Hi all,
I see it's been 2 years (almost to the day) that I posted last.
My PVC blades lasted about a year and a half (prior to exploding).
My goal:
To power one tiny RCA TV, my VAIO laptop and a 12V fluroecent light on a daily basis and act as backup (emergency power) to run the refrigerator if the power should go out for more than a couple of hours.
My (shoestring budget) AE system:
solar power - 37 watt panels
wind power - 115/230V split-phase conversion using (28ea) 1/2" dia. neos w/ home-made PVC blades
3 group 27 marine (so-called) deep-cycle 12V batts (in bad shape)
Small Steca (6.6A - I think) Charge Controller
2 rectifiers
DC Panel w/2 buss bars (+&-), a volt meter and auxilliary cigar lighter output
Aims 1250w inverter
AC 2 brkr Panel
Earth Ground for both panels, inverter and battery negative (8' copper clad)
Isolated house wiring from AC panel to 4 locations throughout the house.
(behind the fridge, living room, bedroom and office)
This past Winter my PVC blades got cold and broke loose during a heavy wind gust, so it's been all downhill since then.
Spring is upon us so it's time to get my tail in gear and do some repairs.
I just ordered:
(2ea) 6 Volt 200 Amp Hour AGM Batteries (8AGC2) to replace the Group 27's
(1ea) 12V Iota DLS-15 Battery Charger.
I didn't have very good luck with the group 27's that I had, so I wanted to be sure that I keep the AGM's topped off in times of little or no wind or solar activity.
Wind is on and off here (Pacific Northwest) and solar is a trickle at best during the Winter months. Even with little or no load, my current system is often not up to keeping my batteries in optimum condition (therefor the charger).
I really wanted to get some T-105's but I think the 8AGC2's should be a heck of a lot better than the group 27's.
I've never used AGM's but it's my understanding that to get good life from them I really need to keep them topped off, I hope the Iota will do a good job there.
Now for the genny repairs.
The PVC blades that I made before sure did work great, I may just make another set with a little bit more reinforcement near the hub. The last ones would start in 3-4 mph wind and start charging with 10-12 mph wind.
I made them from 10" diameter Sch 40 PVC pipe and had 4 blades (actually two crossed pieces sandwiched together with some 14GA steel, truss plates and (12ea) 1/4" bolts.)
The hub (truss plates) is still fine so I may just make 4 individual blades this time instead of crossing the two pieces. I figure that this might allow a little more flex and not shatter quite so easily. (The blades were 5 foot in diameter) Maybe I'll go for 6 foot this time.
The genny is mounted on a 20 foot tilt-down pole (2 1/2" steel pipe).
I have two 3" steel angle set in concrete at the base so the pole will tilt down using a come-along anchored to a ring set in concrete nearby. So far, the pole and base are holding up fine and make it (relatively) easy to access the genny.
The PM conversion should still be fine (I hope), I haven't checked it since the blade explosion. Worst case, I suppose I could have bent the shaft but it's pretty stout so I'm guessing it will be fine.
Guess it's time to bring 'er down and check it out.
Arc