ceiling fans

[Arno]

I have just recently found 30 inch 6 bladed ceiling fans for like 20 bucks at home depot and Lowes.Even with my crippled hands and kitchen table for a work bench I relaced a 4 blader fan in my trailer living room with a 6 blader. I mounted and glued 6 3inch ceramic magnets to the blades faceing up to the ceiling. From the ceiling down close to the magnets I mounted 3 inch pieces of 3/4 inch copper tubing with brass screws and fire proof fiber washer spacers. I put a nice polish on the copper with a buff wheel. The whole deal looks rather nice, I wish I knew how to send photos. Anyway, when I turn it on, the magnets make eddy currents in the copper tubes which heat up a little and the fan blades push it down to the floor. Although it isn't much I can actually feel it . I'm guessing the motor takes much less watts to operate the fan than a resistance heater would but nowhere near as much heat. I'm hopeing you people can think up some improvements to this idea like neo's and more eddy currents.

The 4 blader I took down is spinning away in the back yard as a lawn ornament.The motor comes apart easily with 8 screws and has a great laminated disk with neat coils. There has to be a way to add magnets to this ready made generator. All for about 20 bucks.

arno

[whatsnext]

Arno, Your fan motor is now using up a lot more electricity and will probably overheat because of it. There is no free lunch and that heat you are making is coming straight out of your electric line. Put a watt meter on the fan circuit both with and without the magnets and you'll see where your heat is coming from.

John...

[hiker]

try this type of ceiling fan--real easy to rewire--had mine wired for a gen --lots of wire per coil--now its wired for a gas engine 12 turns per coil 14 mags single phase..

20+amps output--all that just out of one piece of wire about 35 feet long......

later.........[powered by harddrine mags]

[benjamindees]

This is correct.  This is basically an electric heater, with a fan.  

An electric heat pump would be 2x as efficient.  A ground source heat pump, 2.5-3x.  A natural gas heater would cost almost 1/2 as much to operate.

[Arno]

Gentlemen,

  Thanks for your input. It's not as encouraging as I had hoped, but then why ask if you can't take it? I really cant afford a watt meter. The one I priced was 59.00.

I'll have to rely on touch, sight and sound. After running an hour, the motor housing was cool to the touch, I saw no great wobble in the blades [the mags are well centered near the ends of the blades], and I heared no whinning or labouring of the motor and I didn't smell anything burning. For my projects and abilities, that in itself is success BUT, the copper tubes were not very hot to the touch, so I'm not about to shut down my wood stove!

Do I understand right that my fan is useing more electric because of the added weight of the magnets? Because of the non magnetic copper and brass, and because the mags are well away from the houseing I'm sure there is no cogging.

If I tried smaller but more powerfull neo's, drilled many 3/4 inch holes in the blades to lighten them and increase the size of copper tube, any hope or just beating a dead horse?

arno

[whatsnext]

Arno, It has nothing to do with the weight of the magnets. You are using more electricity because you are using the rotation of the blades to induce a shorted current into the copper tubes. The power to turns those blades comes from your wall socket. You can't create heat, or any other, energy out of this air. And, the only energy you're putting in comes from your wall socket so it's clear that you HAVE to be using more now that your fan is doing two jobs, heat and air movement, Just because the outside of your fan's housing is staying cool YOU'RE WINDING COULD STILL BE HOT.

jOHN.....

[whatsnext]

Message to me: Look at the screen while typing.

John..

[Arno]

OK John

   You finially got through to me! I'm ammazed at how dense and fixed of mind I can be  when pursueing an idea! I should have been a politician.

At any rate I'm haveing fun and meeting some good joe's, so thanks and so long till the next big brain storm.

arno