It's finally Flying

[wildbill hickup]

Hello All,

Well it's no power house, but it works. Finally up and charging, and actually supporting a load. Yesterday had good steady wind constant output all day at between 8 - 20 vdc. I don't have much of a load on the batteries at this time, 3 LED's and both elements of an 1157 tailight bulb. I don't have any final amperage reading yet, I'll get those tomorrow (more wind forcasted) It still takes a 10 or 15 MPH wind to get her started and charging but with the help of a cap discharge unit (and the fact that I'm not in short supply of wind up here) it built up an 11 volt charge on two partially charged (about 9v each) car bats while keeping the lights running, so something is happening.

Again my thanks to Chuck, the Dans, KWW, Charged, Jerry and others I know I have forgotten to mention. Thanks for your patiance and advice. Below are some photos.

I have learned much and think this board is the best.

NOW to build a BIGGER one!!!:-) My wife says Oh God here we go again.;-)

Thanks again

Wildbill

Sutton, Vermont

[kww]

Cute little turbine Bill, I can see why the wife might be jealous. :-)

[TomW]

Bill;

Yeah! I hate to break it to you but I think you are now officially addicted. Once you grab a few amps [or milliamps] you just go downhill from that point forward. The search for energy extracted from the environment will impact every part of your life.

Another problem arises in that the only support group for the disease is one that promotes the addiction.

Cheers.

TomW

[Jerry]

Isn't it just great. It dosen't matter how big or small there all a thing of buity.

Way to getum flyin Bill. HI FIVE FROM OVER HERE.   JK TAS Jerry

[elvin1949]

wildbill

1 down  100 to go

looks good

later

elvin

[wildbill hickup]

Now all I have to do is get it out of the back yard, and up higher where I can get some actual wind instead of gusty turbulence. I know it's not the best idea but I plan to put it on the garage roof mounted on the tripod it's on now(once it warms up enough to get it unstuck from the ground). We get alot of west wind here and the garage roof slope faces west I'm hopeing it may evern act as an accelorator. Still have to tweak the ballance on the rotor and replace the wooden hub with a balanced metal one. This thing has to turn pretty fast to get charging and it still shakes a little. Any ideas on how to get that rotor bal better I have gone this far. Spinnig blade by hand inside(no wind)find heavy spot add weight. Repeat. It now seems to stop at random (no pattern) however it still shakes just about the time it's hitting 14 0r 15 volts (connected to Bat) about 25v no load. I think this may even be slowing the rotor because even if the wind is strong it seems to flatten out there. I have no RPM readings, still working on that.

Wildbill

[Chuck]

Bill,

It's good to see the hills of Sutton again, even if it's slightly blurry. Looks like a typical Vermont winter.

Nice little genny. I like the paint job. I don't see any overspeed protection. Do you have any ?

Chuck

[wildbill hickup]

Hi Chuck,

How are things out there where mountains are mountains. I know, crappy pictures, that's what I get for using a new improved graphics program. I'll post more when I finally get some steady wind(and learn more about the program). It was supposed to blow 20-30 yesterday and all I got was a couple of strong gusts and then nothing. By the time the thing got turned into the wind and the rotor started to turn the gust was gone. As usual NOA right on the money(when all else fails blame the weatherman :-) right. Well maybe better luck today.

No I don't have any furling system But I can add one pretty easy to the iron pipes that the thing turns on. I've spent so much time on getting it up to speed, I haven't really worried to much about over speed. I still need to install an RPM counter and get some acurrate readings, maybe the blades are still to long and I exceeding tip speed or something, but I'm happy FOR NOW!

Nice to hear from you

Wildbill

[kww]

I've had excellent results on all three of the rotors I've made so far with using a spike on a base to support the rotor in it's exact center on the sharp point of the spike.  I then place a small cheap north to south and east to west level in the center and take a big enough bolt, nut, and washers that will make the rotor level when placed on the outer edge of the rotor hub.  At that position on the hub I drill a hole and install the nut, bolt, and washers.  

Kevin

[Chuck]

Bill,

Our mountains are white this year. It's a nice change and with the snowiest months yet to come. There is hope for sliding out of this drought yet. Temps for the next two days are to be 60s, then more snow. Typical for here.

Any kind of furling you can do should be of help keeping this little beauty from damaging itself. Your comment about overspeeding is on the money. From my experience it's really easy to cook these small motors, especially when holding them to low voltages (high amps).

Chuck

[wooferhound]

Remember centrifugal force.

when balancing your blades, If you place your balance weight out at the tips it will have a strong effect. if you place the weights near the hub it will not help at all. Try placing the weight half the distance from the hub to the tips.

This is how I balance ceiling fans.