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rhackenb
Newbie

Joined: 05/01/2008
Location: United States
Posts: 3

Posted: 06:24pm 18 Feb 2008

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I have been experimenting with building a VAWT from scrap materials I have around the house. My starting point is 24 volt DC motor from a scrapped Ryobi battery-operated mower. I've made serveral attempts at making a VAWT mounted to this motor and most of these were flawed in some way and some were humorous and downright ugly.

The main problem with the designs were that wind was catching the back side of the paddles to the point where they were stopping the windmill from turning. None of this was for serious wind generation. I was just trying to figure out what worked.

I then decided to start smaller and build something out of cardboard where I could see whether the wind would actually make it spin. I ended up coming up with something that imitates VAWTs that are already in operation. You can see the step-by-step plans I wrote up (as if I were addressing a 3rd grader) and see a video of it in operation.

Visit:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Savonius-turbine/

My goal is to scale this up to double the size and make it out of plywood. I think I know how I am going to attach it to DC motor. I just want to prove that it will produce a enough electricity to light a bank of LED's.

I am open to suggestions about the design. I guess the most critical issue about the VAWT itself is the angle of the paddles. I put them at 24 degrees off the radius line.

-- rhackenb

wind-pirate

Senior Member

Joined: 01/02/2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 101

Posted: 01:00am 19 Feb 2008

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check out windstuffnow.com Ed Lenz He is the wizzard of vawt's.

Ron

THE Pirate.
stealing wind & solar energy is fun

Gill

Senior Member

Joined: 11/11/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 669

Posted: 04:00am 19 Feb 2008

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G'day rhackenb,
I suggest you continue to further mature your great passion by research in the area of basic aerodynamics where the focus is on LIFT and DRAG.
Then try to incorperate what you learn there into your designs.

was working fine... til the smoke got out.
Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ

rhackenb
Newbie

Joined: 05/01/2008
Location: United States
Posts: 3

Posted: 01:25pm 19 Feb 2008

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I guess I started this project after I had read the lenz2 description. I am aware of the difference between lift and drag but I was having a difficult time understanding how the the lenz2 was getting lift out of design that should only use drag. After re-reading the description, I realize that there is a venturi effect of the air passing through the center of the mill.

I'm limited in what I can manufacture in my garage (both in facilities and mechanical skill). I now see how I can emulate the lenz2 on a smaller scale. I want build something just big enough to turn the motor that I have and have it adjustable so that I can experiment with various configurations without having to rebuild the wings.

Thanks for the suggestions.

BTW, here in Indiana we have a tremendous amount of wind at times and no one seems to take advantage of it. There is not a single commercial wind farm in the state but there is one being built. My website collects and plots the wind measured at the Indianapolis airport and gives the running average over the last 24 hours. Right now the current average is 20 mph. It usually is around 8-10 mph. You can see the record at
http://www.datasink.com/cgi-bin/noaaReports.cgi?station=KIND &state=IN&location=Indianapolis

--rhackenb

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