity like I did. ( I can also be" funny" ...)
To be more specific :

https://youtube.com/shorts/OsoDwfQaA1s?si=tgr0i8myj-AkY2nm

Before you reply be aware of that my youtube channel is NOT monetized !

Example:

In other project, presended below I used , a Dc power source ( solar panels in ambient light to power up " my strange motor - generator " - a kind of mechanical inverter.... ) obtaining Ac power - and don' t judge me for this : Why freeze outside in the wind with a propeller when you can simulate it with a small solar panel, battery, etc.?
Where is the efficiency when I'm dealing with temperature, as I've endured the cold and wind, having to take pills just to demonstrate that I can engage the device using wind power in this particular case ?




https://youtube.com/shorts/FksdOyAaNjg?si=wXOP2C_xQt2nbCvG

Best regards !
s.t.
Ps : to understand my "point of view" (
Because everything is relative and depends on the observer) read, please, my story it is short and funny :
https://sites.google.com/view/small-generator-story/pagina-de-pornire?authuser=2

".... 3.Electric forums - If you are new on an electric forum and you have a name like "sciencetoolbar" (big mistake ) and you came up with something new, be prepared for axes and knives. As usual , the forum administrator appreciate some guys which are pretending to know everything, a kind of " Father of all knowledges " and if you say something or reply to them, he (the admin, another "technology guru "- in many cases 99 % ) will close the thread or even ban you. I am always like to listen" the smart guys " which are pretending they are smart and I am stupid. I wish to see how far they can get."

So , lets play nice and prove that You are not the father of all knowledges like others guys from the story of the small generator-I asure you that I will not cry if someone will delete my thread ( I have nothing to lose or to gain )So, we have a deal ?

 

Hello !
I believe you missed the essential point. It's not nice to insult without reason, in fact, it's not good to insult at all.
The part about the laws of physics clearly didn't sound right.

My apologies. I saw this as a "free energy" type thing at the moment. While it does generate electricity the fact remains it also uses electricity to make electricity which in my mind makes it a pointless project other than to demonstrate magnetic forces.

I'm for sure no expert in this area, but I do know enough to figure out the general idea of things.

 

In a brushless DC motor there is a fair bit of electronic circuitry between the incoming power connection and the electronicly commutated coils. Thus it does not seem reasonable to expect that power would simply flow back through the circuitry in the manner of a generator. I have not experimented with a BLDC computer fan to verify that, though. Perhaps others have tried that, it would be good to hear their results.
In a brush-type motor there is no electronics and so it will very simply function as a generator.

And certainly adding a copper strip inside such a motor would qualify as "a modification", which I did state would be required to use it as a generator.

In addition, it is rather clear that a large portion of what claims to be fact on the cartoon channel(youtube) is totally faked.

 

In a brushless DC motor there is a fair bit of electronic circuitry between the incoming power connection and the electronicly commutated coils. Thus it does not seem reasonable to expect that power would simply flow back through the circuitry in the manner of a generator. I have not experimented with a BLDC computer fan to verify that, though. Perhaps others have tried that, it would be good to hear their results.
In a brush-type motor there is no electronics and so it will very simply function as a generator.

You really need to find a way to see the videos. The fan rotates a ball which is the generator. The fan only actually provides the power to the system and has nothing to do with the generation side of things.

 

OK, and interesting. AND, CERTAINLY, attaching a ball to a fan is a modification, which I very clearly stated would be required, but I did not say what kind of modification.

 

How does this relate to using a computer fan as a generator???

 

How does this relate to using a computer fan as a generator???

Because he's using the changing magnetic flux from the fan motor coil winding to exert rotational forces on the charges on the ball (by induction) causing a transfer of energy. The fan is a generator (transforming energy from a external PS) of changing magnetic flux. The OP needs to really understand what's happening is not new or novel.

 

OK, I thought that the TS was spinning the disk.
And I do wonder if anybody has tried using a BLDC motor as a generator. That is still an open question. I can see that the intrinsic diodes in a mosfet driver might act like a rectifier bridge, but never examined it closely.
THAT would be interesting.

 

OK, I thought that the TS was spinning the disk.
And I do wonder if anybody has tried using a BLDC motor as a generator. That is still an open question. I can see that the intrinsic diodes in a mosfet driver might act like a rectifier bridge, but never examined it closely.
THAT would be interesting.

In general, the BLDC driver on cheap fans are not designed for energy capture but there are ones designed for regeneration.
https://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/regenerative braking of bldc motors.pdf

 

You really need to find a way to see the videos. The fan rotates a ball which is the generator. The fan only actually provides the power to the system and has nothing to do with the generation side of things.

It has, the magnetic strip of the pc fan rotates the sphere and it is a component of the generator a very important one....

OK, and interesting. AND, CERTAINLY, attaching a ball to a fan is a modification, which I very clearly stated would be required, but I did not say what kind of modification.

Hello ! I am sorry you can not see the movies I don't know why you have this problem.
I will attach some pictures.
The neo sphere is "connected "to the pc fan through magnetic transmission and is placed on top of it at a resonable distance.
I am runing the pc fan at 3.7 V (instead 12 V ) and o.oox A and for SURE I am obtaining less then the input power. Only Nuclear fusion is looking for a Q factor 7 or higher, but here is not the case , but for sure it is a Pc fan converted into a generator in a simple way..

s.t

 

The bottom line is that a BLDC motor is quite capable of generating when back-fed/driven.
Whether you can easily detect this depends on whether the motor has internal commutation control electronics.
e.g. most BLDC used in HVAC uses this, as does many of the PC fans that came out to replace the DC brushed versions.
The PC ver. has two leads for the 12v and has a commutation IC which includes a magnetic detector that provides the internal commutation.
So the bottom line is, whether the motor stator and commutation exit the motor directly or not.
Note: A BLDC motor will generate a 3phase output when back fed.

 

In this video I attached the sphere directly on the pc fan motor resulting AC power but I am not satisfied about the electric consumption - I used a 18650 battery to run the motor, the gotw will punch me for this (for the battery... )

https://youtube.com/shorts/eMMh7LWl0kM?si=jx72e4h7c7Y72K5m
st

 

Here in this video i used an Ac to dc rectifier and the same 18650 battery
https://youtube.com/shorts/HYrFJ9juXj0?si=Dy-DZWr5zVIY9WD8
Here I used the same pc fan motor with 12 V input to power an Ac Led Bulb 230 V - 7 W -a child domestic bulb not the father bulb

https://youtube.com/shorts/aniKEZGyC4g?si=gNX2LbFiHooEUJXP

No is time to vote because in my subjective opinion this is the way to convert a pc fan into a generator :

The question , It is a pc fan generator or not ?

thx st

 

Question, if you remove the spinning ball, will you still induce a voltage in the coil?

If the answer is no, then….
Then, it isn’t.
The PC fan is only a prime mover which rotates the ball, whose rotation is the one which induces the voltage.