COREdevelopments
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 07:07 PM |
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Mini wind turbine
Hi all, I need some ideas on lighting a single garage and thought of making a small wind turbine on the locost side if possible. I have found some
permenant magnet motors on ebay for cheap and was hoping to use this as a starting point.
Basically the wind turbine would charge a couple of big heavy duty 12v or 24v batteries and then an inverter would be used to power a couple of strip
lights and possibly something else. Does anyone have any advice on this subject? am i wasting my time here?
I cant use a genny because of noise issues.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Rob
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Gav
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 07:29 PM |
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Google is your friend
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MakeEverything
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 07:36 PM |
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Stick to DC. Your inverter will have losses, and they can be blown up if you have a short circuit in a damp garage.
If you stayed 12V, then you can go for LED lights, which wont use hardly any juice, but you'll need a charging unit, as plugging the DC motor
directly into the battery will turn the generator into a fan! - Im sure you already know this though.
Never really thought about doing this before, so these are just the things from the top of my head. I havent looked, but check Google as above.
Kindest Regards,
Richard.
...You can make it foolProof, but youll never make it Idiot Proof!...
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rallyingden
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 07:53 PM |
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I was thinking of using one of those pavement signs that used to have half a message on one side and the other half on the second side. They were
banned because of the high speeds they got to in good wind. One of those with a comercial (HGV) 24V DC alternator on top would be a good starting
point.
Just cant find where to buy one 
RD 
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 08:02 PM |
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I use an inverter from a big 12v battery to run a 5ft strip light as the main lighting backed up by a 12v strip light and a rechargable hand lamp .
It's worth painting the walls with white emulsion or masonary paint . Have been looking at some 12 v downlighters as well
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 08:04 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rallyingden
I was thinking of using one of those pavement signs....
Just cant find where to buy one
RD
You're a Locoster, make one! 
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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Guinness
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 08:07 PM |
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http://www.instructables.com/id/55-Gallon-Drum-Turbine/
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COREdevelopments
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 08:14 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Gav
Google is your friend
Thanks Gav thats a brilliant site.
Cheeres for advice guys.
Rob
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JoelP
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| posted on 10/10/09 at 08:40 PM |
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would a car alternator not do the trick instead of the motors used in that link? Might need a belt drive to gear the rpm up suitably...
Beware! Bourettes is binfectious.
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craig1410
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| posted on 11/10/09 at 12:12 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
would a car alternator not do the trick instead of the motors used in that link? Might need a belt drive to gear the rpm up suitably...
Yeah, you'd be better using an alternator as they are much more efficient and come with everything you need to get started including regulator
and rectifier. You can actually make your own alternator from a kit of parts to be better matched to the speed a typical wind turbine will spin at
without incurring the losses you would get from gears or pulleys. If you do decide to use gears then use low friction plastic gears rather than
pulleys or metal gears.
I'm thinking of doing something similar and making a water wheel using the stream at the back of our house as a generator to drive some LED
garden lights.
Have a look at this site - very informative.
http://www3.telus.net/faheydumas/Wind_Turbine/Forum/AXIAL_FLUX_HowItWorks.pdf
Cheers,
Craig.
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02GF74
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| posted on 11/10/09 at 07:42 AM |
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car alternator is good.
there is some info. on an offroading site to show how to convert it to produce high voltage AC - can't recall where article is but had
something to do with welding in the field.
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garyo
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| posted on 11/10/09 at 07:56 AM |
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If you used a standard alternator, how would you energise the coils (simulate the dashboard 'ignition light'
Just wire it in normally and risk discharge if the wind doesn't blow for a few days?
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grafter
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| posted on 11/10/09 at 10:37 AM |
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The leading expert on home built Wind turbines in the UK is a guy who lives off grid in Scotland called Hugh Piggott, try googling him.
I have a done a workshop on Wind turbine building with him and there is nothing he doesn't know about them.
The only thing I would say about your build is that before you do anything you should see if where you are putting it is suitable, you could have the
most efficient wind turbine ever built but if the site is poor then the yield will be very low and probably not worth doing in the first place.
Turbulence has a serious impact on the yield, so if you live in a urban area then it probably is not suitable (that is why you very rarely see
domestic wind turbines in built up areas). The best thing to do is a wind survey to see if your average wind speed is above about 5 m/s, anything
less than this is a waste of time as most turbines don't start generating anything meaningless until above this speed. You can pick up cheap
anemometers on E-bay very easily and then do a survey for about 6 months to see.
[Edited on 11/10/09 by grafter]
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COREdevelopments
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| posted on 11/10/09 at 07:57 PM |
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Hey guys thanks for all your help and enthusiastic advice. I am interested in the high output ac method. however i have recieved an email from someone
who has read this thread and he has sent me an attachment which he claims to have a way to build a wind turbine. i am a bit reluctant to open it
because of possible spam and virus' etc. so if it is anyone on here then please let me know.
Thanks again guys
Rob
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