Marks Supplies
  • Home
  • Spa Pool Steps
  • Hot Wire Cutter
    • 150mm Hot Wire Cutter
    • 480mm Hot Wire Cutter
    • 1300mm Hot Wire Cutter
    • 1300mm Kit
    • Nichrome Wire and Hot Wire Cutter Parts
    • What size nichrome wire to use?
  • Modelling Supplies
    • Textured Terrain >
      • Textured Terrain Blends
      • Textured Terrain Basix
      • Textured Terrain Basing Grit
      • Textured Terrain Application
      • Textured Terrain Photos
    • Forest Foliage >
      • Forest Foliage Blends
      • Forest Foliage Basix
      • Forest Foliage Application
    • Lichen
  • Brother P-Touch labels
  • Cool Glasses
  • Garden Ornaments
  • PCs & Components
    • 8 Core Gaming PC
    • Ultimate 8 Core Gaming PC
    • Warframe Online Gaming
  • Miscellaneous Items For Sell
    • Motorola 2 Way radios
    • Sat Navs
    • Crimp Terminals
    • Washing Machine Parts
    • Help Us
    • Used Dell Servers
    • Used Hard To Find Computers And parts
    • Various Electrical Items
    • Various Non-Electrical items
  • Chess Boards & Pieces
  • Personalised Place Mats
  • The Wind Turbine Project
    • Wind Turbine Day 1
    • Wind Turbine Day 2
    • Wind Turbine Day 3
    • Wind Turbine Day 4
    • Wind Turbine Day 5
    • Wind Turbine Day 6
    • Wind Turbine Day 7
    • Wind Turbine Day 8
    • Wind Turbine Day 9
    • Wind Turbine Day 10
    • Wind Turbine Day 11
    • Wind Turbine Day 12
    • Wind Turbine Day 13
    • Wind Turbine Day 14
    • Wind Turbine Day 15
    • Wind Turbine Day 16
    • Wind Turbine Day 17
    • Wind Turbine Parts For Sale
  • The Fishing Kontiki Project
    • Building The Fishing Kontiki
    • Building The Winch
    • Fishing Kontiki Parts For Sale
  • The Sterling Engine Project
    • The Sterling Engine Build
    • The Sterling Engine Results
  • Project Segway
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 1
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 2
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 3
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 4
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 5
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 6
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 7
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 8
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 9
    • Self Balancing Scooter Day 10
    • What Others Have Built
  • The Solar Hot Water Project
    • Solar Hot Water Day 1
    • Solar Hot Water Day 2
    • Solar Hot Water Day 3
    • Solar Hot Water Day 4
    • Solar Hot Water Day 5
    • Solar Hot Water Day 6
    • Solar Hot Water Day 7
    • Solar Hot Water Day 8
    • Solar Hot Water Day 9
    • Solar Hot Water Day 10
  • Robots & Electronics
    • Robot Technic ian Ultrasonic
    • What Others Have Built
    • Electrical - Electronic Parts for Sale
  • Future projects
  • Shipping & Other Info
  • Links
  • Contact Us
  • Pool Player Profiles

Wind Turbine Day 13

Picture
__ Day 13

The wind looks like it’s picking up a bit so I’m going to have to move the turbine because at the moment if it swivels the blades will hit my trailer. I tried to erect the turbine onto the end of a 4m scaffold pole, that bit went ok but it was too heavy to hoist up. I hadn’t anticipated how heavy this was going to be but trust me I tried numerous approaches & crazy plans to get this thing in the air but I ended up packing everything away & the turbine is back in the workshop, disappointing but I have a better plan for erecting it on the roof which is where it will ultimately hang out. I’m lucky in that I have a multi-tiered house with flat roofs so I’m not anticipating too many problems, it’s still a shame that the winds blowing & I’m not taking advantage of it.

In light of my ‘poor erection problem’ I popped out & picked up a couple of scaffold fittings that I think will overcome the problem but before I erect it in it’s final resting place I’m going to give it a quick paint job.

Well it wasn’t that quick, I had plastic, metal & wood to paint which all needed a different primer, I then needed to wait for it to dry, probably overnight, & then add a top coat which I think can be the same paint from now on.

Picked up 3 different cans of primer, disassembled the turbine & cleaned the surfaces & primed each piece.

It wasn’t until later that I found a primer that said that it could prime wood, metal & plastic as well as many other things, oh well, another learning curve.

I used an oil based white top coat that I had lying around & the turbine is looking less like washing machine parts & more like a professional turbine, well it would when it’s on the end of a pole & spinning.

That evening I done more research into powering my home rather than just my workshop or hot water. I’ve also been looking at making some solar panels, it looks fairly straight forward. The main problem with solar panels is that they are very expensive & provide very little power, the upside is that they can provide power when there is no wind & would therefore complement the wind turbine.

So to overcome the solar panel expense I’m going to make my own & to overcome the lack of power I’m going to make lots of them.

OK, lets get back to the turbine, I mentioned looking at powering my whole house & this has always looked feasible, at least making a dent in my power bill would be good, but it generally involved many thousands of dollars in batteries & electronics but I’ve found something called a grid tie inverter. A normal inverter converts 12v DC to 230v AC & can be connected to a car cigarette lighter etc etc. Well a grid tie inverter does a similar job but the output can be connected to a normal power socket in your home & that power will go to running what ever is needed in your house. If more power is created than is needed then this power will go back into the grid & spin your electric meter backwards. Well I’m still skeptical but it looks possible to pick a 600 W one up for a few hundred NZ dollars so I can always try it. I like the idea of the electric meter going backwards!!
Picture
Fixing the top of the scaffold pole to the side of the house, at high RPM you can hear & feel the turbine from inside the house. This is definitely something to avoid in the future, it's not really bad but I will insert a piece of rubber between the house & the wooden bracket to minimise any vibration.
Picture
Showing the lower scaffold pole connection. This coupling will swivel which makes it easy to initially install. I changed this cable later for a much thicker 30 amp cable. Notice the rubber grommet that protects the cable where it enters the pole.
Picture
The turbine fully installed & working, creating free power.
Back to Day 12                                              Forward to Day 14

If you like our site then please click on the Facebook icon at the top right of this page, thank you.
For more information you can email us via our Contact Us page.

Website created and managed by MarksSupplies.com