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Surpluscenter carries a lot of different types of bearings/couplings/gearsets...etc, at pretty cheap prices-- ship everywhere. I've done business with them-- good company http://www.surpluscenter.com/powerTrans.asp?UID=2008102308171619&catname=powerTrans

Lots of surplus companies sell that kind of stuff. Check out surpluscenter for instance.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-958-A&catname=electric

All other configurations are called blowers, like this classic design:

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-930&catname=electric

Or more unusual designs like this regenerative ring blower good for a pressure of 40 inches!!! of water column.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-1084&catname=electric

So I think the terminology should be either "Fans" OR " -type- + blower" where type is squirril cage, cross flow, regenerative, backward curved, etc. etc.

On the other hand, The classic text "Fan Engineering" from Howden Buffalo is about blower as well.. So who knows?

http://www.yourcompanyshop.com/howdenbuffalo/catal og/default.aspx?lid=52

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-958-A&catname=electric

All other configurations are called blowers, like this classic design:

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-930&catname=electric

Or more unusual designs like this regenerative ring blower good for a pressure of 40 inches!!! of water column.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-1084&catname=electric

So I think the terminology should be either "Fans" OR " -type- + blower" where type is squirril cage, cross flow, regenerative, backward curved, etc. etc.

On the other hand, The classic text "Fan Engineering" from Howden Buffalo is about blower as well.. So who knows?

http://www.yourcompanyshop.com/howdenbuffalo/catal og/default.aspx?lid=52

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-958-A&catname=electric

All other configurations are called blowers, like this classic design:

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-930&catname=electric

Or more unusual designs like this regenerative ring blower good for a pressure of 40 inches!!! of water column.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060530 14451604&item=16-1084&catname=electric

So I think the terminology should be either "Fans" OR " -type- + blower" where type is squirril cage, cross flow, regenerative, backward curved, etc. etc.

On the other hand, The classic text "Fan Engineering" from Howden Buffalo is about blower as well.. So who knows?

http://www.yourcompanyshop.com/howdenbuffalo/catal og/default.aspx?lid=52

The fans these cases use are absurdly small (so they can be really cheap to make) and using many fans creates added noise due to the beat frequency between them.

The correct way to go about this is to get a cheap steel case, like this for $20.75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16811156011

Then get a fan like this for $9.95

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060529 19261386&item=16-1331&catname=electric

Now to slow the fan down, to make it quiet, wire a motor run capacitor in series with the fan. Use a cap like this ($1.99) :

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060529 19273017&item=22-1186&catname=electric

If you use a smaller value cap, the fan will run slower. If you use a larger value cap, the fan will run faster. The fan speed changes a lot for small changes in the cap value.

Now cut a blowhole in the top of the case, bolt the fan on top blowing into the case, and get rid of all other case fans. Leave the faceplates off on both sides of the video card so lots of air rushes out that way.

Stick a fork in it. It's done.

The fans these cases use are absurdly small (so they can be really cheap to make) and using many fans creates added noise due to the beat frequency between them.

The correct way to go about this is to get a cheap steel case, like this for $20.75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16811156011

Then get a fan like this for $9.95

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060529 19261386&item=16-1331&catname=electric

Now to slow the fan down, to make it quiet, wire a motor run capacitor in series with the fan. Use a cap like this ($1.99) :

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060529 19273017&item=22-1186&catname=electric

If you use a smaller value cap, the fan will run slower. If you use a larger value cap, the fan will run faster. The fan speed changes a lot for small changes in the cap value.

Now cut a blowhole in the top of the case, bolt the fan on top blowing into the case, and get rid of all other case fans. Leave the faceplates off on both sides of the video card so lots of air rushes out that way.

Stick a fork in it. It's done.

There is always a difference between used and new prices. The same site you mentioned has a few generators for sale for ~$100/kW. However, none below $400. However, I am sure you can find some, if you are trying to find a used/surplus one. There are a few on Ebay as I am posting this. Good luck!

You are correct in that electric generators are a "mature" technology. I've always been of the opinion that there is no such thing as a "mature" technology, only a stagnant one, but until I come up with a cheaper electric motor design, I'm only talking out my ass. With current designs and copper prices, electric motors are about as cheap as they are going to get. However, they are still more expensive than IC engines for any human size+ power scale. Better magnets are going to help, but I think the diesel engine is still improving faster than the dynamo.

My point earlier was that just because something is made of electronics, does not mean that it will be cheap. There is no Moore's Law in power electronics. Ever buy a 30 kW diode? Not cheap. I work for a company that makes little electronic boxes that sell for $22,500. Nuclear Instrumentation is also not cheap, but for different reasons. Electronics have become much better at handling information in our modern age, but for many other things, they are slightly better versions of what we had in the sixties.

I think the reason people have become so complacent about electricity supplies is that we have had it so good for so long. People rely upon it because they can. Not buying a generator to keep the gas pumps running was a good financial bet for 20+ years, and probably will be for the next 20+ years.

I got my start in common and electronic hardware in my teens. I stand by my statements.

Anything electronic should be the benefit of our modern age. My particular quote "gee, electronics ... how expensive can that be?" dealt with the electronics that controlled the engine, the motor, and regulated the output. You are talking about the motor/generator part. And that's another thorny issue.

The West has been making electric motors for over 100 years. In fact, this page shows a company that started making such things in 1893. Motors and generators are a very mature technology. Combined with their pervasive presence in general stuff for sale, I'd say that motors can't be that expensive all around. I just did a bit of surfing, and at least this surplus place (at first glance, new electric motors don't seem to have website prices) shows AC motors at roughly $50/kW.

So, with a surplus or quality used engine and motor, with some controlling electronics, I can't imagine that you'd spend more than $150 with smart shopping. $200 on the outside. And this causes me to question a $400 generator, considering their economy of scale.

I suspect that (along with items for home pools) the price is significantly set by consumer desperation. Your link to the Generator FAQ 1.0 was very informative, but illustrated by implication how unprepared our wired-up civilization is for emergency bypasses. Homes are installed with one heating system (often dependent upon two power/fuel sources to run), one lighting system, and one food-storage system. If the ng or electric fails, you simply lose your heat. If the electric fails, you lose your perishable food and lighting. There just aren't alternatives ... not just the alternatives themselves, but there aren't any bypass interfaces for them. There should be hookups for an electric generator, and for wood/coal stoves.

This is the Achilles Heel of our civilization. It has little to do with cost, and much to do with our attitude. For example, the bank HQ I work at was hit by the Aug 2003 power outage. They have a truly enormous deisel generator on their roof, and that cut in automatically once the power was truly off (there was some battery holdover, but I digress). The generator kept our data center and PBX alive ... but everyone else in the building was gone. Everyone ... including the item processors who must process those thousands of checks every day as contractually promised. As I later discovered, the generator has enough capacity to keep the data center, the PBX and item processors alive, but entire other floors, including the cash vault, facilities, private banking, international, etc.

Oh, yes, they're taking NOW about wiring all that up, but that's not the point. It should have been wired up to emergency power from the beginning. But it fell by the wayside from our so-called civilized attitude. We get fat and happy, and as a result fall prey to a fantasy of security.

Look ... during the outage, across southern Michigan gasoline stations were dead for days, since the pumps ran on electricity. Gas stations have ... gee, I dunno, GAS available? And maybe you can use gas to run a generator to run the pumps? Am I the only one who can see this?