Homebrewed Electricity > Wind

Bearing woes

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kitestrings:
Dang.  I’m pretty frustrated right now.  I just was watching the turbine running today in light to moderate winds.  When the wind shifted direction and it yawed around, I winced to hear that clunking/clapping sound I thought we’d just corrected.  It’s a nice, mild day so I scampered up to have a look/see.  Sure enough we’ve got significant bearing play; again.  I’d recently re-tightened & lubed the outer bearing, but did not replace it.  I took from BigRock’s cue to torque the thing a bit tighter, and gave it a few good seating hits with a mallet & block at the hub, then backed off only a flat (or maybe two), so it was fully seated.   

It ran well – quiet, balanced – but not for very long.  I assume the inner cage must be failing?
 
It's a pretty major repair to pull the blades, stator & magnet rotors to get at the back bearing… though I guess everything could stay up on the tower this time.  Maybe I should be thankful that I can do this with the removeable coil sectors.  With most axial’s this would not be an option.  Just wish I’d gotten to it this summer.  We just got about 10” of heavy, wet snow and the days a short now & windier.


Got’ta find a better, long-term solution.

kitestrings:
I was just looking... and this set of bearings was new in November 2020.  Maybe that's good wear, but it doesn't seem very long at all.

It's a 4,910# Baum hub with Timken (#25877, #25590) tapered roller bearings.  Maybe I'm not putting enough grease thru it?  Maybe it's the wrong bearing for the application - Chris has said this out-right.

MattM:
You are going on 4 years.  That was your moneys worth.

bigrockcandymountain:
That really sucks.  I hope you can get it fixed quick.  Winter is no fun with no wind power. 

Just my opinion, but I think you should get better service out of them than that.  You could go with a larger series hub if it would fit inside your generator.  You could try a different bearing brand.  Timken is one I have always trusted, but I don't buy more than a handful of bearings a year, so it's hard to say. 

Skf would be my other go to. 

You can put a bearing cap/cover on with a grease zerk in it.  Then pump until it pushes out the back seal.  That way both bearings get grease.  I think you could do that with the blades on.  Maybe that's what you have.  I don't remember how you grease. 

Synthetic emb grease would be my choice for grease.  Do as i say, not as i do haha.  I use EMB, (electric motor bearing) grease, but not synthetic.  And it shows when the temp goes below -20c. It doesn't spin up near as easy when it gets cold. 

I'll wait the results of you taking it down.  I don't envy you that project, especially when it is cold. 

Safe climbing.

Mary B:
There are a LOT of counterfeit bearings on the market, make sure you buy from a reputable source(your local auto parts store IS NOT on the list! Corporate bean counters buy cheap crap!).

Think about it, that bearing has been up there 4 years, approx 35,000 hours, Timken rates them for 3000 hours at 500 rev/min... I think you passed that!

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