WindMax 9.2 Blades on 10 Footer

[arwenvaughan]

Has anyone put the WindMax 9.2 foot blades on the standard 10 foot Homebrew Wind Power turbine? I bought a set and put the blades on 12 inch disks so the total diameter is actually 9 1/2 foot. I was wondering how it works with a slightly smaller diameter.

Does the alternator overpower the blades? Do you have to make a larger air gap between the magnet rotors in order to keep it from stalling? How does the higher TSR of 8 play into this difference? How does this affect furling? Any information would be great.

Thanks!

[arwenvaughan]

Picture...

[imsmooth]

I had originally tried a set before carving my own.  I was disappointed with their performance.  I had some good winds and I didn't even see them start turning.  I put my own carved set on and the prop was spinning like crazy.  You already have them so see what happens.

[arwenvaughan]

Ok, so I guess they are just too heavy to start up easily at low wind speed? I'll probably give them a shot while I'm carving some out of cedar.

[brokengun]

I had a set of these that I ended up not using and sold to an amish man. His friend put them on his mill and he soon called me back looking for more information on the manufacturer because one of the blades had broken.

I know these blades have an attractive price, but all the things I've heard have not been good. I wish I could recommend another pre-made blade similar to it of better quality but I don't know of one.

As far as the size goes you'll be getting slightly higher RPM with a bit less torque. If my thoughts are correct this would mean that you should increase the air gap slightly (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).