Pringles Wind Turbine (Pleech) - Version One

Step 1: Collect Materials

You will need:
Pringles Can
Two CDs
Paper towel holder (preferably metal)
12 Aluminum bobbins (NOT steel)
Magnet Wire (lots of it, the thinner the gauge the better -- try for 36 gauge)
8 strong magnets (rare earth preferred)
a wine cork
hot glue
and these electronics:

• 6 schottky diodes (1N5822)
• Large capacitor, pref, super cap
• wire
• solder

Comments

[riley jenson]

i did this in fourth grade and got nothing on it because it was a " collage level project" but i had fun and my favorite part was the eating of the pringles!

[trmn111]

what is 'collage' level' ??

[jhd04]

 www.mouser.com

If it bleeps, bloops, blinks, or conducts, they're the source.  If they don't have it, it's probably not made anywhere.  Just gotta know EXACTLY what you're looking for.

[Majafero]

probably a really obvious question, but where do i get a super-capacitator???

[aqua_scummm]

I'd actually recommend a "super capacitor"... Super capacitor typically refers to super high capacity but low voltage capacitors... goldmine-elec.com has some polyacene .6farad super capacitors cheap, but they're only 3V rated. You can make a big capacitor bank out of them for a higher voltage, but really I'd use the big capacitors from disposable camera flash mechanisms (BE CAREFUL!!!!). After you limit the voltage down in some way, it'd be good to use some super capacitors to store a bit more charge to make up for the inconsistencies of wind

[mikulo]

hey mike.. seems like we share a common name.. in fact ive been helping someone who wanted to make a wind turbine for class work.. and i find it awesome that your invention is really good.. nwy, im from philippines..

[crippledeath]

thanks for the idea very good i dont know why any body else didnt think of it i never thought you could harness power from a dryer vent or heater duct

[musicman386]

WoW! i think this is a great project i have looked at a lot of the finalists for this competition and i REALLY like this one. my vote is still reserved but i think the world is really in need for an alternative energy source, and this definitely conforms to that. A+ REPRESENT!

[MrRedBeard]

I completely agree this is awesome and by exchanging a few parts the output of this could be far greater but the use of things people commonly throw away its friggin cool. I'm glad to see the experimentation of alternative energy catching on although note I'm not an environmentalist but intrigued. For example Tesla's experiments of free energy having more and more validity plus I'm all about one-upping the energy strong hold in world.

[mikejedw]

Thanks!

I just got back from a fellowship in Malawi, and a young man there, William Kamkwamba, is doing AMAZING work with homebrew wind power. If you're interested in alternative energy, definitely check out his blog and inspiring story.

[instructing tables]

um...about the capacitor. what kind did you use? how many farads or pico or nanofarads should it be?

[mikejedw]

I pretty much just say "large". I was playing with a .22 F supercapacitor, which is overkill for a "smoothing capacitor" (which is just used to smooth out the voltages going in and out of a voltage regulator and tends to be 1 to 10 uF,) The nice thing about supercaps is that they, too, smooth out the voltage (after a longer-than-usual charge period,) and can hold a charge for a while, if the wind dies or whatever. They're also easier to wire up than rechargeable batteries, as long as you keep the max voltage in check. But there's nothing stopping you from just using the smaller 10uF kind, if you don't want or need a something to store charge on the way to your desired application. I think my next version will have more specifics in the circuitry as I get the turbine to crank out the desired amount of power more reliably. With that in mind, I welcome other opinions, corrections, or insights into capacitor usage from folks who've built one of these or anything similar.

[HerrBuckliger]

Awesome, awesome invention. But where on earth do you find schottky diodes? Neither my local Radioshack nor my local Fry's Electronics carries them, and I can't find them on either store's website, either.

[mikejedw]

Hmm, don't sweat it too much. You can use the standard silicon diodes. You won't get quite as much voltage, but, at high enough speeds with the right amount of coils and good sized magnets, it won't matter too much. If you can find them, you could also try germanium diodes, which give a lower voltage drop than silicon diodes and might be more available. Or you could look for the Schottkys online at mouser.com or some place similar.

[HerrBuckliger]

Thank you very much sir.

[Proth]

yo how much does this stuff cost?

[mikejedw]

yeah, I'd say that the magnets and the wire are the most costly parts. Per unit, I'd say it's the magnets, though it really depends a lot on what size and strength you get. If you plan to make a few of these (for a class, say) then you can get the wire in bulk and it's not too expensive. For one unit, I'd guess you could spend around $10 to $15, depending on your choice of materials. Not too bad, really.

[alfonso]

Probably not too much, it depends on where you get it, the magnet wire is probably the most expensive and then the pringles to give you an idea