Turbine Motor
How to Build a Small Wind Turbine – Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions for making your own 4/6 foot Wind Turbine
Making a wind powered generator from scrap materials is very rewarding and empowering. Most of the tools and materials you need, can be found in your local hardware shop or junk pile. We highly recommend you search your local dump and/or junkyards for the materials required. For the wind turbine I built with these instructions, I picked up the motor on eBay for $10 plus shipping and the PVC pipe for the blades from a junk pile. The tail is made from an old roller paint pan.
Safety should be your highest priority. Human life is more important than electricity, so please work safely.
SUPPLIES
A 260 VDC, 5 A continuous duty Treadmill Motor with a 6 inch threaded hub is best suited for a small wind turbine. These motors are available from most motor surplus stores and on eBay. You can get about 7 amps in a 30 mph wind. In other words, it is a simple, cheap little machine to get you started.
You may use any other simple permanent magnet DC motor that returns at least 1 V for every 25 rpm and can handle upwards of 10 amps. If you do, there will be certain changes to this supply list, for example, you may need to find a hub – a circular saw blade with a 5/8″ shaft adaptor will usually work well as a hub.
Tools
- Drill & Bits
- Jigsaw with a metal blade
- Wrench
- Flat Head Screwdriver
- Crescent Wrench
- Vise and/or Clamp
- Wire Strippers
- Tape Measure
- Marker Pen
- An extra person helps a lot!
Mount
- Square Tubing or “L” tubing
- Floor Flange – or a rotating dolly wheel with a hole in the centre (picture the wheels on a grocery
- 4 inch Nipple
- 3 X 3/4 Self-tapping Screws
- Note: if using a dolley wheel, you won’t need the nipple and flange as the dolley wheel bolts to the tower and to the DC motor directly.
Motor
- 260 VDC, 5 A continuous duty Treadmill Motor with a 6 inch threaded hub
- 30 – 50 Amp Blocking Diode (one-way)
- 2 – 5/16 x 3/4 Motor Bolts
- PVC Pipe – to cover the motor
Tail
- 1 sqft (approx) lightweight material (metal) – used roller paint tray will work
- 2 – 3/4 Self-tapping Screws
Blades
- 24″ length of 8″ PVC Pipe (if it is UV resistant, you will not need to paint it
- 6 – 1/4 X 20 Bolts
- 9 – 1/4 washers
- 3 sheets A4 paper and tape
Cutting The Blades - makes 8 blades (or 2+ blade sets) and a thin waste strip.
Read through the instructions a couple of times. I have created a separate page, with pictures, and expanded on this process for making the blades as itcan be difficult to understand these instructions without the illustrations. See the link at the bottom of this article.
- Place the 24″ Length of PVC pipe and square tubing (or other straight edge) side by side on a flat surface. Push the pipe tight against the tubing and mark the line where they touch. This is Line A.
- Make a mark near each end of Line A, 23″ apart.
- Tape 3 sheets of A4 paper together, so that they form a long, completely straight piece of paper. Wrap this around the section of pipe at each of the two the marks you just made, one then the other. Make sure the short side of the paper is straight along Line A and the paper is straight against itself where it overlaps. Mark a line along the edge of the paper at each end. Call one LineB and the other Line C.
- Start where Line A intersects Line B. Going left around Line B, make a mark at every 145 mm. The last section should be about 115 mm.
- Start where Line A intersects Line C. Going right around Line C, make a mark at every 145 mm. The last section should be about 115 mm.
- Mark each line using a straight edge.
- Cut along these lines, using the jigsaw, so that you have 4 strips of 145 mm and one strip about 115 mm.
- Take each strip and place them with the inside of the pipe facing down.
- Make a mark at one end of each strip 115 mm from the left edge.
- Make a mark at the other end of each strip 30 mm from the left edge.
- Mark and cut these lines, using the jigsaw.
Sanding the Blades
You should sand or grind the blades to achieve the desired airfoil. This will increase the efficiency of the blades, as well as making them quieter. The angled (leading) edge wants to be rounded, while the straight (tailing) edge wants to be pointed. Any sharp corners should be slightly rounded to cut down on noise.
Cutting The Tail
The exact dimensions of the tail are not important. You want about one square foot of lightweight material, preferably metal. You can make the tail any shape you want, so long as the end result is stiff rather than floppy.
Drilling Holes in Square Tubing – using the 5/16″ drill bit
- Place the motor on the front end of the square tubing, so that the hub part hangs over the edge and the bolt holes of the motor face down.
- Roll the motor back so you can see the bolt holes, and mark their position on the square tubing.
- Drill a 5/16″ hole at each mark all the way through the square tubing.
Drilling Holes in Blades - using the 1/4″ drill bit
- Mark two holes at the wide end and along the straight edge of each of the three blades. The first hole should be 3/8″ from the straight edge and 1/2″ from the bottom. The second hole should be 3/8″ from the straight edge and 1 1/4″ from the bottom.
- Drill these 6 holes.
Drilling and Tapping Holes in Hub - using the 7/32″ drill bit and 1/4″ tap
NOTE: You may want to modify these instructions. Try replacing the hub with an old, used 7 1/4 inch skill saw blade. The larger surface area will give you more space to screw or bolt the blades to. I also used 1/4 inch bolts rather than tapping holes. I’ve also see old aluminum frying pans used for this purpose. They are light and solid!
- If the Treadmill motor comes with the hub attached, take it off, hold the end of the shaft (which comes through the hub) firmly with pliers, and turn the hub clockwise. This hub unscrews clockwise, which is why the blades turn counter-clockwise.
- Make a template of the hub on a piece of paper, using a compass and protractor.
- Mark 3 holes, each of which is 2 3/8″ from the center of the circle and equidistant from each other.
- Place this template over the hub and punch a starter hole through the paper and onto the hub at each hole.
- Drill these holes with the 7/32″ drill bit.
- Tap the holes with the 1/4″ x 20 tap.
- Bolt the blades onto the hub using the 1/4″ bolts. At this point, the outer holes have not been drilled.
- Measure the distance between the straight edge of the tips of each blade. Adjust them so that they are all equidistant. Mark and punch each hole on the hub through the empty hole in each blade.
- Label the blades and hub so that you can match which blade goes where at a later stage.
- Remove the blades and then drill and tap these outer three holes.
You now have all the parts you need. For final assemble instructions (and a review of the above instructions with lots of pictures) please take a look at this website: http://www.greenterrafirma.com/DIY_Wind_Turbine.html.
It includes several more pictures to aid with the final assembly and an additional section on Towers. These plans are provided free of charge.
Enjoy!
About the Author
Bruce Knight is editor and a contributing author for the GreenTerraFirma.com website. He is active in alternative energy (solar) and natural alternatives to commercial products. GreenTerraFirma.com contains many additional articles of a similar nature to this. Visit GreenTerraFirma.com. http://www.greenterrafirma.com/DIY_Wind_Turbine.html.
Larry’s gas turbine jet engine turboprop ultralight aircraft, GB103
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