48v 1000watt Wind Turbine

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

Hey a new guy to the forum here.... I work on the huge 1.5MW GE wind turbines and....

I bought the 48v 1000W brushless Hub motor... I've hooked this to a 3 phase ac to dc rectifier and have gotten 38VDC at 38Amps.... 1444 Watts this baby puts out, I've guessed the rpm around 300rpm, will know more when I decide to figure out the gear ratio between the motor and my drill chuck... anyways so we know this will work good for a wind turbine, the problem I'm having is putting the AIR X blades i've boughten from ebay on it... has anyone successfully done this. I've desgined my own blade brackets to screw through 3 of the spoke holes per blade... I think it should work good..

If anyone else has made or is making a wind turbine with one of these Golden Motor's join this thread so we can help each other.

Thanks,

[Jazzjerry]

I don't know much about windturbines, but........

I think the thin sides where the spokeholes are drilled in are very vulnerable in your design. They would encounter a lot of dynamic forces from the wind wich would eventualy make them break.

Why not make a ring on the lathe that fits the hub in the middle? Could go with aluminium to keep weight low.

Cut it in half

Weld some corners on the ends for bolting them around the motor.

Drill Holes for threading

Bolt the ring up in the edge of the hub as close as possible to the attachement side of the shaft (also To lower dynamic forces on the shaft) and go from there?

I made some sketschup drawings ......

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

I have since added a ring to clamp between the hub motor and the brackets, I think it should be strong enough because it's a circle and will evenly distribute the force all the way around.... if not.... then back to the drawing board, but my brackets and ring should be done this weekend so I'm pretty excited....

[Jazzjerry]

Hope it works out for you.

So the second ring will be some sort of backing plate?

Hope You keep us updated.

JJ

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

It will go.... Motor, bracket, ring... clamp them all together. hopefully it will work.... I have everything now but how to mount this motor to a stand..... hmmmm

[Bikemad]

I have been giving this matter some thought and have come up with a few questions for you:

• How many blades are you going to use? (3 or 6)
  
  
• What is the approximate weight and length of each blade?
  
  
• Is there a recommended minimum distance between the blades and the support mast needed to prevent any contact when the blades bend in strong wind?
  
  
• What diameter hub are the blades designed to fit?
  
  
• Do the blades produce a clockwise or anticlockwise rotation of the motor?
  
  
• What type of pivot bearings are you going to use?
  
  
• What type of slip ring are you planning on using to transfer the power from the rotating head to the stationary mast? (to prevent twisted wires etc)
  
  
• Will the rectifier be fitted near the generator or placed somewhere else?
  
  

I look forward to your answers.

Alan
 

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

# How many blades are you going to use? (3 or 6) I don't know for sure yet, I'm putting 6 on it at first but my brackets will allow me to take 3 blades off if I need it to spin faster.

# What is the approximate weight and length of each blade? I think 28 inches long not sure on weight but very light, you can google air x blades thats what I bought of ebay.

# Is there a recommended minimum distance between the blades and the support mast needed to prevent any contact when the blades bend in strong wind? i'll simply bend the blades back as far as I can and then measure.... the force on the blades will be much less than this as when they spin they will try to stay straight... they wont ... but not as much as I will pull them.

# What diameter hub are the blades designed to fit?the diameter of the hub that comes with the blades is around 6 inches I think... mine will be about 10

# Do the blades produce a clockwise or anticlockwise rotation of the motor? not sure i'd have to look at the blades but that isn't really important

# What type of pivot bearings are you going to use? I assume you mean yaw bearing... I'm looking at all different kinds with grease zerks online

# What type of slip ring are you planning on using to transfer the power from the rotating head to the stationary mast? (to prevent twisted wires etc) I wont be using a slipring unless I can get a communication slipring that breakes from where I work, if I can't then I will simply just be using 12/3 heavy cord and then putting a steal cable about 2 1/2 wraps worth from the 'nacelle' to the tower, that way more than likely it will unwind it self, i've heard of people using pins and what not but they get stuck and can only go 360 degrees... mine will spin around a couple times before problems.

# Will the rectifier be fitted near the generator or placed somewhere else? rectifier will be as close as possible to the capaciter and charge controller, as DC you get voltage drop and AC you don't as much, and as my turbine will put out 3phase AC it just makes sense.

I've read wind power for dummies, and learned a lot about towers and mounting the wind turbine, and with me living in the middle of a small city I need to get my turbine up about 100 feet, and I don't see that happening, so I may just get these blades mounted to the motor and end up selling it on ebay, and go with solar, Everything I have will work for solar so it's all good.

[Bikemad]

# Do the blades produce a clockwise or anticlockwise rotation of the motor? not sure i'd have to look at the blades but that isn't really important

In my opinion, the strongest way to mount the hub (using just one end of the axle) would be to machine a threaded boss which the axle could thread into. This boss would be stepped to go right inside the hub casing and seat against the inner race of the bearing, giving the best resistance to any bending forces acting upon the axle.

For this type of mounting to work, a clockwise rotation would be essential, otherwise the unit could end up unscrewing itself under heavy load.

Simply bolting the end of the axle through a bracket would put a lot more strain on the axle itself, which is already weakened by being hollow, threaded and having flats machined into it.

From a designer's point of view, the direction of rotation would definitely be an important consideration.

Alan
 

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

I will more than likely tack weld the nut to the stud... Once I get the brackets all made I will put in a removable bracket so I can still remove the motor if need be.

[Bikemad]

I will more than likely tack weld the nut to the stud... Once I get the brackets all made I will put in a removable bracket so I can still remove the motor if need be.

Welding a nut will cause localised stress on the axle which could create a weak point.

It would also make it very difficult if you needed to replace the axle bearing on the mounting side.

If you want a strong mounting that is unlikely to fail, it would make sense to fabricate a threaded adapter like this:



This adapter could be made strong enough to safely allow it to be welded or securely clamped to the main assembly as required, and I would expect this to be more than twice as strong as a tack welded nut type of mounting.

It could also be drilled and tapped to receive a grub screw, which would lock the axle to ensure it could not work loose.
I know which mounting method I would use if I were building it!

Alan
 

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

what program did you make that with?

Yeah I like that Idea a lot more, problems is getting it made.....

[Bikemad]

what program did you make that with?

Yeah I like that Idea a lot more, problems is getting it made.....

It's just a screen capture from the solidworks drawing which I modified using a freeware program called Paint.NET.

If you know someone with a lathe, it shouldn't be too difficult to turn one up.

If the lathe is unable to machine the thread, you would need a suitable tap:
 

(M14 x 1.5)

It would be good to see some pictures of your progress if possible.

Alan
 

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

Is that the exact thread size M14 x 1.5? Yeah I don't see why I couldn't do that, I have a buddy with a lathe, he is the same guy making my blade brackets. I will definitely keep you posted through the build, I have came up with the whole turbine design so far, I'll try and get it on the computer and put on here for you to see if I'm missing something. I should have time this weekend to get it on the computer from my chicken scratches.

[Bikemad]

Is that the exact thread size M14 x 1.5?

That's the size it states on the drawing.

Alan
 

[Sr.WiNdTeCh]

There are no labels yet, but this is what I have so far, I will make a top view so it makes more sense soon.