Recycled Off-Grid Tesla CD Turbine Power-Boost Blender

The movie below shows successful at-home use of this Tesla CD Turbine Blender.

Recirculating Tesla CD Turbine with Air Turbo-Boost

If this video does not play, click here instead

This instructable will show how to make an off-the-grid, Tesla turbine-powered blender made from many recycled parts.

It runs on a self-powered, re-circulating system from the forces of Earth(magnets), Wind(compressed air), Fire(solar) and Water(pressure)!

In tough times or times of disaster, we might need to make McGyver-like contraptions, with the things we have on hand, in order to survive...or to have fun!

Ok, let's say the electric grid power is out...you couldn't pay the bills, or there's some other disaster...but you wanna party anyways.
You need a blender for the party...
You could use a 12 volt battery, with a 120 volt inverter, and simply plug a regular blender into it as an easy solution.

But, hey, why not make a recycled Tesla CD Turbine Blender,
on a self-powered, re-circulating set-up?
With a cool foot-operated, air-powered, Power Boost function for tough blending chores!

From wikipedia , "A Tesla turbine consists of a set of smooth disks, with nozzles applying a moving gas to the edge of the disk".

The Tesla CD Turbine I make is made with recycled CD's, CD spindle case, supermagnets, a nozzle and glue. I have 3 previous instructables that deal with it's basic construction.

This powerful, magnetically-coupled Tesla CD Turbine Blender is different because it works "off the grid", and because it uses recirculated water pressure and air pressure...at the same time!

The way it works is that a solar panel charges a 12 volt battery, which powers a 12-volt air pump and a 12-volt bilge pump. The water pump sits in the recirculating bucket and makes water pressure for the turbine to run.

Compressed air is stored in a tank, which has an air line going the foot-operated valve. An air blast gives additional power and torque to the turbine when required, by way of the foot valve.

Can a Tesla CD Turbine, made of recycled CD's and glue, develop enough power from solar-powered air and water pressure, to perform as a portable blender??

The answer is a resounding "Yes!" (See movies following!)

Any turbine on air pressure can be dangerous. I have added a polycarbonate protective cover over the turbine for personal protection. Something similar is mandatory when using compressed air with the CD Turbine, because of the possibility of CD discs or case exploding at high rpm! (see my warnings in other instructables and movie below of explosion! )

Have fun and blend safely!

I always order from the best selection of neodymium super-magnets from K&J Magnetics here.

The following shows some preliminary testing of the concept of combining air and water pressures in the CD turbine at the same time.

. Tesla CD Turbine Experimental Test Combining Air and Water

If this movie doesn't play, you have a Mac and click here

The following shows the possible result when excessive back-pressure, and an over-exuberent throttle foot, combine with such a funky, recycled, CD cakebox system! (Lesson learned: Don't turn on the air pressure too fast!!)

If movie doesn't play click here to see.

Here is my latest movie of a Science Fair display with the portable re-circulating system:

Step 1: Parts List

Parts Used for This Instructable


1 - Basic Tesla CD Turbine (see my previous instructable, "SinkScience with the Tesla CD Turbine" (About $50.00 to build)

1 - Magnetic Coupler from my previous instructable (Cost... about $20.00)

Order the BEST neodymium super-magnets here:
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/default.asp?PARTNER=mrfixitrick

Additional supplies and parts required for this instructable...

1 - Blender, from thrift shop, $1.00
1 - Protective shield (I used 1/8 inch x 6 inch polycarbonate tubing, 7 inches long)
1 - 12 volt Water Pump, (on hand, but generally about $50.00)
1 - 12 volt Battery, or series of batteries for 12-18 volts output at 5 amps.(on hand, or used $20.00)
1 - Solar Charging Panel, 12 volt (new, $30.00)
1 - Compressed Air Storage Tank ( on hand, or $30.00 new)
1 - 12 volt Air Compressor ( on hand...or $50.00 new)
1 - Garden Hose Foot Control shut-off valve (on sale, $6.99)
2 - short garden hoses (on hand)
2 - air hoses (came with tank)
1 - Y-connector for garden hose ($2.99)
- misc - air fittings: T-fitting, adapter to garden hose
- Pressure gage (optional)
- Tachometer (optional)

Step 2: Build the Turbine

To build theTesla CD Turbine, there are 4 basic steps :

1.) Build the Magnetic CD Disc Pack.
You can order the BEST neodymium super-magnets from K&J Magnetics here.
2.) Glue a water Power Nozzle to the CD case cover.
3.) Drill 1/8 inch holes in the CD case spindle post and smooth it.
4.) Assemble and test turbine, then glue CD case cover to CD case spindle tray.

These steps are covered in detail in my previous instructable "SinkScience with the Tesla CD Turbine".

Step 3: Build the Magnetic Coupler

To build the magnetic coupler, see previous Instructable step 4.

You can order the BEST neodymium super-magnets from K&J Magnetics here.

Use a good grade glue such as Goop or polyurethane to hold the 6 1/2"x1/2" neodymium magnets to the discs, and position the magnets evenly. Be sure they are all one way (North down.)

Step 4: Build the Blender

Hot-glue the Magnetic Coupler to the blender shaft.
The blender sits on a bowl that has been cut out for the hoses. There is a 90 degree fitting under the turbine.

Step 5: Make the Protective Cover

Make a Protective Cover (necessary when using the Tesla CD Turbine on compressed air pressure) by using a piece of 6 inch diameter x 1/8 inch wall thickness polycarbonate tubing, available at a good plastics store.

I used a 7 inch length, and I used a jigsaw to cut it to fit over the nozzle. Smooth the edges with sandpaper.

The Protective Cover fits exactly over the CD spindle base! The blender was also an perfect fit in the cover after slicing off a tiny nib.

Step 6: Prepare the Recirculating Bucket and Pump

Prepare the recirculating bucket and pump by making two 1" holes in the bucket lid for the inlet and outlet hoses. Add a third small holes for the pump wires to go through.
Connect the outlet hose to the pump and place it in the bucket. Put the cover on afte feeding through the wires

Step 7: Assemble the Accessories

Assemble the air tank and compressor by joining with appropriate air fittings.

You will need a T connection to join the compressor to the storage tank and to the line that goes to the foot valve. Connect the compressor to the battery to charge up the air tank. It's best to pre-charge the air tank from a bigger compressor or gas station so the little 12 volt compressor doesn't get initially overworked.

Since the foot valve uses garden hose fittings, a garden hose adapter is required from the air hose to it. A garden hose can be used from the foot valve to the turbine.

A garden hose Y-connector joins the compressed air and water pressure streams, just before they go into the nozzle of the turbine.

The solar panel is connected to the 12 volt battery with the enclosed clips, and keeps the battery topped up through the daytime sunlight. (works on cloudy days too!)

Step 8: Testing and Tasting

With all the hoses secured, it's time for testing. Turn on the pump in the recirculating bucket, and the turbine should run. It won't be fast, but it will run.

Now, by operating the foot control, a blast of air pressure can be put to the turbine, giving it a Power Boost for much better blending!

Boost mode will be limited because the air tank will run down fast. It will take some time for the little 12-volt compressor to bring it back up. The solar panel may take all day to replenish the power in the battery required to run the blender for a short period.

This is a portable, self-contained turbine system that requires no electricity from the Grid!

And don't forget, you can order the BEST neodymium super-magnets from K&J Magnetics here.

Comments

[NRG4UandMe]

wild creativity -- that is alot of dif. science in action .. a typ blender is 300 to 1000? watts -- does this tesla blender put out that much ?

[JBz]

Wow! Yikes! Shazam! Pardon me while I experience a brain meltdown. Just a thought about your tinfoil beany. I am trying to find out if the mind control rays are radiating up through the ground, instead of through the ionosphere. Wearing a parabolic reflector on your head would concentrate the rays in your cerebral cortex....just where you don't want them. So the proper safety precaution would be to connect yourself to cable grounding straps, like they used to do with cars. This might require wrist and ankle straps, and probes in body orifices, and might be uncomfortable. Possihly attaching inverted metal colanders to shoe soles might serve the purpose as well-reflect the waves back at the senders, thereby melting their brains. Back to more mundane topics. Magnetic coupling is the forte of a guy from my neck of the woods. Jerry Lamb developed a coupling patent which was bought and marketed by a company named MagnaForce in Seattle. Would their design be of use in your device? In addition, I am curious about developing an Acme high efficiency superconducting/diamagnetism generator to be powered by a rotating clothes line pole. This will require clipping the clothes to the lines to catch the wind, then swiveling to feather on the backstroke to avoid a braking action, which is the downside of vertical wind turbines. The instructables on clothes drying energy efficiency might be useful in developing this concept. Meanwhile, I will continue to boggle at your gadget, and try to understand it as I study the videos. Thanks for the great instructable. The only concepts you haven't tied together for me are hyperdimensionality, the face on Mars, the Nazi Bell and Nazi ufos.

[mrfixitrick]

Hi JBz,

Thanks for the great comments!

Tesla thought the earth put out rays, so he would be impressed with your inverted colander shield. Doubly so since the advent of HAARP !

Thanks for the magnetic coupler lead; it's a good one to look at.

I love your clothes line generator idea.. using drying clothes to make power, instead of using power for drying clothes. This is the kind of thinking that tomorrow's engineers will need to indulge in.

As for the hyperdimensionality, Mars, and Nazi ufo's...they all have one thing in common...Nikola Tesla!
Here is a link to get you thinking... http://www.lifetechnology.org/hyperdimensional.htm
(the device shown might be bogus, but the Teslascope idea is sound.)

Tesla was known to have said he was communicating with other planets. In 1896, Tesla told interviewers "The possibility of beckoning Martians was the extreme application of my principle of propagation of electric waves" (see wiki under "Teslascope")

As far as UFO's...again Tesla is at the root of it. The main reason for him developing the Tesla Turbine was for an electric flying machine..."It was in seeking the means of making the perfect flying machine that I developed this engine.” -Tesla

“All I have to say on that point is that my airship will have neither gas bag, wings nor
propellers...You might see it on the ground and you would never guess that it was a flying machine. Yet it will be able to move at will through the air in any direction with perfect safety, higher speeds than have yet been reached, regardless of weather and oblivious of “holes in the air” or downward currents. It will ascend in such currents if desired. It can remain absolutely stationary in the air, even in a wind, for great length of time. Its lifting power will not depend upon any such delicate devices as the bird has to employ, but upon positive mechanical action.” Nikola Tesla 1911

Note the TeslaFlyingMachine yahoo group (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/teslasflyingmachine/) regularly discusses the idea that Tesla technology powers so-called flying saucers. They say the facts point to "UFOs are real, Man-made electropropulsive crafts based on Tesla Technology."

So there you go...that should connect all the dots for you by now!! hehe

Cheers, Rick

Oh, and as far as the hyperdimensionality, check out this Spirit Radio video from EJ Gold. I'll be building one during an on-line Easter workshop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGj8FEWLeKM

[JBz]

Hey Rick, Thanks for the information. I'm doing some 'energy hack' research right now for a local nursing home. This place has loads of wasted heat from clothes dryers, walk in fridge and freezer, and almost no hot water in parts of the building. I keep wondering about cogeneration, energy conservation and energy scavenging. How would a guy who comes up with a Tesla Turbine from scavenged parts make a school or other large institution more energy efficient? Meanwhile, I'll check out the Tesla group. When you get your flyer going, do a flyby over the Olympic Peninsula. I think I'll stay away from 'Spirit Radios' until someone can check out who's sending the messages. John

[mrfixitrick]

What schools and other institutions need is a new invention I call the "Vortex Plasma Generator". Essentially, it is a vortex disintegrator combined with a plasma furnace which runs a Tesla Turbine alternator. The input is virtually any material...institutional garbage, including paper and plastic or toxic materials. The Vortex Disintegrator separates any material down to a fine powder or molecular level. Then the Plasma Furnace burns the substances electrically with no oxygen, and produces two products...burnable gasses and a solid glass-like material that is inert. The gasses can be used to run a Tesla Turbine generator to power the building. (note: a Tesla turbine is the only kind of turbine able to run on 100% biomass combustion, with little or no particulate or other emissions...virtually smokeless) Heat given off by the process runs hot water systems (building heat, hot water, clothes dryers, etc.) The solid substance resulting from the plasma furnace can be used as an excellent building material to sell or build with. (Hey, a self-expanding school!) Folks associated with the institution could bring in their garbage to do their part to help to run the institution!

[JBz]

Plans! Ineed Plans! Or even an instructable! To start the ball rolling, I need a quick fix energy scavenging hack. If it's quick, inexpensive, safe, makes the administrator look good at corporate, yeehaa! I'm looking for a 'rock soup' method to introduce corporate types to the concept. This is based on the bum who talks his way to a farmhouse kitchen by asking to make 'rock soup'. He puts some water in a kettle to heat, and puts a big rock in, then asks for some veggies to flavor the rock, then some meat to flavor the veggies, etc. When the soup is done he throws the rock out. So to get my nose in the door, I need something simple and speedy. Today the scavenger hack, tomorrow the vortex disintegrator!

[mrfixitrick]

Hehe, the Rock Soup story was good... The final ending is that everyone in town donates something to the soup, and the wandering bum ends up feeding the entire town (half of which were starving), from his efforts. He leaves and goes to the next town, hungry again. Meanwhile, the townspeople are joyous because they have learned what it means to share with others. Practical suggestions? Hang some clothes to dry on the heat exchanger for the walk-in freezer. Insulate pipes that have to go too far to keep the heat in. Use a propane Paloma-type instant hot water heater in the remote areas of the building that get no hot water. And the best suggestion...get a grant for a solar installation on the roof. It seems like a heat-exchanger would be a good idea in that environment. But generally it has to be built-in and and initially expensive, although cheaper to run. Good luck and remember to include the rest of the town in the soup...that will be your key to your success, I believe!

[JBz]

Thanks for your ideas and the thought about the Rock Soup story. Anyway, energy scavenging, or conservation, will be crucial in the days to come. Maybe you can come up with a superconducting generator/supercap magnetic coupling system that will take us to high levels of energy efficiency. I kind of expect that Wally Minto's wheel will be a great place to start with energy scavenging. There is a lot of information and speculation about this, but no one has built a large one that works. Any ideas?

[mrfixitrick]

It's true that energy scavenging will become a popular pastime in the future. I'd love to make a nifty home generator, and I do work on the idea every day, but developing a decent system costs money, which I have zero of. I can only point others to look in certain directions which may have been overlooked. I'm convinced we should all burn our garbage in a smokeless home plasma disintegrater/generator and make money off it that way. Wouldn't it be nice to say, "Sure, neighbour, I'd love to take your garbage!" and be adding to, instead of feeding from, the grid. Wally Minto's wheel will work fine in certain situations where there is an excess of hot water in a cool environment. I don't know of any situations like that. Most folks would use the solar hot water in a heat exchanger and get hot water to be stored in a tank. The Minto system uses an open tank of hot water that must be replenished constantly, in a place where the air is cool. The optics of that alone points to inefficiency. The Minto could be made more efficient with cold water sprayed onto the cylinders when they are near the top of the wheel's travel. I think the important point is to keep that attitude of looking for better ways, and not be satisfied with the status quo!

[astral_mage]

actually there is one biult that burns every thing that put in it. period.

[poulbran]

you sound very smart so whould this work thanks ,Brandon

[spark master]

well I think it is cool and such but if you have 12 volts , just use a connverter. I know I sound like a drudge inn this matter but do the blender thing with apples and pears with water then put it in a sieve so we can see p[articulae size. My blender purees when it hits that pitch. I am a cook by nature and if you have scads of pressurized water you got a chance. and if you have that mush pressurized water , jut let it turn mini mills (small grist mill in the kitchen or better out side where the wasted water gets pushed into the garden or on the lawn, waters the cows etc.) one fer grain one fer veggies/beans.

I kinda like it though it has a very SCI FI look and feel. More fun then steam punk! I also like the Tin Foil Hat .

keep up the good work, think about mini mills with a straight forward water wheel. perhaps a "hammer pump" (mentioned by another before me) can help with the system.

Magnets are glued on, but try this, drill holes that barely allow the magnets to be pushed in tightly (use an awl to get them perfect), glue them in place then put very small piece of fiberglass material over the magnet and epoxy in place.

as the magnets are now embedded in the sheet of the cd, you can stack them closer .

to ensure a correct orientaion glue two down the way you want them to a cd put another over it put the 2nd set on top one at a time they will align (with respect to N/S fields, paint the exposed sides.

if you cut the discs from fresh plastic sheets you can use a fostner bit to make flat bottom wells glue them in do a fiberglass patch over it on one side.


If you can get say 10 old hard drives of same make and model, they have big odd shaped neodids very thin. I think these would be a very very nice source of delux huge magnets. Very light as well.

just random thoughts I need to go to an Eagle Ceremony now!

ttfn

[mikesnyd]

I have just watched your video (at the science fair video) with you describing what is happening with a ball bearing on top of plexyglass. You said to make a comment if you wanted too and i think i want too. So i have no knowledge or college degree in this field but here is a guess as to why this is happening.
To pair it with the optical illusion of a car tire. You watch a car tire at slow speeds and it look like it is rolling forward(Clockwise). At high speeds the car tire looks to be rotating backwards(or counter-clockwise). So you have a magnetic feild doing almost the same thing but with a variable. It would be the weight of the bearing. As the tesla coil begins to spin at a slow rate the ball bearing may proceed in the same direction as the coil. At some point the coil will be going faster then the bearing can travel. So thats where the reverse happens. The bearing is the visual illusion of the tire. I mean we cannot process what we are seeing fast enough so it looks like it is going backwards. To the same respect the bearing cant stay with the magnetic field and thus falls behind. I could be totally wrong but it just a complete guess. I am thinking of making two of these coils but a little better built(more metal parts) and putting a fixed stator between them. I dont know what will happen but i think i could get a fair bit of juice out of a 12" dia tesla coil using 2"x2"x1" N42 magnets on my top layer and 6 phase Stator as 70 turns of 14 gauge enameled wire. i wonder what will happen.

[beehard44]

damn. I tried making a turbine and when i tested it over the sink, the hose disconnected from the faucet and water sprayed all over me. And i hit my head on the cabinets above the sink, ouch.

[Blackice504]

Mrfixits you really need to look at water hammer pump it uses no power at all it just uses a little down ward force and then feed that into your Telsla turbine and you can even have a setup where it uses dirty water to run the hammer pump to high pressure clean water.

[mrfixitrick]

Good idea. I've considered that one, but I don't have a good source of what you call "dirty water". I'd have to use faucet water pressure diverted and there would be too much waste water.

[blackbeardlion]

who needs a blend-tech blender when you can have a tesla turbine blender! awesome instructable!

[mrfixitrick]

Hehe, that's the Tesla spirit! I wonder if a Tesla Turbine blender can blend a Blend-Tech blender...hmmmm...would be a great movie...

[Jupitane]

Cool! Too bad the video doesn't work......

[mrfixitrick]

The videos work fine for me now. What computer and browser do you use?