First Windmill Project

[who8myrice]

Hey everyone,

as you may already know i have started my first windmill project. I decided to use a 40VDC Amatek motor and use ceiling fan blades (im trying to find the type of ceiling fan blades where there is three blades and they are made of metal, but so far no luck). I would have made the blades myself, but im no craftsman, and this is cheaper :/.

Is it reasonable to expect 100 watts from this motor at approximately 300 rpm's?

Is there a chart that tells you approx. how fast of wind you need to get a certain amount of rpm's? (ex: 10mph wind - 150 rpm's, etc.)

Also, any chance i could find a charge controller that could handle around 100 watts ( if thats the max my machine can do)without me havin to pay $100+ ?

and finally, I need a little help figuring out how to set up a blocking diode, and also where to buy a good one. (checked ebay, didn't really find any good ones). How do you wire the diode? do you connect both the - and the + wires to the end of the diode and then take another set of - and + wires out the other end of the diode and connect them to the battery bank?

Again, I greatly appreciate your advice and help!

[who8myrice]

wait, what it be better to buy a servo motor? i just read on a web site that at 600 rpm's it reaches 1kw and around 150VDC

[coldspot]

My luck with servo motors isn't near that good.

My luck with ceiling fan blades and Ametek 30 VDC

has not been tested very well either.

(13' tower behind house and next to taller shed in nextdoor yard)

My Ametek does spin a lot in most light winds, (very light, 2-3 mph)

but the three tail lights I'm loading it with are not even close

to a real load. They do light up a little bit in very light winds but

it takes about 8+ MPH to get what looks to be fully lit up, But

When checked with volt meter, it's putting out 10-11 volts.

When winds pick up to above 10 MPH I can get 12+ volts but

This is still all being done wrong.

The ceiling fan blades are just stock wood ones, sealed for weather

protection and turned around, (large end in and small out).

16 3/4" long, 4 1/2" at wide end.

They have come from salvaged fans and dumps.

I've picked up a newer set that are a bit longer,

20" L 5.5" W.

On the larger ones I've reinforced the cast or pot metal mounts with braided fishing line and Kevlar auto  bags in the fiberglass I filled the hollow back side with.

(Busted ones where small size and not turned but had add-ons for more width at inner

part, and busted at the mounts next to blade)

I'd like better ways but lack a site.

I'll be moving some stuff up to girlfriends cabin this weekend.

Charge control, isn't cheap.

My un-tested "FlexCharge", "NC25A-12" is a bit over $100.

Has 5 year Warrenty, 25A @ 12V is 300 Watts, and can do solar and or wind.

Can do bolth together and has charge divert.

It's also expandable, for more $'s it's go up to 1200 watts.

I'm looking at adding on enought to get to 720 Watts, ($200. more)

PS: Will be building tree house also up there./

[who8myrice]

hmm, your experiences with Ametek motors do not seem all that great :/

What is the most wattage/amps you have seen out of it? I mean do you get around 100 watts average?

Also, is it necessary to flip the blades (big end in, small end out)? i was just going to mount them like normal to a circular peice of wood (have no access to metal) and i was going to use the metal parts that are on the end (that normally would secure the blades to the ceiling fan base) to mount it to that wood.

Is this a bad idea?

also, since im only running a tree house and im not running anything huge, maybe at the max 300 watts for 2 hrs (600 watts total) I really only need an average off the genny to be about 100 watts per hour, is this too much to expect?

[coldspot]

rice-

"experiences with Ametek motors"

Has been nothing but good!!!

They are very good small windmills

I've just not had the proper stuff to play with.

I found out that the blades turned around works better.

And yes I used the stock metal mounts

Ametek is 5/8th" shaft size,(0.625") so I've used a pully with that shaft size

and drilled holes at proper places to mount them on to, (was for a 5 blade set-up

that I don't think an Ametek needs but a different stepper I have with same

size shaft was tested with it to find out about tower testing much better than

hand held kill somebody way. LOL

If you do a site search on Ametek or TDM, (What an Amtek is, Tape Drive Motor),

you'll find good info and see others have had great small windmill results

using them, (30 and 40 the better ones).

My reason for trying the ceiling fan blades was because I found them

and my Ametek came with the stock tape reel mount on it and the blade holders

would drop into three seperate area's on this reel mount. With a little taken off here n there with file or grinding disc (After the held on

in two places outer flange of the reel mount broke off while I was holding a PVC

"zub-woofer" blade, I had this blade mounted to this flange

 and let my Ametek get saved from hitting the floor by letting fast foot get the

damage instead. Ouch. lol  )

A lot can be learned by using the search buttons.

Money also saved this way.

I just can't build the way others can with no shop or tools, so I just do what

I'm able to using what I got.

What is the average wind speed for you?

I've got 9.2 at state capital, (hundres of miles away and less windy than here).

Whatever you do, start small and research.

[ElSenator]

http://www.tlgwindpower.com/ametek.htm

That'll give you some basic info about your motor, and others.

[Flux]

You need to sort your units out, you are confusing power with energy.

300W for 2 hours is 600Wh not 600W.  It is the product of watts and hours. Watts per hour is totally confusing.

Similarly with a small windmill you have no chance of producing 100W average in any normal wind area.

Amtek motors are ok and work well, the same can't be said of ceiling fan blades.

With good blades you are looking to nearer 100W peak and that will be in high winds, your average power will be in the order of watts.

It may still do what you want, it depends on how often you need to use the 300W.

You will likely be better of thinking in Ampere Hours. Your 300W load will use about 25A at 12v. If you use it for 1 hour it will use 25AH, for 3 hrs it will use 75AH and so on.

Your AH produced by the windmill will need to balance this and have some to spare for losses.

If your generator is producing 5A then it will need a bit over 5 hrs of wind to make good the use of the 300W load for 1 hr.

I hope this makes sense, I don't want you to be put off by a total misunderstanding about what is possible. At this stage, don't waste money on a charge controller, spend it on some decent blades ( Jerry blades seem to work well and are reasonably priced)

If you ever find the battery at over 14v then think about a charge controller but I doubt that you will need one unless you don't use the load for several days.

[coldspot]

I'd try the "jerry's" blades or the TLG blades if you could.

Like I've posted, I used ceiling fan blades for my own reasons, not

because they are good, (from what I've watched, about as good as PVC, maybe

better).

And a "Motor Arbor" would help with hub and mounting.

TLG or Harbor freight has them.

[who8myrice]

where can i buy "jerry" blades?

[Flux]

Try this, I think it links to Jerry's email address.

http://www.dplusv.com/Photo-03.html

Flux