using 3 motors in series or paralel........

hi guys i am thinking of making 3 small turbines with some 250w 24v scooter motors.....yeah ano they are the scooter motors that only produce about 8v,,,,but could they be linked in series to up the volts or paralel for more watts.......i am going to use them at our rc heli club house to power a small 200watt inverter for lighting...........what do you think is it possible to link motors.and what would be best ..series or paralel.......regards helinelly

[Gotwind Ben]

Not sure on this one Neil.
Maybe, use one to charge a 6v battery? - No good for an inverter I know.
or
Hopefully, read what others here advise :?:

Series generators rarely work worth a hoot.
The voltage is increased, but so is the resistance. One is always turning slower than the other which make the output much lower than most people would expect.

If you need to go series, might be a good idea to gear them to the same prop so they spin at the same RPM.
(which is Way to much effort for me!)
G-

You could always charge two 6v batteries seperately. When the power is needed, disconnect the bats from the turbine and connect them together in series so you now have 12v which can then power an inverter.

Downside is that the batteries should ideally have an equal level of charge, and of course its a bit of pain having keep rewiring it - unless you set up some sort of switch for it.

Switching from 12V to 6V is almost never a semi-remotely-decent idea,
But this may be the exception?
The RC club house uses lights maybe 2 hours a week on Thursday night?
That could make it an OK idea.

It would require a rather expensive switch, and/or a bit of know-how, but it could work.

The batteries would be at approximately the same state of charge all the time. At the same voltage while charging, and the same drain while being used.

I did a 24V PV-powered coal-fired hydronic radiant heating system (for winter), that 'switched' to 12V use (for summer).
It's about the same idea.
If interested, I could dig out my paper sketches of the wiring and draw it in an 'MS Paint' jpg sketch.
G-