Due to the flimsy nature of the coil stock blades I have on it now and a loose connection to the battery, the alternator shut off and in a high wind the blades spun too quickly, flexed, and hit the pole. So now I have to go out and bend some new ones with the metal brake. This time I’ll be pop riveting an angled piece on the back to give it more support as well.
Alright, I hooked up a cable and battery, and we are now producing power! I finally have this project done and now next summer plan on making a better more rugged windmill that uses a low rpm alternator with wooden blades.
Okay, HUGE update for all 3 of you who have discovered this webpage. I went ahead and made 5’2″ blades and put them on. Then I acquired two sections of tv tower, and using 3 sections of scaffolding, mounted this bastard. Needless to say, this is the last iteration of the bike/alternator windmill. Anything after this will be based off of this http://www.otherpower.com/wardalt.html design.
It does spin in only a little wind which is the most important thing. I will hook up the battery and cable tomorrow, and see how much power it puts off assuming that there is any kind of wind.
Oh, and for reference, each section of scaffolding is 5 feet tall.
Well, my fan blades are simply too small and can’t produce enough torque to actually spin the alternator. Even with the very slight amount of drag that the alternator produces with no load there is enough friction to make the windmill remain more stationary than someone in a diabetic coma. After I get back from paintballing tomorrow I plan on getting outside and using the metal brake to bend some 60″ blades and replace the 30″ ones that are on there now.
Alright, I bought a belt that fits perfectly and after I get done eating I’m going to go outside, weld it to some well pipe, and put the thing back in the air and post my results.
The Alternator is now mounted to the windmill. Tommorrow I will return the belt which I bought that was too small and get one that actually fits. After that I will set up a small battery bank and get some readings with my multimete and let you five or six readers know how well or terribly the rig works. Now keep in mind that I dont expect this thing to be blasting out enough juice to power my home, but rather let it sit and charge a battery in a day or two. The whole goal of this project is to keep me outside and tinkering in the garage, and to show people that with little to no money(The only money Ive spent so far is on the belt) people can help out their electricity bills and spend more money on alcohol. The custom paint job is there because I also wanted to make this thing as much of an eye sore as physically possible.
Ok, I know I said I had a generator, but I am going to attempt the alternator again. The reason being is that I have a very old alternator(83 aspire) which is very easy to wire and doesnt need to be hooked up to a car’s computer and the fact that it is 1/8th the size of the generator. I will upload some new pictures after it is hooked up(wont be till after the fourth) and will post my results.
Ok, I know I said I was going to do some extensive work on the windmill this week, but I was called out of town to help put up a garage. I spent a few hours out in the garage today and solved the problem I had with the blades hitting the pole as well as hooked up a second rim to function as a pulley to really get the ratio cranked up to try and spin the generator. The problem I’m having now is that I’m in a position where I need to either accept the fact that I will now need a much stronger wind to turn the thing, or build the 8 foot wooden blades I want to make on my second “real” windmill. For now I’m leaning toward just leaving the crappy short blades and just finishing the project and making real plans for the next one.
I was just given a 1500 watt generator from a friend of mine of of an old gas powered generator. Hopefully we will be able to find a way to mount the thing (it is heavy as hell).
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Things That Piss Us Off 
My plan for the generator was to simply plug a car battery charger into it to go from AC to DC power. I have been slacking lately and need to make a bearing plate for the generator since it used the bearing that used to be in the gas motor. The past few weeks have been kind of hard to work on the generator because I’ve been pouring concrete and come home dead tired. Next week I will start working again on the windmill and when I start to make progress I’ll make another post(gone this weekend to roof a house for my aunt and then go to a wedding).
My car alternator idea fizzled though when I was unable to get any kind of current coming off of the ones I had available to me. I’m not sure if they need to be under some type of load to kick in, but I have all the parts needed minus the rare earth magnets(due to a lack of funds because of student loans) to make a low RPM alternator found here : http://www.otherpower.com/wardalt.html
Again, this windmill is kind of a proof of concept that if a dummy like me can generate any kind of electricity from junk he got for free or cheaply, then anyone can do it. After this one is completed I am looking into building one with rotors anywhere from 4 to 8 feet in length, and mounting it on a very sturdy television tower with several outriggers.