I finally got some time to post some info & pictures of Our fist test windmill. It was a quick & fast project in oder to get something up & flying so I could begin to get some practical hands on experience with windmills.
The mill is setting on a 25 foot test tower in front of our showroom and is not near tall enough to get into clear air but it works well enough for testing purposes. We used PVC blades & a 2.5 Hp DC motor for the generator and in testing it puts out appx. 427 watts at 12v in 15 mph winds.
The furling mechanism is a direct blade tilt design & works very well. The balance point of the motor is set at 100 lbs. and in 16+ mph winds the motor & blades begin to tilt up. The spinning blades act as a big gyroscope and even if the wind stops abruptly the motor sets back down gently. We put some big rubber bumpers on the tilt plate just in case it set down hard but I don't think their necessary.
The Mill did have one disaster & we shattered the ends off of the PVC blades!
When We pulled the mill down for new blades & We found the culprit. The two bolts on the foot mount base of the motor had worked loose and allowed the whole motor and blade assembly to move. The blade tips hit the mast of the tower and clipped the ends off of the blades. Amazingly the all sheared off equally and the balance was still perfect, no vibration what so ever! The bolts have now been loctited & if they give me any more trouble they will get spot welded.
The last picture I call "Waiting for the Wind" We got the new hub & fiberglass blades on & wanted to check out balance before putting it back on the test tower. The wind was blowing nicely the whole time We were getting the mill rigged up on the forklift but as soon as we backed out of the shop into the driveway it stopped. However We had plenty of rain that day hence the tarp on the forklift seat.
It has been a fun project and I have learned alot and wish to thank all who have replied to my previous posts I really appreciate the help. I have moved on to a 10' Axial Flux design with furling tail & will post pictures of design & progress as time allows.The "Test Mill" will take up permanent residense on a 40' Tower in my Parents back yard hooked to a bank of L-16 batteries & a 5,000 Watt inverter to power the lights TV and VCR in the family room & the lights in the bathroom.