Comments on: How to attach a 120v popcorn machine to a bike?

Question: How to attach a 120v popcorn machine to a bike?

TurkishGolds — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 21:07:10 -0800

I want to attach a popcorn machine to a bike like this. The machine takes 120 Volts, any idea how I could power it?

By: neustile

neustile — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 21:41:39 -0800

those machines are very high current (20 amps!!!) That's 20 * 120V = 2,400 watts. I've seen reports of people generating 200 or so watts in a bicycle pedalling pretty fast, so 'natural power' is out. Batteries, solar etc are more or less out too, heat generation does not have many portable electrical solutions.

I think you'd be better of burning fuel directly to hear the air for the popper. This will require you to make your own device. Perhaps use the bicycle power to blow fresh air into some closed box that is heated by an external fuel source? That's my best guess.

By: neustile

neustile — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 21:43:47 -0800

"better off," and "heat the air," and it should go without saying that DON'T HURT ANYONE. The more I think about it the more disaster scenarios show up in my mind.

By: rajbot

rajbot — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 22:14:11 -0800

That's not so hard. But I would look at getting a less power-hungry, consumer-grade popper.

If you don't want to do that, get the 1050W popper, and get a 1500W inverter. Power it off a deep cycle battery. Get a 115 amp-hour deep cycle from Sears for $60.

115 amp-hours / (1050W / 12V) = 1.3 hours *at most*

At the very most, you want 80% discharge, so that's one hour per battery. Get multiple batteries if needed. They are very heavy, but last a long time if taken care of properly. Don't tip the deep-cycle, or you pay twice as much for a sealed battery.

An alternative is to get a generator. The Honda EU1000 is really quiet (for a genny) and costs $650, but it's only 900W continuous, and the starting surge current would probably trip its inverter.

The EU2000 is also quiet, and costs a $1000.
That popper sure does take a lot of power...

By: majick

majick — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 23:30:01 -0800

If you just want a mobile popcorn machine, and aren't trying to make it human-powered, have you considered using tanked gas instead? Generating or storing electricity just to produce heat seems rather roundabout compared to just burning stuff.

By: TurkishGolds

TurkishGolds — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 06:42:40 -0800

I would totally used tanked gas, I just didn't realize that I could get a machine that would do that. This isn't really a well thought out plan, at this point. I'm still just kinda dreaming about it .... I just want to be able to make large amounts of popcorn on the back of a bike, any way that happens is fine with me.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 08:15:23 -0800

Turkish, I've seen guys riding bikes with attached wagons to the back that could hold a tanked gas solution easy. These guys will custom-build you just about any food vendor cart you could imagine. If you just want to build your own solution, you'll need to fabricate something to attach a wagon to your bike. I've seen bikes with toddler-attachments that ride in the back, maybe you could start there. It'd have to be big enough to hold the machine and any power source (likely a big, heavy battery).

By: hattifattener

hattifattener — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:55:45 -0800

Tanked gas seems like the best solution, since what you need all this energy for is heat anyway. Maybe tanked gas for heat, with a (much smaller) battery to run blowers, igniters, and whatnot.

If you want to go the electric-heat route, you could maybe use a fuel cell. Spendy though.

By: lotsofno

lotsofno — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:57:28 -0800

have you looked through gold medal's catalog? i think i remember seeing something in there like that--i could be wrong though. you can request a catalog to be priority mailed to you for free by the way, on their site.

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 16:39:48 -0800

After googling longer than I care to admit - it's a fun idea - I found this popper. It's too big and too expensive for your purpose, I think - you won't need to make 240 1-oz. servings of popcorn per hour - but it would fit in your bike cart. It runs on a 12V for the drive motor and propane gas for the heat.

If I were you, I might just find some of these popcorn machine retailers and hit them with an email explaining your particular needs. (Wouldn't mind hearing more about them myself - are you planning to become the neighborhood Popcorn Fairy, riding around delivering popcorn to all and sundry, or have you a more specific idea?)