Thinking of a TLG machine

[valterra]

my homemade blades work pretty well, way better than the pvc ones I show in pictures I'm other posts.  they are made from plastic 55 gallon drums using measurements from the zubwoofer calculator.  They spin fast... fast enough to freak me out!  

Pictures to follow, I promise.

They get my 40V Ametek up over 12V when the wind is blowing hard.  But when they really get going, there is a fair amount of vibration.  

I have fixed that the best I can, but have been considering getting a rotor / bladeset from TLG.  Do any of you guys have a tlg product in the air?

I know about the various opinions about different blade materials.  I'm looking for people who actuall have used tlg blades.  

Looking around their website, I am starting to think about their tlg500 unit.  I have emailed Terry several times.  He seems like the genuine article.  He doesn't seem to be trying to BS me like me of the stuff I've seen on ebay from HA and others.

I recall recently someone  suggest a section for reviews of commercial products.  Absent that section, I figured my diary would be more appropriate than another section.

Also I noticed the Dans are selling stators now... how long before you guys start selling complete units for those of us completely lacking in mechanical skills??

[DanB]

I think you might be astounded if you carved yourself a nice little 4' diameter 2 blade prop for that.  It could be very simple and I think you'd find it gets up to speed in pretty low winds.

When will we sell complete units....  I don't really know.  These simple machines work pretty well - but I like the idea that if somebody gets one they can work on it themselves.  I feel like when we sell a machine (which we do on rare occasion) theyn we're married to it.  A simple operator error can ruin it.  I feel like if folks at least build some of it themselves and assemble it - then they have some understanding about how to use it/repair it if needed.

Im not sure that this is right hobby for somebody who is 'completely lacking' in mechanical skills and I wouldn't want to sell a machine to such a person.  Obviously you are not completely lacking in such skills or you wouldn't be building at all!

I cannot say one way or the other about TLG blades.  I don't personally care for the idea aluminum blades and in my mind the airfoil doesn't seem right - but I've not heard anything bad about them and Terry does seem to have all the best intentions.  I strongly disagree with some of his ideas about wooden blades but I guess that's personal opinion/preferance.

I wish I could talk you into trying to carve your own set for that ametek motor.  I think even something like I did years ago here would work nicely on your little ametek motor: http://otherpower.com/woodax.html

You can make a blade like that from a 1x6 in a couple hours with hand tools I expect for a couple of dollars.  I used to make lots of 4' machines with ametek motors and simple 2 blade props like that and they worked pretty well - in medium winds you should easily see 50 watts or so and peaks over 100 I think.

[valterra]

dan,  

do you have a more detailed description of how you made them?

I see that this was back in your more experimental days and that some of it was just guesswork!  

No offense!  lol.  Just because in that post you said, "I'm no expert at carving blades," which obviously isn't  true any more!

[tajim]

I actually have one in the air right now. it  is a 7 foot 3 blade. I built a dual rotor axial flux for it. I don't get a lot of wind in Florida, but I have seen 20 amps at 24 volts out of it. I also have his 5 blade 5 foot as well. I flew it for about a year. They start up in very low wind and I see 1 to 5 amps all the time. I use a boost converter to increase the voltage in low wind conditions. Today we had 15 mph winds and I saw 60 to 100 watts.

I really like them so far. no complaints. I am thinking about making my own wooden blade just to see if I can do it. It would be interesting to see if it would do better than what I am using now.

[luckeydog]

My First wind generator that i put together with a Ametek 50 using Terry's blades

worked very well. since then I have moved onto bigger machines.

But more about Terry's Blades. They do exactly what Terry claims on his website

so if you are buying the 500 watt unit it will produce 500 watts at the wind speeds

that Terry claims. there is no hype and no BS.

My tlg windpower blades have been in the air for over 4 years now. I have had no problems with them. they still look like the day I bought them.

I have had several home brew wood blades break over those 4 years due to a few different reasons (weak tail boom, extremely high winds, less than desirable materials, and poor Balancing.)

Wood is a great Material for building wind turbines. "IF they are built correct"

So what it comes down to Is your abilities.

I have seen some Bashing of TLG blades on this Forum by people that have no experience with Terry's blades so take it from someone who has a set up in the air.

but what ever you decide I hope you do start building your turbine.

it is a great experience and well worth the energy you put into it.

.

[valterra]

Thanks!  I specifically asked for people who have used the products because I knew there were people who criticized them without having used them.

It reminds me of when I was looking for a digital camera.  My wife got a Nikon D50 and I got a Canon 20D.  20D was the best on the market at the time, but the camera forums were filled with people who said it was a piece of crap because it didn't have true spot metering, or because they heard X or Y about the firmware, etc.  

Eventually I got the impression that while there are many people who actually DO take photos and use cameras, there are many, many more who sit on the sidelines, rating every product that comes out, but never actually USING any of them.

I DO have a mill in the air, so I AM doing it! It's not even hooked up to batteries yet, because I still have to figure out how much voltage I can get out of it on a regular basis.  That has mostly to do with the blades!  :-)  But at least I'm trying!

Back to the Camera Forums analogy:  Of course, I also know there were many people who were so far into the Nikon camp that they couldn't even consider that a Canon would be any good.  And the other way around.  That's why I'd really like to hear from people like you, who've used more than one type of blade.  

I've heard that PVC or any plastic blades are terrible.  But my blades made from a 55 gallon plastic drum work great.  They are cut using the "zubwoofer" math.  People say that plastic will flex too much at the tips.  My 3" tips don't budge.  They say that plastic can't hold up in the wind.  I've had these spinning so fast that I don't want to get anywhere near them - no damage so far.  

They DO thump around a little when they get going.  Why?  Because as I said in another post about mounting them, my even-ness varied from blade-to-blade. In other words, the mounting holes aren't all the same width apart or at the same relative place on all of the blades.  That's because I didn't value how important that was.  It was my fault.  I can't blame the plastic for that.  In a way, I wish this wasn't an Ametek mill so I wouldn't need the high RPMs.  If it was cutting in at 150 RPM like the Dans' stators, there'd be no vibration to speak of.  Of course, then I'd be looking for totally different blades!

Once I can wrap my head around a couple of the steps the still boggle me about carving wood blades, I will try my own.  But I fear that my inability to carve the exact thing twice will result in the same type of uneven-ness and vibration.  But - at least the wood is cheap!  

I ruined a $20 piece of PVC trying to make Zubwoofers and carving 2 feet off of the wrong end, but that's another story!  :-D

I also want to state that I appreciate all the people on this board.  I mostly read, and I find people like Flux, and Ghurd, Zubbly, Jerry, Wooferhound, Alan Sheets, and "the Dans" to be VERY informative.  And of course, many other peope whose names don't come up all the time.  

I'm not going to start towing the party line on any style of blade.  I haven't tried wood, but I feel I should.  The guys who made this site seem to know what they're doing!!!   :-D    If it takes a long time to hone my woodworking skills, so be it.  And it looks like TLG is a good place to go in the mean time.  Usually you guys hop all over the bad guys.  I haven't seen that here for Terry.

[Gordy]

Valterra,

I looked over Terry's site, and was impressed with a photo of a mill in the air that was hit in the blades by storm blown debris. The blades where mangled, but still attached and still spinning.

From years of reading here I think the main concern with metal blades is metal fatigue.   In the olden days many plains were lost due to it. I'm thinking of an old Jimmy Stewart movie where they shook an air plain till the tail fell off. AS I remember that was based on a true story. The metal held up fine at 70f, but failed at the cold temp at high altitude.

One documentary said that was why the Titanic sank, the alloy of the hull became too brittle at the lower temps of the northern oceans. And could not flex enough to withstand the impact.

Then there was a documentary gutting and rebuilding aging jet air liners, finding cracks and repairing them.  

I would not make my own with out allot of research into metallurgy. There are many variables to take into account (length, thickness, weight, loading, rpm, temp range, ect). Even then I would be pulling the mill down a couple time a year for inspection. Especially as it got older. Or after severe weather.

So I hope Terry has done his research for everyone's sake. That said I do like the looks of his blades, but am also waiting for long term use feedback.

Gordy

[Birdmanjack]

I have had a set of tlg blades working for two years with no problems what so ever. They spin very fast and start up with little effort. They were all he said they were and I would not be afraid to buy another set. Hope this helps.