All right guys and gals... it's official. I have the bug!
I built my first set of blades out of PVC and attached it to a lightweight hub assembly... The are 10' X 4 blades and they maintain a constant motion even in 1-2 MPH winds (once balanced).
I found a local junk yard that is only 5 miles from my home. They have everything from fire trucks to motors!
Listed below are some photos and stats... Please supply opinions as needed.
Vane VS Stationary:
Because of the weight involved, vanes make my uneasy. I don't like anything with that much weight spinning around. I may just do a downwind model since most of our wind comes in from one direction most of the time.
I may allow a small amount of arc... Maybe 25` or so... But we will see. Got other fish to fry first.
Main Bearing assembly and blade mounts:
This was a huge issue with me. I wanted something that would allow me to support some rather large blades, but it was also important to have something that would spin freely and allow maint to grease bearings and such.
I found this little beast at the junk yard. Here are the stats:
Weight: Estimated at 60-80 lbs.
Foot print: 7" X 12"
Pipe diam: 1 3/4"
Pipe length: 3'
Steel rotor assembly (large): 7/8" thick, 20" in diam! :-)
Plastic rotor assembly (smaller one): 1/2" 12" in diam. Appears to be some type of ABS plastic. (good for blade hub?)
Grease nipples are easily accessible on top of bearings. Even though it's been sitting in yard for three years or more... It spins freely and is well balanced.
Price: $30.00 each. He has four of them.
Idea: Mount blades to one side, PM alts to back side. 3 foot should give me enough distance to mount three sets without too much flux issues.
Wide View - Could stack three PM's on this pipe. This will be the back.
Rotor View (Large=steel 20", Smaller=ABS plastic 12")
Diff angle
Diff angle2
Large spindle - Makes me feel secure!
Big thick body... Shouldn't suffer fatigue
Massive footprint 7" X 12"
Blade mounting area... Want to mount blades on opposite side PM
Overhead View
MOTORS
Listed below are a couple motors I found... I think I will get better results out of a PM alt... But here is what I found in case the PM thing does pan out.
Big Mamma
Man: Siemens Model: 074
HP: 75 RPM: 1770
Volts/Amps: 230/460 169.5/84.6
Overhead View
Little One #1
Man: Doerr Electric Model: J810X
HP: 2.6 RPM: 3450
Volts/Amps: 220/460 6.9/3.45
Little One #2
Man: Baldor Model: M41181
HP: 25 RPM: 3525
Volts/Amps: 220/460 61/29
Little One #3
Man: Reliance Model: ?
HP: ? RPM: 1760
Volts/Amps: 220/460 40/20
Photo Below... #2 on left, #3 on right.
Little Ones #2 & #3
Summary
I'm ready to start compiling parts you'all and I want to have this thing up and running by winter.
Please provide any input, experience, ideas that you think would be applicable to the above parts with respect to heating water. (May also charge some batteries for landscaping lights and outdoor fountains/water pumps)
If I did get "Big Mamma" listed above... What would be the voltages that I could expect with a 10' blade system? Any ideas?