Building a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ( VAWT )

When building this turbine we will be using some powertools.
If you are not used to working with powertools ask someone who knows how to use them.
After building this turbine you will still need you fingers so.
PLEASE BE CAREFULL !!!

Step 1 Tools and parts

TOOLS
- Jigsaw and or band saw
- Hand saw
- Lathe
- Drill press or hand drill
- Drill bits
- Screwdriver
- Tab tool
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Compass
- Sanding paper
- Vise ( it makes work more easy)
- Wrenches
- 2 clamps

PARTS
- PVC pipe
- Waterproof wood "concrete form plywood is the best"( if you don't have that you will have to protect it with a coating )
- 2 Bearings ( bottom one needs to be able to handle a load )
- Grease nipple
- Wire rod ( 2 sizes ) ( 1 big one and 4 small ones ) ( Stainless if possible )
- Bolts and washers ( 2 sizes ) ( Stainless if possible )
- A piece of 40 mm round aluminium ( Alloy ) ( it will hold the bottom bearing )
- 2 Angle irons
- 3 eye screws

Comments

[bgravina]

where is the generator suited? and how much electrical power generates.. i what to build one in my garden. really nice work.

[rikkiesix]

Hi
The plan was to mount the generator at the bottom
The turbine was not strong enough or i had to mount a really small one
I'm not using this turbine anymore
It was my first turbine
I'm working with my uncle on a new turbine
Greetings from Belgium
Erik

[bgravina]

thanks for your help

[leblebija]

Is there any news concerning the generation of electricity with the turbine? I like the turbines and is easy to produce, does not require much troakove.Da you dare to do PVC pipes up to 2 meters? What type of generator should I choose to maximize the wind with the turbine? Best regards from Serbia
Darko

[rikkiesix]

Hey there
First of all, happy new year and the best wishes
I tried several generators on it but it never seems to be having enough tork.
I probably tried with to heavy motors connected to it.
If you keep the permanent magnet motor small enough i'm sure it will work well.
Just get the turbine high up.
I'm not sure if this design will have enough strenght to make it 2 meters high.
Ofcourse you can try it but i'm scared it might get a bit wobbly. ( unbalanced at higher rpm )
For now i'm working on a other wind turbine with my uncle.
We hope to get it up soon now, maybe this week or the week after.
We use a dynamo from a bicycle and it produces about 0,4 amps and 25 volt
If we connect it to a battery it will balance itself and go to 13 volts or so.
Greetings from Belgium

[The Badger]

This is fantastic. Does anyone know what size generator you would need for a domestic system supplying 240v. Its a four bedroom house. Many thanks.

[Goedjn]

Look at your electric bill. It should have kilowatt-hours used on it.
divide that by 30 days and again by 24 hours, and by 1000 watts/Kw.

That the average wattage you draw. I'd expect that to be between
1000 and 2000 watts. Since that's your average, you probably want
between 4 and 10 times that as your peak output, depending on how
regular your wind is.

[jj.inc]

 Depends on what you have (electric heating, electric water heater, electric stove, ext.) your house is all electric so it is over a kilowatt.  You might ask your electric company, volts don't matter you get all kinds of efficient inverters, you just need enough watts to supply a whole home without over using it, to much is good.

[Davedwin]

Well if you look at this other instructable (link below) there is a video of them building it that shows the system they have. You're going to be looking at a pretty big system if you want "full" power. Even if you want something just in case of an outage, it's a pretty big system.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-1000-watt-wind-turbine/

[dabombmaker]

It's not turning, not because of lack of wind, but because the wind can't get to it. Raise it higher I suggest using a telescoping pole for easy access.

[thepaul1993]

aussie??

[rikkiesix]

Hi I'm not a aussie. I'm belgian. hehe Greetings Erik

[rikkiesix]

Hi Thx for your comment. I'm glad you like it. I think it depends on what you want to power, just lighting and some small electrical things or everything in the whole house. If its only lighting and you have some good wind all year around you might be ok with something you build yourself. Otherwise you will need a serious generator i think. You can have a system that charges 12 or 24 volt battery's and then work with a inverter to change it to 240 volts. You also have generators that give 240 right away. Exact data i don't have but its possible maybe also with some solar panels together. Greetings from Belgium Erik

[sixpackwill]

id get a bike dynamo (the generator you attach to your bike to provide electricity for the light on the front) they are cheap on amazon, but you might need a gear ratio to spin the dynamo fast enough to get a reasonable amount of electricity

[SB2010]

Someone with electronics background is needed here because the bike dynamo produces AC current. How do we charge batteries, etc.

[rikkiesix]

We use a rectifier for that to turn the ac current into dc current.
Greetings
Erik

[rikkiesix]

Thx, thats a good idea. I made a horizontal turbine with that kind of generator before and that worked pretty good. I will try that out. Good luck with everything you do. Greetings from Belgium Erik

[sixpackwill]

one question, how wide is the pvc pipe

[rikkiesix]

Just went down to my garage to meassure the pipe The pcv pipe i used is 3,1 inches in diameter. ( 8 cm ) I hope that will help you. I tested my turbine by spinning it by hand.( gently) I think it was atleast spinning for 30 or 40 seconds. Try to find the same bearing that i used. Your turbine is very light so it might not have that momentum like mine has but it should start more easely then mine. Good luck. Greetings Erik

[vanner40]

Hi guy, man I'm confused, I just built a wind turbine close to yours, and it won't spin, even during a storm. I've been researching these and finally built it, and it just won't spin. Any comments on why ?

[rikkiesix]

Hi On what does it spin? Did you see what i used for bearing? Can you get me some more close up pictures of your turbine? I'l look at them and hopefully i can help you in any way. Mine used to spin on the slightest breeze without a load ofcourse. Normaly if you connect a stepper motor from a scanner or printer you can charge a cellphone with it. It should have enough power for that. Hope to hear from you soon. Greetings Erik

[vanner40]

Hi Erik, heres some pictures and videos, http://s900.photobucket.com/albums/ac205/inventer1/ hope this link works, any thoughts ? think i'll go back to blades, just don't like the thought of going 25 feet in the air to fix if something breaks.

[vanner40]

At this time, no bearings, just a shaft to free spin. I can touch spin it with my finger, bearly touching it and it spins, but seems no amount of air will spin it. I'm thinking I might have to set the blades on a 30 degree or 45 degree angle to catch the air, but most instructions and videos I've seen, the blades are set straight. This is just a prototype mock up, top n bottom alum and sheet metal ductwork blades, so very light, less than an ounce in weight. I'm also thinking that I found the only spot in the yard that don't get the wind due to where the trees are setting, going to move it around the yard several times to try finding the wind flow. I'll post some more pics when I tear it down and also a movie clip or two if you want me to. Thanks for your help and thoughts so far. By the way, I'm trying to build this to run a 36 volt motor to store power to a battery bank, I know it'll have to be bigger than what it is now, just learning the jist of how it'll work and spin. Tony

[rikkiesix]

Hey I used to build my turbines at my mom cause i had a workplace there. Now i work in my garage underneat the appartment building where i live. I used to park my car there but i move that outside and turned it into my workplace. I had the same problem with trees all around the yard before too. What i did was i loaded my turbine in my car and drove to open space where i could test it well. Maybe you should try that too. Yes, i would love it if you would sent me some more pics and maybe a video or so. That would be great. Keep me updated. Im' not sure if you saw my video's on youtube. Type rikkiesix in youtube and you can some video's of other turbines. Enjoy building Hear from you soon and good luck Greetings from Belgium Erik

[charlie_ruizpr]

So what has happend to this vawt, did you get it to work well?

[rikkiesix]

 Hi
I'v been working on some other things for a while.
I'm working on the generator for my Lenz turbine.
it will be a axial flux generator.
I'm thinking of making a smaller one for this turbine too.
Greetings
Erik

[vamshik]

It looks simle but effective. what is the rated capacity in terms of watts?

[rikkiesix]

 I have no generator connected to it yet. I know this things is finished for a while now and still no generator. sorry for that. been busy on other things. In time i'l get one connected and hopefully i will get some watts out of it. Ty for the comment.
Erik

[BOOJAN]

I must admit...i am reeeeealy jealous at your workshop....(if this is your lathe) :)

[rikkiesix]

I like it too. Everyone should have a workshop like this. Its great Got a workshop and a garage connected to it so i got plenty of space. The lathe had its best time though. Its really old and not that exact anymore. Still its better then having no lathe. Greetings and thx for your comment. Erik

[Danny_Payne]

 Im lucky, any projects i want to do from here, i can do at school, out technology department is the best!

[dustyplans]

Thanks for the English...Those of us in Minnesota, USA, like to understand what is going on. This VAWT is GOOD!!!! Did I miss what you used for Elec. Gen??? Help me out here. I am building a generator, and am stuck between a couple Ideas. LIKE this one though. Any idea how much it can produce?

[rikkiesix]

Hey Thanks for your comment. Appreciate it. I tried to connect a Shinn fu permanent magnet motor to it but i over geared it and then i needed a hurricane to make it spin. hehe I might try one gear down and otherwise i'l make a straight connection to the axle of the turbine. We will see what we will do. So for now no measurements yet. When you make something make sure you make it big enough so it can drag along a generator in softer wind too. I might have made mine a bit to small diameter wise. Will you make a instructable about your turbine? Hope to see your work. Greetings and good luck. Erik

[dustyplans]

Not Sure about the instuctable. Might if it is good enough. I am thinking of a 4 foot diameter disk. 3 feet high. What are your thoughts?

[rikkiesix]

Im sure 4 foot would give you more tork. I think thats the the tork i'm missing right now to make it spin with my gearing at the moment. Maybe make it 4 foot diameter and 4 feet high. The stronger the better. My next one i'l make bigger for sure. Greetings and thx for your comment. Erik

[dustyplans]

I thinkthat 4 X4 would be decent. One of my plans was to use a 55 gallon plastic drum, cut in half and offset. But that would not look very nice.

[rikkiesix]

The most important thing is that it works well and generate power. ( also in low wind ) The looks come after that. Normaly i would make it more high then i would make it wide. Square would probably not look to good. hehe I seen some youtube video's where people used these plastic drums. Just make sure it has enough pulling power to drag the generator along. Good luck and please keep me posted. Pictures and video's are always welcome. Greetings from Belgium Erik

[gramcraker]

(removed by author or community request)

[rikkiesix]

The connection i wanted to make is at the bottom. Did not have much time to work on them lately. I tried to connect it with a chain but i sort of over geared it. The turbine is not that big so i should have know it was to much. I'l try direct drive or 2 to 1 and see if that better. I'l keep you guys posted on it and when it works i'l update my instructable right away. Its nicer to see turbine work then have it as decoration as some guys posted. They are right, otherwise its pretty useless. Thx for your comment. Greetings Erik

[gramcraker]

oops, clicked the wrong button and deleted my own comment... Just paint some pretty pics on it and ppl everywhere will be wanting to buy it for decoration..