Low Wind Beauty

[MarkEGT 200]

Hi,

I have followed this group for years and hope to eventually get a respectable 9.5' turbine finished. Meanwhile I enjoy watching this little project and thought some might get a kick out of it too.  The wind is gusting to 45mph here today and it was the first time I caught it furling with a camera.

I am sure everyone is green with envy...be nice now.  It actually works much better than 24 volt Air-X I had located there previously.

The main components include a 36 vdc low rpm scrubber motor and spindle from an old mower deck.  It has kept a reserve bank of 6-T105's fully charged all winter.  On a decent day, I use it to recharge the batteries in my electric mower.

Thank you to the folks who are here providing their knowledge and expertise.

Enjoy,

Mark

[spinningmagnets]

Mark, the last pic is very useful!

What country are you in, and whats the nearest city (for location)?

[MarkEGT 200]

I am in the States near Springfield, Missouri.  I might find myself in Ohio tomorrow if the wind keeps up...

I could send you more close up shots tomorrow if you think it would be useful.

[CmeBREW]

I like that.  It looks like art.  Good job on the mechanism too. The grey weathered siding and the Dutch (or;Water pumper) mill go together beautifully.  No one would even know it generates some electricity.

 And Since it goes slower, it is far less 'threatening' to neihbors and probably is quiet except for a little random squeaking.

It looks like about 5 feet diameter.  If you replace that one with an Axial later, you can keep that Dutch mill for a nice yard decoration with some angle iron or treated wood going down at angles to the ground .

-Thanks for sharing the photos.

[TomW]

Thanks for the share. Neat use of available materials, indeed. How much welding in the project?

Always thought a place ought to have a water pumper style turbine around. Just looks so, uh, American Midwest.

Thanks again for the share.

Tom

[commanda]

How often do you need to replace the drive belt ?

Amanda

[TheCasualTraveler]

     Exciting, since low wind is what I am working on. But tell us more. You mention 45 mph wind but named your post "low wind beauty" so give us the details of what it does in low wind. If my guess is right it puts out a small amount of power but does so hour after hour. I believe the blades are what are called "drag" style? I'd also like to try a 5 or 6 blade drag style set but much thinner and with a bit of an airfoil at the tip. So, tell us more...

[MarkEGT 200]

About the "Low Wind Beauty"...

I had a modest goal.  Generate enough power to operate a light or two in the barn and to keep the chicken's water from freezing in the winter.

It was a collaboration of ideas between my neighbor and me.  The Air-X trial demonstrated the low wind speed area in which I live and the tower height would not give any appreciable power.  I had hoped the deflection of wind off the roof might provide some assistance.  And, it did to some degree.

From following posts here over several years and other reading, I knew there is a trade-off in RPM's because of the number and shape of the blades.  Also, there would be loss in the mechanical efforts and belt friction.

My neighbor insisted the windmill blade design could produce the power needed to overcome the losses.  "We would just have to gear it up".  I knew (thanks to this group) we would have to find the highest volt/lowest RPM ratio for any chance of success.

I figured what the h---.  I have been bitten by the genny bug.  The first thing I look for in morning is to see if the wind turbine is still atop the barn.  Seeing me mess with this stuff got the neighbor bit too.

There were several contraptions before this one.  A similar version had an engine fly wheel instead of the belt pulley.  It drove two and then three treadmill motors with gears welded to their shafts.  We were trying to get the amp output up.  Talk about mechanical losses.  And the noise OMG.  Wish I had taken a picture.  May it rest in peace.

Then I found this motor.  A 36 vdc, 300 RPM, scrubber machine motor.

The first version using this motor had a stationary tail.  After a really good storm, I found the blade assembly out in back of the chicken house with the center broke out of it and several blades missing.

This version has been going strong now for quite some time.  I have had to change the belt once because the motor slid back out of alignment causing the belt to wear edgewise.

My neighbor gets the credit for this blade design and welding.  I wanted thinner and fewer blades.  The first version did not have the supports welded from blade to blade.  We found adding this, gave it the needed rigidity to keep the blades from slapping the tower during high winds as in an earlier version.

It really does not take much wind to start the blades turning.  Just guessing but a light breeze (7-10mph) brings the rpm up to sufficient enough speed to reach the battery voltage and start charging (13 volts).  A good gusty breeze and she is cranking some decent power.  At least for what it is.  An axial flux she is not.

A stiff breeze will bring 2-T105's 25% discharged back to full charge in a couple of hours.  Granted we don't have sustained stiff breezes all that often.  If there is a light breeze, it will charge.

Now...I knew we were making some of the mistakes in the earlier versions.  But the neighbor learns by doing.  And, we had fun and learned a lot by doing it.

Thanks for all the positive comments.  I will try to answer any questions you may have.

Best Regards,

Mark

[domwild]

Great pumper! Thanks for that!

[ghurd]

I love it.

G-

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

I think v-belts get a bum rap.

They only lose about 5% of the power (2-10% depending on how well they're tensioned).  They're good for many horsepower (or KW), years of continuous operation, work in extreme environments, give you an audible warning when they need attention, and if they go catastrophically they don't tend to take other stuff with them.

They (and their pulleys and related hardware) are cheap and easily available in a variety of sizes at any hardware store.

Much less cost and hassle than a gearbox.  Sloppy maintenance doesn't make for major damage, just shorter life between replacements.  They mostly need adjustment once, about a week after install.  (And you can design a self-adjusting system if you want, though IMHO it makes more sense to use a fixed system and eliminate a moving part.)

They also load motor/jenny bearings the way most are intended to be loaded:  putting a side-force on the shaft.

[woodnmetalguy]

Mark -

I like your project a lot.  Particularly since I recently got hold of a couple 36V 200RPM motors from a floor scrubber very similar to the one you used.

Can you provide any further detail on the electrical side of your installation?  For instance, are you using a charge controller, or just going direct to the battery? And on the output side of the battery, are you using the 12V out direct, or inverting it to 120V?

Thanks for the inspiration - Dave