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Forum Index : Windmills : #22 gauge magnet wire
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| charlie_ruizpr Newbie  Joined: 08/07/2010 Location: Posts: 36 |
How many turns would I need with a #22 gauge wire for a 12 volt applicationand can I use 2, 3, or 4 strands per coil? |
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Downwind Guru  Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Hi charlie, Welcome to the forum. There is no hard and fast rule of how many turns to what gauge wire, as it all depends on the magnets used and the setup you have. You will need to tell us more about what you are using and how you are using it. Have a look at ...MacGyver Ax-Fx Build ... on the last few pages a couple of threads up, as there is a bit of information Oztules posted there. You can use more than 1 strand and the larger the overall sum of the copper conductor the greater the current output. In brief.. The number of turns controls the voltage output. The overall sum of copper diameter controls the current output All the above is dependant on the magnets used and the setup. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| charlie_ruizpr Newbie Joined: 08/07/2010 Location: Posts: 36 |
I will be building a VAWT that is 32 inches wide and 24 inches high, THE 3 blades will be 3 inches by 24 inches. The neo magnets will be 2x 1 x 1/2 on a 10 inch metal disk with 12 on each disk and nine coils in between. |
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| charlie_ruizpr Newbie Joined: 08/07/2010 Location: Posts: 36 |
This is the type of vawt I am building but only 3 bladed.  |
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MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
charlie_ruizpr I built a 3-bladed one about the same size and unless you live in an area where hurricanes are the prominent weather condition, a VAWT this size won't make enough electricity to power an LED flashlight! Don't get me wrong; they're lots of fun and simple to design, build and watch spin. They just don't perform worth diddly-squat! Many are not self-starting. The one pictured above appears to have a "lifting-section" blade and may therefore self start, but I'm not sure. The only self-starting one that I've seen perform much at all is the one designed by a fellow named Lenz and I think it's called the "Lenz Turbine". It is to the best of my knowledge, both a "drag" machine, meaning the blades are cupped such that they scoop up passing wind as well as use lift to spin. On the front page of this forum there's a link called Building The Lenz2 Turbine. <---Just click on this link and you're there. Best wishes. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| charlie_ruizpr Newbie Joined: 08/07/2010 Location: Posts: 36 |
MacGyver What do you recommend best for a wind turbine construction of any size? |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
charlie_ruizpr First off, when you ask which is "best" it's unclear to me what you're after. Personally, I get a kick out of watching a thing called The Wind Spire. It's a VAWT (stands for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) that "purportedly" works, although I've never seen one in person, just viewed it on the Internet. It appears to use an axial-flux alternator in its base. A VAWT is a "drag" type machine. As for "what works" I'd steer clear of the VAWT as they usually have to be too big to actually do any "useable" work. If you're just starting out, I'd recommend a HAWT (stands for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine). These are both relatively simple to construct and use blades, which react to the wind flow by two methods at the same time. First off, a flat surface will "spill" wind off to one side, creating a sliding motion, which, when tied to a central shaft and allowed to rotate, will "spin". Secondly, a blade can be shaped into an "air foil". This shape causes the blade to create "lift" like a bird's rounded wing surface. When you have a blade that has both a flat side as well as "lift" yet another force comes into play called "apparent wind". This is air movement over the blade's surface caused by its forward movement through the wind. Sailboats use a sail called a genoa or jib, which directs air flow from the side of the craft, then aft and over the "main sheet" (sail) causing a low pressure area between the two sails and that "pulls" the craft along. In the same manner, the momentum of the blade pushes it through the wind flow and increases the action of the wind, causing "lift" like the sail on the boat as well as using the wind spilled off the blade's pitch into the wind flow and you get the best of both worlds. As I said early on, a VAWT is often called a "drag" machine, because the blades simply drag along in the wind much the same as a paddle wheel in a stream is drug along by the water flow. It can in most instances go no faster than the speed of the wind blowing against it. A HAWT on the other hand, can use both deflection (air slipping off the blade's pitch) as well as lift utilizing apparent wind and can ideally spin almost 8 times the speed of the wind flow. See the difference? VAWTs are cool to look at, but don't work very well compared to a HAWT that both looks cool and works at least 8 times better. So, depending on what you're after, the "best" choice is really up to you, keeping in mind the parameters I've listed above. Hope that helps. If it's any comfort, I have built my LAST VAWT! Just no power and they are hard to balance. In my book, VAWTs are a drag (pun intended). 
. . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Steve_O Newbie Joined: 10/07/2010 Location: Posts: 10 |
OK, I was not sure of the what a HAWT was so I googled it and went to images  !!!
Then my girlfriend came by and wanted to know what I was doing. I told her I was researching images of HAWT's because they work 8 times better and  .
I guess I should have the safe search turned on when she is around. "As for me, all I know is that I know nothing." - Socrates |
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| charlie_ruizpr Newbie Joined: 08/07/2010 Location: Posts: 36 |
After I experiment with this I will be building a horizontal axis wind turbine may 5' or 10' it depends on the 15' tower I will make first. If the stator that I am making for the vawt does not work well (wich I think it won't) I will but it to use on a hawt. Still getting the pieces together for the vawt, trying to build it before saturday, so that my brother and I can test it w/o a load first. |
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| charlie_ruizpr Newbie Joined: 08/07/2010 Location: Posts: 36 |
Well it's up but I need to change the bearings and give the blades a 9 degree angle to see if I can get more rpm. When the wind blows it tends to try to turn backwards and also with gust winds it does not turn anymore, I beleive it is do to the bearing being that they are old and were submerged in water. Also the turbine does not try to turn backwards it trys to turn at low wind speed and sort of returns slightly but turns backwards like 2 or 3 degrees. I turned it by hand this morning and then it started turning a couple of minutes later but slowly. 
my vawt |
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| itsandbits1 Regular Member  Joined: 13/08/2010 Location: CanadaPosts: 81 |
the lenz unit you have there will require wind speeds exceeding 2mps to produce any power, they will turn at a lower wsp but not put out much if the blades are set right. Look up the different wind speeds and conditions you need for the different mills vawt/hawt and then decide what you can do. It doesn't matter which one you have if you do not have the wind to support it but your alt needs to be such that it won't overpower the wings/blades also, and the alt shorted should get your mill to stay in slow mo or stop for safety. if you give the mill a slight push and it goes round a few times your bearing is finebut it should be smooth and freewheeling. put some light oil on them if they are allright. replace them if they are tight or rough. The blades of the lenz have to be set as per the spec on his page. i think this is 7 degrees in; check it though. vawts have both lift and drag type wings/blades and some like the lenz are both. lift means they turn faster than the speed of the wind driving them at the tips of the blades; tsr. tsr one is 1-1 |
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