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Step 7Tower and Yaw Bearing
Now that most of the construction of the actual wind turbine piece is complete, you'll have to decide on a place to put the beast! Obviously a good spot with lots of wind and few obstructions is optimal. Most DIY wind power enthusiasts recommend that your tower be 30 feet above the nearest obstruction within a 300 foot radius. In other words, pretty much as high and in the most open area as you can get it.
Selecting a location and tower is difficult, there is no doubt about it. It's hard on your wallet and your time. The biggest concern when putting up a tower should always be safety. This is a homebrew turbine and could run into problems that we can't quite predict, so a little extra safety is always good. Be aware that if your blades fail at high RPMs if they will fly quite a distance and could pose a threat to nearby houses or cars.
A basic run down of the tower options available.
-Monopole tower
No guy wires, requires a lot of concrete and are almost always very expensive.
-Tilt down pipe or lattice tower
Used by the majority of the DIY Wind Power community because of cost and ability to tilt the machine down for maintenance. Uses guy wires and a hinge at the bottom of the tower and can be welded together with the correct pipe.
-Lattice tower
Another choice is to construct a lattice that does not tilt down but still has guy wires. The problem with this is that it must be climbed to do anything to the windmill. Many people do not feel safe doing this and many people have been hurt from falling off stationary towers like this. Use extreme caution and a safety harness to work on top of one of these towers.
I was fortunate enough to receive a free 30 foot lattice tower from an airport. It was once used for a rotating beacon and should be strong enough for my small wind turbine. I had to add to the top of it (about 5 feet) to attach the wind turbine with enough clearance for the blades to move around when the machine furls. For support, we welded gussets onto a piece of 2 inch pipe and attached it to the top of the tower.
Then I took a piece of schedule 80 pipe to a machine shop and had it turned down on the lathe so it would act nicely as the yaw bearing. We leveled it on the tower and placed some set screws in so it could be welded in place. This piece is important because, if it comes loose, the whole turbine could fall off or the blades could hit the tower! YIKES!
Welding was completed with a DC arc welder. I'm still not terrific at welding by any means, but it's a great skill to learn. Before I made the welds on the tower, I did some practicing on some scrap pieces I acquired from a metal shop. That's another thing you find while trying to learn to weld - people in metal shops are usually quite friendly and willing to help out. If you're thinking about learning but are lacking material to practice on, ask around - what many might consider junk could be very useful to you.
Selecting a location and tower is difficult, there is no doubt about it. It's hard on your wallet and your time. The biggest concern when putting up a tower should always be safety. This is a homebrew turbine and could run into problems that we can't quite predict, so a little extra safety is always good. Be aware that if your blades fail at high RPMs if they will fly quite a distance and could pose a threat to nearby houses or cars.
A basic run down of the tower options available.
-Monopole tower
No guy wires, requires a lot of concrete and are almost always very expensive.
-Tilt down pipe or lattice tower
Used by the majority of the DIY Wind Power community because of cost and ability to tilt the machine down for maintenance. Uses guy wires and a hinge at the bottom of the tower and can be welded together with the correct pipe.
-Lattice tower
Another choice is to construct a lattice that does not tilt down but still has guy wires. The problem with this is that it must be climbed to do anything to the windmill. Many people do not feel safe doing this and many people have been hurt from falling off stationary towers like this. Use extreme caution and a safety harness to work on top of one of these towers.
I was fortunate enough to receive a free 30 foot lattice tower from an airport. It was once used for a rotating beacon and should be strong enough for my small wind turbine. I had to add to the top of it (about 5 feet) to attach the wind turbine with enough clearance for the blades to move around when the machine furls. For support, we welded gussets onto a piece of 2 inch pipe and attached it to the top of the tower.
Then I took a piece of schedule 80 pipe to a machine shop and had it turned down on the lathe so it would act nicely as the yaw bearing. We leveled it on the tower and placed some set screws in so it could be welded in place. This piece is important because, if it comes loose, the whole turbine could fall off or the blades could hit the tower! YIKES!
Welding was completed with a DC arc welder. I'm still not terrific at welding by any means, but it's a great skill to learn. Before I made the welds on the tower, I did some practicing on some scrap pieces I acquired from a metal shop. That's another thing you find while trying to learn to weld - people in metal shops are usually quite friendly and willing to help out. If you're thinking about learning but are lacking material to practice on, ask around - what many might consider junk could be very useful to you.
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Sep 7, 2009. 6:15 AMBlackice504
says:
love the tower install great job
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