| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| litespeed |
Posted - 02/02/2008 : 01:44:05
I have just recently got into thinking of building a wind generator. It looks to be very interesting. I am totally intrigued. I have already built an anemometer and have been monitoring wind speeds for the past 2 months. Now I want to dive in and try to build a simple wind generator to charge the batteries in our RV.
I have 4 Ametek motors and I am trying to decide which one to use or if it is even worth it? I have 2 50VDC long body (7 inch), 1 38VDC and 1 40VDC. I have found quite a bit of info. on the 38 and 40 but not too much on the 50? Should I just chuck all of these and look for a lower RPM motor? Or will one of them work? Common since says that the 50 should produce more amps. It is much heavier and has "more in it". But if I have to spin up to 400 RPM's to make any power it seems like a moot point.
Are there any other good generator solutions out there that anyone is using? I see quite a bit out there and there are several surplus places near by. I just need to know what to look for.
AJ |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| litespeed |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 15:31:56
quote:
Originally posted by speo
AJ,
Everything looks good, but I don't like the motor mounting. It doesn't look strong enough.
Speo,
What part of this thing do you think is not strong enough? I don't want to fly it, if it is dangerous. I damn sure don't want to hurt myself or someone else.
Here is the breakdown:
The square tubing is thick walled steel 5' long, the "half pipe" is 4" thick walled stainless steel 6" long, bolts and washers are all 3/8" grade 8, motor casing is 4" sch. 40 PVC, the clamps are 4.5" aircraft T-bolts and the tail is 3/8 marine grade plywood. I used to be a jet engine mechanic so I used clamps that are similar to securing Bleed lines from the turbine (minus the V grove). Those will be safety wired as well.
Thanks again for all your help!
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| speo |
Posted - 20/02/2008 : 16:40:33
AJ,
Don't worry about Indiana being more difficult to turn than Ametek. My Indiana was also hard to turn, but when attached a 4' rotor, it started to turn in very low winds.
Ghurd is in US, so, it will be cheap - $3 maybe?
speo
www.windpulse.com |
| litespeed |
Posted - 19/02/2008 : 20:29:51
Ok... Here are some more #'s. I ran both the Ametek 50 and the Indiana 60 for a few minutes @ 14 volts. After the run I checked the resistance again. I am getting a solid 1.0 on the Ametek and .7 to .9 (.9 most of the time) on the Indiana. I managed to do some RPM counting (difficult to do). It looks like the Ametek is turning 320 to 340 RPM's @ 14 volts and the Indiana is turning 240 to 260 RPM's @ 14 volts.
Only problem is that the Indiana does not spin as easily as the Ametek. I'm betting that the prop will be difficult on that one.
I have ordered one of those laser tachometers to get a better reading. I could get some use out of it, so it is worth the investment. I'll post the accurate readings when I get the tach.
I wonder what it would cost to ship one of those controllers that ghurd and fungus have been messing with to the U.S.? Pretty neat little device.
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| speo |
Posted - 19/02/2008 : 02:24:48
AJ,
Good find - this motor.
Everything looks good, but I don't like the motor mounting. It doesn't look strong enough.
Did you find a way to measure the RPM when hooked to a battery? That willl be interesting to find out.
Keep us posted with any numbers.
Speo
www.windpulse.com |
| litespeed |
Posted - 18/02/2008 : 20:00:28
Speo,
Here are the numbers off that Indiana General 60VDC motor. It looks to be pretty good. Better than the 50 and just about everything I have seen here (locally). I think I'm going to go ahead and fly it with the Ametek 50 first. Check my results, do some tinkering and then try the Indiana 60.
When I tested the resistance in the Indiana 60 I was getting between 0.7 and 1.0. I still have not run the motor yet. I will try that tomorrow. Here are some pics of the motor with the meter attached. It is at 0.9 on the meter in this location. Also are some progress links on my generator below:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/Tail.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/ClampsArborHub2.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/ClampsArborHub.jpg
AJ
What's that noise!? Uh Oh!...
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| speo |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 18:24:27
AJ,
I got 1 ohm for mine after running it for few minutes, to make sure the brushes and comutator cleans up a little bit. Your reading is fine.
$10, $20 is really cheap, you're really lucky.
Keep us posted.
Speo
www.windpulse.com |
| litespeed |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 15:45:49
Speo,
I tested both of the 50's last night. I was not really sure what I was doing. I put the meter on the lowest setting on the Ohm's side (200).
Initially I was getting 6.4 to 7.0 out of both of them. So I ran them on a 12 volt battery for a couple minutes (like you said). Tried it again and was getting between .7 and 1.2 on the meter. Does this sound right.
I'll be up near that store again tomorrow. I'll pick up the 60 and test it as well. I can probably get it for $10 or $20.
AJ
Sebastian, FL
Wind gen. in progress |
| speo |
Posted - 11/02/2008 : 21:47:40
AJ,
You said you already have a 40 and a 38. Test them and if you are happy with them...get other similar ones.
Ametek 20 and 40 needs higher RPM. At least the ones I tested. I know there are two versions of 40, none of them as good as the 30s in terms of voltage/RPM.
I tested one Indiana 36/1125, which was close in terms of voltage to the high RPM Ametek, but better in Amps.
If you play with the "labeled" numbers for the Indiana 60, you'll see that in terms of voltage is close to the Ametek 30, sligthly better than the low RPM version. In terms of Amps, I think this Indiana 60 is much better than Ametek 30. Do you know what the winding resistence is for Indiana 60? I think this one is the most interesting one, if the numbers from the labels are close to the generator "mode" numbers and if the winding resistence is lower than Ametek 30's.
Speo
www.windpulse.com |
| litespeed |
Posted - 11/02/2008 : 20:54:01
quote:
Originally posted by speo
AJ,
You are welcome.
If you have access to a surplus store, check for an Indiana 24vdc (rated 24v@375), if you like its bench test numbers published in this thread: http://gotwind.forumco.com/topic~TOPIC_ID~337.asp
If you have a digital multimeter, can you check (and let us know) the winding resistence of your motors?
Thanks,
Speo
www.windpulse.com
Speo,
I was in a surplus store again today. I found 3 Ametek 40VDC, 1 Ametek 38VDC, 1 Ametek 20VDC and I was looking at this big Indiana General again. No Indiana General 24's. But they did have 2 of the 36's.
The larger Indiana General says it is rated at 60VDC at 1390 RPM's and 11.2 amps. The housing is 4" in diameter and about 9" long. It is a little harder to turn than the Ametek 50's but not by much. Do you think it is worth picking up? Or any of the other ones for that matter?
AJ
Sebastian, FL
Wind gen. in progress |
| gotwind |
Posted - 08/02/2008 : 22:09:46
Seb.
You can attach photos here also, Please resize them to 640 pixels width - usually 480 height for a standard photo.
It just makes it a bit easier and saves some bandwidth for dial up users - Cheers.
The Futures Green - Getwind of it. |
| litespeed |
Posted - 08/02/2008 : 15:46:59
Absolutely. Thanks!
Looks like we are having rain today and tomorrow so everything is on hold for now. I'm waiting for some parts to arrive anyway. Your site is great! It has given me lots of ideas. Everyone around here (locally) thinks that I am nuts for doing this. Just shows you how far behind we are over here.
Here are some pics of my progress (below). The water proofing solution is a little heavy duty but we only live a few feet from the Indian River Lagoon and only 1/4 mile from the ocean. So, salt and water intrusion is a real problem here. I made the generator cradle out of stainless pipe and covered the unit in 4 inch PVC. The cradle is bolted to the vane with 3 grade 8 bolts. The front is covered by a QD Rubber PVC cap. The generator will be secured to the cradle with 2 stainless 4" T-bolt clamps. The vane is 1 1/4" steel, 5' long. I'm still pondering on how to design the tail and mount (base).
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/WaterProofingandmountwithoutclamps.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/Generatortestfit.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/Yawmountparts.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/Ametekwatersolutionsleve.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg133/litespeed58/Ametek50watersolutionfrontunfinishe.jpg
AJ
Sebastian, FL
Wind gen. in progress |
| speo |
Posted - 08/02/2008 : 14:56:24
Sure, no problem, it's already public, anybody can use it, right?
If he wants to publish the data, I think it would be nice to mention www.gotwind.org as the source of info.
Speo
www.windpulse.com |
| litespeed |
Posted - 08/02/2008 : 13:55:34
Speo,
Do you mind if I send your graph data to Terry @ TLG wind power. I would like his advice on blade selection. I don't want to give out your information without permission.
Regards,
AJ
Sebastian, FL
Wind gen. in progress |
| speo |
Posted - 07/02/2008 : 01:40:15
AJ,
Set the multimeter on Ohms (on mine 200 ohms is the lowest) and hook the two wires from the mulimeter to the wires from the motor. Turn the shaft in a different position and measure again, do it few times in different positions for a complete turn.
If the motor stayed on the shelf for a while, you might want to let run for 5-10 minutes before measuring...I don't know, I'm thinking just to have a good contact between the brushes and the collectors.
Yes, Indiana 24VDC@375RPM has a flange like few Ameteks have.
Speo
www.windpulse.com |
| litespeed |
Posted - 07/02/2008 : 00:15:51
Speo,
That Indiana 24 looks sweet! That would be an excellent "Primary" generator. That is really what I am looking for. I'll keep my eyes open for one of those. Looks like it has a flange like the Ametek 20?
I'm completely new to all of this stuff. Please bare with me. Yes, I have a digital multimeter. How do I hook it up to check resistance? My electrics knowledge is about equivalent to plugging a plug into a socket! I'm learning though. Thank you. I will post what ever I can about these motors once I know how.
I have bought a diode and an arbor. Tomorrow I plan to go look for some scrap pipe, wire and steel to make the mount, run the conduit and make blades. I think that I may ultimately order a set of TLG's blades if all goes well.
Here is pic of the 2 50VDC Ametek long bodies (7 inch). The one at the top is in the middle being water proofed:
AJ
Sebastian, FL
Wind gen. in progress |
