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wendallb

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Joined: 21/08/2009
Location: United States
Posts: 3

Posted: 08:33pm 07 Sep 2009

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I see all these windmills on ebay. Are any of these any good or are they all China junk? I am new to this so that is why I am asking.

Will I be better off building a F&P windmill?

Thanks for your opinion...

WendallB
The Young at Heart Gang

Gizmo

Admin Group

Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5119

Posted: 10:14pm 07 Sep 2009

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Some are junk, most are over rated.

A lot of the windmills do work, but not as well as advertised. Their advertised output is way over the top.

A few of the junk windmills can be rebuilt to make them reliable with good power, see....
http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/articles/ChineseBlades.a sp

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

RossW
Guru

Joined: 25/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 495

Posted: 11:36pm 07 Sep 2009

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I have had one of the chinese turbines up since Feb/2006. Despite peoples constant put-downs of the chinese stuff in general, I may have been lucky. My 1KW (rated) turbine frequently produced 1KW or slightly more in strong winds. It wasn't all plain sailing though. The blades worked but screamed like a banshee before I took to them with an angle grinder, epoxy filler and paint. The controller never worked but I made my own rectifier.

That turbine did good service until early this year when it was destroyed by a branch going through it (while it was producing full output - I was watching at the time)

Since then, I have sourced a replacement hub and blades, also from china (although a different manufacturer), machined the original shaft to fit the new hub, and have the turbine flying again. Much quieter than before.

I also have two new 2KW units that I have not had time to get up yet but hope to in the next few months. Reports about them are mixed so I'll see how mine perform before passing judgement.

In summary: the chinese stuff CAN be substantially cheaper, but research what you're getting first. Their quality is improving (but then, it had to!). Perhaps not as satisfying as making your own from scratch, but if it's "buy one or go without" then certainly they're a good place to start. Be prepared to fine-tune whatever you get for your local conditions and personal taste. It may be nothing more than better paint, or galvanised guys, or more cable clips, better turnbuckles and thimbles... but I have no doubts that most of what you'll get today will be in decent condition, ready to use and probably "close to" the specified outputs (but might require a little more breeze than is suggested!)

YMMV!

petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212

Posted: 02:47am 14 Sep 2009

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If you are a bit handy and prepared to pay attention to details you could get a reasonable thing at a good price.

If you want something that you put on a pole and service one a year and forget about the rest of the time you may be better off with something else.

Rodin

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Joined: 10/09/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 10

Posted: 03:26am 14 Sep 2009

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Check out my thread - Chinese Turbines Downwind conversion.
I have just published initial findings & I am moving on to the next stage of testing.
The above answers to your question are very much in line with my findings. I intend to pursue my project all the way to maximum output, efficiency & reliability as I live in a Motorhome & have no choice but to be self sufficient
I'm happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

David

Murphy was an Optimist

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