I bought the Chinese Hand Crank Generator advertised by "Cheaper than Dirt" for $99.97. It was advertised as the 6.3 volt 10 watt generator. I soon found out that I got a bargain after it had arrived. But first to the details of its arrival and unpacking and setup. I have taken a series of pictures which depict it's unpacking and assembly. I was very impressed with its' packaging to begin with. The day before it arrived it had snowed here, I live in Montana as the web site information address attests to. I have a driveway that instills fear into people even without snow on it. Needless to say when it does snow the UPS or FedEx or DHL drivers will leave my packages at the bottom of the hill, unless I have to sign for them, in which event they will leave a note down on the mail boxes. So I came home to find this "crate" sitting by the rock at the entrance to my driveway. A very nicely built, sturdy wooden crate. The "quality" of which you would expect from 30 or 40 years ago. Here's a picture of it with the top taken off and the boxes removed.

The first indication that something was different was in the "label" from the warehouse on the side of the box which shows a "50W"...and yes that's real Montana snow on the edge of the box!"

There were 3 perfectly wrapped boxes inside the crate. The boxes had "no slop" in their fit inside the crate. The crate was "made to fit" the three boxes. The paper used to wrap the boxes was perfectly sealed on each seam and made from a very good quality "construction" type of paper. Much sturdier than "brown paper grocery bags". Each box had a label written in Chinese.

Under the first layer of wrapping, each box was sealed (completely) with a very thick wax paper. It made quite the mess when I opened them up. This is the "water tight" layer of the wrap job.

Under the wax paper layer was yet another "sealed" layer of heavy wrapping paper. This was sealed with paper tape on each and every seam.

The cardboard boxes under all the wrapping paper were of course no slouches either. I kept all the boxes and put them back into the crate for storage. The contents of each box were all neatly packed so there would be little if any "jostling around" while handling the crate, or any individual box. One box contained the actual generator. Another box contained the frame of the backpack. The final box contained the "extras" and spare goodies. Here is a picture of the generator stand which is actually the backpack when folded up.

A few shots of the generator by itself. The meter goes up to 50VDC/2A output (100W). It has a marker at the regulated 25V output spot. There are two switches top side under a flip up panel cover. When checked with a DVM the output reaches 25V with relatively easy cranking. You can crank it faster and make the meter go up higher but the output is "regulated" to 25V, even though the meter shows more. You can "get more" by simply bypassing the regulator. It puts out 25V/2A and 30V/1A at the same time. It uses different pins in the 4 pin connector for 25V and 30V. So with relatively easy cranking you can get 80W of useable power out of this baby.

NOTE THE "50" ON THE LABEL

Packed with the generator were the instructions and "test sign off sheet" and a nifty wire harness for bypassing the regulator and tapping directly off the 3-phase windings of the generator. Which then enables you to get the full 100W output. Of course the instructions are in Chinese. All of the data for this unit indicate "50 watts" output power. The instruction booklet does break the language barrier by including some very fine "pictures" of the unit "inside and out". The generator was packed all greased up and ready to run. There was some "slight" indication of the grease on one of the desicant bags inside the box. Hey, it's only been packed up for 40 or so years!

The 3 boxes are packed as follows...The long narrow box contains the backpack/stand. Both of the smaller boxes are the same size. Which makes them pack into the crate very nicely, since both of the smaller boxes together are the same length as the larger narrow box. One of the smaller boxes is noticeably the heavier of the two and it contains the generator and the instruction booklet and "test stamped documents" certifying it works at its' rated output. In this case 25VDC/2A. The lighter of the small boxes contains the extras and some unexpected "goodies". You get two cans of "grease". You get the shoulder straps for the backpack, along with a chest strap (to connect the two shoulder straps together) and a waist belt. The backpack can be "securely" worn with all the straps properly in place. Also in this box are found the canvas cover for the generator to put over it when being carried on the backpack. A canvas "shoulder bag" to carry the hand cranks and the wire harness and the power cable and the grease and the "spare parts"...yes SPARE PARTS!!! There are also two very nice white vinyl/plastic bags for covering the entire set after you have unpacked it from the crate. They thought of almost everything.

SPARE PARTS AND GREASE ON TOP OF VINYL/PLASTIC BAGS

I would recommend this purchase to anyone and everyone who wants to get a very good reliable generator of this type. I got "lucky" and they shipped me a 25V/2A setup instead of the 6.3V one that they advertise. I have heard that the 6.3V job can be modified by simply bypassing the output section. I believe that to be true after seeing mine and seeing the wire harness and the schematics for the regulator. In the booklet they even include a parts list in case you lose your spares or maybe they don't work for whatever reason. You have a schematic a parts list and spare parts and the print of the actual circuit board. Which is not to scale but could be used to create a proper sized print for reproduction of the circuit board. I know, that's what I do for a living...circuit board design. I may well provide "you" with a print that you can use to print the circuit onto a "clear vellum" sheet to photo etch your circuit onto one of those nifty "Radio Shack" circuit board kits. For say...$9.95. Just ask and send your payment to "mbodesign@juno.com" via PayPal. NOTE: I don't know why "Cheaper Than Dirts" picture shows the "cable" coming out the front of the generator. Mine comes out the back, and there is only ONE WAY to mount the generator to the frame. Maybe it is another of the differences between the 50W unit and the 10W unit. I don't know.

Hakon - The Wolf-Hybrid - "Is that a Chi-Com I smell?"