Posted: 07:59am 19 Nov 2005

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Well my first windmill went up a few weeks ago an F & P rewired into 7 two pole star,i used a rectifier from a car alternator and hooked it up to three monster truck batteries in 12 volt ( didnt want to risk the dep cycle batts until all was okay ). Gizmo supplied the kit and i built the tower from recycled cyclone fencing. The main mast retainer was a couple of sides from an industrial auto jack with a 25mm axle that had a broken hydrolic ram, the sides went down 3 feet into the ground. I cut a piece of solid c secton and drilled out the two holes and placed the axle thru and tacked it in so it cuold not slide out. Warehose machinery sold me a 200 metre roll of 5mm braided wire excess from the closed mitsubishi factory for $66, 4 x 450mm x 750mm holes were dug for the guy wire supports and we were ready for takeoff.

The pole went up abit scarilly but the F250 got it there and the blades started turning before it was 80% of the way up. A quick tightening of the guy wires and it was spinning at a massive rate, i quickly shorted it out to brake it and then wired the unit in. This was so good i had to have a beer ! That afternoon the wind really picked up and the blades were spinning so fast i thought a jumbo was flying over ! The unit as a whole was handling the coming storm well and i hooked up my multimeter to see what i was getting before rectifacation, a massive 54.2 volts ac i was astounded but happy, the wind here is horrendous but can be put to good use. I burnt out a one way 1 amp doide in 2 seconds so i doubled up to two that only lasted 40 seconds before frying so now i have 3 x  6 amp diodes. I had purchased and fitted the oatley 220 controller and all looked great on the first 3 days it just blew and blew the batteries were going great guns and i had the 12 volt lighting systam at the shed on my block going.

I even fitted a 12 volt pump to the solarhart and pump thru rainwater for a hot shower, all was well. Alas its time to head back to work for another week. The following weekend i arrive at the block to find 2 pieces of blade 20 metres from the mill the third piece was 6 inches underground below the windmill, it would have gone in a rate of knots, the blade sections that were left were wobbling but still turning, down came the mill for inspection. As it turns out Glenns steelwork held up magnificently but the hubs of the centre were bored out to twice their size, the nut holding fast, the spline was ok but there was a lot of wear on the shaft, i did something wrong and paid for it, but you know this means i will have to put another up, lucky i have 3 more, i love this stuff !

Bob

Posted: 12:43pm 19 Nov 2005

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Hi Bob

Sorry to hear about the failure, sounds like it put up a hell of a fight before giving in. It was certainly making some power.

All you can do it look at what failed and make it stronger. I always believe in making things a lot stronger than they need to be, it may be heavier and ugly, but it will last. The steel work I designed for the kits was overkill, I could have used half the guage and make the windmill lighter, but then I would have worried about them failing. You may need to move the tail closer, or make it lighter. This will make it furl earlier and reduce the chance of over speeding.

Hope you can get it back up and flying again soon, and send us some pictures if you can.

Glenn 

Posted: 08:54am 20 Nov 2005

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Glenn your work in steel taught me never to under estimate, this was my first windmill and i have the best story to tell at the murray bridge pub, as i said i failed in what i did your stuff is rock solid. I found out through investigation that the rear plate ran over the shaft i didnt fit the plate supplied so the hub under extreme work loosened and ran down the shaft as the wind would force it that way. Remember guys " what is this spare bit left over, its always the part that breaks you down" read the instructions and always check things , the new 2 windmills go upo next saturday i have posted a question re delta and hope to put up a delta and a star windmill separate.

Listen to gizmo he has smarts

Bob