How-to for ceiling fan motor conversion

[jiggseob2]

I currently am have no wind-power experience.

I would like to start by building a wind generator to charge a bank of batteries to run the lights in my house and workshop.

Reading the many posts, I gather that it would be a almost a waste of time to build a windmill out of an automotive alternator.  The automotive alternator approach would only serve to teach me that it won't be a reliable or particularly useful project.

I do have several old ceiling fans scrounged from a warehouse demolition.  Is there a place that someone has posted the step-by-step process of making a usable wind alternator from a ceiling fan induction motor?

I did go through some excellent projects based on Volvo rotors and front wheel hub /strut assemblies.  Volvo parts are cheap and easy to come by at local scrap yards.  I agree that the tapered double roller bearings in a wheel of a car is a great place to start.

I have some questions about the wind alternators in general:

Why is wood used for blades?  I can surmise that at a given spindle rpm, the blade speed varies with the distance from the centre of the spindle.  Thus, in order to make best use of low wind-speed, the pitch must be shallow at the tip and steep near the hub.  Couldn't metal such as aluminum be formed and twisted to be steep pitch at the hub and shallow at the tip?  I guess its because every time I make something from wood, I end up with a mess, and some expensive fire wood.  I have much better success with welding and forming steel and aluminum.

What is the circuit diagram of the connection of the coils through the bridge rectifier to the battery bank?

What is the purpose of the "laminate"?  Whats it made of?  It looks like a spool of steel banding.

Thanks,  M. Banack

Round Hill, Alberta, Canada

[badmoonryzn]

Ouch, too much work, but they sure are cool. It would seem they should be good for something as they seem to last forever. Those eddy current induction motors just have to be good for something. Damn they are smooooooth! The bearings last forever, and must be quite good too because they last even with the fan loading. Don't think I havent looked at the two spinning on the ceiling. LOL

badmoonryzn

[wdyasq]

"Why is wood used for blades?  I can surmise that at a given spindle rpm, the blade speed varies with the distance from the centre of the spindle.  Thus, in order to make best use of low wind-speed, the pitch must be shallow at the tip and steep near the hub.  Couldn't metal such as aluminum be formed and twisted to be steep pitch at the hub and shallow at the tip?  I guess its because every time I make something from wood, I end up with a mess, and some expensive fire wood.  I have much better success with welding and forming steel and aluminum."

Because wood is fatigue resistant. Aluminum and steel will fatigue rather quickly in terms of number of cycles at 200rpm x 60 x 60 x 24/7.  Sandia labs has a report of material fatigue if you care to read it. It covers Aluminum, Steel, Glass reinforced resin, Carbon reinforced resin and wood. You have already paid for it. If you are serious about building in something other than wood it would be wise to read it.

There are many articles on attempt to build useful wind machines from ceiling fans. A good Google search of the board should bring up a few hours of failure reading dating back 5 years or so. The 'Scoop' search feature is rather useless, IMO.

I think the wiring diagrams are on Dan B's site 'Otherpower.com'. If not, a good search will bring that up and the reasons for laminates if you choose to go that way. 'Zubbly' has motor conversions taken to a high degree of refinement if you care to go that route.

Good Luck,

Ron

[fungus]

QUAZ HOLT did a cieling fan conversion that turned out reasonably well:

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/6/3/5140/29674

I did try one myself but had failure since I had too wide an airgap. Airgap is pretty crucial in these in getting power output.

[tecker]

I'm messin with several ceiling fans now .Got a couple of Emerson with really good bearings and four hunters  I'm taking down . They're  easy to rewind If the the copper is gone .The thrift store I frequent throws them on a back shelf . I give them 3 bucks for them . The stator phases are from 55 to 80 ohms. I uploaded  some shots in the files As you can see i went off convention and used some neo blocks It hand turned 70 volts but too much to work with and the ½ inch buttons work very well for a 70 volt conversion . That's ¾ flat bar bent around a form .

[tecker]

With the buttons and 5 foot pvc blades it jumps cog at 5 or 6 mph winds . You say a waste of time and they probably are but I can cook up a charger in a few hours for those who show some interest.

You have to paint everything they rust up easy  . You have to keep the voltage up with some hefty caps and regulate down to charging. I 'm working on a kick start to the low speed coils to feed back from an anemometer

[thefinis]

Metal blades can work fine if build RIGHT but as pointed out you have to keep them from flexing. Try a search on metal blades. I say look at the pvc blades. They do not last a long time >2 years usually but are a simple place to start. Do a google search of the board for pvc or zubwoofer(has a calc to show blade size based on pipe size). I would also check out induction motor conversions from Zubby. Have fun

Finis

[badmoonryzn]

After tearing apart some car cooling fan motors they have some nice curved magnets inside that might be good for the application. I was amazed how hard the ford fans weere to get apart. man I broke the magnets, but saved the copper. :-)

Ryznmoon

[WXYZCIENCE]

M. Banack, I did a ceiling fan conversion similar to QUAZ HOLT and posted it on DIY Windmills. http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/FORUM1/forum_posts.asp?TID=305&PN=4

I used the existing aluminum blades and the windmill is set downwind. It is running tonight and charging my thirty-six volt battery bank.
Where is Round Hill? Joseph.

[badmoonryzn]

Interesting, I wonder if the hard drive neos would be a good fit for these conversions? What you all think?

moon

[tecker]

oh yeah they would be fine .The split stator lends itself to off set mags zubbly style.

[tecker]

Here's the split mags, several voltage options with the low amperage stator the two fields stared get over 120 volts  .I like to rectify individually for charging . This one is going to a friends dock as a night /bad weather light .This afternoon I'll try to fire up a ballast with it .

[tecker]

This is the base motor you'll find in most of the junkers .This is a hunter that needs bearings but this style takes a lot less time to get up. It hand spins 40 ac volts off the main drive phase and very easy . Needs stand offs to mount the other end cap 3/8 square stock works well( there's a 1/4 inch fur to make up) and then pot the whole thing together .  

[wooferhound]

PVC Pipe Prop Plans

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2003/11/11/172721/53