Author Topic: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators  (Read 3747 times)

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Jason Wilkinson

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Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« on: April 08, 2012, 02:48:08 PM »
Hi to all. Here is my experience  A friend of mine called me,told me about a guy who  bought a "turbine" and it's not working, i asked him what type and he said  Missouri wind and solar, but they sent the 24volt  saying it can produce 1600 watt   his inverter and batt is 12volt.. I offer to looked at it for him. Went, it was on the tower which was on the ground.  1st thing i noticed it had 9 blades, we took off 6 blades, i noticed it had quite a bit of cogging.  we raised the tower into very high winds and no rotation. We jumped started it (ie touching  2 output leads with correct polarity to a batt )  and got it to turn , sure enough we got our 24volts but as the wind died so did the blades.we took it down replaced the 6 blades  raised it again waited for a gust and it started turning. Next was to check the amps (that day the wind was very high about 20 mph)connect out amp meter in series with the batt and we only got a max of 9 amps .
  Now tell me if it's rated at 1600 watts  and it's a 24volt alternator my limited maths tells me i should get over 60 amps .
 We only got 9 amps never once did out meter see 10 amps all we waited like i said the wind was strong that day. That guy is now sorry he spent his money on something that does not live up to what it claims to do
    PS that same day i was getting 30 amps from mine
   Jason

richhagen

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2012, 04:39:09 PM »
I don't know this particular vendor, but I think they were mentioned in a similar story recently.  Unfortunately this kind of thing happens all too often, vendors claim better output that the laws of physics allow, or rate it at such an incredibly high wind speed that only on a blue moon in June would you actually see that type of output.  When the well intended purchaser plunks down a huge amount of money for the device they are inevitably disappointed that it does not do anything like what they expect.  Small wind power has uses, but you cannot power your home or shop with a two foot diameter machine unless you use almost no electricity, and  a poorly designed machine will do relatively little indeed.
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ChrisOlson

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2012, 04:59:25 PM »
Those things are pretty much a scam.  They modify these Delco 10SI alternators with a permanent magnet rotor, and might even rewind the stator.  They they throw a set of plastic blades on it, mount it to a frame, give it an arbitrary power rating and call it a "wind turbine".

The guys that build and pedal them do not have a clue about how to match a rotor to the load, they do not know what Cp means, they do not know what tip speed ratio is, and they mount the things to shed roofs and short poles.

Unfortunately, the general public that knows little about wind power gets "taken" by this scam on a regular basis.

I have talked to one of the partners in this business you mention and it only took me about 15 minutes to figure out they don't have clue about how to build a real wind turbine.
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Chris

Jason Wilkinson

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2012, 08:46:54 PM »
 know from experiment that 2 blades spin faster than 3 in the same wind ,and so 9 blades is slower still . All those YOUTUBE video of people showing multiblade  contraptions ,in reality are slow in comparison to 3 blades , they are deceived  because the area between the blades of a 3 blades is "filled with blades" makes it appear to be turning fast.  I got to understand the reason for the 9 blades , as the cogging is so great 3 blades could never overcome it . I do feel sorry for those who are scammed by the many scammers. My advise is to read up a much as you can about the subject so as not to be taken. But as much as we hate these things others will still be taken for the world is made up of many different people
    Jason

adaml

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2012, 01:57:40 PM »
Could not agree more.  Before I knew any better I purchased a Delco type alternator.  Left me feeling blue, regardless of the wind.

wooferhound

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2012, 01:56:29 AM »
Here is a story about those generators
http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php/topic,146179.0.html

ThomasJ

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2012, 01:44:12 PM »
So everyone here would pretty much agree that the wind blue type generators aren't worth the money? I'm at the stage of getting everything together to start a project and would like to know because I was seriously considering buying a couple of these.
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Bruce S

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2012, 02:21:18 PM »
So everyone here would pretty much agree that the wind blue type generators aren't worth the money? I'm at the stage of getting everything together to start a project and would like to know because I was seriously considering buying a couple of these.
Correct, if you get them free, then okay, but if you're looking to put out money for them, then it would be "unwise" ATM. 8)
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GoVertical

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Re: Beware of those " turbines" that look like car alternators
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2012, 07:29:38 PM »
Hi, has anyone tried using one with a MPPT controller?
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