The mill is up and running
By bend1, Section Newbies Posted on Tue Aug 19th, 2008 at 10:35:52 PM MST
Thanks to all those that help me.

The new mill is up and running and I have started to collect some data even though the wind has been light.  I would like to thanks everyone that answered my questions and have posted their images here for others like me to look at.  Thanks Tom W, Wooferhound, CmeBREW,and GHurd for your help. This is a great site and I hope its here for a long time.

The mill is up and running | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 editorial)

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#1) by wooferhound (tim((NoSpamAt))wooferhound.com) on Tue Aug 19th, 2008 at 09:11:50 PM MST (User Info) http://wooferhound.com

Looking good waiting to hear the big numbers . . . W o o f -={(

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#2) by CmeBREW (smke833f@hotmail.com) on Wed Aug 20th, 2008 at 08:08:52 AM MST (User Info)

Looking really good. Nice blades-- looks like about 6ft diameter. Wish I had a steel pole like that to hide the wire. My local scrap metal places no longer allow anybody to buy scrap metal anymore. Bummer. I had to use a treated 4x4 which shows the wire.   Looking forward to hearing the output of your mill.

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#3) by ghurd on Wed Aug 20th, 2008 at 08:18:45 AM MST (User Info)

Looks good. Diameter?  Servo motor?  About a 9' tower? G-

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#4) by WillH on Wed Aug 20th, 2008 at 08:22:10 AM MST (User Info)

Hey what sort of a DAQ is up there?  What info are you getting?

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#5) by bend1 on Thu Aug 21st, 2008 at 06:01:37 PM MST (User Info)

Today is the first day we have had any real sustaining winds sense I got the mill up. I'm using an Amtech 30 motor with 3 ft blades each and its 23ft in the air. And my battery is a Wal-Mart Everstart deep cycle for now. I have the mill up and today it was turning we had some winds reaching about 10 mph. The wires coming out of the mill today showed 3 VDC. My current at that point is was maybe 30 micro amps.  The battery on its own was at 12.67VDC. This is telling me that there is little if any load on the mill, is this normal?  I was not sure so I unhooked the battery and connected a 25 ohm load at that point and rechecked my current when the mill started turning again.  I had about 1.8VDC at the mill and at the load.  I had .1 to 1.5 milliamps on the load this time.  I guess what I don't know is if this is normal when a mill is connected to a battery.  And will the battery start increasing its resistance as the voltage of the mill increases?  Or do I have a wiring issue?  We have storms coming in tonight so I am going to unhook the battery and just connect the 25 ohm resistor across the mill for tonight. So that it has some sort of load on it for now I'm worried if we get any stronger winds it might damage something.   [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#6) by kurt on Thu Aug 21st, 2008 at 06:17:05 PM MST (User Info)

no power will flow into the battery until the windmill voltage exceeds the battery voltage then the battery will hold the mill down to its voltage and start to charge 3v is as good as nothing and the mill is freewheeling at that point. i bet you just didn't have good wind when you tested btw a 6' prop 3' per blade is to big for an amatek 30v they like props in the 4' range so you mite have a hard time getting enough speed out of your prop.... http://www.reresource.org/ IRC [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#7) by bend1 on Thu Aug 21st, 2008 at 07:28:19 PM MST (User Info)

Thanks, I was hoping that it was something like that becaue I could not find any problems with the wiring tonight .  About the blade size of 4 ft diameter is that the optimum size for this motor? I cant remember were I came up with the 6 ft size I have now ( read it somewere in the hundreds of post here). Well it looks like I will be making some new blades tomorrow.   [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#8) by JimmyZ on Thu Aug 21st, 2008 at 09:39:00 PM MST (User Info) http://www.freewebs.com/jimmzz91164/

That thing looks great.Nice job,I have also finished my mill.Cant wait to see it spinning.            JimmyZ

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#9) by wooferhound (tim((NoSpamAt))wooferhound.com) on Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 at 11:44:33 AM MST (User Info) http://wooferhound.com

Are you running your power through a Bridge Rectifier before going to the Battery ? W o o f -={(

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#10) by kurt on Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 at 05:04:59 PM MST (User Info)

it is a 30v amatek dc pm motor woof all that is needed is a single diode although a bridge will work wired properly..... http://www.reresource.org/ IRC [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#11) by wooferhound (tim((NoSpamAt))wooferhound.com) on Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 at 07:00:28 PM MST (User Info) http://wooferhound.com

Just making sure that he has some kind of diode on there W o o f -={( [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#13) by bend1 on Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 at 08:26:56 PM MST (User Info)

yeah i have a diode across the mill output wire. thanks   [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#14) by TomW on Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 at 09:15:02 PM MST (User Info)

bend; yeah i have a diode across the mill output wire.   I hope you meant "in series with" because if the diode connected between  the 2 output leads it won't work. Tom "Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#15) by bend1 on Sat Aug 23rd, 2008 at 07:17:26 AM MST (User Info)

No its not in series just across one leg. Everything was working I just did not have any current draw from the mill with the battery connected. Because the output of the mill was low is what I was told.  When I removed the battey and replaced it with a resistive load then I had current flow from the mill. And all was well.   [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#16) by TomW on Sat Aug 23rd, 2008 at 07:56:11 AM MST (User Info)

bend; I am not tracking you at all. Maybe its me, but your terminology is a bit non standard. To me, if I put a component [your diode] "across" another component [your generator]it means it is in parallel with the other component. If you put a diode "across" leads on the generator it is a half wave short. This may appear to work into a resistance but I assure you it is not working "right" Just trying to understand. Maybe pop into IRC where these things get sorted quickly. Tom "Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#17) by bend1 on Sat Aug 23rd, 2008 at 10:54:26 AM MST (User Info)

It is connected between the positive wire of the mill and the other side is connected to the terminal block that goes to the battery it is a (blocking diode)allowing the voltage/current of the mill to pass to the battery but not allow the batttery voltage/current to flow to the mill and power it. [ Parent ]

Re: The mill is up and running (3.00 / 0) (#12) by CmeBREW (smke833f@hotmail.com) on Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 at 08:19:11 PM MST (User Info)

Yup, 4ft diameter and more speed (400-1000+rpm) seems best for the Ameteks. For me, I would say that a 6' diameter is usually around 200-700rpm for a common power producing range. But it can vary some with different mills and blades. You can still see your 6' diam. set of blades go above 400rpm with the Ametek in a fairly big wind  and begin charging your battery if you wish. (maybe upto 40watts??) But you would be missing the best power producing 'curve' (power producing rpm range)for that particular motor if you stayed with the 6ft.   You can keep the 6' blades for a bigger dc motor or better yet, a homemade alternator later on which is most efficient. -Let us know how it goes.

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