| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| CWAVE |
Posted - 01/05/2008 : 00:18:01
Hi.
New here and have a question right off the bat. I've been interested in wind power for many years, and this is the year that I've decided to put something together. I put up the tower last year so am ready to build the wind turbine!
My question is... I have a "Von Weise" Actuator motor that came from one of those big old satellite dish arms. The motor is in perfect condition and has the following specs:
36 volt DC
2.75 amps
1/15 HP
MTR RPM 1550
19:1 ratio
I've striped it off the arm, and have the motor shaft accessible. I've hooked it up to an electric drill and it does produce voltage when I spin it. Enough to light up a flashlight bulb quite brightly in fact.
I was wondering from your experience, would this be a worthwhile motor to use in a wind generator project, or should I look for something more suitable. I'd rather have some success rather than a abysmal failure the first time out.
Anyways, your thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks for your time.
Thomas |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| CWAVE |
Posted - 06/05/2008 : 17:59:10
Thanks for your comments. I had actually pulled off the gearing and those measurements were off the actual motor shaft.
I started down this particular path before I bought my Ametek 99 motor, so once it arrives, I'll be messing with that one instead for now. I still wouldn't mind setting it up to play around with it a bit, might be fun even if it doesn't give me much. More for the entertainment value. The comment about how long it'd last is a good point as this motor isn't designed for long running times. Would be interesting to put it out there and see how long it lasts. For fun!
All your comments are great! Thanks,
Thomas |
| ghurd |
Posted - 06/05/2008 : 13:39:40
Most of my thoughts include tools (or lack of), and complexity.
Losses from the gears mean larger blades, larger blades means larger bearings, etc.
It hardly seems worth the time and expense for 3A.
The extra bearings, shafts, gears/pulleys, etc, would cost more than an Ametek 38 for the same output.
Just seems a lot easier to start with a larger DC motor for 3A...
or add magnets to a 3 phase motor and be done.
G- |
| Capt Slog |
Posted - 06/05/2008 : 09:20:30
It looks faster than I'd want to be near too.
@ Ghurd: You said that the gearbox that is on it at the moment isn't workable, and I can see that. But would this be worth a belt type reduction/increase? 2:1 would get the rpms into reason and take the weight off the motor.
Thinking about the above, is it likely that the motor will be up to the job of spinning that fast for any length of time? I'm just thinking satelite dish moving = intermittant use. |
| Sundowner |
Posted - 06/05/2008 : 08:23:19
Hi CWave,
I don't know your location, but If I was you I'd be prepared to play around with that motor and make a wind turbine from it.
It would serve as a good test bed for all the things you need to play around with, design,blades,tail,pivot, poles etc etc.
If you can achieve 14 volts at 773rpm that would charge a battery but its very fast to have a turbine spinning, I 'd hate to stand under it if its only a first attempt.
I think everyone that makes their own turbine experiences some kind of mishap along the way so be prepared for failures and if and when it happens take it as a learning curve as opposed to a failure.
As I said use the motor as an experimental device.
Edited to add; If you have an ametek 99 I'd put my energy into that and forget about playing around with this motor. With the ametek you'll get 14v at about 400rpm without having to use gears etc which makes life more complicated.
Sundowner
Sundowner....huh.........thats what they call us.......Sundowners |
| CWAVE |
Posted - 05/05/2008 : 21:59:01
Ok, well for kicks I hooked it up to the old drillpress and got the following values:
After reading the below noted RPMs and voltages, perhaps those in the "know" (with experience) could comment on what they think the performance could be on this (ie: worth it or not).
Thanks,
Thomas
RPM Voltage
======== =======
250 ..... 5.1 volts (actual)
510 ..... 10.0 volts (actual)
650 ..... 11.8 volts (actual)
773 ..... 14.0 volts (calculated)
990 ..... 18.0 volts (actual) |
| CWAVE |
Posted - 02/05/2008 : 17:58:54
Thanks for the comment!
I'll hook it up to my drill press and see what kind of RPMs we're talking about to get 14v and go from there.
I'll post my results once I have them.
Thomas |
| ghurd |
Posted - 02/05/2008 : 15:48:54
The voltage:speed should be about linear. Find out the RPMs needed for 14V.
You can work from there.
G- |
| CWAVE |
Posted - 02/05/2008 : 05:32:46
Thanks ghurd for your comment, very much appreciated! I think I will give it a shot, given that I have it sitting around and all the parts I need to try to get it working.
I'll advise how it turns out for me once I get it flying.
Was thinking of hooking it up to my drillpress for fun to see what it gives me at various speeds. Thought it might be interesting.
Thomas |
| ghurd |
Posted - 01/05/2008 : 23:38:30
That's a bit fast for 12V. No reason not to try it. I would.
Might give it a shot with 28" to 32" Dia PVC blades.
The 2.75A means the blades don't need to be big to max it out.
That is if the motor RPM is 1550 Without the gear box.
A gearbox is going to make something this size be not worth the effort (except for fun).
With the gearbox, the blades need to be big to compensate for the gear losses, and big means slow. Slow means it will take a lot of windspeed to get 12V.
My thoughts?
Probably could try it for $10 in parts, and 2 hours in the garage?
Try it. It could be flying in less time than spent worrying about if it will work.
I used to think, plan, think, sketch, re-think...
It's a lot faster and easier to just try it! If it doesn't work well, then why not?
That's what I do now. Vast quantities of failures, some partial success, and a few successes, make me a good guesser.
G-
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