Well finally got wind 20-30 mph from the SE which is clear. If you look back at page 2. I put an angle on the end of my tail. Guess that was a wrong move. This is the first good clear wind during the day and this thing is furling at around 20 - 25 mph. At about 15 it is pushing the blades out of the wind. Hope we get some good weather at least above freezing so I can straighten the tail out.
Had an idea again after the fact. I could have used longer bolts or filed some off the bolts down to the nuts to balance the blades. Just another easier way. Because there is just a little slop in the bolt holes. Once I tighten them up I leave them that way. Also started using Blue Thread Locker instead of Red. Red takes heat to get it back apart. Also I do not know why but it is also harder to clean off the bolts.
-5 blade hub is on. The grid tie is locking on at lower winds. Voltage does not climb as high and it does not sound like it is in run away mode anymore. It does run slower but the output is up and for longer periods of time. -Also when I balanced the blades I spun them and watched to see which blade looked like it was pulling it around faster and put washers under the bolts on the other side rather than waiting for it to go to the bottom. It now it runs smoother than balancing it the old way.
I saw a photo of Tom's new blades and tail system on his tower and I think it looks great ! Good work Tom and glad to hear of the smoother running and higher watts, especially in the lower winds.
Yes..slept good last night. Could hardly hear it. I tried the the six blades using (2) 3 blade hubs. Bad idea. The blades started to flutter at 10 mph and really made alot of noise. Also the power was down from 3 blades.
I changed the tail to the new one yesterday. Here are a few pictures. I used 1 inch ID and 1.5 inch OD for the pivot with trailer spring bronze bushings going all the way thru this time. It's not going to wear out anytime soon. Then I used 1 inch sch 40 pipe 4 ft long for the boom. Split tail is now 20 degrees. The old one had too much drag. And considering that the dead spot is supposed to be only 10 -15 degrees this should be alot better. So far is tracking fine and I will post YouTube video when I get some good wind. But so far it seems to track slow and is not bothered by turbulent winds as much. It also locks into the on coming wind and tends to stay there. (UPDATE) V-Tail worked but added too much weight.
-Well at it again. Busy night all night long. 40+ winds. -Finally put the solar up on the porch roof. I had all kinds of steel from the building. Still waiting for the Grid Ties to come back. So have the panels wired in series to the SunG 500 22-60v Grid Tie. **************************************************************************************************************************************** Power went out while I was watching the watts and guess what it braked the turbine and voltage dropped to 0 volts. I read somewhere that they were supposed to free wheel when power goes down. -Also that shudder that I was talking about only happens during big gusts and the voltage goes over 40 volts. When the shudder starts the voltage drops to 24 volts before it quits. Just some info and that is it on the shudder. -Other good news I took down the 5 blades and installed TLG Windpower Boast Buster blades. [attachment=0:1edxensy]BoastBusterBlades.JPG[/attachment:1edxensy] -They are 5 foot Diameter and run at least 80 percent quieter. And last night they matched what I was getting with the 5 blade setup. 488 watts at 33-35 mph. :geek: Also go figure you can not even hear them outside at 25 mph.
I switched over to straight 6 gauge welding cable from the turbine to the rectifier here. I have no slip ring. Oh and by the way those wattage readings are with the Grid Tie not tied to the battery. Tied to the 24 volt battery it never got over 239 watts. When I disconnected the battery it jumped back to 400 + watts. Voltage was in the 30 - 35 volt range. Have to remember that this is during gusting wind and not at all like steady wind, clear wind,or mild gusts. The winds roll in like a wave on the beach here. I can hear them before they hit. Then the house shakes when they hit. My poor wind mill sure does take a beating at this location. I will be hooking up a second inverter in parallel and trying again when it arrives.
Had a DUH moment yesterday. I hooked up the dump controller I bought . This what I got. With 1 or 2 resistors in parallel I did not slow down the turbine so I hooked it to 24 volt battery thru a diode. 42 volts ----Still had a shutter. 41 volts ----Started to shudder and quit. 40 volts ----No shudder. Set it to cut back in at 38 volts. The battery pulls it right down while still getting output out of the Grid Tie. ***************************** So for Christmas....Would like to see a Grid Tie with these specs. ********************************* Uses No standby current. 10.8 -- 40 volts Dumps at 40 volts to dump terminals marked pos and neg. Then we could use 36 volts worth of batteries to dump to or 24 volts.
Solar grid ties came in. So back up with the 5 blade with a modification to the blades. I added the weight and the nose cone I built. Now to see what I can get out of it with the 10.8-30 volt Sun wind grid tie. It is a little rough. But I was told that the foam would not melt. I should have covered it with aluminum foil first then covered it with fiberglass cloth. The best way would have been to get hold of someone with a wood lathe. Then tape aluminum foil to the wood form. Then cover it with fiberglass.
The noise level from the blades at full tilt is about 50% less than before. No more shutter at all. All the way up to 46 volts even without the caps across the DC line. So to keep it manageable it is tied to 24 volts and both Grid Ties are in parallel. Since the 10.8-30 volt GTI hunts for up to 5 seconds too. Has been up to 300 watts a few gusts today. Will have to wait and test some more. (UPDATE) I stopped using Caps in series. It basically allowed the turbine to run unloaded. That is where the shutter came from in high wind. The blades basically broke the sound barrier. Lucky it didn't destroy the blades and turbine.
like your set up. did you make that box or was that bought with the gages? and the dump losds they dont get that hot were you can put them right on the wall.and also the pullies you have is that for a brake away pole. i want to do the same if you have any more pictures or advice. i would like to see them. so i can get some ideas on how to hook mines up. thanks
The box was a fire alarm panel that was given to me. I used car gauges and the did not work well so I changed them over to digital gauges. Since I am now going to grid tie I do not use them anymore. The dump loads do get hot so I have them mounted 3 inches away from the board. I used 3/4 inch square tubing and 4 inch drywall screws to mount them to the board. The pulleys are for the cable going down to the base to raise and lower it. They are garage door pulleys. I used them because they had bearings in them. I used a flat bar and eye bolts because when I only used flat bar the pulleys were dragging on the wood. The 2 pieces of threaded rod attached to the flat bar go all 7 inches thru the wall. I mounted 4 x 4 between the 2 x 4 in the wall and put 2 x 6 over it. I also ran 2 x 4 on both sides top to bottom so it would not shift up and down.
o thats cool. so you can raise and lower your tower i thought of the same thing but i was thinking of using some kind of a rack and pinion sistem. but that would require a welder wich i dont have anymore. but i like your idea.and ive got 3 dump loads i was thinking in using them in the bathroom for those cold days. since i have my system in the closet its real close to the bathroom so i think it will work fine.just box it in like the old stile heater.
Here are some pictures of the blade modifications. Will post more on results when I get some wind around here.
Have been thinking too much about these modifications. While waiting for more wind. Since I am reading peaks on gusts they maybe sort of false peaks. Being that when people have connected up a freewheeling turbine they see a dramatic increase in watts. With the 5 blades and the 10 lb flywheel the extra weight is storing energy so when the grid tie kicks in it can not drag in down as fast. Sooooooo...I am thinking I get higher peaks than I would normally because of this.
I told you that would happen Tom...The extra flywheel weight helps keep the line charged and full so when the gusts come it is easier to turn it into instant torque/climbing power.. I learned about the battery draw a while back..I switched over to the smallest agm(7amp hr) wired to 24v..After seeing those results tom,how many watts do you think you would lose over the course of a year. I tried just running on the charge controller and fried the board.To long a delay in heavy winds and slammed on with over 40 volts and who knows how many amps.. I TRULY AM SORRY ABOUT THE WAIGHTING FOR WIND..Mine spins almost every day of the month but I hate locking it on a 12v GT cause you loose alot on the top end..Would rather have all these turbines I plan on building this summer to be permanent for 24v(and run a 30v battery bank(12+12+6)) charge dump at 28 volts. Batteries would always be alittle under full...
