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I have some good news. I tested this turbine over the weekend and peaked at 33VDC @ 10.4 Amps. Yes, 10.4 Amps. I will be posting some additional photos later this coming weekend. Please check back to see what I have done.

I have since updated some additional photos in the gallery of the motor after I have added some bullet connectors for power connection. These were purchased from a hobby store and I have used these in the past for radio control helicopters and aircraft. These work perfect. I also have the charge controller I am using which is from Morningstar Corporation. I previously used this with a solar panel, so I am hoping it will work with this project. Hopefully tomorrow I will have it up and running for some more test. I have increased the tower height to about 15′ from the previous 8′. Check back for more info.

Note: After reviewing the video with the volume up, I noticed that the turbine seemed like it was extremely loud. I want to clarify. This is NOT the turbine. The loud background noise is actually a combination of an A/C unit, camera motor noise and wind. The turbine itself if fairly quiet, but there is “hummming” sound it does make. I just don’t want people to think that it sounds like a garbage truck or similar.

I was finally able to test this unit for the first time on 8/3/2008. I mounted the unit on an 8′ pole and was impressed with the results. Initially, the voltage was low in the 6vdc range. As the wind picked up, I peaked at 22vdc @ 3.9a. I was over 20 volts on several occasions. As far as the RPM’s needed to generate this, I don’t have that data yet. My thought is to increase the height to at least 12′ - 15′ to get a more constant and steady stream. I will post the videos as I get more. I have uploaded a video to YouTube. In this video, you will notice that nothing is connected to wires. This is just a free air run. Unfortunately I can’t hold the camera and the voltmeter at the same time. I will be posting more videos and photos in the near future. Send me your thoughts and comments.

I just ran some tests today with my semi-completed turbine. It actually turned out really well. Please visit the gallery for high quality images and videos.

My next item I needed was a weather type vane for my turbine. Where else did I look? eBay of course. I had so much good luck with eBay previously, that I found several sellers who had what I wanted. I first bought a unit from Seller A. I call him Seller A because I basically got hosed in that deal. I did a Buy-It-Now from this seller and paid immediately. Because he was from the next State over, I figured that the unit would arrive in a few days. I was wrong! After sending emails and not hearing anything for over a week, I called and got the son of the guy who said his dad makes them and uses his moms eBay account. He said his dad was behind and would have him call me. 3 Days later, no response, and eventually I called and told him to cancel the order and never heard back. I then get a package in the mail which turns out to be the wind vane for my turbine. After looking at it, it was sort of flimsy so I sent it back. About a month later and after filing PayPal claims, I got my $70 back and went to another seller from Texas. I ordered one from him and to my surprise, received it a few days later. I was extremely impressed. It was welded steel as was the previous one. The only difference was the vane portion was a heavy gauge steel and the first one I got was made from thin sheet metal. The only thing the new one did not include was a 4″ muffler clamp which was purchase from a local auto supply for about $12. With all my major parts in hand, my next task was to layout how this was going to be put together. Here is the link to the seller I purchased the vane from:

After doing some more looking, I came across some blades again, on eBay. I talked to the seller Russ, who made me a good deal on a hub and blade combo kit. For a little over $100, I received an extremely well machined hub and Air-X turbine replacement blades. The hub was perfect as it was machined for a 5/8″ shaft which is what the Ametek motor has. I looked at some other sellers, however the units Russ had looked better than some of the others options. After sending him a payment via PayPal, I had the set within 4 days, shipped priority mail. I was on to my next task of finding a vane to mount my turbine. Here is an example of blades I purchased:

Southwest WindPower Air-X Land 24V Wind Turbine 400Watt US $599.00 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 17:12:55 PDT Add to watch list

I have officially decided to build my own wind generator to see if it can be done. I originally considered purchasing one, however I am the type that likes to build my own if possible. I did some research and found that a wind turbine can be made very easily with fairly simple parts.

The first thing I need to find was what to use as the generator. I did some searching and found that what most people are using these days are small DC motors. The most popular motor of choice is an Ametek Servo Motor.

I did some searches and found several of these motors on eBay. I then ran across some locally for about the same price. I went ahead and purchased several of these just to have some spares. The motor I purchased is an Ametek 38VDC motor. I have several of these spare motors listed on eBay. Here are the specs:

SPECIFICATIONS

Here is a direct link to the auction:

With the motor chosen, my next item on the list was the hub and blades.

Welcome to FreeAirPower.com. This site is intended to give you information on building a homemade wind generator. These are really inexpensive and easy to build. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting additional information as the project progresses. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know.