A diary of this wind generator seems appropriate after thinking about it for so very long. I have saved the components for this thing for about ten years. Some parts of my favorite equipment went into this. Some parts I can't remember where I got. Like that Fiesta rear end, where the heck did I ever get a Fiesta? Germany? I dunno.
I put the unit together last fall. What I lacked was a decent idea for the actual generator. What I do have is a eight bladed gas compressor fan bolted to a one ton Ford truck axle. This is welded to a small trianglar tower that is mounted on the Fiesta rear end. There are eight rear spoilers from mid-80s GM full size station wagons bolted to the ends of the fan blades. Total swept area is a little over 7ft.
Before I started doing any research about the generator. I turned down the axle shaft with a side grinder, during a good wind storm. I fitted a cement mixer pulley on the shaft and belted up a 27SI100 Delco 80amp alternator to the turbine. Well, that didn't work so great. As big, and as hard as that turbine would turn it would still come to a standstill when the alternator was full fielded. I would let the turbine free wheel in our 40mph winter storms and then flash the field... "Hey, Honey, Watch this!"
Buuuuuuur to a halt. One time we had gusts up to 60mph and then the turbine put out enough torque to spin the fully fielded alternator. Whoa! That was amazing because there was snow on the alternator and in less then a minute it had melted off. Even the "Bat" wire was warm. When the wind abated, I went and put a bungi on one of the blades.
Okay, I realize now that the machine I have is well suited to make electricity in less then 20mph winds. It is not suited for an automotive alternator. No problem. Next! Well
I have been studying what the others have done here. It is simply amazing. Old is new! Basically what is going on is a Model T magneto with much more powerful magnets.
The problem with what I have seen others doing is speed and scale. Everthing turns too fast and is too small. There is no way my machine will turn 400 rpm. It will do 120rpm all day. So I couldn't figure out what to do about the rotor. Then I read a post about a guy who was building his out of a saw blade. I have a pile of saw blades I collected to make a Tesla turbine with (back burner). I still couldn't make the connection between my windmill and a 7 and a quarter inch saw blade. Hmmm.
Today, I was rooting around looking for an exhaust pipe to put on the induction generator when I found an old saw blade I have been saving. It was missing a couple of teeth and I had always planned on taking it to my buddie's forge and tempering the new teeth after I'd welded the new ones on. This was such a small blade for a cutting wood that I have always put off fixing it. I run 36" blades and like their momentum.
I think this blade is perfect for a rotor.
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bpjackso/detail?.dir=/diagrams+and+example+photos&.dnm=51c7.jpg It looks like it will take nearly 48 speaker magnets if I go front and back. So now I have to go to Dave's yard and start swatting out all the deck 6X9s he has.
Lets see:
Blade=26" diameter. Call it 24" from the center of the magnet. 2ft*pi*120rpm gives ~754ft/min. Not real fast. Not bad though. Its enough for one day.
