Hi all, I'm a newbie here, I just found this place, I like good active forums, this looks to be a very active site. I think I'll enjoy it and I'm looking forward to browsing here regularly.
Here is the deal, I have a Fisher Pakel washer and when I tore it apart I realized it had a 3 phase dc motor in it. (I do things like that when I spot interesting things.) I decided to see if I can make a VAWT out of it. I have the outer tub cut to the base for the generator mounting and shaft, lower spin basket with balancing liquid that free wheels and the agitator that will provide a mount structure for savvy blades. This has really good bearings that are designed to take the abuse of out of balance loads. I built a stand for it and so far I have the machine cost of $9 and $0 in parts. The bad news is FP doesn't provide much of any tech info on the machine. The appliance industry if rather greedy about those things.
The motor - 3 phase brushles DC, 42 coil stator, 14 magnet rotor cover, 32 ohms between legs. I can generate 12vac at about 8-10 rpm and up to about 450vac when I run it up with a drill motor to top speed, about 800 rpm. I have no idea what the amperage output might be as I'm skittish to add a load to find out. I did add a small 12v motor and realized that it will run the motor at very low rpm across 2 legs.
My concern is the 3 ph wiring is only 20 ga and if I make this charge 12vdc It is going to overload the wiring. I'm thinking of using it at 48vdc as this will reduce the wiring heat and lower the amps output of the system. Of course I could run a higher voltage but then the rpm needs to be substantial and higher wind speed to generate. (Sorry, math is not my strong subject.)
I would like to just rectify it to dc for now and stabilize the voltage. Next year look into an inverter and controller for 120vac. Higher volt dc does bother me some so inverting at the outset is not out of the question.
I intend to try this out initially as a load for a hot water pre-heater with an exchanger to pre-heat the boiler water to help heat the house this winter and possibly add charging capabilities for a new garage and loft apartment that is under construction.
I would appreciate thoughts on the output design and what would be a good median voltage to strive for.
Thank you, Oscar
Here is the deal, I have a Fisher Pakel washer and when I tore it apart I realized it had a 3 phase dc motor in it. (I do things like that when I spot interesting things.) I decided to see if I can make a VAWT out of it. I have the outer tub cut to the base for the generator mounting and shaft, lower spin basket with balancing liquid that free wheels and the agitator that will provide a mount structure for savvy blades. This has really good bearings that are designed to take the abuse of out of balance loads. I built a stand for it and so far I have the machine cost of $9 and $0 in parts. The bad news is FP doesn't provide much of any tech info on the machine. The appliance industry if rather greedy about those things.
The motor - 3 phase brushles DC, 42 coil stator, 14 magnet rotor cover, 32 ohms between legs. I can generate 12vac at about 8-10 rpm and up to about 450vac when I run it up with a drill motor to top speed, about 800 rpm. I have no idea what the amperage output might be as I'm skittish to add a load to find out. I did add a small 12v motor and realized that it will run the motor at very low rpm across 2 legs.
My concern is the 3 ph wiring is only 20 ga and if I make this charge 12vdc It is going to overload the wiring. I'm thinking of using it at 48vdc as this will reduce the wiring heat and lower the amps output of the system. Of course I could run a higher voltage but then the rpm needs to be substantial and higher wind speed to generate. (Sorry, math is not my strong subject.)
I would like to just rectify it to dc for now and stabilize the voltage. Next year look into an inverter and controller for 120vac. Higher volt dc does bother me some so inverting at the outset is not out of the question.
I intend to try this out initially as a load for a hot water pre-heater with an exchanger to pre-heat the boiler water to help heat the house this winter and possibly add charging capabilities for a new garage and loft apartment that is under construction.
I would appreciate thoughts on the output design and what would be a good median voltage to strive for.
Thank you, Oscar