MotorWind seems to be performing well...

[DamonHD]

(Also see: http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/11/26/121259/18 )

I'm not measuring output energy/power directly at the moment, but measured availability of wind power has gone up from <2% with my two tiny turbines to >40% with the MotorWind.

Today has been quite windy by local standards (maybe 20mph at 40magl?) though that translates into a few big gusts and lots of turbulence at low level in dense housing of course.

The MotorWind seems to be doing well so far.

In response to my comments on my page (see below) on it making quite an audible 'rattling' noise a helpful MotorWave (who makes MotorWind) guy from India got in touch within hours to say they have some noise damping stuff in the works!

Anyway, I'll have to inspect the fixings in a day or so to see if they've held up to the wind and my poor DIY skills.

Write-up so far: http://www.earth.org.uk/wind-power-pilot-autumn-2007-MotorWind.html

Rgds

Damon

[gotwind2]

Any detailed images yet Damon? - too dark now obviously.

[DamonHD]

I'm taking the photos, and hope to start putting them up today...

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

Whoops!

Overnight one of the bolts undid itself from vibration and the MotorWind fell. Amazingly, as it fell into soft earth, nothing is broken. I need to find a sensible way to tighten and hold the bolt(s) affected, though I'm not quite ready to glue/fix things permanently until I'm fairly sure that everything is set correctly. All that fun is now postponed until after today's dentist's visit...

Any easy instant remedies?  I have some split washers (etc) from elsewhere if those might help...

Rgds

Damon

[tecker]

 Double Nuts or Jam nuts .Sounds strange but they don't cut into the plastic .  

[DamonHD]

OK, thanks for that.  Essentially tightening another nut against the load-bearing one?

Rgds

Damon

[wooferhound]

I have used White Glue (Elmers, School Glue) as a temporary Loc-tite. It will stop bolts from loosening and with some effort the parts can be disassembled. It will eventually wash out if it's out in the weather.

[Chagrin]

Yeah, that's about it. Special purpose "jam nuts" tend to be a little thinner though.

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I find that I have no nuts of the right size to do a 'jam nut' arrangement (shouldn't that be something from a jazz concert or a baker's?), so I'm deploying some washable 'PVC' glue at your suggestion, for now.

Thanks!

Damon

[CmeBREW]

Hi Damon-

   It would be good to use the lock washers (split washers) you have also. Or they also make "nyloc-nuts"  that won't vibrate loose so easy. They are a steel nut with a nylon plastic center I believe.

[DamonHD]

There were split washers for the wall mountings, though I can't see them helping there much, for example because I simply do not have enough exposed remaining bolt to accommodate the washers!

The bolt that came undone was elsewhere, holding the vertical to the horizontal bar that carries the rotors and bounces up and down a fair bit in strong gusts.

I'm going to have to keep my eye on all the bolts for a while!

Rgds

Damon

[TomW]

Nylock nuts will not back off without actually turning the nut. You can also use a chisel or punch to bugger up a bit of the threads right at the nut /bolt junction. Doesn't take much deforming and if you do it right the parts can be reused. Just bend one thread over slightly. Old timers called this "staking" the nut. From before loctite was common.

Cheers.

TomW

[DamonHD]

Thanks!

First I have to go and buy new nuts of the right size, for this or the 'jam nut' version...

But that's exactly what I need to know, thanks.

Rgds

Damon

[TomW]

Damon;

Yeah, I often use double nuting [jam nut] and never seen that fail.

Zubbly used nail polish and claimed it was as good as loctite. Just tork everything together then paint the nut / thread junction with the nail polish. It comes apart easy but doesn't loosen on its own.

Cheers.

TomW

[DamonHD]

Hi Ben,

Pics should be appearing within the next hour or so under:

http://gallery.hd.org/mechanoids/turbine/MotorWind/

Rgds

Damon

[RogerAS]

Tom,

As a former rider of a '72 honda motorbike for many years, I can attest to fingernail polish as locktight. It works. I used clear. A few drops of acetone and it softens, or light heat. Front drive sproket cover bolts were so easy to lose.

later, r.

[tecker]

The gears will never last I Know you don't need  to hear that but it looks like a good idea I  would remove every other one and install on second bar above the first cross bar It seems to me they would work a little better but the inertia of the the combined weight would be un raced .

 

[DamonHD]

Their design life is only 2--3 years, so yes they definitely will wear out.  But they are cheap and easy to replace (remove one clip and washer by hand).

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

The MotorWind people are being very helpful, and I am getting emails from HK and India advising on how I might deal with the vibration/nut issue; this is good customer service IMHO!

Following the great advice here, I've secured the bolts with both a little glue and with locknuts, and I'll keep checking them regularly for now.

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I've now implemented and put up the diagram of the crowbar circuit (5 components) in the 'Overvoltage/... Protection" part of:

http://www.earth.org.uk/wind-power-pilot-autumn-2007-MotorWind.html

Rgds

Damon