Selecting steel for the rotors and back plate

[badmoonryzn]

I am in the process of picking the metal for my mill and I wondered why not use 1/4 inch T1 instead of 1/2 mild. This would help eliminate flexing and save some weight. There are places where there are pieces of armour plate that would work too. Any reasons why these would not be useable to some advantage?

badmoon

[Titantornado]

The only thing that matters with the steel plate is how it effects (steers) magnetic flux.  Rigidity and weight don't play a factor in efficiency (well, not much)  A plate that is too thin will have flux leakage out it's backside, reducing efficiency.  The material must be thick enough to guide the flux to the neighboring magnet.

I used brake rotors, and even though there is potentially 3000 pounds of magnetic attaction between the rotors, (if they were allowed to come fully together) the back side of the rotor have practically no magnetism at all, indication efficient use of the magnetic field.

[badmoonryzn]

I am deficient in the are of interaction with the metal parts and how to check these areas without having meters to do the tests. Plus setting the air gap if one does use a different size of steel would still be a crap shoot. Thanks for the info maybe I should do it like the plans without trying to reengineer something I do not have the tools to change. Oh well, I was mostly wanting to keep the weight down if at all possible.

Badmoon

[electrondady1]

badmoon some guys cut holes in the rotors to lighten them but i think that might do more good as a way to get air inside the generator .

if you are thinking about a resistance to movement from inertia , once you put a load on the coils the resistance from any inertia of the rotors will seem minor.

the thickness of the rotors depends on the thickness of the magnets.

high carbon steel is less effective than low carbon.

it's possible to even use saw blades

 

[badmoonryzn]

I have been planning this for a few years and I am trying to learn as much as I can before I commit to some of the processes. I must admit I have become pretty frustrated not that I have started buying the materials. I have just about finished rebuilding the alternator for the water wheel. It started life as an Onan 7500 watt two-cylinder gas powered gen. I removed the engine to get access to the generators drive shaft and added a chain drive and clutch so I can use the engine if needed. I traded cat work for it and it seemed to have what i wanted to make the waterwheel project.

But damn, the solar panels prices just kill me. I figured once they started the film process the prices should have come down. They have not come down much and the cost of many of the other components related to producing your own electricity is unbelievable. It's no wonder people will not mass produce anything there's little if any market. It's really too bad as more people would get involved if the equipment was affordable. It's much cheaper to pay 7.5 cents kwh for our juice. Oh well, I like many on this site enjoy it as a hobby, but we are not the norm. By the time I get the wind genny up I will have a stroke. Thanks for the thoughts.

Regards,

Badmoon