new pictures of my windturbine...

well... I got it up... and the motor is not going to work... I am only getting 5v at full windspeed... but I got a rig ready for a motor that works...

Good start bigkat.
Those treadmill motors do take more revs to reach cut in than the Ametek generaly.

If you have good wind in your location, you could try shortening each blade by 6".
Alternativly use it as a 6v battery charger. The tail fin shows your creative ability, but should be a little bigger in area in my oppinion.

Keep up the good work, and keep us all posted please.

Ben.

thanks for the response gotwind... I am wondering if I could re wind the motor???

I wouldnt advise it, I know Fungus rewound an Ametek motor a few weeks ago.

I havent heard the results yet, but it is a lot of work.
You are better getting an Ametek 30v DC motor - try eBay.

Ben.

You are losing some potential in the center. One constant I noticed when toying with blade shapes was that the interior of the blade made a difference in how ultimately fast it can rotate. The closer you can get to the center the faster rpms seem to be possible. Wider blades at the extreme make a blade more sensitive to wind but the tradeoff is that as it spins faster the blades quickly stall and you reach a premature top end speed. The material is also going to have to support the weight of the blade and more material out from the center is more stress on the blade. By keeping the meat close to the center you raise the potential at the top end of the spectrum. Right now you have one sweet spot in the blade and virtually nothing to garner wind force at the origin and tips. Dont throw out what you have now, you can just move the holes out from where they are now and reduce the length from the inner diameter of the blade accordingly. And remember a sharpened leading edge is not a bad thing.

Ultimately the best blade will draw consistent force across the entire length. But when using pipe like you are doing it will pay off to keep the blade widest near the origin and taper to nothing at the tips.

Go Huskers!

Thank you for the input MattM... I will make the corrections when I replace the motor...

hi ya bigkat
well done with the genny looks great for a first attempt i started with a treadmill motor allways seemed to be spinning but hardly ever reached charging voltage switched to the ametek and regurley see 12v plus. looks a pretty good open spot perched on a hill by the looks
anyway dont give up keep trying

The inner 1/3rd of the blade only makes about 10% of the power.

It looks like the outer 40% are flat to the wind.
Do they cup into the wind the same as the more center portions?
Maybe consider getting Bens blade plans.
G-

ghurd... I snapped a couple of pics to show you... the tips are about 2" in width... with a little cupping...




keith-

oh man... I have a perfect perch on a hill... one day I hope to have atleast 5 ginnys... and should be able to get off the grind with the power portion... :)

here is a little video that I made also... kinda sucks you cant really tell how fast the blades are moving but it will give you an idea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ3l1kkA9P4