If you want to have a look at those special videos become a member and join by clicking this link / @thinkingandtinkering today is a windy day- so time to do this lol
Small heads up for anyone making these: BROWN soil pipe is prone to deteriorating when exposed to UV light, so if you have to use brown soil pipe, I would suggest painting it or using some kind of UV inhibitor Modern black, grey or white soil pipe, on the other hand, is UV resistant 😉
2 minutes into it and i knew i could spend an entire 48 hours with you in a shop and it would feel like 4 hours went by. Curiosity, tools, knowledge. Like kids in a toy store. Awesome.
Great video! I worked with small wind generators for a number of years. I noticed a stress point, on the way the blades are mounted to the plastic fan blades, over time the original blades will stress crack and fail. If you ad a blade brace to tie in all four blades on the front side of the blades, you will eliminate much of the stress on the original fan and give your windmill more longevity! Ed
I was thinking about that, 'cos these things are built to a price. My perception is even a small diameter secondary disc / "washer" the size of the original fan , would help reduce the flex / stress on the fan root..
Ya, I was thinking the same'. Those radiator fan blades always look like they may explode at any moment after a decade on a car under normal use, can't imagine how much worse the stress is when doing something like this lol.
If you actually add a cone to the nose of the blade that covers 20% of the blade surface you reduce the stress on the blades and increase the efficiency of the whole system because it reduces the drag.
I love these videos and love the comments even more. Learning really is a communal experience. For 'free', and if you have some time, you can find online where people carve the blades just out of scrap wood. Some wood blades have been known to outlive some metal ones. I'm going to remember that about the washers and cone. I have a neighbour with quite a junk collection, I mean 'stuff' collection, I'm going to go looking for fans.
I'm female, older, still working, and am limited in both financial resources and time. I watch a LOT of RU-vid vids on how to make projects simply, inexpensively, and that save me time. Your vids are always spot on and simple. So they are my first go to when I am looking for a solution. I love your shop! I agree with another comment, you need a companion video on how to mount this, and I would add, your simple windmill needs a tail so it can turn with the wind, as well as an easy to use breaking mechanism for when there's too much wind. Would be interested in a vid on these things too. Thanks for your videos! I'm a huge fan, excuse the pun!
That was actually pretty awesome. I never considered the fact that there are HUNDREDS of inexpensive but robust, long-lived DC motors that can just as easily become stout little generators just hanging out at the Pull-A-Part. And some of them are even kind of big, larger units for cooling larger pickups and SUVs.
One of the things that I like about your videos is the fact that you flat out enjoy what you do! Most of your videos seem to convey that without seeming acted out or scripted. Good show!
My grandpa had a wind generator this size on his barn. Put a fan on a Model T generator so he could listen to his radio. The farm didn't have electricity. It put out 12 volts at 2 amps on a windy day. He made his own batteries too.
@@rosskstar cars are designed to get wet, you drive in rain? You probably couldn't submerge the motor. But downpour of rain could not effect the motor if it's sealed
Robert....thank you so very.very much for taking the time and sharing this build.....would never in a thousand years have thought of using a fan mother to make a wind turbine....so happy.....now I know how it’s done....thank you so much...Dave 👍
Years ago I was teaching in a remote school on a small island in the North Pacific. One of my students built a wind turbine much like this one, except he used a car alternator to generate the power and whittled 4-foot blades out of 2x4s. He mounted it on a 20-foot pole outside the school shop, and when word got round (tiny school) that he was ready to raise it we all turned out to watch. The best description I can give is "terrifying". That 8' span instantly took the sea wind and the thing just started wamp-wamp-wamping like it would eat the world. Chris finally managed to stop the blades by turning them out of the wind (which meant he had to get up on a ladder right behind those freakin' whirling broadswords and push on the vane), but the concept was well-proven. I don't remember how much electricity he banked in the battery during that maiden run, but all who witnessed it undoubtedly remain impressed by the sheer power he'd harnessed.
......the apprentices of BTH built one at the halls that they had outside Rugby, it had thin ply blades, which they perceived to getting close the the sound barrier.......the rain/hale of the storm delaminated it. These were the guys who also broadcast radio down the neutral and earth of the mains..
An improvement to this would be a dome shape on the end, so you can take advantage of the coanda effect to push some more wind to the widest parts of the blades. Also if you had rounded the ends out so they fit around the middle circle part + the dome on the end this would take the most advantage of coanda effect I think
@@craynerd I believe he is talking about Marty T, you can put that into search and find him that way. I think he will have a video up this year on how one is built as I think he's helping a friend built one.
I'm looking for ideas on self sustaining DIY things people can build at home and for there communities. Decided I wanted to make a wind turbine and this is the first video I clicked on. Just great! Really enjoyed it. Simple, Effective, Thank You!
yeah and there's so much improvement to be made to it...this has a lot of promise for a cheap solution. I think I'm going to try to 3d print the blades because I have this crazy strong crazy light weight carbon fiber filament.
Make like 10 of them using a Rose blade, various sizes down to a Rose Bud, and mount it on a windward wall. Paint them the color of flowers with different color patterns or different pinwheel patterns and colors. If it is too windy sometimes, add shrouds mounted separately that can automatically pop up in high winds and redirect some of the wind. Shape and paint the pop-up shrouds like giant leaves. The blades will still turn but shrouds will protect it from blowing apart. Just use a simple lever that has tension to hold shrouds down at low winds and high winds pry them up. Once wind goes down the shrouds go back in place. You can even design the shrouds to look like pedals that close and cover up the blade assembly.
Marking the tubing with the cross on a bit of paper was genius, I'm enjoying watching your wind generator playlist on a lazy Sunday, very inspirational.
My son and I are learning arduino together, this windmill would be perfect for building and testing many things, like charge controller, wind speed indicator, as well as wireless communications to tell us when certain things are happening with the controller or generator etc. I have a number of automotive cooling fans, so I really enjoyed the video and the knowledge shared.
@@princessgreen726 I haven't built anything yet. Eventually I will have solar and wind, with a battery bank. The batteries will power the high demand appliances, wind and solar will charge the batteries when the major appliances don't run (ac/stove etc)
What I love about this video is a real man making a real product. Most wouldn't even be able to hold that thing in the wind and if they did they'd probably lose their head. Cool video man
Great video, thanks Robert. Would be great to see new video of the energy produced, perhaps measure the voltage over a specific load. Seems to me that the fan is build for high rpm so would expect it to be small amount of energy generated in moderate wind.
Been going through all your videos from oldest to newest. this is the tech that got me interested in doing so and this is the video that motivated me to fix my youtube to allow me to join a channel for the first time. And now I'm a member :)
Nice concept, compliments! One mention, tough: the tips of the blades are perpendicular to the fan axis and if I'm right, those regions are not generating torque, instead are generating drag, isn't it? Maybe a bit more inclination on the blades would increase the efficiency and also help withstand better a roughly wind? What do you think? Thanks for the knowledge! Appreciated!
I have a few sheds and chicken coup that I heat and light now and then. Solar does the trick but this is so much cheaper and I have an almost constant breeze here. This will be for my patio and outdoor lights. Love this.
Rob, I love the idea, simple but very effective. May I recommend using grey soil pipe, the brown is for in ground use only as it does not like UV light, hence, it will fade and eventually crack if used outdoors. The grey will do the same job and can withstand the UV light. Keep up the great ideas.
I was going to say the exact same thing. UV light will kill the blades in a year. I would recommend painting with UV reflective paint. The hub also looks like PVC.
Mr. Murray-Smith, I like the way you think! Very handy! You get much faster rotation than I was expecting. I may in fact have to do this myself to power an LED light on my separate garage. All good wishes!
That's great! Now I'm looking at my ceiling fan that I'm about to replace and I'm thinking of turning that into a wind generator. Man, I'd love to hang out with you in your shop and just brainstorm and put stuff together. Thanks for putting this video together. Very informative and inspirational! Cheers!
Brilliant. And here I am with a new ceiling fan in a box to replace my old kitchen one. Now more excited to get the job done so I can experiment with the old one!
Thank you so much for this! I'm about to start a small research project focusing on small-scale wind turbines using common, available parts and your videos are so wonderfully helpful. Cheers!
direct drive washing machine and e bike motors (48v 1000w) are the ones that really produce a decent amount of power it has to be worth mounting the thing , on the other hand if one is just after charging 5v electronic devices this kind of blower motor mounted fairly low works okey , let me know if i can help
Robert Murray-Smith thank you so much for your time and bringing this to us all. In these strange times, we're living in, this may be very useful data indeed. Flourish and Prosper.
utterly BRILLIANT! I had to live in a tiny caravan for 10 years with only a petrol genny I could run to charge my battery a couple of these would have been more environmentally friendly AND quiet I am off to the scrappy!! Need to build some sort of charge controller next otherwise plugging that directly to a battery will just make it a FAN again!
I expect the large blades to fatigue the original blades at the hub in a few hours of use. You also need to balance the prop to reduce induced vibration.
@@ThinkingandTinkering You mention the voltage it produces, but NOT the wattage, or even the rated wattage of the DC motor, which would be the max output achievable IF the device worked perfectly. I'm sure that you know that wattage (volts x amps )is power, not just volts. Before wasting time and money making one of these, myself and no doubt many others would really like to know what the practical power we could expect, and if you had just measured the amps after you'd done the volts (or given the motor's rating). Could you post this please, I'd like one for my off-grid weekend/holiday shack, but if it was only a few watts, it wouldn't be worth the bother. Otherwise, good video, thanks for posting.
Fabulous video. Simple and it does the job. I am sticking that in the mental tool box for when I get some time to fool around. Now to regulate the voltage. Thanks
I would love to see a follow up video. I know that results would depend on the motor, wind speed etc. but I think it would still be very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
It has been a year or so. How is the auto radiator fan turbine mod getting on? Any improvements? Longevity? Did you make or store power to powerwall or batteries with it? Please make an update follow up video? Thanks for your ingenuity!
Ok, I get it now. It is a wind powered generator. I clicked on expected a machine that generated wind. I was very keen to learn how a wind generator differed from a fan. In the end, not so much. It would be quite easy for me to spend a lot of time in your shop. Great stuff!
This vid was more enthralling than any pod race. Most adults have become unable to express delight because they've forgotten how or consider it beneath them. Keep the fire burning, subscribed 😎
I've used a drawer with the face edge corner to mark a straight line. For this you could clamp a 4' stick on the bench and put the tube against it to draw the straight line. Great video.
@@ThinkingandTinkering thkz it's great btw what Amp or watts can u generate if the wind is like over an hour, appreciate if u cd reply and how many hrs of wind to charge a 400mh battery will one day b sufficient
Robert, I wonder how it might work with a vertical drum style turbine? That would offer an omnidirectional presentation towards the wind without the need of slip rings or re-centring springs, wind vane and the need for counter weights and more critical levelling.... which would work well on a sailing boat... thoughts?
Great diy video! If I can suggest doing the wind test with a load, then a more useful power output number would be useful. The voltage by itself doesn't mean much without a load. Great idea on using pipe sections for windmill blades.
Awesome. I heard about a gentleman who makes windmills that are strictly mechanical, he uses wind up flat springs that release their energy through a series of gears ⚙️ that make the turbine spin, he winds up the springs when there’s no wind
A car alternator needs over 3500 rpm to produce and I believe it needs a 12v input to make it work in the first place. There are ways of adapting one but you may as well buy the real thing if you're going to those lengths. A ceiling fan motor can work tho with magnets glued around the outer coils. There are videos on RU-vid on how to make them work
With respect, volts quoted without amps is meaningless. I can charge a 1 picofarad capacitor to 400 volts but it's gonna do absolutely nothing of any use.
If you watched the whole video and had basic mechanical engineering knowledge you could easily follow his explanation and figure out anything you needed to do.
Great video! I would love to see what kind of water generation you could make out of an old washing machine, I've thought about that a bit and it seems like there's a lot of free power in those parts with a little bit of a stream or creek.
Search Marty T channel. He's from NZ, and has built several, they power his off grid homestead. He modifies the windings to give the desired voltage etc, and uses a creek on his land to power it 24/7
Dear Robert, Great video as always :). Quick question: as an avid fan of your work I would love to assist. I already support you through your membership program, but is there more I or others who feel the same can do to further aid you?
Great video. Been trying all sorts of motors. split system in house blowers the best Ive found FMDC....So now im off to the wreckers to get some of these and make these with my 17year old students
When you were out here and the wind was blowing stuff across the ground, it looked like a normal September spring(or March Autumn) day here in southern Tasmania! 🤣 We haven’t had too much of that in the last few years though. Things are changing…
You just got to work on a pivot , a slip ring and a vain to direct it into the wind along with the relevant diodes and such to make it usable to store energy in a battery . Go on do part two please.
and naturally you could build your own custom battery &/or capacitor to store the energy. i'd bet you also have the skills/knowlege to build your own inverter for it too.
It would be interesting, to see how many short-circuit amps the generator could have produced, by setting the meter to amps, and connecting that across the terminals of the fan motor.(That would give some idea of the available torque of the new blades)
BREAKING NEWS: Man dies in freak accident involving soil pipe travelling at 70 miles per hour! Keep up the great work Robert. It would be interesting to quantify the difference that installation height makes to the efficiency of a wind turbine and that's an experiment I plan to undertake in the near future.
@@ThinkingandTinkering Yes, will do. My application is for wind power at festivals so height is expensive. I want to know where we get into diminishing returns. I read around the subject a bit, but always you the answer to go as high as possible, but with my curiosity, I want to dig deeper.
@@jamesharris5158 I would tend to think as long as you're above any nearby obstructions like buildings or tents that would be good enough. Above the tree line would be best, but for a portable installation that's kind of a ... _tall_ order.
@@ThinkingandTinkering what you did here is no small thing. A graduate like me can see that, it can be made more efficient and also it gives people the idea that they can also make their own blades etc. It is not small thing that you did here... Well done.
@saladdogger You are wrong, I can make this thing ten times more efficient plus this is for confidence too to make your own stuff. His one makes 20 volts when the wind blows, I can make it efficient enough to generate 50 volts or more. Even with 20 volts, it can charge how many things overnight? Many.
Good presentation. I would like to suggest a modification of your design; do you think if you attached the hub to something that looked like a barrel which has vertical blades you wouldn’t have be concerned about wind direction or movable generator wire connections?
The only work great if you can gear it down to a good enough level, the treadmill is like an alternator and only works best at higher rpm. You'll get some output at lower rpm but you won't be reaching anywhere near the potential of the device and will be wasting a lot of potential power.
that was great, it made me smile watching you in the carpark laughing at your own handy work, something i would do, whilst the kids are inside saying "what is he doing now, embarrassing" LOL keep up the good work
There's tons of buck/boost or switching regulators of various sizes, voltage and current ratings that would resolve this issue, and many of them pretty cheap for this power level. Otherwise I would suggest learning how switching supplies and controllers work and maybe building something with a tl494 or a uc3843a.
Would I be right in thinking you could use a charging regulator sold for use between solar panels and a 'leisure-type' battery, with a similar amperage? Many alternative-power enthusiasts have one or two of those lying around.
Two hints for drafting the lines out for cutting the pipe up. Got these from years of making high powered rockets. Wrap a strip of paper a few inches wide around the perimeter of the pipe, the exact width is not important. Wrap it around once tightly and cut it so it just overlaps and tape it, so you have a band around the pipe. Hold the pipe up in a door jamb and trace a straight line across the paper and cut it. Fold the paper exactly in half and crease it. Do it a second time. Wrap the paper back around the pipe and tape it. Now line one of the creases up in a door jamb and draft out that line. Do the same with the other three. This is pretty common for spacing rocket fins. How much power were you able to get out of it? I am guessing under 50W. Not bad if you can get the fan for free.
It seems like cardboard boxes make good wind-catchers too 🙄😂😂 I assume the o/p current is similar to the (optimised) running current whilst in the car... so o/p will be fairly low... 🤔 A vertical model (VAWT) using a 40gal barrel cut in half feeding a geared-up alternator or brushless motor would be non-directional & self-throttling.. I believe the halves need a slight overlap for easier starting.. 😎👍☘🍺
Alternator is a better idea. More power, and include a regulator for variable wind speed. Or use the AC power (directly?) without the rectifiers or the regulator.
