furling

if I shorten the tail boom on my windtura will it furl sooner ?

 

I'm not familiar with the Windtura design but there are several articles on the web which explain furling and how to calculate when a turbine will furl.

One article I found suggests you can control when your turbine furls by in creasing or decreasing the tails weight.
Shortening the tail boom would lighten it however this would get the tail closer to the blades which may interfere with over all operation.

Since many articles suggest only experimenting will get you the furl speed your looking for I'd experiment with lightening the tail some how with out shortening the distance of the tail boom.

May be a wind guru will chime in with some more helpful info.

 

Thanks I think I read about lighten the tail .

 

Ok Thanks , ..... so to furl earlier then I would need to make an other boom the same length out of lighter material ?

 

You have to remember a earlier furl will also mean a later unfurl.
You'll definitely need to do some experimenting to find the sweet spot.
If you make another tail and boom out of lighter material and it furls to soon you can always add weight till you get to where you want.

 

thanks that was my plan but still trying to think of material thats lite enough but strong , not sure emt conduit would be strong enough .still thinking . The factory tail weighs 10lb on my cheap HF scales but feels like more to me .

 

You might be able to use the same material and just drill holes in the boom.
Since each hole would be taking away material it would gradually lighten it.
You could experiment with different hole sizes starting small and gradually increasing the size.
You may not wish to drill completely through as well.
Just an Idea.

 

Could he not start by removing the tail end and make another from 1/2 inch plywood?

 

would 1/2 plywood be lighter than the thin aluminum ? thats a good ideal . I'll have to cut a peace out and weigh it. don't know how long it would last in the weather though .

 

Keep paint on it and it should last. Aluminum maybe a better choice.

 

i think the factory tail fin is aluminum .... yep I just checked magnet won't stick . I thought it was but its been a year or so sense I painted it .
I'm still digging ditch for wire to house from tower while waiting for a calm wind day. I got half way before dark :30 .

 

Another way would be to rotate the turbine out a little more.

 

rotate the turbine out ? do u mean widen the gap between tail mount/pivot and center of motor shaft ?

 

I was looking at the mount. I am not sure if it can be done.
I was talking where the turbine mounts to the plate. Move it outward 1/2 inch.

 

by outward do u mean forward ? or to the side ?

 

Rotate it to the side. So it is a little farther from center.

 

Ok I'll have to look at it when I lower the tower to put the blades and tail on as its 55' 4 " in the air right now . I razed it to test the tower and guy wires first and it's been to windy and or cold sense . Its a super amp and I was afraid it might over heat and burn out in sustained high winds that I 've been getting here lately ( 35 to 40 ). I'm by my self so I don't lower or raze the tower if the wind is 8 to 10 mph or more .

 

Ok I lowered the tower this morning while the wind was 5 to 6 mph and looked at how it was made. I don't wont to compromise that factory design so guess I'll go back to looking for lighter material for the tail fin .