Blade  II

This page continues the development of the slip ring arrangement now being used for a 12 volt 600 watt generator.

A bigger generator requires bigger blades	This set will be 1.4 metres long and	were cut from a larger diameter pipe	This pipe was hard to work.  The only thing that would touch it was a file
So, I used a file (I still hate filing)	Meanwhile Pete continues with the box adding a "V" clamp for fixing to a 2" pole	The new generator 12V @ 600 watts and it weighs 7Kg	Having taken the shine off of the blades I found I could use a belt sander. YES !
Unfortunately it did make quite a mess	Pete reassembling the box after having cut the pipe to length	"U" bolts for fixing to the pole.  All we could find was stainless steel studding !!!	The boss that sits on the pipe from the slip ring box.
Completing reassembly of the box	Drilling bolt holes in the boss to fix it to the pipe.	HA...This saved me ages of filing whilst Pete was machining the boss.	Thank you Jen, borrowed these from the kitchen
having learnt from the smaller blades that they must all weigh the same.	Boss fitted to slip ring box	Pete machining the base plate that will hold the generator	The base plate fitted to the boss and the generator pillow block on the top.
We require an adaptor to fit between our blades and the generator hub	Four aluminium plates bolted together to achieve the required thickness	and turned down to fit over the generator hub	adapter fitted to generator
Blade mounting bars having been milled square and now drilling fixing holes	Mounting bars fitted to adapter	Marking out the drilling holes for fixing the blades to the bars	Slip ring box and generator mounting fixed to aluminium pole
Generator fitted to mount	First blade fitted	Second blade fitted	Third blade fitted
I  must admit at this stage it looked quite a beast	Spade connectors fitted to three phase cables	Three rectifiers fitted to base plate and wired up	A flick of the blades produced 5 amps. The DC cables go down the centre hole
February 2011 France - Time to put this together again	It's a hell of a beast with the tail fin, mount and generator on top of a 6m pole	and I spent more time than I thought just supporting the thing so I could work on it	Anyway, with the home made blades up on a 6 m pole with four guy ropes
and it didn't do much at all except in 40mph winds	So I bought a proper set of blades and relocated it to the top field in the hope of catching more wind	Special base with hinged pole support to make erecting the thing a bit easier	1m long 2 inch angle iron guy fixing points
A trial run to get the guy ropes the correct length	and up she goes	The new blades are much better but it still suffers from not enough wind	Next step: add extra brushes to the comm and extra cable down the pole to reduce I2R losses and put it on a 12 metres pole