Monday April 17

[DanB]

A mysterious package showed up at our shop in town for 'George'. He got it today... Morwen (the Borzoi) was very curious...

It contained a rather fancy Italian corkscrew and a bottle of homemade wine (were not sure who sent this.... but thankyou!!!).  It was 'wild cherry wine' from the hear of Dixie.  (geez... I expect of Abraham Lincoln had known they were such nice folks maybe things would've gone differently at Gettysburg)

It was a fun busy Monday.  We painted 4 magnet rotors and one machine.  This will be a 12V machine for a lady that lives fairly nearby in the next canyon north.

We got pretty impatient to get Scotties 'wincharger' together.  Before he arrived Rich started assembling the alternator.

There's Scotties machine all assembled except for the blades and the airbrake.

There it is with the airbrake and the blades on.  The blades, tail, and airbrake are about 70 years old we expect.  All the stuff between them was trashed so we built an alternator for it.  Pictured above is how the airbrake looks (almost) in the machines normal runing position.

Pictured above is what the airbrake does at high rpm to limit the speed of the blades.  

Back to Goerge's gift...  Bonnie tried to open the bottle of wine, with the new cork screw that was sent to us by somebody...  and one of the handles broke off the cork screw.

So they put vice grips on the broken handle...

And more metal broke off the cork screw!  (we still need a good cork screw!)

but the screw was well into the cork and George was able to force it out...

and the wild cherry wine was enjoy by all (thankyou to whomever sent that!!)

Nick worked on repairing his CO2 powered race car.  In the preliminary test at Stove Prairie elementry school his car had all the others beat by at least half a second over 30', but it smashed into something and needed repairs.  After the picture above was taken I think he realized the value in having his work clamped to a bench when using a coping saw.

There's Scott's 'pimped out wincharger' finished up completely.  He may try to restore the tail.  This machine will be almost 400' from the batteries - so Im not too worried about the alternator buring out - not much current can flow through the line.  We're relying on the airbrake to keep the speed under control and it should be reasonably efficient in low winds.  In higher winds, most of the energy will serve to heat up a 400' long wire between the turbine and the batteries.

We finished this 24v machine.  It just an alternator on a yaw bearing with a tail stub.  We're sending this one to Zubbly soon.

George had the audiance tonight...

Grampa Lou came up for a rare visit.

A minor dispute over couch space.

[force9BOAT]

These photos are really great as usual.  How many wind turbines are in use within  several miles radius of where you are?  Looks like you guys build one after another and they keep getting better and better.

Rob

[nothing to lose]

You guys got a lathe and heavy pipe. Maybe you need to build George a corkscrew!

Perhaps a beveled pipe end to sit on the bottles kneck and cap on top. Run a 1/4" lag bolt through a center hole. Then George could just grab a wrench and unscrew the corks

You got great dogs, but that photo redeye along with the teeth sure makes the black one look evil.

Everything looks great as usaul, glad things are going so well.

What exactly are you using for the yaw bearing pipes? Things started going bad for me earlier this year and still nothing goes right, though I muddle through.

 I started to raise a 24' pipe tower of 2" OD this weekend. My 2" ID would fit, but it has like a very hard weld seam inside and that stops it from fitting. I tried to bore it out on the lathe for a 10" or so section and ruined about 5 carbide tips.

Are you using a larger size like 2 1/4" ID? Mine would be a perfect fit if not for the seam. Everything I looked at at the scrap yard today was the same way. And I could not find anything larger under a 3" today.

 Since mine is for a lighter motor conversion, my solution was to make a large thick washer from the same 2"  pipe, I welded this to a smaller pipe that fit well inside the 2". I turned the bottom of the washer perfectly flat so it will be a clean smooth fit on top of the tower pipe and it will bear the weight. The smaller pipe extends into the tower pipe to prevent flop and also sticks up above the washer enough to mount the genny frame. Only thing I can try to do with the tower pipe is make a clean straight cut with a sawzall or use a second turned washer to make it smooth matting surface. I'll goop it up with axle grease on the matting surfaces when I assemble it.

 This should work well, but not the way I wanted to do it, I would rather have used a yaw bearing like the type you guys build.

[hiker]

big dog says --big hi--and he really tried not to chew up to many rabbits...

hope your easter was a good one...

[Gary D]

Hi Dan, a question on the line resistance.... If the down the pole (50 feet)and run to the battery bank (85 feet) for 135 feet total on a 12 volt machine (#37) what wire gauge would you recommend for starters? Is line resistance halved with 3 phase? Just wanting to know what works for now, staying with 12 volts.

 I have been tempted to try flux's way with #6 wire (low resistance jumping to 24 volt), however I'd like to see the speeds your machine normally runs at and get it producing.

 A large drillbit may be Georges only hope to get that dang cork out! Beer is easier! Best seat in the house is always coveted, even by dawgs... Gary D.

[BuddyL]

That George is rough on his new toys broke it allready . It is from Alabama I hope you enjoy!

[DanB]

Thanks BuddyL!  Yes.. it was greatly enjoyed - very nice!

[Flux]

Gary

"Is line resistance halved with 3 phase?"

What do you mean by this?. Are you thinking of the effect of running 3 phase rather than rectify at source and run dc.

If that is what you mean, it is more cost effective in wire to run at dc than run the 3 phase. For the same effect you need one more wire of the same size to carry 3 phase compared with the dc.

If you are comparing with single phase, then 3 phase has no advantage as far as line loss is concerned.

Flux

[zubbly]

hey DanB!

     thanks for the sneak peak at the new gen.  i look very forward to trying out your dual rotor design with delight.

     we did previously discuss the required prop. i think you told me approx a 9 foot prop with about tsr of 7. are there any other options that would be compatible with it?, perhaps an 8 foot tsr or 5 or 6?

     also, what square footage for the tail and approx length from the tail pivot pipe to the end of the tail?

     looks like a gorgeous unit, i will be proud to fly it

zubbly

[Gary D]

Yes Flux, I was thinking that the extra wire might have some effect on the wire run resistance. Similar to two in hand on one direction (always varying which 2 tho)? I definately want the rectifiers near the battery bank for convenience. I'll check the wind pages (otherpower)to see what wire size Dan has used on similar machines and go from there. Thanks for setting me straight! Gary D

[Gary D]

Responding to myself. Tim's machine has a drop line of #8/3 30 foot and a run of only 50 feet #6/3wire. So I may run a bit fast with my extra length even doing it all #6/3 wire? Was concerned with stall issues, doesn't look like that will be an issue. Trying to keep some variables in the public eye. :-) Gary D.

[rpcancun]

Hey Dan, nice machine....I was wondering is 22 degrees a good bite for low speed high

torque blade pitch??

Just lookin for some input.....

Thx....

[DanB]

perhaps near teh root of the blade.  At the tip I think the 'pitch' for a fairly slow moving blade should be in the 2- 3 deg range.  Faster blades sometimes have 0, or even negative pitch at the tips.