Wind Generator Using 38 volt Ametek DC Motor

[usingmycamera]

Suprising to know I use the same motors shipped over form states and I get the wind power to use this motor normally without grearing..but then again we had wind speeds over 60-165Mph in the last week ,but I do well in normal days of wind..Luckily I live in a windy area,but the ametel 38v does need a lot of wind to shift it...good 6A over 12V can be made in most windy days.

[Alumicone]

Nice and simple build. What outputs have you measured, and what type of controller have you found to take advantage of the energy?

[bayadaim]

and another thing - the reason that it tuns so fast it that it doesn't have any load. that is called overspin, and this could harm the hole apparatus over time... if you did connected tit you saw the reduction in speed / RPM

[mikesamc]

what stops the wires from being twisted in the pipe as the turbine changes direction all the time with wind direction?

[ajonate]

@mikesamc At a later date, I installed a vertical 2x4 to limit rotation.

[19hawk11]

This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking to make and mount on my shed. Only difference is I plan on making a brushing type electrical conection between the mast and poll to avoid the wire eventually twisting too much. Your design is great, to the point and very easy for me to understand. Thank you for posting this vid!

[wwwGLITCHZcom]

I like how the blades are spinning at the same frequency of the camera, and they look still.

[5voodoo5]

Nice Vid

[joe18370]

i would look for a smaller lower pully to increase more power say it could spin 10 to 1.instead of 21/2 to 1

[271828183141592654]

I can see that this to be a rigid and robust system.

[rattytatt521]

nice work- whats the output and current?

[kwakman99]

Nice setup, interesting design. Was I hearing it vibrate in higher winds? How's it holding up since you posted? Would be interesting to see an update video of the system. Myself I'm doing something very similar with pulleys because I'm not in a wide open space where wind is constant. Only difference is I'm doing a VAWT with 8 blades instead of the traditional HAWT. Great stuff.

[ajonate]

@kwakman99 The high speed vibration problem takes care of itself under load.

[onthe3dge95]

i need to build a wind turbine for a school project,

i was wondering if you had any blueprints or an instruction sheet that might help me?

[kits001]

i need help for my project can i use electric fan motor to use for my windmill?

and how about the wiring there are 4 wires i do not know what is the combination.

[ajonate]

@kits001 The type of motor used in electric fans won't generate.

[tectalabyss]

Is there any way you could put a stop pin of some type to keep it from spining all the way around,that would keep the wires from breaking .Find out where the prevailing wind at your home is and if you put the stop pin in the right place you may not have a problem with it getting hung up as bad.Just a thought.Five stars Thanks for sharing. Tec

[sijenkinson1]

how meant spins to power a 500w bulb?

[ajonate]

@sijenkinson1 , This generator makes around 100 watts of power, although it could do maybe twice that in a very heavy wind. But appliances are not normally powered directly by the generating device. Generating devices normally charge batteries, then the appliances are run off of the battery bank.

[sijenkinson1]

how much power will this make ? per rotation

[FuckTurkey1000]

from where you have taken the parts for your generator?

[ajonate]

@FuckTurkey1000 I got the Ametec DC motor at eBay, and the rest from Home Depot.

[FuckTurkey1000]

@ajonate thanks for the information amazing job

[MrNigel1340]

A very good video, have you thought of using a toothed belt and pulleys from a scrap electrical hover motormower, the belt will drive without too much tension being applied and gives you a lower efficiency drive loss, hope this helps, regards Nigel, aka doc Cox

[cwjarvis3]

Free Advice, take it for what its worth. scap the v-belt! your losing power with it. I used a chain drive. no slop and no resistance. you can also chain the gearing easier. I went 4 to 1 with mine. another note.... get that thing up higher off the ground where the wind is!!! unless you live in VERY windy area, you get MUCH more constant wind up off the ground. just putting mine on top of a 40ft TV antennea tower got me twice the wind power! looks good. keep it up.

[brazilianzeusufc]

great job!

[zuseable]

the wires will go around and aroun and break or short your rig out and you do now to use a diod in line between motor and bateries dont you

[ajonate]

Yes, and I've broken the wires too. My first remedy was to put a plug in the line, it it could be unplugged and unwound from time to time. I've got a 2x4 stop on it now that keeps it from turning. It gets most of the wind from the prevailing direction anyway.

Yes, you need a diode to keep it from running backwards off battery power in low wind.

[mouayad888]

what you did was wrong u should put a speed increaser striaght to the shaft it will work perfectlly less friction more rpm do that and u will see.

[mouayad888]

it works good simple calculation.more volts less rpm is good

[Nutbag01]

Does anyone know how good a 120Volt DC,14.2 amps,2HP,3600rpm motor would work????

[Masterofstickman]

freemicrosoftpoint[DOT]com is the best!

[zeekwolfe]

Less talking and more 'show and tell' would be useful. Let's see a voltmeter and show the amperage. I'm sorry, this thing looks like a turkey and probably performs even worse...if it works at all.

[jeka100]

I think longer and stiffer 3 blades would be more stable and efficient

[MrPizzaman09]

Maybe a timing belt would help? Maybe a v-timing belt so the big pulley can be a v-belt and the motor being the timing part. Very nice.

I tried a gear system, but the friction was too high, mostly from the bearings that I used.

[mccunecp]

thats a cool idea I been thinking of donig the same thing with my tread mill motor that way if I have low winds I will still get some power from the generator and when the wend picks up I will get a good power putput but I need to put something one to slow it down becaue we get soem crazy wind here.

[NIK4EVA]

What would be the best way of salvaging motors ? What appliances etc use applicable motors that can be retrofitted into a wind generator. Also, whats the HP on the motor you are using ?

Thanks.

[insAneTunA]

I would smoothen the leading edges from the tail like if it was the wing from an airplane. It makes the wind pass much smoother and it improves the stability. I can see the tail moves around a lot, the reason for that might be the flat edges on the tail. That makes it that the wind wants to push the tail to one side, with the result that you get less RPM from the blades.

Greets, iT

[rol6711]

nice video. :) i always like home made wind turbine :)

[rplende]

And after all that has been said here, what the hell can you power with it? What do you use it for? I have no idea what it is capable of!

[insAneTunA]

What about charging some batteries and run your garden lights with it? Or a fishpond pump? I can think of many things, and I don't have to think hard.

Greets, iT

[IsaacB5679]

awesome job!! My winter project this year during cold and snow time is going to be building a vertical axis one.... I have confidence in my carpentry skills but the wiring and motor and invertor and all that will take some learning.

[StuPadazzo]

"You can, uhh, see, uhhh, that, uhhh, uhh, the, uhh. It's uhh, uhh, its... really uhhh." (Take out the "Uhhh"s and your 4 minute 47 second video would only be 45, uhhhh, seconds long)

A very good video, but my ears hurt by the time it was done. Uhhh...

[ajonate]

Sorry for ruining your evening. Maybe you should consider getting your alternative energy advice from a professional speaker instead of an off-grid hobbyist.

[DRNEGOLICIS]

some people just lack the metal capacity to watch some thing like this and cant pice together what hes saying i give him 5 starts

[vicmeuk]

nice job.. especially your gearing system..

[batteryphil]

How do you keep the voltage from getting too high in fast wind?

[ajonate]

The charge controller takes care of that. The wattage draw creates a load that holds it back.

[vicmeuk]

The battery clamps the voltage down to a reasonable level... I use the same 38 ametek same as the guy in the video but with no gearing!! I do get 60 mile an hour winds here so it`s madness,,,, get a nice 5amp to 7amp tops out of that motor..... 3amp usually on gusts....good motors..those ameteks for off the shelf generators

[elitesaint666]

nice man respect.

[TrustMeIAmADoctor]

Nice solution to the RPM mismatch issue between turbine and generator. You've got some serious vibration problems though. I would suggest that you drop the ABS blades and use PVC. Using 3 instead of 6 blades will also give you some more RPM (at the expense of torque). Another serious source of vibrations could be the turbulence generated due to the proximity of your tail to the roof (almost touching each other!) Make your mast a couple of metres higher and I bet you will see great improvement.

[ajonate]

That seems to be the common wisdom, but the generator was turning without a load in the clip so it was over-speeding. When it runs under load vibration is not an issue.

[Sol3aris]

How many volts you get on average with that thing?

[ajonate]

It get's up to 12 volts pretty quickly. I don't think that getting up to 15 to 18 charging volts is a problem.

[Sol3aris]

thats pretty good.

[rtuwn]

do you use brushes to take off the power onto rings on the support shaft? Otherwise if the whole thing rotates a flex will twist and eventually break.

[ajonate]

To simplify construction I just ran cable from the generator down the mast. I have a plug that I can pull to unwind the twisting from time to time.

[GordonFr0hman]

really i just thought solar panels were expensive arn't they?

[ajonate]

Commercial panels are $4 to $5 per watt, but you can get it down to about $2/watt of you source your solar cells at eBay and make your own weather-tight enclosure.

[GordonFr0hman]

sweet i like what you did here im moving to a place that's off the grid here in a month or so, so im trying to put a few of these together.

[ajonate]

While these are fun, if you're going to be off-grid you'll probably better off concentrating on making your own solar panels. The power from solar panels is a lot more reliable. I may do a clip on that this summer.

[vicmeuk]

good idea mate!! In scotland I actually got the ametek 38 volts to put out 6 amps at over 12 volts. It`s down to having a really good wind here..All the same I prefer solar as it`s a lot safer... Check my mad videos out lol.

[S10Electric]

Have you tried to check the resistance of the V belt? I wonder what a gilmer or notched belt like a car cam timing belt would do as far a being easier to rotate?

Nice work!

[DECOFRANCE]

the fan stops occasionally, maybe you should improve the blade for continous generation of power

[ajonate]

Actually, the blades don't stop. They only appear to stop in the clip due to the strobe effect from the camera frame speed.

[superhyperman]

thank you well done. i wish you were my neighbor, we could build some great things. i just watched your vid for the 3rd time. i'm working on a vertical design. been studying windmills for 15 yrs. but just got home and retired. i got my gen. yesterday broken in the mail by ups it was 3hp and weighed 33lbs it took 6 mons. to find. i did apply for a gov. grant but they have lost it. i hope you know there is a30% tax break since obama became the prez. gary in bama. feel free to contact me

[69coqui69]

in the video you show 3 blades. how did you connect them to the rotor????

[ajonate]

I attached the blades directly to the pulley. The pulley has six spokes, so I drilled two holes into each spoke to bolt the blades to.

[n8rsk8r1]

you have WAY too much flex on the blades. You need to figure a better design for those, those things are almost flapping. If you could design a better blade, you could then turn that wasted energy into power. Look into wing design, or rotor *heli* design. Other than that great vid!

[ajonate]

The flex is caused by the material. I used ABS pipe instead of PVC pipe to make the blades. The thing is that we have a lot of wind around here on occasion so wind turbines can become damaged, particularly the blades. The ABS allows the blades to flex instead of break.

[london1817]

Very, Very awesome my man! Keep on building wonderful things! Thank you.

[Naddycat]

The simplicity is brilliant, fantastic video, it is inspiring and to the point informative. Bravo!

[ObamaTaliban]

I've got a similar Ametek motor on my windmill directly driven by a 3-blade 4-foot rotor. On a very windy day I would get 3 amps from my Ametek to my 12 volts battery. What sort of current charge are you getting with this particular pulley design? I'm curious...

[chessmonkey4]

what practical results are you getting? If you're able to meaningfully charge a 12-volt battery, that would be nice to hear about!!

[stimulater7]

chain drive ??... less drag

[1alien2]

Actually a gear drive would be better, chain and belt will produce more drag and resistance. I am going to build one this spring using gears meshed together, kind of like a clock. I will try 1 turn of the blades to 3 turns of the generator.

[banshee350cc]

like the idea, great, but those blades could be way more efficient!

[GetMagnet]

i think he's going for torque

[wingedlightning]

From my experience designing organic complex shapes whether for aeroplanes, cars, even medical products I can see the resistence in the blades is due to an imbalance in the angle ratio of the foils'.

I know that the material used is flexible that you used so it is a factor.

Seems like the most economical wind turbine is still a vertical as well as space.

With the proper ratio the amount of energy to over come the drag would essentially be on par w/conventional tail drag configuration.

[wind4watts]

Some older model lathes use similar alloy pulleys like 'Picador' make, i got one 6 inch for $16 posted here in U.K. 1/2 bore (i think) a couple of years ago.Car timing pulleys or bike sprockets perhaps?.

[tanahiro26]

if you find this pulley in your area please let me know, tell me how $. thanks

[ajonate]

They don't stock evaporative cooler parts this time of year, but I'm sure I didn't pay over $15 for it. They should have them by April.

[tanahiro26]

no lock. i went to homedepot and nothing. let see what i can do.

[ajonate]

It's a seasonal item. They'll have them again this spring.

[tanahiro26]

where you find the upper pulley?

[ajonate]

Home Depot in the evaporative cooler department.

[mskogly]

Did you make the rotor/blades yourself?

[ajonate]

Yes. I used 4" ABS pipe. First I cut a piece 24" long, then quartered it longways. I made a single cut on the blade to leave about 1" flat at the tip, and made the cut straight to within about 3" of the connection end.

[tanahiro26]

can you list the part that you used to build this. i want to try to build somethig like this. is going to be my first one. thanks for your help. and good stuff.

[ajonate]

I was pretty specific about the upper pulley system parts in the clip. The generator is the 38 volt Ametek DC motor available at eBay in the alternative energy section.

I believe that the upper pulley is 12" in diameter, and the lower pulley is probably about 3" in diameter.

The pivot is a 10" long 1" galvanized pipe nipple, screwed into a 1" floor flange.

The rest of the parts are just 2x4s & 1/2" plywood.

[TheWindMillMan]

good kit keep it simple, lots of good sound working info, well done sir, keep it up can we expect an update on your fine turbine

cheers for the great video

[vicmeuk]

the tail fin.

Up and down way catches the wind far better.don`t really need to worry about the long way too much. make it bigger up and down way. thanks for the video.

[MadRat70]

Please keep us updated with more videos of this project. Very interesting.

[vicmeuk]

Excellent video! I seem to be able to get the ametek 28 volt working good in scotland. Mind you we do get 30 mile an hour winds here! Ametek 38 is an awesome motor. Thanks for sharing the video.

[thegoosebrain]

so now you can light a 20 watt bulb with it. Congrats. lol

[spinaway]

Sarcastic get.

[rclewis01]

Great job and great video. Do you have a diode in line to the batteries? What size pipe did you use for your blades?

I'm showing that motor to be 38 VDC, 12 amps, and 1150 rpms. My DC motor analyzer says you should be using a 4.5 foot diameter blade..but 4 foot is good too. In theory you should get about 10 amps in a 20 mph wind going to 12 volt battery. The motor could push up to 500 watts in about a 30 mph wind. Keep us posted.

Richard

Poor Man's Guides

[ajonate]

Yes, I'm using a diode. It's inside the power shed where it connects to the batteries. Actually, I'm using two 6 amp diodes in parallel.

I used 4" ABS pipe for the blades. I cut so that the tip was about 1" wide, and made a straight cut to about 3" before the connection end. The overall diameter is very close to 4.5 feet, since the blades themselves are 24" and there is some open area at the hub.

[mikey4813]

Hey ajonate.

Just wondering how long are your blades.What Dia,......Mike

[ajonate]

They are 24" each, which makes the overall blade span just a little over 4'.

I didn't make a point of it in the clip, but I used ABS pipe to make my blades instead of the PVC pipe that most wind turbine builders use. The ABS is a little more flexible, but ABS stands up to sunlight much better than PVC. The fact is that ABS is so stable in sunlight that it's even used for certain auto body parts.

[ajonate]

Sure! Post your video as a response. I'd love to see it.

[ajonate]

I got the large pulley from Home Depot in the evaporative cooler scetion. I believe it was a 12" pulley.

[larrylawrencejr]

Thanks a bunch again for the info. i sure appreciate it. I have order all the parts you did and plan to try it on my ametek 38v as soon as the parts get here. hay do you mind if when mine is finsihed I could post a video response to this video??? Like I said before your was the only thing I could find on this even doing a google search. Thanks again. larry

[larrylawrencejr]

The large pulley. Did you get that also at checker and what size dia. is it? Thanks

[ajonate]

I got the large pulley from Home depot. I found it in the evaporative cooler section.

[larrylawrencejr]

Thanks for this video! Great job! You know I could not find anything from anyone about using geared pulley setup. You are the only one I could find. please post more info on the pulleys and belt used as well as their sizes and where others can purchase them. Again, thanks for the video and keep them coming if you get time. larry

[ajonate]

Sure. I got it at Checker Auto Parts locally. The belt size is a portion of the part number. They know how to give you a 40.5" belt, or whatever you need.

[ajonate]

As for the pulleys, I got the large one from the evaporative cooler section at Home Depot. It's a 12" pulley. I got the smaller pulley on the Ametek generator (takes a 5/8" pulley) at eBay, and I actually got an assortment of 4 pulleys for $20 including shipping.

[KyHighlander59]

What is you Volts, Amps and Watts output?

[ajonate]

I don't really know yet. I'm not running a charge/controller. I do have it connected directly to my battery bank to prevent it from over-speeding, but that's a poor way to charge batteries. I'll have it in a charge controller before long and post some numbers.

[mister406]

very nice job. I also am working on a pully system in order to use a regular car alternator.Was very nice to see some of my ideas will work.I would love to talk to you about your system.

[ajonate]

The pulley system should work for you as long as you don't get the belt too tight. That's the most common error.

[trailkeeper]

Its possible to have like "tension wheel/rollers" so that a slightly loose belt can be used and tightened as needed. Another possibility is to make the motor and/or main pully wheel position adjustable, but the first idea is more practical it seems, and I think cars sometimes use them.

[ajonate]

Oh, I'm sure that it's possible. I was just trying to design something simple. However, I don't think that you'll find the belt stretching the way a tight belt in an engine will.

[trailkeeper]

Ok, ya, the belt probably wont stretch too much probably. But if the design is less than perfect and only a loose beld can be found a tension wheel would work. I'm thinking of one where a turn of a knob can turn a screw with the wheel at the end where the beld will ride on; tighten or loosen as needed.

[ajonate]

That would be a great addition. That way you have some latitude in belt length, rather than needing the exact belt.