Monday May 8

[DanB]

Adams Wind turbine died a couple weeks ago.  We could've fixed it but I really wanted to just replace it with a new machine.  Hard to say what happened first.  When we took it down one of the three leads was broken off the alternator (it was running single phase).  6 of the nine coils were black and the stator was warped.  Some of the hardware holding the stator on had come loose.  It was a mess and a bit of an ugly machine anyhow - and we had a few spare stators and magnet rotors and one machine ready to go so we decided to 'retire' his old 'volvo brake disk' wind turbine rather than fix it.  Click Here to read the story about the last time we had this one down (over a year ago I think...).  Basicly the welds were ugly... the tail was a bit crooked and I was dying to test a newer version of the design.

Thats the new alternator for Adam and Jennie.  We assembled it all this morning in hopes we could replace his old one this afternoon.

It was a windy day so we assembled/finished/balanced his blades in the shop before we took it down for the 'erection'.

George unhooks the old alternator...

The new machine fits over 2" pipe (the old one fit over 1.25" sched 80).  So we had to cut the old tower stub off cleanly and squarely (is that a word??).  Then we put an oil-lite bushing on the top of it all for the new machine.

Lots of grease on the tower top.

We hoisted the new alternator on.  Now to grease the tail pivot.

The picture doesn't show up real well.. but we put flat steel hub on behind where the blades will go.

Rich, Adam and George fit the blades.

Another picture of the same thing..

They fit the blades, tightened the bolts and we raised it (a Makita drill on a $20 Habour freight winch)...

It worked fine.  It wasn't terribly windy but fairy windy....  it furls at about 600W, the most we saw today was about 1200 Watts.  (his meter is too small for the machine at 10 amps, it was pegged much of the afternoon after we raised it and I had to use a DC clamp meter to really see what was going on).  Basicly .. it worked fine.

One we got done with Adams new machine we came back to the shop... George and Scotty worked on Scotty's new tower for his 11' 'wincharger airbrake machine' (a fun experiment)

Leaning against the wall are some lamined cedar 'blanks' for 16' blades.  We'll hopefully build that machine (or most of it) next week at our workshop in Wisconsin.

More work on Scotties new tower...  fun day.  And of course there was lots of pizza and plenty of dogs not pictured.

[terry5732]

Gettin awful stingy on the dog pics

[behoof]

DanB,

Great Monday post! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun and got a lot of work done.

Love the color scheme and the blades look awsome.

Thanks for a great post and you guys have a great time in Wisconsin, wish I could go but work beckons. Sheesh and I'm just in Michigan across the water from there, oh well,next time.

behoof

[DanB]

Ill work on that...

[willib]

those look like round coils, any test data for a comparison to the other style

[DanB]

They're not round... or weird.  They're perfectly normal and they work fine!

[willib]

they look round

[DanB]

yes...

theyre round*ish*  -  but theyre what we normally do.  They probably look round in the pics, theyre kind of wedge shaped/roundish like normal (for us) though.

[willib]

how round-ish are they , if you took a string and , anchored it to a piece of paper , then then took a pencil and drew a circle , the dia of you coils ,would any part of the coil extend outside of the circle?

[willib]

ok they're not round , just round-ish kind of looking , right?

but the resistance is different from what you made before?

[BT Humble]

I believe that in your country you can "Plead the 5th amendment", Dan.

Happy to help!  ;-)

BTH

[dinges]

Nah. In those cases I simply admit. 'Yes, it is a very round coil'.

End of discussion. (Hmmm... Or not? 'what diameter?'; 'is it really round, or a bit elliptical?'; 'what are the lengths of the semimajor and semi-minor axes'; etc.)

Guess you're right. It's a discussion one can't win. Plead the 5th.

Peter

'never wrestle with a pig; you both get dirty, and the pig enjoys it.'

(This is all hypothetically speaking ofcourse, Willib, nothing personal )

[dinges]

Dan,

I think the kids are getting a bit spoiled with the Monday-pics. Look at the comments:

'getting a bit stingy with the dog pigs'

'your coils look round*ish*'

Next thing you'll know:

'the colours of your genny don't match'

'You shouldn't have used a whale but a dolphin'

Peter.

(and please, don't ever, ever again use the word 'erection party')

[wdyasq]

"Party" - with the proper qualifing word......

I'd be willing to bet that otherpower was not in the top ten hits in your search engine.

And the coils are a rectiliner, semi-eleptical..... OK, I agree, drink a 5th, ignore the question.

Ron

[Gary D]

Hehe, can immagine someone googling the name of the post and hitting OTHERPOWER!

 Saw the term oil-lite bushing... is there a brass / copper or whatever pre sized bushing out there Dan? If so( or not )how thick would be a good start? Power went out night before last and my wifie has moved our potential power system up from # 173 to about #15 on my list of things to do.... ;-D  Gary D.

[zubbly]

how many coats of flux spray did you use on the stator to enhance hybrid phase sharing?

;=)

zubbly

[zubbly]

wdyasq,

do you mean drink a fifth or take a fifth with you when you visit the fifth?  

zubbly

[oztules]

You got the same list editing system I've got, and about as much control too

........oztules

[DanB]

thats about how they are willib.

[coldspot]

"workshop in Wisconsin"

Please have a safe and fun trip!!!!

I'm getting very jelous of the pic's of the mountians!!

lol

This weekend they, (girlfriends brother) dug a path into cabins

But, for the next two weekends, we have weddings to deal with!

First, this friday my daughter is getting married! , (This kid I do like!!)

Then the following weekend, my girlfriends daughter is getting married!!!

But then, the following weekend will be the first trip up to the cabin

this year for us!!!

I'll be very busy looking at the tree's for what one will be the new

"NON-TEST" Tower and what all else I'll need to do and build!

Anyway, great pic's and post!!

Thanks

[willib]

they are round-ish , yet eliptical-ish at the same time

"and I was dying to test a newer version of the design."

is the hole smaller ? the legs look wider than previous designs

thats about all the difference i can see

[Daggs]

Remember, a circle is just an ellipse where the semi-major axes are the same length.  And a donut without a hole is a danish.

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

Power went out night before last and my wifie has moved our potential power system up from # 173 to about #15 on my list of things to do.... ;-D

Something similar happened to me.  We have a lot of outages in the country place, so a battery backup for the 'fridges and such seems a necessity.  Was planning to do it as a grid-tie inverter and battery system, then add an RE charging system later - probably a mill plus mounting the old surplus Arco panels I've had kicking around for a while.

But they recently subdivided the giant farm behind our country place.  So now the wife would like me to get a mill - or at least a tower - up Real Soon Now as a yuppie repellant, to encourage any potential developers to develop a different section of the farm first.

Even before that, though, I intend to take some plywood and targets down to the range and blow a few holes in 'em, then set 'em up near the back of the property - as if I'd been shooting at 'em there, with the 13 miles of open valley for the backstop.  B-)

[seanchan00]

Hi DanB,

Have always enjoyed reading your regular Monday's posts. Looks forward to them every Tuesday. Learned a lot from them.

Could your please let me have the Item No of your Hardour Freight winch? I found 2 ( Item No 92860 and Item No 91727) in the Harbour Freight website and they both are 2000 lb utility winches using 1.5 HP, 12 volt heavy duty permanent magnetic motor. You mentioned using a Makita Drill to power your $20 winch. Are we looking at the same winch?

SeanChan.

Malaysia.

[sahlein]

I love the target idea!  

See if you can borrow a .54cal Muzzle loader to do the perforations!

VERY loud Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi work well as "repellant" too!

J.S.

[DanB]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=5798

That one works OK on small towers.  I like the worm gear - and if you take the handle off the shaft fits in a 1/2" drill.  It's $30 now.. sometimes Ive seen them for $13 (a bargain just for the cable on it)  There are 4 towers up here where those are used and they work OK.  Put lots of grease on the gears...

[RP]

Wagner, Ride of the Valkyries

[nothing to lose]

"I think the kids are getting a bit spoiled with the Monday-pics. Look at the comments:

'getting a bit stingy with the dog pigs'

'your coils look round*ish*'"

Well all the good stuff been said already. Great posts, teriffic gennies, cute dogs.

The Monday posts are the highlight of my week when I am at home to view them, but what's there to say I haven't said a dozen times already.

Great posts and keep them coming, always love to see what you guys are working on Dan.

[DanB]

Hi WilliB.  by 'new design' I just mean the 10' machine made from flat steel parts rather than using car parts/brake rotors.  We've made lots but never flown one up here yet.  The stator really hasn't changed.  The one pictured above is the same - but we wound the coils with 16 gage wire so they came out a bit 'fatter' than normal.  I think Adams was wound with 17 gage but I dont recall for sure.

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

See if you can borrow a .54cal Muzzle loader to do the perforations!

I'm actually pretty good with firearms.  It's fun to impress the yuppies at a Silicon Valley range by ramboing the twelve-guage bullpup shotgun from the hip and rapid-firing three or five rounds of buck in a tight group on a silhouette's belly button, or using a pistol to turn the head into a smiley face.  B-)

VERY loud Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi work well as "repellant" too!

NV house is on a loop of road around the first peak poking out of the north end of a valley.  Though we have a nice view down the valley, we also have neighbors about 600 feet to either side, and closer across the street.  (Lot behind where the mill will go isn't built on yet, though.  If we can figure out who bought it we'll warn them that a mill is going up and they should build up the hill to get a view over it.)

That's why we need be careful to keep the mill relatively quiet.

[dinges]

I'm a yuppie, and I like Wagner. Especially ride of valkyries. I also like windmills and shooting. So don't overdo it, or I just might end up as your neighbour...

Peter.

[sahlein]

Actually, the large perforations and the Classical music are more

designed to repel Axxholes rather than Yuppies.

J.

[sahlein]

And, as I recollect, you are inpressed by "Gravity Powered Clocks"!!

J