18' Hybrid Wincharger update and photo

[Dave B]

 Here's a photo of Dave Moller's handy work during the tail pivot mod of lessening the angle. He torch cut through just down near the bottom and here was grinding stock away at an angle so that with some heat and a little push things would butt neatly back together. No fuss no muss then stick welded back together several passes both sides and presto, reduced angle by about 3 degrees, maybe moved the pivot in about 1/2" at the top of the support plate.

 While he was doing the serious stuff he let me borrow his spray booth to paint my newly completed stator, it's now gloss white enamel. Besides looking nice I figured it would help with UV protection as the "Wests" epoxy manuals all suggest some type of coating for this reason to the bare epoxy. I know this could limit even more the internal heat transfer but I now know the limits of this material and plan to stay well below worrying about a stator burnout. In fact choosing gloss white will help reflect the radiant from the sun during those dog days of summer that I hope we will see sometime again.

 New 9' (probably Ash) blades carved on Dave's machine should be happening soon while I replace and pack new hub bearings just for kicks. A few other little ideas we have to improve some things too and I'll update on that as it happens besides. It will be great to have it back up again and to test the improvements, heating water direct sounds simple and is but matching the load to the blades for more over all efficiency is the challange, did someone say MPPT ?...I'm getting there. Dave B.    

[David HK]

Dave B,

What was the angle before modification, and what is it now? Reason for change?

Regards,

David HK

[Janne]

Hi!

I hope you will be soon again making heat with your machine, hopefully avoiding any further burn-outs

[Dave B]

I think Dave said we went from about 16 degrees to about 13 degrees. I'd like to know for sure so don't quote me on that or figure to use those angles as a suggestion. My application is a little different than most here in that I am heating water direct so changes have been made from the start and along the way as I learn more. You can look back through my diary entries for the history but this tail angle change was made from furling too late and over speeding. This should help get me closer to where any other furling adjustment might be possible with tail weight changes. Dave B.

[Dave B]

Thanks, yes I can't wait to get it up flying again. I purposely ran the machine above double the rating that I planned for once I realized it was only going to fully furl in very high winds. I did this to find it's limit as it is not very often we have sustainend winds here over 50 MPH. I have a manual brake and could have shut it down (this has worked fine in winds of nearly this speed before) but then I would not have learned what it could take or how to further protect itself when these winds happen again (they will sometime). I don't want to think about baby sitting it when 50 MPH winds are in the forecast, that way 95% of the time I shouldn't be too concerned and it will just do what it should, heat my water. Thank you for your comment, updates to follow. Dave B

[jmk]

 Good to see ya getting it ready to go back up. I can't wait to hear how it performs. I think you'll be fine with the way you got it now. Let us know how it does.

[Dave B]

Thanks JMK. What was going to be just replace the blades and lighten the tail has turned into a complete tear down and rebuild. Believe it or not I am very glad I pushed this beyond it's limit and have now taken the time to tweak the design. With the weather the way it's been it's nice to be able to be working inside besides. It's fun all over again to be building and looking forward to assembly then pulling it back up. Photos and updates as I go. What type of paint did you use on your blades ? I used several coats of white gloss enamel and was pleased to see how well it held up, I had about 2 feet of stainless tape on the leading edge of the tips also.  Dave B.  

[jmk]

 I spent over a hundred dollars on my paint job. I used automotive urethane primer first then automotive enamel mixed with urethane. I just asked the guy at the paint store what would hold up the best. He said he could make me up a batch of what they use on truckers front ends. My paint job has held up well too. I also rub past wax on.  

[Dave B]

Nothing is cheap, good stuff costs good money but I'm sure you're happy with your blades and finish it looks great. I think when I finish my new ones I'll put some good old fashioned hard paste wax on them also, thanks for the idea. Things are moving along for me, Dave just dropped off my parts that he has modified and I'm going to put things together to run the new stator and index the parts before taking it back apart. Trying to do as much inside as possible to make the assembly outside painless, this weather can be tough to work in. I'll post a few update photos again soon.  Dave B.

[jmk]

 I've worked outside all my life as a rough carpenter. The weather didn't seem to bug that much until the economy got bad and things slowed down. Being 44 years old now, and out of work, I find it great being indoors, and dread going out to work in the harsh weather. (Except for the fact that I am not making money!) That is unless I am going skiing, snowmobiling, or ice fishing! Playing and working with your hands are two different things. Playing you can quit when your hands get cold. I remember when I was a little boy and skipped school once with a neighbor kid. He said nor rain, nor snow, or sleet will stop us from going to school, but it didn't rain, snow, or sleet, so screw it we didn't go. We had a mile to walk to our bus stop.

 Another way to get a tough finish on enamel is to glaze it. You want to do it right after the enamel dries, but what you can do is put a clear coat of urethane over it.

[Dave B]

I used to ski all the time and winter was just another time of the year to do something different. I don't care to be cold for any reason anymore, it's age I guess and my bones ache. Any particular brand or make of eurathane best to cover over enamel ? I am still surprised at how well my blades held up with several thin coats of plain Rustoleum gloss enamel, I wouldn't have needed to touch them up at all if I didn't have the crash against the tower. Dave B.

[scorman]

Dave,

"It will be great to have it back up again and to test the improvements, heating water direct sounds simple and is but matching the load to the blades for more over all efficiency is the challange, did someone say MPPT ?...I'm getting there. Dave B.    "

just saw a reference to Hugh's answer to above:

http://www.scoraigwind.com/circuits/

I question whether an MPPT designed for solar PV can handle the high voltage as well as large voltage swings you are seeing (not cheap either for 5KW ratings)...but I have been wrong before

Stew Corman from sunny Endicott

OT, Dave can you give us an overview of how much wind power you have extracted as far as allowing less % of oil/wood/electric power typcally consumed prior to installing the big bird?

[Dave B]

Thanks Stew for the link on load switching from Hugh. I had thought I bookmarked it way back but I hadn't so now I've got it back. Like I said before the idea of if it's turning it's heating sounds much simpler than it is to do effectively but the power is there so I'm working on it and have boiled up a good share of water while testing. Conservatively the only constant I know I can get is approx. 400 watts in a 10 MPH wind and of course it goes up from there. It is rare to hold costant 20-25 MPH winds but I had measured 3000-4000 watts in this range frequently and would like to safely limit it to a 3 KW max. machine. These numbers are conservative in the higher winds but I know for sure I ran over 6000 watts for extended periods during that storm and no doubt peaked much higher durings gusts of over 50 MPH. Just for kicks say we had a full 24 hours of average 10 MPH wind then 3 hours would equal approx. 1 KWH. This would be 8 KWH output for the day. Here, with tax and delivery etc. about $1.60 worth of power. Not earth shattering but I think very cool for home built.  Dave B.

[jmk]

 I don't know exactly the brand I used but if you go to an auto parts store that sells automotive paint you cant go wrong. I sprayed it with a HVLP gun. To get it to lay out smooth you need to fan it out so it's coming out in a big fine spray. They do sell it in an aerosol can, but I have never used it to know anything about it. Your rustoleum may be the way to go if it's working. You can always touch it up when you have it down, and like you said it's holding up. It's like $10 for the quart of rustoleum, and $40 for The urethane.

[jmk]

 I should add that if you buy the urethane you will need the cartelist $8, and reducer $30. The stuff is pricey! You don't want to breath it at all and you need a full body suit while working with it. It can be ingested threw the skin. If you can get someone who knows how to apply it for you. The stuff causes brain damage. I used it on my Corvette and lost a lot of my memory since then because I didn't ware the proper equipment.