Wild Goose Flys Again - II

[Laurie Forbes]

Launched my three blade pitch controlled turbine today in a stiff Chinook wind. Everything looked fine until I switched off the "brake" (shorted o/p) and found the pitch control was not working (the fly weights were not activating). The mill was soon turning like a house on fire (not sure of RPM but a lot above nominal 300). Managed to get it lowered w/p further mishap and discovered I had the fly weight position opposite to normal (they were trying to move against a stop in the wrong direction). Corrected the dumb mistake and now is flying well but set for reduced max RPM until it looks stable.

These Chineese fibreglass blades seem v nice so far - they did not fly apart or suffer any apparent damage under the unfortunate o'speed condition and seem to be catching the wind well (will know more when I crank up the speed).

Also ran it unloaded for a while - it sped up somewhat but about as much (or as little) as I had hoped for so the pitch control seems to be functioning well in this three blade configuration.

BTW, have been perusing the ForceField forum (fieldlines.com) in regards to motor conversions - there is a ton of info there so thanks to Mark for pointing it out to me.

[Stewart Corman]

Laurie,
We all know you own a camera and know how to use it :rolleyes:
we want photos and a few 20 second film clips on YouTube !!!
Stew

[Laurie Forbes]

Laurie,
We all know you own a camera and know how to use it :rolleyes:
we want photos and a few 20 second film clips on YouTube !!!
Stew

Stewart:

Pics to follow when I lower it again (maybe tomorrow to crank up the speed, apply some more Loktite(sp), roller chain lube and, corrosion inhibitor to the exposed bits). Sorry, I have no video camera :p Actually it's quite similar to the previous two blade version for which I posted pics a while ago.

BTW, the blades make a soft "whooshing" noise when into stall - kind of neat IMO, otherwise no audible blade noise at all (the alternator & roller chains whir, the tower joints creak, an irregular clicking noise issues from somewhere in the top mechanism, the tail jiggles a bit (wind shear?) but otherwise nothing too dramatic seems to occur, at least so-far). Up until now I have been content to let the previous incarnations run for a while and then shut it down (always at night) but now I'll let'er go, with the odd inspection intersperced, and see what eventually happens. I'm interested in seeing how well the roller chain stands up for one (and how long the blades stay attached :)). Oh, and if I get any neighbour complaints....

Also BTW, called the local municipality govt in regard to tower bylaws. For wind turbines there are no restrictions in either height or location and, no permit required!

[Sylvain Carrier]

"Also BTW, called the local municipality govt in regard to tower bylaws. For wind turbines there are no restrictions in either height or location and, no permit required!"

That's amazing, in this day and age where we seem to be legislated to death...good for you!!

sly

[Laurie Forbes]

"Also BTW, called the local municipality govt in regard to tower bylaws. For wind turbines there are no restrictions in either height or location and, no permit required!"

That's amazing, in this day and age where we seem to be legislated to death...good for you!!

sly

I dunno Sylvain - it probably just means they haven't caught on yet to the implications, or the politics, of the situation :confused:

[Stewart Corman]

Laurie,
By "going into stall", you mean the counterweights are activated and turning the blades flat to the wind to reduce their lift capability?

The " soft whooshing noise" was therefore probably the root area dragging in the wind?

Do the blades still rotate at a reasonable speed when stalled, still producing some power?

OT ..are you sure that your digital camera doesn't have a short video mode??
Any zoom to see turbine installed at top of tower?

Stew

[Laurie Forbes]

Stewart, yes that's what I mean by "going into stall". The whooshing I guess could be caused by the root dragging and, maybe a portion of the tip.

The blades do rotate and don't even seem to slow down much, if at all, when going into stall - that's one of the nice things I guess about pitch control (also, no worries if the load is dropped for some reason). I'll be able to gauge that more effectively when I get my frequency measurement stuff reactivated.

BTW, what happens when a tilt-furl turbine looses the load - does it overspeed?

My camera does have a short video mode but I've never tried it. It also has zoom so the upright shots won't be too bad. I was going to take some today but it's cloudy now so maybe later. I'm not sure a video would show a whole lot though what with the pitch control movement not being all that obvious from the ground and the thing yawing back and forth in the wind.

[Dan Lenox]

Also BTW, called the local municipality govt in regard to tower bylaws. For wind turbines there are no restrictions in either height or location and, no permit required!

The local muniicipality may not have rules, but I do know of at least one federal one: towers 200' and over have to have beacon lights for aircraft.

There are very few rules out here in rural WV, not even building inspections...

Dan Lenox

[Ric Murphy]

Stew/Laurie,
Not sure what happens when a tilt up furl turbine loses it's load (and not sure I want to find out) but here's a couple of pix of mine in furl mode. Just took these a few minutes ago. 30-35mph winds today I would estimate. I think this new unit is furling too soon though. Rated at 900w @ 28mph and shouldn't furl until around 38mph. My previous 2 versions would frequently put out close to 1300w before furling. On this newer unit there's no longer any adjustment to the furling spring. Best I've seen today with frequent furling is about 800w.
Some observations on this units furl behavior.
-I've never seen it sustain furl position for very long. Not sure if it's a loss of wind or lift.
-It will run longer in partial furl that full furl (maybe 10-15 seconds)
-Longest I've seen full furl is 3-4 seconds (makes it hard to get a picture)
-After reaching full furl there's always a significant loss of rpm. I've never seen it go from full furl to partial furl. It always returns to unfurled position and then starts the cycle all over again assuming sustained wind
Ric
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