Monday, March 17, 2014

Hey! What about those copper coils?
Unknown8:33 PM


I'm working on it. First had to take care of some stuff at the cabin. i.e. keeping the water from pooling on the roof and leaking inside.

Anyway, here's a few pics of where I'm at.

Enjoy

2nd coil, 86 turns, Krazy glue every 10 turns

A screw for the start (A) and finish (B)

Winding jig from an old shelf bracket

Spool of wire. Yep, it almost unravelled on me. Had to stick a piece of painters tape as a stop

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

10 Videos in 22 Seconds - January Compilation 2014
Unknown2:08 PM

Made another YouTube Fan Finder style of video. It's special recap of the latest videos.
It's called "10 in 22" (10 videos in 22 seconds)
Thought it would be a quick way for existing and new fans to check out the latest offerings.
Enjoy!

Video Titles and links are posted below.











Music credit: Strange Ways by Silent Partner. Provided by YouTube Audio Library
http://youtube-audio-library.storage.googleapis.com/64f7fac1a154f79f,

Monday, February 24, 2014

Great Bearings for Small VAWTs
Unknown2:35 PM



The bearings are from portable gas generator tire hubs. The 2 piece hubs are 8" diameter, air fill, rubber tires. Used for carts, dollies and generators. 
Once the bolts are removed, the hubs will come apart.
• Air fill only
• 1/2" - 5/8" arbor

In Canada: Princess Auto in Small Wheel Assemblies 2.80 x 2.50-4 Wheel Assembly@$15.99


Also, look on Amazon or eBay for Generator Wheel Kits, dolly or wagon wheels


Check out this video for reference for a close up

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Cedar Projects
Unknown9:57 AM

Cedar gate with Arbor


Two cedar Adirondack Chairs finished in red latex paint

Had a comment from a viewer about the lack of woodworking projects. Good point. Yes, I have been quite busy with wind turbines and solar panels, which in-theory, has little in common to woodworking.
So, to show good intentions, I dug into the photo albums and pulled out a few summer freelance projects. As I remember, it was quite enjoyable and help pay for college. Feel free to browse through cedar structures, Adirondack chairs and pergolas.
More pictures found at the Cedar Workshop Google+ Page

Garden Corner Pergola for grapes and shade



Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Plan to Build a Tree Mounted Wind Turbine
Unknown6:13 PM

Surrounding Lodgepole Pines
I've been thinking about mounting a wind turbine to a tree for quite awhile. Not happy with the wind turbine on the deck. It's not getting clean, undisturbed wind. If I could just get the turbine above the trees, I could maybe generated a couple more watts. 

I have two wind turbines, a small 175 watt DC and a larger 700 watt 3 phase AC turbine. The small one works good at throwing a few watts in and keeping the deep cycle batteries topped up or trickle charged. It's a nice peace of mind in the below zero winter nights.
Haven't installed the large turbine yet. The 1" keyed shaft did not fit into the tower pipe. So it was back to the drawing board. Have found a fencing pipe that would be big enough thou. Another problem the 700 watt is very heavy and the tow raising turns into a two person job.

One thought was to find a dead tree and fasten a tower to it. The only catch was it would have to be lowered for servicing once or twice a year. There are a few "standing dead" pine trees on the property, but are only 12' to 15' below the tree canopy. I estimate the average height of the trees is 40'. 

The next idea, was to select a live tree and safely mount a wind turbine to it. I don't want injuring or impede the growth. 


The ideal tree was directly behind the cabin, is a large, triangle shaped, White Spruce. It's quite magnificent to look at and would make a fine mount for turbines. Almost 90% of the wind comes rolling down the mountain and hits the back side of the property.

The cabin is located in a forest of Lodgepole Pine trees. I measured a tree that fell down and it came out to 40' tall.




Large White Spruce
Still have to mount the large turbine, but, the height factor is cancelling out the project.

On my lunch hour, I did a few sketches. I think about what resources are available: lumber, bolts, nuts, etc. Instead of what could be purchased.

Concept 1- Tree fort support

Concept 2 - Clamp platform
Concept 3 - Swing up
Concept 2- Is a Birdseye view, looking down on a "platform". The tree would be sandwiched in-between. 

Also, I have to think, "how does one person climb up the tree and hoist the lumber up?" That's what it comes down too. 

Then went to Adobe Illustrator and hashed out some more ideas. See below for the animated gif.
Updated January 24, 2014





Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Wood Stove Reco Fan (Build #2)
Unknown3:19 PM

fan-working-on-stove-iPhoneBuild #2 The second build was a success. It was based on the Instructables guide by the author "tinkerme". After reading the guide, I had a hankering to try again.

**Parts List**
Hot side:
- a passive aluminum heat sink from a Power Mac G4 466
It's roughly 3" wide by 6" long, lots of fins. The raised part for the chip, was cut off with a hacksaw and ground down. Upgrade: concerned the heat was slipping through the outside fins. Put a shroud around the hot side of the cooler. This would prevent the loss, and gather the heat. Found an aluminium control box from a washing machine. The shroud also prevented the heat from reaching the Thermalright cooler fins.
- little 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" square piece of copper. It was used as a spacer/transfer sat of heat to the peltier module. Use a copper pipe, cut length wise, pound flat and buffed up on the grinder.
- Peltier module (90 watts, ebay@$19.00) Model TEG1-12710 Note: click here for a good web site about Peltier markings     - 40mm x 40mm x 3.3mm  
  - Power input from 0-16 volts DC and 0-10.5 amps (when used as a thermoelectric cooler)
  - Operates at temperatures as high as +350 deg F  
  - Fitted with 6-inch insulated leads  
  - Perimeter sealed for moisture protection

Zalman's cooler paste **A must have. This grey goop was cheap and was included with most CPU heatsink kits. It really increased the heat transfer and the voltage.
Thermalright CPU Cooler Rated for a 120mm fan. Aluminum base. Well made heat sink

- 1.5 to 3.0 Volt DC Hobby Motor **A must have. The earlier motor, needed a couple of volts to get running. But, hobby motor required 1.5 volts to start. So, I broke the "made-from-junk" rule and bought a small hobby motor for The Source (Radio Shack) @ $4.99 *Note: a standard 4" computer fan didn't work. Not sure how other people can get theirs going?

 Props
  - The homemade, 2 blade, prop works OK, but the motor gets only up to .23 volts. Plan to work on it and make improvements
- the cooling fan from a blender gets up to .43 volt, but doesn't push air at a lower RPM
- made a fan blade from a coffee can bottom, works good, lots of shake
- A plastic, 4 blade exhaust fan blade works the best. The only bummer was it's made from plastic and could melt. So, made a heat shield for the bottom.

Testing
- Had it successfully working on the December 7th weekend during a record cold snap. Since it was minus 32° Celsius (-25° Fahrenheit) outside, I had the wood stove wide open running as hot as I could.
- Noticed the fan blades started to turn when the wood stove hit 100° Celsius (212° Fahrenheit) 
- Once I realized it was turning the wrong way, I reversed the positive and negative leads. It started to push the cold air through the fins and out the other side.
 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Build Three of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) from Cedar Wood Siding
Unknown11:47 AM

This is the third version of the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) made from cedar siding lumber. It’s very close to the Lenz style of VAWTs. These type of wind turbines are fun to build. Lots of room for improvements and coming up with new ideas.
For example:
- the hubs with bearings, came from my portable generator. Had a handy grease spout that could easily be greased with a grease gun
- the struts for the scoop (Lenz style) of blades were extended to clear the garage door style generator
- Used boiled linseed oil to seal the wood parts. The stain lasts forever and works great against the sun
- Did a quick test on top of our house, but, nothing really happened. (The motor garage door motor was not hooked up) The wind is quite poor in our residential area. Plus, without the aid of mirrors or a surveillance system, it’s difficult to see it spin when it’s right on top of your house
- The VAWT was designed to be mounted on top of a tree a off-the-grid cabin
- At the moment, the garage door motor on it, but, it does not turn well with the belt-pulley system. The wind really needs to be blowing. I thinking about going the magnet and coil route
- Had to take it down after 5 days of testing. A certain neighbours started to ask questions and I didn't want the bylaw officer give me a ticket for having a structure on the roof.