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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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