Building a Wind Turbine (46 of 46) Finishing Up

[PhoenixCustomPrimiti]

I've watched this from beginning to the end and I must say I am inspired. My area is blessed with a happy medium of sun and wind, but also tornadoes and pretty heavy downpours. I'd like to know about the plans and where I might obtain them as well as the parts/materials list.

Thank you for doing this step by step video series. I know I will be referring back to it during my build..

I look forward to your next build.

[pablof59]

Thanx for the great videos about the build up of this turbine ! I'm nearly shure that if you open some holes in the roof top you'll get a kind of "venturi" effect that will improve the performance.

[efortune357]

awesome vids. Thank you. Why did you go with the height of the turbine? To collect more wind do you think doubling the height would help? What would the pros and cons be? Wish I had more wind here in ohio

[imikewillrockyou]

@efortune357 Increasing the height will have diminishing returns because you can only gain so much speed with that diameter and load. Or in other words the added weight will slow it down. Adding a little more height might give you a slight improvement but at some point it will actually slow you down and the structure will be less stable overall. Hope that helps. btw, if you live in a low wind area go with solar.

[efortune357]

@imikewillrockyou Thanks for the info. I'm in Columbus Oh so not always wind, not always sunny:( Plus I'm try to conserve money. I was thinking a solution may be instead of having a turbine 3x tall, I have 3 separate turbines stacked. I still need to build a test turbine, just thinking out loud... Are people using multiple turbines to engergize homes? It makes sense on the surface but I have a lot to learn.

[imikewillrockyou]

@efortune357 This is small turbine that needs good wind to benefit from it, 20 mpr +. To get that most of the time you need a mast. So if you are in a low wind area I would go with solar first and then add wind to supplement on stormy and cloudy days. However, if you live in area with a lot of wind, then you won't beat wind energy.

[efortune357]

@imikewillrockyou Thanks again for the informative response. Hopefully technology will advance to make these more and more efficient and accessible to everybody.

[sweatyss]

NOW i understand! thanks for sharing and God bless you!

[aznmav2]

thank you for sharing your project with us. i would love to see how you hooked up the electrics for this project. have you consider tying it to your grid?

[terrilynndempsey]

Hey! I just started watching your videos today... skipped a few just to get the broad strokes. I was wondering (and I apologize if this has already been asked) ... Do you have a video on the actual attachment of the video to a device (ie: a light or something)?

[imikewillrockyou]

@terrilynndempsey I don't go into the battery hook up. There are a lot of ways this set-up could be done. I'm just charging 6 volt golf cart batteries hooked in series to make a 12 volt system. Alternator to charge controller to batteries.

[terrilynndempsey]

@imikewillrockyou I give the word 'beginner' a whole new meaning. Just thought it would be interesting to see how you hook up the actual turbine to an adapter... When it comes to stuff like this I'm very 'instruction-oriented' : P

Thanks for the time you took to post these videos. My dad and I are considering starting a charity and I love innovative ideas that could have cool applications.

[imikewillrockyou]

@terrilynndempsey Thanks, I would love to see this and other ideas like this used for charity. Just be careful with the electricity side of these projects, seek out an electrician. Electricity can kill and deserves respect and requires knowledge. You need proper grounding, wiring etc...

[terrilynndempsey]

@imikewillrockyou Makes sense; I don't want to die. I can't wait to try this project!!!

[jedufa]

Mike, nice work.

I will throw myself in that design next week, thanks for the precise descriptions.

I was thinking in extruding the stator blades like 3 to 5 feet outside the structure to redirect a larger wind area to the rotor. You think it's a good idea?

[WulfBand]

Thanks for making the videos. I'd love to see you battery bank and electrical interface system.

[greenpowertrust]

Thank you for sharing. That's what makes you the best.

[leonscorpio19]

That's awesome of you to share your idea and build... it seems as though most would rather go the route of commerce rather then help their fellow man in times like these.

Take care

[Johnnylofat]

Heh, I just thought of a good question. How long did it take you to make the first ones, and how long does it take to make one now? If cost wasn't a factor would you still make these out of wood, or is there another medium you would prefer.

[imikewillrockyou]

@Johnnylofat I could complete this project in a day or two. At first it took maybe a week since I didn't know exactly how to go about each step. As far as materials wood is actually a good material for this. It's strong, light, easy to work with and lasts a long time. However, if cost wasn't a factor I would build these out of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is extremely strong and light weight and would be perfect except for the cost and time involved. My next choice would be good old fiberglass.

[Johnnylofat]

if there is a more comprehensive video out there on anything i'd like to see it. brilliant! a note to people with questions, everything I've seen asked is in the videos. thanks!

[imikewillrockyou]

@Johnnylofat Thank you.

[andymac252]

Hi Mike, I love the videos, thank you so much for your time and effort.

I have just started sourcing the materials to build one myself, but I'm stumped over where to get the blades from (or even what to ask for).

Can you tell me where you bought the material for the blades?

Then i can do a comparison shop and source them over here in Scotland.

We dont have any problems regarding scarcity of wind here! ;)

Thank you again

Andrew

[mrtilley66]

Great job Mike just watched all 46 vids wish there was enough wind here in central SC. I would build one using a dc motor and put it on my shop.

[MrHorsetail]

Great instructions Mike, Where did you get the generator and does the turbine need much wind to start charging 12 volts?

[imikewillrockyou]

@MrHorsetail on this turbine I'm using a converted PMA I purchased from a company on the net called wind blue power. I'm using their "low wind" PMA. And you need somewhere between 10-15mpr wind flowing across the turbine before 12v. I've seen the volts get near there below 10 mph but to be realistic you really need 10+ mpr to see any real energy being produced. It needs to be in wind! If you only have very light breezes in your area I would suggest looking into solar.

[ishho4real]

so what kind of production are you getting out of that thing in kw?

[GoatHollow]

Just found your series, have subbed, and will view entire series in near future. Do you have any idea what kind of output you've been getting?

[9887663]

Hi Mike,

Boy you sure got a lot of comments! Did you think you would have somany people excited? The reason for my comment today is; Do you have a basic materials list yet?

I want to get started.

[colliertng]

Also, What Voltage & Amperage does it Generate?

[colliertng]

Your concept is Fantastic!!!! I was thinking that You might want to have a Second Job building these & selling them. You might want to build them with Non-Corrosive Metal and/or Plastic.

[vanhook2]

Very nice.

Since I don't have a HOA to deal with, I can see an up sized version in my near future.

Once again, VERY NICE!

[imikewillrockyou]

@vanhook2 I have a scaled up version of this turbine on the drawing board. I hope to video how I build that one as well and share it with everyone.

[JamesThomas]

Great instruction series! Thank you.

As far as improvement: how about adding tempered-hardboard disks to the center axle, to add a Tesla turbine effect to raise efficiency?

[imikewillrockyou]

@JamesThomas Adding a Tesla turbine effect is a great idea and would work as long as the extra weight created is overcome by the extra energy produced. As it is this turbine is very efficient to the wind. So while you might get more the question is at what increased cost?

[JamesThomas]

@imikewillrockyou

Indeed the discs would add weight.

Tesnic, is a company with a VAWT design similar to yours, but with the added discs. They do a test with and without the discs, that shows the Tesla turbine effect adds considerable efficiency making the heavier design turn at a lower wind speed. The added weight also adds more torque.

2 part test found here at YouTube under: Tesnic vs Darrieus

[imikewillrockyou]

@imikewillrockyou The way I designed this turbine the air needs to flow through easily. The turbine get's a kick as the air enters and then again when it exits. My guess is tesla discs might kill the wing lift effect. They likely designed their turbine a lot different even if they look similar.I'm sure they have a great turbine but I'm after low cost. If we can get the cost low enough everyone will start using alt energy.

[JamesThomas]

@imikewillrockyou

I understand.

Perhaps Tesla turbine discs will not work in your design. That said, you ask for possible "improvements". What if we added only a few discs at first just to see if it added a simple, yet worthwhile efficiency gain?

if nothing comes of it, so be it. Then we know for sure.

[imikewillrockyou]

@JamesThomas That's a good idea add just a few tesla discs and see if there is any improvement. I'd like to see if the tesla discs would run well on their own. I'm a little skeptical due to how Tesla used the discs with a very concentrated enclosed system to force the gas through the system. Wind can travel around. But it's still a very interesting concept.

[9887663]

Hi, Can I get a list of parts neededto make your wind turbine?

[imikewillrockyou]

@9887663 Working on that. I apologize I don't have that up yet.

[9887663]

Last question #3- Would their be a way to susbent some type of coil in the middle of the turbine? If this coil had nothing more than air flowing threw it from the house it should be colling that air which would be a supplement the air colloing system.

Just a thought!

[imikewillrockyou]

@9887663 You could adapt this turbine to many things. However, I designed this turbine to turn a PMA. So whatever you are turning shouldn't exceed that load.

[9887663]

Also should this way also cut down on the noise factor?

Question # 2- Is there some way to cut down on the turblance of air on the inside of the turbine? It seems to me that if you could clean that up you should be able to get even more RPM's out of the same turbine.

[imikewillrockyou]

@9887663 High steady wind 20 mph and above seems to run this turbine very smooth. There is very little noise. In fact the wind makes more noise than I can detect from the turbine. Much more quiet than a horizontal. Never killed a bird with this turbine either which is another advantage.

[9887663]

I just went over all 46 vidoes.

What a great job you have done!

I have a couple of Questions; 1= You have put your vanes so that the thin edge is on the outside and the thicker edge is facing to the inside of unit. Would not it work better the othe way around? this should cause a negitive pressure as the wind flows over the blade , causing a vacume affect, which should cause the blade assembly to rotate faster ( more RPM's for the same amount of wind).

[imikewillrockyou]

@9887663 Thin edge goes to the outside. I've tried both not exactly sure why that works best. It's appear since there is less resistance going in the turbine get's a nice extra push as the air exits the turbine. Or likely the wing lift effect just works better that direction.

[9887663]

I have just converted a celing fan motor over to a PMM. I do not want to put props on it.

This looks good.

I will go to the start and learn all I can.

Thank you for taking your time to teach all that want to learn!

[9887663]

Could you tell me where I can get a list of the items I would need to build your item?

[shezzzzzz]

Mike you are the man!!! one of the best vids I have seen on youtube with great detail and info. Thank you for sharing these vids.

[imikewillrockyou]

@shezzzzzz Thanks and all the best.