RFO - Request for Opinions (bearings, design) - Photos

[zowwie438]

All right guys and gals... it's official.   I have the bug!

I built my first set of blades out of PVC and attached it to a lightweight hub assembly... The are 10' X 4 blades and they maintain a constant motion even in 1-2 MPH winds (once balanced).

I found a local junk yard that is only 5 miles from my home.   They have everything from fire trucks to motors!

Listed below are some photos and stats... Please supply opinions as needed.

Vane VS Stationary:

Because of the weight involved, vanes make my uneasy.  I don't like anything with that much weight spinning around.  I may just do a downwind model since most of our wind comes in from one direction most of the time.

I may allow a small amount of arc... Maybe 25` or so... But we will see.   Got other fish to fry first.

Main Bearing assembly and blade mounts:

This was a huge issue with me.   I wanted something that would allow me to support some rather large blades, but it was also important to have something that would spin freely and allow maint to grease bearings and such.

I found this little beast at the junk yard.   Here are the stats:

Weight: Estimated at 60-80 lbs.

Foot print: 7" X 12"

Pipe diam: 1 3/4"

Pipe length: 3'

Steel rotor assembly (large): 7/8" thick, 20" in diam! :-)

Plastic rotor assembly (smaller one): 1/2" 12" in diam.  Appears to be some type of ABS plastic.  (good for blade hub?)

Grease nipples are easily accessible on top of bearings.   Even though it's been sitting in yard for three years or more... It spins freely and is well balanced.

Price: $30.00 each.   He has four of them.

Idea:  Mount blades to one side, PM alts to back side.   3 foot should give me enough distance to mount three sets without too much flux issues.

Wide View - Could stack three PM's on this pipe.  This will be the back.

Rotor View (Large=steel 20", Smaller=ABS plastic 12")


Diff angle
Diff angle2

Large spindle - Makes me feel secure!

Big thick body... Shouldn't suffer fatigue

Massive footprint 7" X 12"

Blade mounting area... Want to mount blades on opposite side PM

Overhead View

MOTORS

Listed below are a couple motors I found... I think I will get better results out of a PM alt... But here is what I found in case the PM thing does pan out.

Big Mamma

Man: Siemens    Model: 074

HP: 75          RPM: 1770

Volts/Amps:  230/460    169.5/84.6

Overhead View

Little One #1

Man: Doerr Electric    Model: J810X

HP: 2.6          RPM: 3450

Volts/Amps:  220/460    6.9/3.45

Little One #2

Man: Baldor    Model: M41181

HP: 25          RPM: 3525

Volts/Amps: 220/460    61/29

Little One #3

Man: Reliance    Model: ?

HP: ?          RPM: 1760

Volts/Amps: 220/460    40/20

Photo Below... #2 on left, #3 on right.

Little Ones #2 & #3

Summary

I'm ready to start compiling parts you'all and I want to have this thing up and running by winter.

Please provide any input, experience, ideas that you think would be applicable to the above parts with respect to heating water.  (May also charge some batteries for landscaping lights and outdoor fountains/water pumps)

If I did get "Big Mamma" listed above... What would be the voltages that I could expect with a 10' blade system?   Any ideas?

[DanB]

I'd consider a copy of windpower workshop before you start...  it'd be a fun read if you have the "bug"!

The bearings and disks look nice.. and lots of interesting motors there!

My thought is the disk is a bit on the large/thick side, unless your building a monster.

Downwind has its pros and cons (there's a good discussion of that in windpower workshop).  Tail vanes don't need to be heavy and it offers for a nice way to furl away from the high winds.  There are ways to do that with a downwind machine too...  but if its 10' ... or more - you'll definitely need a furling system.

[zowwie438]

Yes... Hugh's books are on the way, but they will not arrive until Monday and it's rather nice here in Ohio.

10' is a concern, but although the house has wind 90% of the time... It's all very LOW wind.   I have to build a beast in order to capture as much as I can.

I know the rotors are pretty thick... But they are very nice looking and when I spun that thing in the junk yard it called my name and sang.   It turned so smooth and had a nice craftmanship feel to it.

Weight is a concern... But I am trying to calculate everything out now with respect to load since I have some approximate weight in mind.

I know how the groups LOVES photos... So I thought I would post some and see what people thought.

My most recent sketch looks like I am only going to get 120' & -120' turning radius out of the machine due to obstructions and design.   But since most of the wind comes from a single direction.... I figure 120 should be fine.

Furling on the other hand has be baffled.    I still have not figured out how I am going to get this thing to tilt out of the wind and still maintain it's strength.    I will keep researching.

Best wishes to the entire group!   I love reading what different people have done and I hope that my insane project is no different.    I will try to keep you guys fully loaded with pics and test data.

[PaulJ]

   Make sure the bearings aren't some hard-to-get or obsolete size; also, tapered rollers are best to handle the thrust loading of a big mill.