Update 2 to 1 ametek

[Peppyy]

Finally some wind. Seems to be feast or famine lol.

I posted this in the old diary but I thought a few of you might like an update.

The mill is actually doing some work. Looks like anything above 10mph will now be useable. When it started getting windy this morning I turned on my digital meter and watched the no-load get as high as 32 volts so I had to find something to charge.

A while back, big-lots had a nifty coleman powermate light/compressor/12v, accessory pack. Not a jumper pack. I am forever blowing up tires on my old tractors so I bought it. Turns out that the charge jack that you plug the walwart into must have a diode bridge built in, probably to eliminate the possibilty of reversing the polairity. Well guess what. That little bugger charges just fine off that little mill. I just have to keep an eye on it for now so it doesn't overcharge.

When I plug it in it brings the genny voltage down between 14 and 16vdc until the wind lets up and then there is no bleed back at all. The jack also disconnects the battery from everything else so I have to unplug it to test the unit. Might have to get a couple of those jacks and put them in my booster and jumper packs, without the disconnects.

I should also plan on getting some real bearings and such for the next rebuild session. Anybody got a 4 foot diameter plastic bucket lid?

Pep

[Peppyy]

Charging every 12v item I can find. Charged my jumper pack to a full 16v. Rejuvinated one of my makita 9.6 volt batteries by letting the mill get up around 20 to 24 volts and giving the battery a couple zaps. I was going to throw it out but it takes a charge again. Also got an old dead 12v sla emergency light battery up to 14.6v. Hooked it up direct on a windy day and let the mill charge it when it had enough wind and then let the battery turn the mill, pretty soon it was actually charging.

Tore an old circut board apart and scavenged the diodes. Crimped a spade on one end and a female on the other to put between the mill and whatever I am charging. So far so good.

[Peppyy]

Very windy today with a storm. The wind is from the north, guessing 10 to 20mph,because the animometer is frozen. I am charging my big booster pack to keep the speed down on the mill. running a couple cold cathode fl lamps now and then to draw it back down and sometimes when the wind is constant it still keeps charging.

Happy with the rubber wheel design. It hasn't needed adjustment and it seems to deice itself pretty well. I guess since the rubber is flexable the ice just cracks off when the mill starts to turn.

[Peppyy]

The storm got conciderably worse and proved to be a bit too much for the rubber wheels. Around 9pm the wheels began to slip under hevier load until the blades were freewheeling. see the story here http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2005/3/9/1279/71988

I have noticed that they are out of allignment and that only about 1/3 of the wheels are making contact. I am guessing that this creates a fairly large wear factor. If the ice at the base of the mast ever melts I will take it down and resolve this issue.