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Author Topic: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!  (Read 23906 times)

neptune

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2011, 03:46:34 PM »
Good to see knowledgeable kind people offering you advice . Brian334 probably has a point that grid electricity costs less than home brew . However ,the experience you gain outweighs the monetary cost , but you already have the batteries , and how do you put a price on fun? You already have 30 watts of solar panels . In a high wind area you should easily be able to build a 50 to `100 watt generator from junk , or what you own . I know nothing about grades of magnets , seek advice elsewhere . How many turns of what gauge of wire? First decide what output voltage . Depends on your batteries . Build your generator , and wind and fit one coil , using what wire you have .Measure output volts . Thus work out volts per turn , and this will tell you how many turns you need . I f you have a twelve volt system , with say 6 coils in single phase , you will need about 2 volts per coil with the generator turning at the rpm expected in a 8 to 10 mph wind . What rpm is that> depends on the rotor .
      Remember that the energy in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed . What that means is that every time the windspeed doubles ,the power available increases by a factor of 8 .You are going to need a governor

Paul-R

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2011, 04:36:55 PM »
If the legendary Patrick K has written on a subject, it is usually
worth a good read first:
http://www.free-energy-info.com/Chapter14.pdf
page 14 onwards.

Northern-Lights

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2011, 07:53:28 PM »
Good to see knowledgeable kind people offering you advice . Brian334 probably has a point that grid electricity costs less than home brew . However ,the experience you gain outweighs the monetary cost , but you already have the batteries , and how do you put a price on fun? You already have 30 watts of solar panels . In a high wind area you should easily be able to build a 50 to `100 watt generator from junk , or what you own . I know nothing about grades of magnets , seek advice elsewhere . How many turns of what gauge of wire? First decide what output voltage . Depends on your batteries . Build your generator , and wind and fit one coil , using what wire you have .Measure output volts . Thus work out volts per turn , and this will tell you how many turns you need . I f you have a twelve volt system , with say 6 coils in single phase , you will need about 2 volts per coil with the generator turning at the rpm expected in a 8 to 10 mph wind . What rpm is that> depends on the rotor .
      Remember that the energy in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed . What that means is that every time the windspeed doubles ,the power available increases by a factor of 8 .You are going to need a governor

Thanks again Neptune for your info, I REALLY appreciate it. i know your doing your best to advise me, I am actually actually just VERY disappointed and frustrated with myself, as years ago, it was ME who people came to for this kind of advice, but since my brain injury, and memory loss issues, i cannot remember most things, and on top of that, I have issues actually "reading" things, and getting them to "stick" upstairs, it's embarrassing, but I have to be truthful about my situation, otherwise, you'll think I'm just being a jerk or something asking the same repetitive questions, and trying to get YOU do do all the work for me, as it will look like I'm just being LAZY when you give me the tools I need to figure something out, and then i turn around and ask YOU to do that for me! LOL
Sorry about that, it's a struggle, but I try not to let it get to me, or give up, and i have a wife and child to look after, and part of being a good provider in my opinion, is having a backup plan in case the lights go out, and who knows, the lights "may" go out permanently in the VERY near future, if all that 2012 stuff they are saying has anything to it.

Scientifically, (none of that new age crap) we are heading towards a direct path towards the gigantic black hole in the center of our galaxy, and when that happens, the scientists "think" it may cause a tremendously large electromagnetic pulse, MANY THOUSANDS OF TIMES that of what our sun is capable of, which in itself, is powerful enough to FRY all electronics on the planet.

So it may be that the ONLY people who have ANY electricity at all anymore after an event like that are the people who "know" how to make their own, and that is just "one" of many many different scenarios that may lead to the lights permanently going out. Another is a VERY REAL possibility, which is the use of EM weapons against our cities. It's real folks, I've worked on the systems MYSELF,  back when I "could" effectively do my job, and design antennas and calculate their radiation patterns. One EM pulse blast from an E-Bomb would totally take out ALL electronics for good within a 150 mile range. That is why I have a Geiger counter, a ham radio, CB radio, and other useful electronics devices in a box lined with 3 inches of lead. I also have my solar batteries in lead lined boxes. You can get the lead sheets for flashing around chimneys from back in the old days, or at scrap metal yards, trust me, you might not regret shielding your electronics that you value!

Anyhow, back to the wind power thing.

I can salvage the wire needed from an old washing machine motor, and maybe even convert it to a generator by attaching magnets to its stator, or internal rotor, whatever it's called, and then inserting new windings of wire around that mounted permanently inside that don't spin, who knows, but I can at least get the wire there.

The magnets are another story, I've been looking, and they are EXPENSIVE!!

So, IF I could find the magnets CHEAPLY, and IF I could figure out how this all works in one easy plan, THEN I might be able to build something, but there are SO many plans that call for "specific" items that they built it with that I could never get, I would have to understand the concepts myself, in order to make my own design fro what I "do" have laying around.

for example,I noticed that in one design, the guy mounted the coils of wire to a piece of circular plywood, but under the could, he cut a large groove in the plywood, and inserted long thin pieces of metal, that were coated on one side, and mentioned something about "eddy currents". Am I to understand that in addition to just the coils, you need to have some kind of metal under it, around it, or have the coils wrapped around a ferrous material in order to help store the induced electricity?

I understand transformer action, but am still trying to understand the concept of what we are trying to do.

It's obvious that when a conductor like a wire coil cut the flux field of a magnet at a certain angle, it induces an electrical current flow in that conductor, but is more than just the couls of wire needed?

also, i'm confused about the "phases", and how they are connected, and WHY they are needed, and in addition to that, I've read in some designs that one magnet is mounted south down, then the next with north down, then south, then north, ect, alternating them, why?

I've noticed the same thing with the coils, some are mounting them all in one direction, while others are going clockwise, then counter-clockwise and alternating them all.

So what are we trying to accomplish here and why? It's obvious that alternating the directions result in a negative swing, then positive swing voltage, but WHY are they doing that?

What is the RIGHT way to orient the magnets and coils to one another, and what about the metal behind the coils?

After reading all of that, i became MORE confused than when i "thought" I understood it all!

I "thought" the coils all went in one direction, all equal to one another, and the magnets all were mounted with the same pole facing towards the coils, is that not correct?

A little direction here would be GREAT at this point...LOL

thanks!
Chris ;)

tbird

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2011, 10:05:48 PM »
Chris,

you must have missed this from the other link i sent...

http://www.windstuffnow.com/main/3_phase_basics.htm

have a read through it (short).  it will answer a lot of your earlier questions.

i realize we are just scraping the top of the subject, but you need to get a few things understood before going futher.  this will help.

tom

Northern-Lights

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2011, 10:47:03 PM »
Chris,

you must have missed this from the other link i sent...

http://www.windstuffnow.com/main/3_phase_basics.htm

have a read through it (short).  it will answer a lot of your earlier questions.

i realize we are just scraping the top of the subject, but you need to get a few things understood before going futher.  this will help.

tom

Ooopps, I DID miss that, sorry, i don't think it refreshed properly in my browser, it seems to keep doing that on this forum I've noticed for some reason!
Thanks, I'll read it!
Chris ;)

infringer

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #20 on: January 29, 2011, 11:51:33 PM »
This is a tough venture you will not do it without a home workshop that I promise.

If you want something that is small scale to start your project learning go for a motor type design but I suggest you go big or go home if you are serious enough to jump in jump all in ...

I have tried wind blue power and ended up as a failure now there design is better hand has a stainless steel shaft may be worth the cash now but I'd shy away from it due to the bearings in your alternator being ferrous still seems to provide a lot of drag on this unit.

Anyhow I think the best possible solution shared with the general public was the axial flux generator able to crank out some noticeable power. I still have not built my turbine but the materials for doing so can all be purchased online. www.magnet4less.com for magnets and coil wire fiberglass and resin dunno what site I used maybe ebay but everything you have been searching so hard for can be found here::::::::: http://www.otherpower.com/turbineplans.shtml ::::::::

Enjoy

mscoffman

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #21 on: January 30, 2011, 01:43:51 AM »

The Synchronous AC Alternator;

You know how that AC power is measured by the phase difference
Between AC voltage and AC current sinewaves. If you begin
Overdriving a syncronous AC motor in terms of torque, any amount
you overrun it will cause the current and voltage waveforms to
switch in terms of lead vs lag in phase (the phase is referenced to
each to the other). So the simplest generator is actually just a large
AC motor being overdriven. This cannot supply backup power but
only power to an operating grid. If the grid is not available then your
stuck. The wind turbine might overspeed but the generator will not
put any power out to the now down grid so it isn’t dangerous as a
self excited generator.

The thing is this is a very inexpensive and easy solution. How do you do
it is…lets say you have a relatively constant source of power like A
water turbine. You put something in the middle between the turbine
and the motor called a mechanical CVT continuously variable transmission.
They have these for machines with a  ratio crank on top. Once things are
turned on You simply adjust the CVT crank so that it causes the motor to
overspeed  and the water turbine will pump power though the motor out to
the grid, causing the utility turbine and generator to slow down slightly and
utility to burn less fuel. You can substitute any engine that pumps out
constant torque for the water turbine. Unfortunately the windturbine is
not generally one of them because of the very variable output of wind
power.

:S:MarkCoffman

Northern-Lights

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #22 on: January 30, 2011, 04:31:57 AM »
OK, I've gotta ask, what is this "Magnets4Energy" advertising that is popping up here claiming to solve all my electricity problems for under $100??

If that was the case, all of you guys would be talking about buying THAT Magnets4Energy thing, instead of discussing how to build wind turbines!

Is it a scam or what?

Chris ;)

Northern-Lights

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #23 on: January 31, 2011, 07:46:55 PM »
OK, I've gotta ask, what is this "Magnets4Energy" advertising that is popping up here claiming to solve all my electricity problems for under $100??

If that was the case, all of you guys would be talking about buying THAT Magnets4Energy thing, instead of discussing how to build wind turbines!

Is it a scam or what?

Chris ;)

Ummm........no reply on that question??

neptune

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #24 on: January 31, 2011, 09:18:02 PM »
@ Northern lights . ask yourself . If you had the answer to the worlds energy problems , would you sell it at a mere $100 a pop ? The trouble with buying such plans is that when it does not work they will say its all your fault , you built it wrong . That is my opinion .

Northern-Lights

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #25 on: January 31, 2011, 09:55:10 PM »
OK, so I'm stupid, thanks for reminding me.

Northern-Lights

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #26 on: February 08, 2011, 06:33:14 PM »
OK, another "stupid" question.

I would like to "build" some kind of cheap and easily built wind turbine that is just small, and will deliver a bit of current to my batteries to keep them well charged, and I'm wondering what the best way to go is.

Should I rebuild an old furnace motor by removing the core, and modifying it with magnets to generate power, OR, should I build the type where the magnets are mounted to a spinning wooden (or other material) disc that is in close proximity to another disk that does not spin, with the many small coils of wire attached to it?

I"m not sure which is easier, and which will deliver the best results for the efforts spent in making it, and additionally, I do not have any special machine shop tools, just basic hand tools ect, so I am wondering if it IS possible for me to change the core of a furnace motor to allow the addition of magnets anyhow, so I'm torn as to which one I should "attempt" to tackle first.

Also, I'm confused about the magnets, where to find them cheapest, which ones you can get away with using, what the minimum "N" value would be (N38 as compared to N42 for example) that you can use and still have good power output. I know you get what you pay for, but is there a basic "set price range" for these magnets on a scale that you can compare to assure your getting a good deal?

Thanks!

Chris ;)

Cherryman

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Re: NEWBIE Needs direction and assistance building a wind generator!
« Reply #27 on: February 08, 2011, 06:39:42 PM »
This one is i think one of the easiest.

A 30 minutes tutorial to modify a Ac motor to DC, a little different from the ceiling fan types.

The guy talks a lot, but its useful info.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRnhFvu9PXo

Edit:

There is no "easy" way if you want it cheap but usable and durable.  It is all related:

- Power needs
- Fan blade configuration efficiency
- Avarage windspeed at location height
- Seize / type of generator
- Noise level

 
Claculate all that, add 20%