the Otherpower.com Discussion Board || Lost my wind mill blades

Front Page - [Homebrewed Electricity-- (wind) (solar) (hydro) (steam) (controls) (storage) (mechanical)] - Classifieds - Site News
Everything - Newbies - [Remote Living-- (housing) (heat) (light) (water)] - Rants & Opinion - Diaries - Our Products

Lost my wind mill blades
By Birdmmjb, Section Newbies Posted on Tue Jun 19th, 2007 at 01:14:14 PM MST
High wind last night

Well I woke up this morning and looked out to check the windmill after the storms last night and found the whole blade unit off the generator and on the ground.
Upon inspection all three blades are broken at the tips and the lock nut and nut are missing from the arbor.
I have one of the mills where the gernerator is mounts directly above the pipe tower. I dont know if the high wing caused the blades to hit the tower and loosened the nut or if the nut was not tight enough and loosened the blades enought that they wobbled enough to strike the tower.
So anyone got a set of light weight 5 or 6 foot blades for sale? I guess I'll get to try a set of zub woofers for a while. and think about remaking the motor mount to the tower.
Jan

Lost my wind mill blades | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 editorial)

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by CmeBREW (smke833f@hotmail.com) on Tue Jun 19th, 2007 at 07:50:39 PM MST
(User Info)

Thats very unfortunate. So those were the 5' fiberglass blades. It sure sounds like they hit the pole in a big gust. I wonder how many inches the blades were from the pole? I'm getting ready to make a 5' set of blades for my treadmill generator to see how they do in the lower winds--and i was wondering how far to keep them from the pole myself. I was thinking 7 inches. Jan, do you remember how far your 5' blades were from the pole?? I wonder if even 7" is far enough for a 5' set of blades in the horrible high wind gusts that are becoming commonplace now?

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by Birdmmjb on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 at 04:39:57 AM MST
(User Info)

Sorry it has taken so long to get back it seems that yet another storm took out the dsl for a while.

The blades I had on this generator were small 3' blades the new 5' blades I am afraid to use on this amitec(sp) that I have up right now.

The motor for this set up, sets right over the pole so there was only arround 5" of clearence for the blades. I did not think this would be a problem as in high winds the pole gave a little acting as a furl(sp) and usually gives the blade more space.

But the wind we had last night were really bad it flattened the gardens and such so the gust cound have more of a down gust and forced the blade into the pole.

I think I am going to trim the ends at this point and look for another set later.

It seems that someone told her boss to take this job and do what ever with it this morning, and money for my toys will be in short supply until I decided to go back to work. If ever.

Jan

[ Parent ]

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by luv2weld (luv2weld at hughes dot net) on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 at 08:18:22 AM MST
(User Info)

Jan,
it's possible that the problem was caused by the blade rotation, not the blades
hitting the tower. The blades should spin in the direction to tighten the nut.
If they were spinning in the other direction, especially in a gusty wind, it can
unscrew the nut and everything flies off. You can try a quick fix(instead of
cutting new blades rotating the other way) by getting a tube or small bottle
of thread lock. It should keep things from unscrewing themselves.

Ralph
"The best way to kill time is to work it to death!!"

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by TomW on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 at 09:54:08 AM MST
(User Info)

Ralph;

Good point. We used to "stake" threads on stuff that could not come apart years ago but you don't see it mentioned much these days.

Staking, if folks don't know is using a punch and making an indent in the corner of nut and bolt to deform the threads into the nut.

There are probably reasons why its not used much but I don't know why.

Cheers.

TomW

"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain
[ Parent ]

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by alancorey (alancorey@yahoo.com) on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 at 10:40:38 AM MST
(User Info)

Drilling a hole through the nut and bolt and putting a cotter pin through also works. A nail or piece of wire can be used in a pinch, or a hitch pin clip if it's something you need to take apart often. Nylock nuts are another possiblity. Nothing's as good as having the blade turn the right direction to tighten up the threads though.

Alan

[ Parent ]

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by luv2weld (luv2weld at hughes dot net) on Thu Jun 21st, 2007 at 06:51:00 AM MST
(User Info)

Tom,
You're right!! I guess staking has gone the way of the dinosaur. What the heck
are people teaching their kids these days???

Ralph
"The best way to kill time is to work it to death!!"
[ Parent ]

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#8)
by thefinis (thefinis@hotmail.com) on Thu Jun 21st, 2007 at 08:12:25 AM MST
(User Info)

Pretty sure the they make locking nuts that are done just that way with a ding or dent on one side of the nut usually marked or made so you know which side to start. I guess the ones with nylon are used most of the time now as they don't risk harming the threads on the shaft.

Finis
Texas born and bred
[ Parent ]

Re: Lost my wind mill blades (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by wooferhound (tim((NoSpamAt))wooferhound.com) on Wed Jun 20th, 2007 at 01:35:19 PM MST
(User Info) http://wooferhound.com

My blades came off cause they rotated the wrong way . . .
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2005/12/29/1513/3449

W o o f -={(

[ Parent ]

Lost my wind mill blades | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 editorial)

Menu

� create account
� How to use the board
� FAQs
� search the board
� Google search the board
� Old Otherpower Board

Login

Make a new account

Username:

Password:

Total Views

��106 Scoop users have viewed this posting.

Related Links

� Also by Birdmmjb

You must be a registered user to post here. It's easy and free, and the link is on the upper right side of your page.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Postings are owned by the poster, but may be deleted or moved at the ADMIN's sole discretion. The Rest � 2003 Forcefield.
You can Email the board ADMIN here. PLEASE include the username you signed up with!