My teardrop power

[bdosborn]

Ed,

The Ametek 30V motor I won on eBay should be here next week as well as the blocking diode, arbor and hub. I made the blades yesterday out of 4" PVC. This is turning into the coolest little project. Thanks for the links! Here's some more for other people that might be interested in a windmill.

http://www.velacreations.com/chispito.html
http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/index.html

Bruce
Edit: Here's a pic of the blades

[mikeschn]

Pictures Bruce, Pictures!

Mike...

I made the blades yesterday out of 4" PVC. This is turning into the coolest little project.

[bdosborn]

Kind of late but here are the pics:

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... wind+power

Bruce

[Mike M.]

I noticed the motors everyone is using are a bit pricey, Has anyone thought of using an automotive alt. as the motor? they make single wire alt that put out alot of amps at a very low rpm.

[emiller]

There are a couple of guys that have used alternators.

[bdosborn]

I noticed the price increase too. It seems like the Amtek 30 is now around twice what I paid for it. I think I'd look at a treadmill motor instead of an alternator. Here's a link to a site to build one from a treadmill motor.

http://www.velacreations.com/makechispito.html

An alternator can be used but it needs to be modified to work at 300 rpm, which is about the best speed you can expect from a windmill sized for a tear. Here's a link to an article that discusses some of the modifications that would be needed.

http://www.greeleynet.com/~cmorrison/ge ... lding.html

Finally, here's a link to an alternator that's already been modified and its not cheap either.

http://www.windbluepower.com/DC_540_Low ... dc-540.htm

Bruce

[StealthDave]

I know this is an old thread, but I'll throw my .02 cents worth in regarding wind power. I built a VAWT (vertical axis wind turbine) using a couple of roof vent turbines and a ceiling fan motor, just as a proof of concept. When the wind really blew I would get some serious voltage for charging. You could get 5 volts by spinning the setup by hand.
Granted, it may look silly on a TTT, but I am a firm believer of function over form. Heres the youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lal79W-mFDE

Dave

[kennyrayandersen]

One of the big things that most people don’t realize about windmills is the noise. Especially the big ones had a low frequency hums that can drive people batty and a few communities are really struggling with that [I read in a recent article]. The smaller higher-speed ones kill a lot of birds etc. Nearly any way you try and get energy there are issues… just saying nothing is free. Wait, if I put some high-speed ones near my orchard…I could kill ‘too’ birds with one ‘stone’.