12v electric magnet
 

I need an electric magnet that can hold 600 pounds and run in an automobile. Is this possible? My inital thoughts are that there will be way too much of an amp load to be feasible, but look watt little magnets and batteries do to r/c cars. I know this is way out there but you guys are like geniuses and stuff.:yes:

Three of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ELM-100-Lifting-...3286.m20.l1116

One of these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ELM-600-Lifting-...3286.m20.l1116

The magnet part is easy - I want to know what the heck you are doing?

Here is a place we have used. http://www.liftonmagnets.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=nDvIELfvVPs%3d&tabid=590 &mid=1896&language=en-US

I wouldnt recommend electromagnets - unless you have a good control system.

I was thinking about building one I had no idea they were readily available. I want to hold my wheelchair from moving in my van. It has a ground clearance compromising lock down and I want to use a magnet to lock and unlock it at the flip of a switch. Control system? It'll be stationary?

Why the 600 pound load rating? Are you planning to hit some wild jumps in the van? :rofl: I'm not 100% sure how it works; Do you drive while in the chair or is it stowed behind the driver seat? If you're sitting in it then the 600 pound rating isn't too far off. If not then 200 should be fine. Why an electromagnet? One of those quick release NdFeB assemblies would be much easier to build/install, and less complicated to operate. Just make sure you can reach the lever!

this reminds me of an electromagnet my dad made for me when I was 7yrs old, he took a large bolt wrapped a bunch of copper wire around the shaft, then wrapped the winding with white tape and supplied me with a 6 volt lantern battery. this kept me satisfied for a while untill I got bored with the low voltage and tried plugging it into a wall socket.....that ended my new toy...:-(

OMG! :gasp: That explains your avatar! :lol:

Got a link? The chair is 375# and I'm 180. That's the static weight I don't know how much vehicle momentum will affect that.

An electromagnet could certainly do what you want, but the power requirements would be a little excessive for what you get. And yes, vehicle momentum will certainly increase the load requirements. You could easily double that weight in motion depending how fast the car stopped in a crash.

Electromagnets are pretty strong to resist pulling them apart, but any slide action and they will release. Just like how a strong fridge magnet works if you try to pull vs slide it.

Where I used to work, they used electromagnets on the doors for security (also had UPS/generator to power them if mains were lost). They were pretty small (around 4" X 4" X 8" ) but you could not force them open. Those operated on 24v DC IIRC, and consumed a few amps just sitting there.

I am having trouble visualizing the application. But I would opt for a mechanical latching solution instead. Then, use a solenoid/servo or something to actuate the release so you still get your "release at the flip of a switch" functionality...

Generally when I design a shipping container, I design for a 10G forward load for the part restraint system. This makes certain nothing gives up when that vehicle goes from 70mph to 0mph in a second.
10G is basically 10X the mass of the object - in your case, almost 600 lbs.

The dropped floor conversion and lift in my van have it weighing over 9000lbs, and it's a half ton, my brakes take about 2 days to stop from 70mph:lol:

The conversion had to be crash tested to be DOT approved but they didn't test stopping distance. My poor e-150 is getting beat up, what'ya do?

It doesn't seem like this will pan out, I need something mechanical as BrianG suggested

DOT approvals are a freakin joke IMHO. You can put whatever GVWR on the side of your rig and they will certify them with no logical engineering look at the actual specs of the vehicle. The only time they actually step forward with a voice of authority is when there is a pending lawsuit on something. Sore subject for me...
Yes, a mechanical devise would likely be a better approach, and much easier to accomplish. Can you clamp around the rim of the wheels somehow, without damaging them? I'd almost have to think there should be a commercially available device that one could copy in some fashion.