The Journey Begins

[wahoo]

Some background information...

More than 20 years ago I became the product of millions of years of evolution -- and till only a few moments ago, I was aimlessly trotting through life's muck. I had no plan, no friends, and was probably suicidal. Luckily, I suddenly realized that I was produced for a reason! That reason? Wind power.


You're probably wondering what kind of loser pointlessly drags himself through time? Well, that would be me. And I am Pavan... a lowly fourth year Biomedical Engineering student at The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. No, you've not heard of this The University, but alas, no one has. Ugh. Such is .. or was .. life.


But enough! I am writing this Diary because I am embarking on an epic journey to produce power with my total and utter lack of ingenuity. And, in the genuine tradition of writing things on the internet that people will never read, I give you this...

What materials do I currently posses?

Well, I have 80' of 14 gauge resin-coated copper wire. And I have a ton of 2"x1"x.5" neodymium magnets. The Neodymium Magnets cost me about $120 and the copper wire cost something like $13. If this really becomes an issue, I can offer some exacts.

What questions do I currently have?

(1) I don't know how to store the magnets .... perhaps one of the brilliant physicists in the audience has created some sort of magic aluminum cage to store them in? hmm...


(2) Where do I find those magic equations so I can create the mathematical model for the permanent magnet alternator wind generator? And yes, this is ultra open ended, but I'm just beggining... and would be forever indebted to you if you might have them in some concise text file. And I'll be busy searching too..

And I can't conclude this to save my life...

So, let me just jump right in... I totally look forward to creating the uber Wind Generators -- and I hope you'll enjoy seeing me fail over and over again at the expense of next year's text books and then later, at the expense of my budget for next year's food...

Best,

Pavan

[wahoo]

Question 1 was solved -- apparently you have to try harder to split the magnets apart when they're connected.  Sometimes putting the magnet over the edge of a table will offer some better leverage to get them apart.  Worse case scenario?  Setup the clamps and slowly, but surely slide the magnets apart.  As per storage, the solution is apparently to put foam or plywood between the magnets and stack them so they can eventually be used.  Newbie mistake is apparently toying with the magnets when you first get them -- the goal should be to leave them in their original packaging until the moment you need to use them.


As per Question 2 -- I still have no idea.

[willib]

first question . how many magnets is in a  ton

[willib]

second question .

what hobbies have you had , that will help you build this uber cool machine ?

have you ever worked on cars

although a machine background isn't required it surely helps

if you don't mind , basically what skills do you have

[John II]

Hello Paven: Hey the way I see it.... destiny brought you here ; )

Seriously this is the best place ever to get help and ideas for building things that tame the wind and make electricity all at the very same time : )

Sounds like you have some nice magnets there.... I'd encourage you to use every minute of your pare time to read about what others are doing and have done here on this fantastic forum. You'll get a ton of ideas to go with your ton of magnets : )

After some reading you'll soon get an idea of just what you'd like to try. Once you reach that stage you can start bouncing ideas off of the guys that have already paved the trail and have built them.

Welcome to a very fun journey.... keep us all informed... and let us know how it goes. And don't pinch your fingers with all those magnets : )

John II (s.w. missouri )

[electrondady1]

what size and shape are the magnets?

you might store them with several layers of card board in between them  

you could them stack them up on each other

[wooferhound]

Here is a great page to get you started . . .

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html

[Bruce S]

Hello Pavan;

  As a biomedical engineer you already have the ingenuity it will take to over come some of the "fudge factors" that you will find it takes to tweak things as you go.

You'll also be able to find those cool little parts that abound in the medical parts departments usually labeled as "junk". Those items being old printer heads, DC motors from EKG machines, HD labeled as "broken" and if your luck, motors that have out lived their normal lives just waiting for you to liberate them to another life of usefulness.

BTW: Absolutely beautiful state y'all got their, most VA, Beach and Manassas areas for my old weekend street racing days, actually was a way to get away from Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland for even just the weekends.

As others are going to say, it's best to start with smaller sized generators. This way when you get your fingers in the way of magnets wanting to come together they will be able to heal in a relatively short time.

 As well you'll be able to hone your coil wind skills and probably have after a few short windings build a coil-winding tool.

As others have said there's a ton of info here just waiting to be read/used and welcome to the addiction: --))

Cheers!

Bruce S

[Ding123]

good for you , JohnII!!!!!

[kitno455]

welcome to the board from sunny richmond, hope the weather is as nice up there in c'ville as it is here, which is a rather long-winded way of saying i have heard of TJ's uni

1. make friends with a greasy old machinist. not the guys with the big fancy shop near the road, but the guy with the hole in the wall shop in the industrial area packed to the ceiling with neat old junk. sometimes a 6 pack of good beer goes a long ways...
   
2. find a salvage yard that will let you pull your own parts. even if you dont ever actually buy anything, it can be very useful to walk around and take measurements, and then go buy the parts new at a store. carparts can be a godsend for starting out, hubs, bearings, rotors, flywheels....
   
3. forget the mathematical model. read posts here by folks who have used those mags, and then ask questions about why they made certain decisions. try to build something close to proven for your first go.
   
   

allan