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Forum Index : Windmills : First windmill up and running
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CanTinker2![]() Newbie ![]() Joined: 21/01/2008 Location: CanadaPosts: 14 |
Well it took me a while but its up. I had some health problems and now have two metal heart valves. Anyway I built the windmill in the spring of 2008 and the tower this year. I made a windmill based on your 6 blade, double rotor windmill. I live in Canada so I enclosed the windmill because of the ice and snow in the north. I used an adaptation of your double rotor design to come up with a single wye of 6 coils, 3 wye of three coils and 3 delta of three coils. So the windmill starts off slow at 1 amp and builds as the wind progresses to spin the blades faster. ![]() The windmill has 6 blades for maximum torque in low wind conditions. The blades are made from an 8 inch PVC pipe and are about 93 cm long and 9 to 13 cm from tip to base. They are shorter than the ones you made. But I only have one stator for a load. ![]() The tower is 37 feet tall and folding tower design. I used a boat winch to get the windmill up there and 2 inch pipe. That’s me beside my windmill, taken with the windmill cranked down. I will have to re-enforce the tower, it bends around 3 feet while winching it up. I noticed you have used an aircraft cable to make the length stronger in one of your towers. The windmill gains a few more feet by mounting the base on a big rock and on a hill, so that its over 40 feet in the air. ![]() ![]() ![]() There is no electricity at the camp, so the windmill is a welcome addition. It’s a 24 volt system that is charged by over 1kW of solar. The batteries are on the old side so it will be interesting to see what the windmill will do next year when they are replaced. The next step is to build your picaxe controller, so that I can see what the windmill actually produces. There is no controller at the moment, but there generator has to be run every 2 or 3 days so it is not possible to over charge. So far I have witnessed 1 to 3 amps in light winds and 7 amps at 27 volts (189 watts) when the wind is stronger. I calculate it should go to about 15 amps in high winds. We will see what it actually produces as time goes on. I had to defeat the furling mechanism; it needs a spring or something. It was furling right away, maybe the 6 blades. It was a pretty exciting day when I finally got my first windmill flying! |
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Gizmo![]() Admin Group ![]() Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5119 |
Mate, thats a fine looking wind turbine ![]() Yeah I did get a lot of bend in my tower when it was tilted down, so I added that extra wire and standoff to give it a bit of strength. Its good to see others try the staggered wiring on the stators, I swear by it. Got your email, I was about to reply but see you've got the hang of the image uploading. Good work. Thanks for posting. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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daveames Newbie ![]() Joined: 19/09/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 30 |
SWEET! first windmill eh? that's a beauty. bet you were known as a builder before working this fine project up. great idea with that five gallon bucket, should work like a treat. thanks for the look! kind regards, dave |
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