Per the discussion of breaking belts...

Belts are needed for two things, the alternator and the water pump.  But if we replace the water pump can we get rid of the belt?

Has anyone considered replacing the crank angle sensor with a PM alternator/generator?

The things are relative simple (a can of coiled wire with some magnets on a spinning shaft in the middle), but what effect would a spinning magnet have on the hall effect sensor that drives the ignition system?

I've been looking at this a while.  It looks like a hole could be tapped and threaded into the top of the crank angle sensor shaft.  A generator with a threaded shaft would be screwed into that, properly oriented threads insuring that the generator shaft will never come unscrewed, and some straps on the housing to keep it from spinning.

A 35A generator, is < 500W would only need a few ft.oz. of retaining force at 6000RPM.

The front pulley could be replaced with the same sort of installation.

Another consideraton.  Alternators have a heavy shell, bearings and mounting because there is a substantial side loads and vibrations derived from the belt.  A gear driven generator can be much lighter, with just a sheet metal can for a housing.

I've got a number for an electrical engineer who is going to help me work out the feasability and sizing for this application, but I'd like the thoughts of anyone on the list.


--
http://www.ernest.isa-geek.org/
"This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
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mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."