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|    alt.energy.homepower    |    Electrical part of living of the grid    |    2,576 messages    |
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|    Message 1,955 of 2,576    |
|    amdx to Paul Dudley    |
|    Re: Question about Vitamaster treadmill     |
|    14 Dec 14 08:05:46    |
      From: nojunk@knology.net              On 12/13/2014 5:08 PM, Paul Dudley wrote:       > On Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:54:10 -0600, Paul Dudley wrote:       >       >> I've recently began to dabble with PV and since we do tend to get some       >> good breezes (Harnett County NC)I've decided to try my luck at wind       >> turbine energy as well. I've been reading about how people turn a       >> treadmill motor into a generator.       >>       >> My PV is the HF 45 watt set. It does a great job of providing lights in       >> my barn (it comes with 2 12vdc lights). I have an HF 2000/4000w inverter       >> hanging off it and when the batteries are fully charged I run my drill,       >> recip-saw or circ-saw etc. But certain days with lack of sun the panels       >> barely push 11.8v. Yet the wind is blowing my neighbors lawn decor       >> windmill full speed.       >>       >> 1 ) I've run up on a Roadmaster Corp Vitamaster 500 treadmill for $20.       >> Does anyone know what sort of motor it would have and would it be       >> suitable for said needs ? I've searched the web for any info on them but       >> can't seem to find any manuals or info.       >>       >> 2) If the above motor wouldn't be suitable than I've considered trying       >> to rebuild a ceiling fan into an alternator. Anyone have any luck with       >> one ?]       >>       >> TIA       >>       >> Paul       >       > Hey Y'alls... Just checked in to look at replies. Still cookin'. Some       > of the 'home alternator' motors are designed with two magnet rotors       > circling the stator. Double the power. Then as mentioned pulley ratio       > power ( or gear ). But no. Not a car alt/gen. But they also talk 6 - 10       > foot blades. I've decided to go with(3)26" blades to start.              Some fun facts:        If you double the size of you propeller, you will have 4 times more       energy available. (You can change the size of your propeller.)              Wind power is proportional to the third power of the wind speed; the       available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles.       (You can move, but generally you are stuck with the wind at your site.)               I'm quite       > the newbie at this stuff and I need to suppliment my solar panels on       > cloudy but windy spells. My use so far ( [3] 35ah 12 volt battery bank-       > 2k-4k inverter ) is to provide lights and some 110 power in my barn.       > Nothing to do with departing the grid at the house. I did the PVC blades.       > 3 of them.       >        What site did you use for the propeller info/template?                     > From stuff I've read lately the treadmill motors are low rev as a       > generator and good for windmill/turbine. Plus it's DC. Ready to hit       > the batteries. I'd like to try one and if it helps supplement the       > batteries then I'll go for more. Still in learning. Hell .. I just       > recently learned what a diode is. And how/where it's used. Havin'       > fun in the mean time.               Have you decided how you are going to regulate the voltage to       properly charge your batteries when you have a wide variance in        wind speed?               Mikek              --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05        * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)    |
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