She's flying!
By fungus, Section Wind Posted on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 04:19:22 PM MST
ametek turbine in the air

Been working on this for quite a long time to supplement my 36w of solar... I do live in the city so I'm quite limited sizewise, however there is good wind. The basic specs: Ametek 38v PM motor (havent heard much about these ones, if anyone has info on them that would be helpful...) 3 4ft dia blades, carved out of elm to the specs in hugh piggotts book, these do spin very fast and seem to match the gen well, painted white. I balanced these with lead flashing screwed on: The frame I welded myself at school, its made out of 20mm box section with a stub pipe welded on: I used an arbor off ebay to attach the blades to the hub, clamping onto the back piece of plywood tightly. The whole assembly sits on top of a 10' piece of standard 48mm(about 2") scaffolding pole, it is below roof level but its the best that can be done in the city with not much space. The scaffold pole attaches to the washing line pole, which already has about 22' of concrete underneath. The guy wires are attached to a 3 way 'guy ring' that I also got off ebay, this clamps on tightly to the pole and works well: The wires themselves are 3.2mm steel cable that terminate with thimbles+wire rope clamps, the ground anchors are the 'screw in' auger type, came in a set of three for trampolines, each about 2' long with a flat plate 'screw' at the end, these hold in tightly and dont budge. Turnbuckles are on this end to tension the cable: To get the cable to the house I've used low temperature 'artic' power cable, in pvc conduit after coming down the tower, this then goes up the wall into my loft room through the eaves. The whole thing assembled and in the air: So far there hasnt been much wind but it does spin very fast and has got over cutin a few times. Took me about a year to get it all finished but she's flying! :-D

She's flying! | 18 comments (18 topical)

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#1) by dinges on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 10:54:24 AM MST

Nicely done Angus! A joy to look at. She may not be a Betz beater but she flies and generates and you built it with your own bare hands. But anyway. You're not going to tell me that your wind adventures are going to end right there, no ? What's the next project cooking in that brain of yours ?

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#2) by wooferhound on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 11:57:44 AM MST

I'll be the first one to say "secure those turnbuckles" http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/3/14/14523/3589 W o o f -={(

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#10) by jmk on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 09:07:24 PM MST

Yes I thought the same thing, but it is only a little turbine. It still caught my eye too. If you get big winds, or when you get big winds that will move. weather will take its toll on them with exspansion and contration, pulling, and letting go. What works now might not tommorrow!       jmk [ Parent ]

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#14) by wooferhound on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 08:56:51 AM MST

The guy wire anchors look like they are completely vertical. If they are then the tops of the anchors will drift through the dirt toward the tower and loosen up all of the guy wires leading to trouble with the open hooks on the turnbuckles. The guy wire anchors need to be screwed in at an angle matching the angle of the wire coming down. W o o f -={( [ Parent ]

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#3) by zubbly on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 02:11:21 PM MST

hey Fungus! great job!!!!!!!   the prop looks super well done. should give ya lots more than the 36 watt panel. whats the next project? zubbly  :)

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#4) by s4w2099 on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 02:20:57 PM MST

Sweet! Ive been waiting for this moment for a long time. Now we need to see some numbers! :-) Congrats man!

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#5) by gotwind2 on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 02:42:47 PM MST

Nice work Fungus. I like the use of the eBay bought 3 way 'guy ring', I'm sure it could be fabricated with a bit of thought - and a vice :) The ground anchors may need to be stronger, particularly with all the rain softening the ground recently in the U.K.... It will be interesting to see what your Ametek 38v motor produces, amperage wise? Good luck - I sense an axial flux alternator being your next achievment. Ben. www.gotwind.org [ Parent ]

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#6) by behoof on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 02:45:23 PM MST

Really nice job Fungus... first rate!! Hope to hear all the details as soon as you get them. Again, super job and love the look of the blades. behoof

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#7) by oztules on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 04:30:21 PM MST

Nice work Angus And it's good to see it flying. This won't be the last  Angus-mill we see from you I suspect. (Locknuts on the turnbuckles are a must as well, the vibration from the mill will tend to loosen them in the end) Keep up the good work there, nice looking job all up. ...........oztules ps..... You do have some sun up there too.

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#8) by coldspot on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 04:37:53 PM MST

Great work !!! the prop looks super good, wish I could get brave enough to carve one. But, I didn't see any furl? I get real wind and my 30 has gotten beat up pretty good even with furling! $0.02

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#9) by la7qz on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 06:52:42 PM MST

Great stuff! CONGRATULATIONS! PS. What do your parents think of the new lawn ornament :) Owen Yacht Magic Marigot St Martin If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#11) by fungus on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 04:59:17 AM MST

Well... next project is likely either a pedalgen or a small axial flux.. not too sure. How would you secure the turnbuckles?.. I will keep checking on them to make sure they're ok anyway.. It doesnt have furling, havent really seen any other small gens with furling and we dont really have very high winds here, if there are I can lock it down. The ground anchors are very strong, rated for 100kg each;iirc the wind gen I think would have about 50kg of force in a 30mph wind. Parents are supportive, always useful in a power cut I guess :-) 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.'-Albert Einstein Fungus - www.reenergy.co.uk

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#12) by wpowokal on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 05:36:53 AM MST

Turnbuckles are secured by threading something through all to stop them unwinding, a tail of a guy wire, tye wire, rope...... allan down under Dare to be free! [ Parent ]

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#15) by wooferhound on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 09:02:59 AM MST

It's just a small safety line that connects to the guy wire above the turnbuckle then goes down through the turnbuckle and then connects to the anchor point. so even if the turnbuckle somehow unscrews or unhooks or totally breaks in half, you will still have a connection to save the Genny. W o o f -={( [ Parent ]

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#13) by fungus on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 06:22:39 AM MST

Just tied them down with a spare bit of wire so they should be fine :D 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.'-Albert Einstein Fungus - www.reenergy.co.uk

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#16) by ZooT on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 10:46:48 AM MST

Boy......I really like those blades and wish I had the chutzpah(in this case nerve, patience, and confidence) to even try to carve a set of those.

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#17) by Kevin L on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 04:50:00 PM MST

The 3 way 'guy ring' looks like it would be my main concern.  These are made from stamped soft steel and tend to fracture in the root, or twist easily. The cable and anchors are much heavier duty and if you were to see a tower failure this is were I would expect it to be.   Just my 2 cents for whatever its worth. Kevin L

Re: She's flying! (3.00 / 0) (#18) by richhagen on Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 02:32:37 AM MST

Angus, it looks great.  Furling lets you optimize the machine for lower wind speeds with slightly less worry about it blowing up at high wind speeds.  If you are designing an alternator to work near its capacity at lower wind speeds, then you have to protect it from burning up and/or overspeeding the blades in higher winds.  The kinetic energy of the air is a function of the square of the wind speed, but for a wind turbine, the volume of air moving past the blades is also a function of the wind speed. So the available energy is proportionate to the cube of the wind speed and gets 8 times larger every time you double the air speed.  The numbers get large quick in a windy storm.  Furling limits the amount of energy captured out of the wind by turning the blades away from the plane of the wind.  This reduces the amount of kinetic energy in the air moving past it, and also changes the angle of the wind on the blades, both should result in less energy being captured.  The loading on the tower should be reduced as well.  Although your machine may never see enough wind to destroy it (Jerry has had a bunch flying for years without), so you may not need a furling system, everything else being equal, a well built furling system on a turbine should enable it to survive in higher winds than without.  Rich 'A Joule saved is a Joule made'

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