The Easiest Wind Generator You'll Ever Make
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ค. 2020
- If you want to have a look at those special videos become a member and join by clicking this link / @thinkingandtinkering
today is a windy day- so time to do this lol - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Small heads up for anyone making these: BROWN soil pipe is prone to deteriorating when exposed to UV light, so if you have to use brown soil pipe, I would suggest painting it or using some kind of UV inhibitor
Modern black, grey or white soil pipe, on the other hand, is UV resistant 😉
Cheers for the tip 👍
Cheers thanks
This depends on the location. White pipe is normally NOT UV resistant in North America.
@@johnh9748 Fair enough, then wherever you hail from, you need to be sure the plastic is UV resistant :P
Great video! I worked with small wind generators for a number of years. I noticed a stress point, on the way the blades are mounted to the plastic fan blades, over time the original blades will stress crack and fail. If you ad a blade brace to tie in all four blades on the front side of the blades, you will eliminate much of the stress on the original fan and give your windmill more longevity!
Ed
I was thinking about that, 'cos these things are built to a price. My perception is even a small diameter secondary disc / "washer" the size of the original fan , would help reduce the flex / stress on the fan root..
Ya, I was thinking the same'. Those radiator fan blades always look like they may explode at any moment after a decade on a car under normal use, can't imagine how much worse the stress is when doing something like this lol.
If you actually add a cone to the nose of the blade that covers 20% of the blade surface you reduce the stress on the blades and increase the efficiency of the whole system because it reduces the drag.
Great video the motor should be water resistant since it was subjected to some spray sitting behind the radiator
I love these videos and love the comments even more. Learning really is a communal experience. For 'free', and if you have some time, you can find online where people carve the blades just out of scrap wood. Some wood blades have been known to outlive some metal ones. I'm going to remember that about the washers and cone. I have a neighbour with quite a junk collection, I mean 'stuff' collection, I'm going to go looking for fans.
2 minutes into it and i knew i could spend an entire 48 hours with you in a shop and it would feel like 4 hours went by. Curiosity, tools, knowledge. Like kids in a toy store. Awesome.
I'm female, older, still working, and am limited in both financial resources and time. I watch a LOT of TH-cam vids on how to make projects simply, inexpensively, and that save me time. Your vids are always spot on and simple. So they are my first go to when I am looking for a solution. I love your shop! I agree with another comment, you need a companion video on how to mount this, and I would add, your simple windmill needs a tail so it can turn with the wind, as well as an easy to use breaking mechanism for when there's too much wind. Would be interested in a vid on these things too. Thanks for your videos! I'm a huge fan, excuse the pun!
That was actually pretty awesome. I never considered the fact that there are HUNDREDS of inexpensive but robust, long-lived DC motors that can just as easily become stout little generators just hanging out at the Pull-A-Part. And some of them are even kind of big, larger units for cooling larger pickups and SUVs.
Good point that some might not even need to be upscaled. Especially in high wind environments.
My grandpa had a wind generator this size on his barn. Put a fan on a Model T generator so he could listen to his radio. The farm didn't have electricity. It put out 12 volts at 2 amps on a windy day. He made his own batteries too.
So rain doesn't hurt them?
@@rosskstar cars are designed to get wet, you drive in rain?
You probably couldn't submerge the motor.
But downpour of rain could not effect the motor if it's sealed
@@devarmont87 dat zouns loggeecul - y u so smawt?
lol thanks
@@rosskstar me smort?
Nah, I is lerming
Years ago I was teaching in a remote school on a small island in the North Pacific. One of my students built a wind turbine much like this one, except he used a car alternator to generate the power and whittled 4-foot blades out of 2x4s. He mounted it on a 20-foot pole outside the school shop, and when word got round (tiny school) that he was ready to raise it we all turned out to watch.
The best description I can give is "terrifying". That 8' span instantly took the sea wind and the thing just started wamp-wamp-wamping like it would eat the world. Chris finally managed to stop the blades by turning them out of the wind (which meant he had to get up on a ladder right behind those freakin' whirling broadswords and push on the vane), but the concept was well-proven. I don't remember how much electricity he banked in the battery during that maiden run, but all who witnessed it undoubtedly remain impressed by the sheer power he'd harnessed.
......the apprentices of BTH built one at the halls that they had outside Rugby, it had thin ply blades, which they perceived to getting close the the sound barrier.......the rain/hale of the storm delaminated it. These were the guys who also broadcast radio down the neutral and earth of the mains..
Beautiful description, thank you for the story!
An improvement to this would be a dome shape on the end, so you can take advantage of the coanda effect to push some more wind to the widest parts of the blades. Also if you had rounded the ends out so they fit around the middle circle part + the dome on the end this would take the most advantage of coanda effect I think
One of the things that I like about your videos is the fact that you flat out enjoy what you do! Most of your videos seem to convey that without seeming acted out or scripted. Good show!
cheers for that
That was brilliant! Loved the simplicity of the build and the excellence of the presenter. Thank you 😊
Genuine Happiness when laughing,, You are true to YourSelf as to us,,
Take Care Sir
Robert....thank you so very.very much for taking the time and sharing this build.....would never in a thousand years have thought of using a fan mother to make a wind turbine....so happy.....now I know how it’s done....thank you so much...Dave 👍
Make like 10 of them using a Rose blade, various sizes down to a Rose Bud, and mount it on a windward wall. Paint them the color of flowers with different color patterns or different pinwheel patterns and colors. If it is too windy sometimes, add shrouds mounted separately that can automatically pop up in high winds and redirect some of the wind. Shape and paint the pop-up shrouds like giant leaves. The blades will still turn but shrouds will protect it from blowing apart. Just use a simple lever that has tension to hold shrouds down at low winds and high winds pry them up. Once wind goes down the shrouds go back in place. You can even design the shrouds to look like pedals that close and cover up the blade assembly.
Plz make one & let us see. Thanks
Sounds so beautiful!!!!
It must be a good idea. Like a break system. However, I am having a hard time picturing it. Like Khondker said please make one.
Don't let aunt Ruth go smelling the flowers tho
Huh?
The simplicity exhibited here is fantastic! Thank you for sharing!
I'm looking for ideas on self sustaining DIY things people can build at home and for there communities. Decided I wanted to make a wind turbine and this is the first video I clicked on. Just great! Really enjoyed it. Simple, Effective, Thank You!
Thank you Robert! I'm definitely going to use this with my off-grid home.
I expect the large blades to fatigue the original blades at the hub in a few hours of use. You also need to balance the prop to reduce induced vibration.
My son and I are learning arduino together, this windmill would be perfect for building and testing many things, like charge controller, wind speed indicator, as well as wireless communications to tell us when certain things are happening with the controller or generator etc.
I have a number of automotive cooling fans, so I really enjoyed the video and the knowledge shared.
Hi Travis would like to know if what you are building can power a house and how many appliances
@@princessgreen726 I haven't built anything yet. Eventually I will have solar and wind, with a battery bank. The batteries will power the high demand appliances, wind and solar will charge the batteries when the major appliances don't run (ac/stove etc)
Maybe next video could be how to deal with the power it generates and the storage system; if you can.
there's a new zealander that also made hydroelectric from a stream. He uses a washing machine motor. on youtube.
@@dammitanothername can you post a link?
@@craynerd I believe he is talking about Marty T, you can put that into search and find him that way. I think he will have a video up this year on how one is built as I think he's helping a friend built one.
If the fan is fused with 40A in the car then the max power will not be greater than 40A x 12V = 480 Watts.
I agree. I’m pretty sharp but this is not my area and electricity is dangerous. It’s a mistake that nature won’t forgive me for lol.
I have a few sheds and chicken coup that I heat and light now and then. Solar does the trick but this is so much cheaper and I have an almost constant breeze here.
This will be for my patio and outdoor lights. Love this.
Im so happy to have found your channel, it’s truly a hidden gem.
I love your content and your enthusiasm towards your work.
Great video, thanks Robert. Would be great to see new video of the energy produced, perhaps measure the voltage over a specific load. Seems to me that the fan is build for high rpm so would expect it to be small amount of energy generated in moderate wind.
I've made this style blade before for a school project... a little smaller but it works fantastic!
Inspiring!
Rob, I love the idea, simple but very effective. May I recommend using grey soil pipe, the brown is for in ground use only as it does not like UV light, hence, it will fade and eventually crack if used outdoors. The grey will do the same job and can withstand the UV light. Keep up the great ideas.
I was going to say the exact same thing. UV light will kill the blades in a year. I would recommend painting with UV reflective paint. The hub also looks like PVC.
Maybe a light coat of fiberglass to consolidate the entire "fan" together for strength (worried about the screws loosening) and weather protection.
The blades would be spinning so the UV Ray wouldn't be able to hit them...
Millennial Homesteaders - Journey Back to Basics 😂
@@philandhannahslittlefarm1464 Now that is funny!
Amazing. most importantly your genuine smile makes others happy. thank you so much Sir.
It was satisfying to see such a simple build working so well!
yeah and there's so much improvement to be made to it...this has a lot of promise for a cheap solution. I think I'm going to try to 3d print the blades because I have this crazy strong crazy light weight carbon fiber filament.
@@waynefilkins8394 As a fellow 3D printer I'm curious, how'd it go?
No way they are as strong as the pipe
Marking the tubing with the cross on a bit of paper was genius, I'm enjoying watching your wind generator playlist on a lazy Sunday, very inspirational.
I would love to see a comparison of this vs a wind generator built on an alternator. watts, voltage, etc.
I wish I had friends like this.
Me too
We are all friends here! Welcome!
Yeah.
Be the friend you want to have
A wish I had friends...
At all...
Been going through all your videos from oldest to newest. this is the tech that got me interested in doing so and this is the video that motivated me to fix my youtube to allow me to join a channel for the first time. And now I'm a member :)
Each of your videos puts me back in shop class as a young man eagerly listening to the teacher give us lessons on mechanical fixes in daily life.
I did this almost exact same thing when i was younger. using a car fan motor. i used different blades though, yours are way bigger and work better.
cheers mate
That’s quite some wind! The box in the background adds to the effect.
Mr. Murray-Smith, I like the way you think! Very handy! You get much faster rotation than I was expecting. I may in fact have to do this myself to power an LED light on my separate garage. All good wishes!
glad you like it mate - cheers
Robert Murray-Smith thank you so much for your time and bringing this to us all. In these strange times, we're living in, this may be very useful data indeed. Flourish and Prosper.
You just got to work on a pivot , a slip ring and a vain to direct it into the wind along with the relevant diodes and such to make it usable to store energy in a battery .
Go on do part two please.
will do
Semaj - I'm thinking a rectifier and a grid tie. :)
and naturally you could build your own custom battery &/or capacitor to store the energy. i'd bet you also have the skills/knowlege to build your own inverter for it too.
@@geodeaholicm4889 IRC he said it was a dc motor so dc output?
@@ThinkingandTinkering what a cool idea I'd mount it to a caravan to keep the battery toped out ?
Nice concept, compliments! One mention, tough: the tips of the blades are perpendicular to the fan axis and if I'm right, those regions are not generating torque, instead are generating drag, isn't it? Maybe a bit more inclination on the blades would increase the efficiency and also help withstand better a roughly wind? What do you think? Thanks for the knowledge! Appreciated!
At about 2:25 what you are marking the lines along the length of the pipe, a extremely easy way to do that is to use a piece of angle iron or aluminum, lay the angle on the pipe so both open edges touch and scribe the line, perfectly straight. Size of the angle doesn’t matter, 1”x1” or 3/4”x2” they all work.
Great diy video! If I can suggest doing the wind test with a load, then a more useful power output number would be useful. The voltage by itself doesn't mean much without a load. Great idea on using pipe sections for windmill blades.
That's great! Now I'm looking at my ceiling fan that I'm about to replace and I'm thinking of turning that into a wind generator.
Man, I'd love to hang out with you in your shop and just brainstorm and put stuff together.
Thanks for putting this video together. Very informative and inspirational! Cheers!
Brilliant. And here I am with a new ceiling fan in a box to replace my old kitchen one. Now more excited to get the job done so I can experiment with the old one!
@@eternallearner6026 did the ceiling fan work
I would love to see a follow up video. I know that results would depend on the motor, wind speed etc. but I think it would still be very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
will do mate but might not be tomorrow lol
It has been a year or so. How is the auto radiator fan turbine mod getting on? Any improvements? Longevity? Did you make or store power to powerwall or batteries with it? Please make an update follow up video? Thanks for your ingenuity!
Fabulous video. Simple and it does the job.
I am sticking that in the mental tool box for when I get some time to fool around.
Now to regulate the voltage.
Thanks
Thank you so much for this! I'm about to start a small research project focusing on small-scale wind turbines using common, available parts and your videos are so wonderfully helpful. Cheers!
direct drive washing machine and e bike motors (48v 1000w) are the ones that really produce a decent amount of power it has to be worth mounting the thing , on the other hand if one is just after charging 5v electronic devices this kind of blower motor mounted fairly low works okey , let me know if i can help
BREAKING NEWS: Man dies in freak accident involving soil pipe travelling at 70 miles per hour!
Keep up the great work Robert.
It would be interesting to quantify the difference that installation height makes to the efficiency of a wind turbine and that's an experiment I plan to undertake in the near future.
That would be labeled as a c0vid death
the higher the better, there is some wind currents at higher elevation.
that is awesome mate - keep me in touch will you?
@@ThinkingandTinkering Yes, will do.
My application is for wind power at festivals so height is expensive. I want to know where we get into diminishing returns. I read around the subject a bit, but always you the answer to go as high as possible, but with my curiosity, I want to dig deeper.
@@jamesharris5158 I would tend to think as long as you're above any nearby obstructions like buildings or tents that would be good enough. Above the tree line would be best, but for a portable installation that's kind of a ... _tall_ order.
It would be interesting, to see how many short-circuit amps the generator could have produced, by setting the meter to amps, and connecting that across the terminals of the fan motor.(That would give some idea of the available torque of the new blades)
Any idea how many of these would be needed to build a charge station for a Tesla?
@@esperago I think at least 100
utterly BRILLIANT! I had to live in a tiny caravan for 10 years with only a petrol genny I could run to charge my battery a couple of these would have been more environmentally friendly AND quiet I am off to the scrappy!! Need to build some sort of charge controller next otherwise plugging that directly to a battery will just make it a FAN again!
thank you. I am going to build one this week for my off grid home. I have a parts vehicle with the fan already off! super exciting!
just brilliant..it really spun up, this is absolutely a project I'm going to experiment with.
i know it - it was awesome lol - keep me in touch mate
Brilliant idea. Using this to charge up a 12v leisure battery which could then power 5v devices like phones, speakers etc would be awesome.
@@ThinkingandTinkering You mention the voltage it produces, but NOT the wattage, or even the rated wattage of the DC motor, which would be the max output achievable IF the device worked perfectly. I'm sure that you know that wattage (volts x amps )is power, not just volts.
Before wasting time and money making one of these, myself and no doubt many others would really like to know what the practical power we could expect, and if you had just measured the amps after you'd done the volts (or given the motor's rating).
Could you post this please, I'd like one for my off-grid weekend/holiday shack, but if it was only a few watts, it wouldn't be worth the bother.
Otherwise, good video, thanks for posting.
And yes i absolutely loved the video, & I'd a never thought of using an ol car cooling fan motor, brilliant
Love your channel, mate. Recently subscribed so looking forward to looking through your videos. Thank you!
The problem with using drainage pipe is UV. Being used underground it will not have the same UV protection as the polymers used in above ground plastics and will breakdown and become brittle which could shatter. Good project overall. :)
Be sure to coat the white plastic portion to protect it from the elements. It will also aid it from stress cracking.
Absolutely Excellent! Finnaly something straight forward that is cost effective. I appreciate this content so much!
Hi, do you know what wirings he did behind the fan and what he connected it to
@@raiylynmitchell5892 sorry I have no idea, it's been a while since watching this video. Have a nice day 😊
Connect an Electronic voltmeter to it and it will tell you what is positive and what’s negative
I've used a drawer with the face edge corner to mark a straight line.
For this you could clamp a 4' stick on the bench and put the tube against it to draw the straight line.
Great video.
What a briliant idea
I love your videos. Never too long and always simply explained. Thanks for talking the time make these
Great job. Although the speed at the tip probably exceeds the lift, and are thus probably creating drag. That is why blades made from pvc drain pipe are best tapered to a point and a low pitch cut on the leading edge to still create lift and cause less drag.
Thanks for the tips!
@@ThinkingandTinkering You gotta cut your own tips I guess. Lol.
Sincerely though, Robert, I love your stuff, this is a great video. A very nice and accessible project. This and some Zinc Bro batteries and a fella could have some basic juice for pretty simple.
thats good info! thanks!
Can you suggest the best link/design for pvc blades?
Congrats from Argentina Robert. Your videos are great, full of intetesting stuff.
Awesome, thank you!
Beautiful!!! I have a very old fan that the motor still works but the fan blades are broken. Now i can use this idea to make it work again. Thanks
What I love about this video is a real man making a real product. Most wouldn't even be able to hold that thing in the wind and if they did they'd probably lose their head. Cool video man
I am a Blue Water Sailor and have always not much money to live on. You are a BLESSING MY FRIEND.
I love your energy you are like my electronics teacher back in highschool haha
That's brilliant, I was thinking use a car alternator. But the fan motor is so simple.👍
A car alternator needs over 3500 rpm to produce and I believe it needs a 12v input to make it work in the first place. There are ways of adapting one but you may as well buy the real thing if you're going to those lengths. A ceiling fan motor can work tho with magnets glued around the outer coils. There are videos on TH-cam on how to make them work
This Man has this wonderful bundle of genius, generosity and joy. Just brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this. Buying a small camping lot and intend to have a marine battery charging for cell charging and lighting.
oh man I love your passion and those brilliant projects too!
cheers mate and thank you for taking the time to say so
Great video! I would love to see what kind of water generation you could make out of an old washing machine, I've thought about that a bit and it seems like there's a lot of free power in those parts with a little bit of a stream or creek.
Use iii
Search Marty T channel. He's from NZ, and has built several, they power his off grid homestead. He modifies the windings to give the desired voltage etc, and uses a creek on his land to power it 24/7
Great video. Been trying all sorts of motors. split system in house blowers the best Ive found FMDC....So now im off to the wreckers to get some of these and make these with my 17year old students
You looked like you were having fun! Thank you for posting 🙏💖
Love it Robert, exactly what I was looking for.
cheers mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering thkz it's great btw what Amp or watts can u generate if the wind is like over an hour, appreciate if u cd reply and how many hrs of wind to charge a 400mh battery will one day b sufficient
Great video, so simple so clever, the matting the blades out of the pipe a simple solution that made me smill thanks.
Two hints for drafting the lines out for cutting the pipe up. Got these from years of making high powered rockets. Wrap a strip of paper a few inches wide around the perimeter of the pipe, the exact width is not important. Wrap it around once tightly and cut it so it just overlaps and tape it, so you have a band around the pipe. Hold the pipe up in a door jamb and trace a straight line across the paper and cut it. Fold the paper exactly in half and crease it. Do it a second time. Wrap the paper back around the pipe and tape it. Now line one of the creases up in a door jamb and draft out that line. Do the same with the other three. This is pretty common for spacing rocket fins. How much power were you able to get out of it? I am guessing under 50W. Not bad if you can get the fan for free.
I love the way you hide what you're doing and dont explain what you're doing. Best mystery story ever.
If you watched the whole video and had basic mechanical engineering knowledge you could easily follow his explanation and figure out anything you needed to do.
It must be a brushless DC motor to make any voltage/power !
OMG, that was amazing. Thanks for the how-to!
Ok, I get it now. It is a wind powered generator. I clicked on expected a machine that generated wind. I was very keen to learn how a wind generator differed from a fan. In the end, not so much.
It would be quite easy for me to spend a lot of time in your shop. Great stuff!
I'm only into this video by about 2 minutes and I already like the way this chap explains things
It seems like cardboard boxes make good wind-catchers too 🙄😂😂
I assume the o/p current is similar to the (optimised) running current whilst in the car... so o/p will be fairly low... 🤔
A vertical model (VAWT) using a 40gal barrel cut in half feeding a geared-up alternator or brushless motor would be non-directional & self-throttling.. I believe the halves need a slight overlap for easier starting..
😎👍☘🍺
Alternator is a better idea. More power, and include a regulator for variable wind speed. Or use the AC power (directly?) without the rectifiers or the regulator.
Great video as always Robert! I remember reading somewhere that motors from Exercise Treadmills make excellent wind generators.
they do indeed - i wonder - i have a starter motor - they are similar - must look at that - thanks for the idea
The only work great if you can gear it down to a good enough level, the treadmill is like an alternator and only works best at higher rpm. You'll get some output at lower rpm but you won't be reaching anywhere near the potential of the device and will be wasting a lot of potential power.
You need a really big fan to spin something like that. AND a lot of wind.
When you were out here and the wind was blowing stuff across the ground, it looked like a normal September spring(or March Autumn) day here in southern Tasmania! 🤣 We haven’t had too much of that in the last few years though. Things are changing…
I built a DC wind powered generator for my Piper J4 Cub that had a defective original. A very important element as I found out the hard way is selecting an automotive alternator that has a high bearing thrust capacity
ouch mate - thanks for the post
Robert, I wonder how it might work with a vertical drum style turbine? That would offer an omnidirectional presentation towards the wind without the need of slip rings or re-centring springs, wind vane and the need for counter weights and more critical levelling.... which would work well on a sailing boat... thoughts?
if you get enough torque AND revolutions then any horizontal or vertical blade design works...
Very cool stuff, just curious what sort of wattage you got or what the current was at 20v? Keep up the good work 😃
Use black or grey soil pipe, they're designed for outdoor use and are resistant to ultra violet. I've seen the brown pipe discolour after being left outside and I suspect it will become brittle, like white non UVP pipe.
Fun video thanks! I made one of these from a dc 5 bladed motor and a bit of tough gutter plastic- i made a tail fin too -works great next bit is trying to make sense of all the wind charge controllers, dump loads, cable AWGs, battery options- bit of a headache for a lady with an arts and beekeeping background (zero electrics knowledge!) but am gonna try- someone said at least it's a good bird scarer! 🤣! Hehe
Excellent, well done. This is indeed really good stuff. Now I won't buy any expensive wind generator. Thank you.
Glad you liked it mate
@bullsballs you need to be able to apply brakes to it somehow, storms come around quite often
@@ThinkingandTinkering what you did here is no small thing. A graduate like me can see that, it can be made more efficient and also it gives people the idea that they can also make their own blades etc. It is not small thing that you did here... Well done.
@saladdogger You are wrong, I can make this thing ten times more efficient plus this is for confidence too to make your own stuff. His one makes 20 volts when the wind blows, I can make it efficient enough to generate 50 volts or more. Even with 20 volts, it can charge how many things overnight? Many.
Great video as usual. How many of those would it take to run a small refrigerator? A ballpark figure would be plenty good if it's not asking too much.
Wonderful explanation and video. Got to try this product.
6:00 Cardboard box blown past in the opposite direction to where the generator is pointed. Awesome!
that was great, it made me smile watching you in the carpark laughing at your own handy work, something i would do, whilst the kids are inside saying "what is he doing now, embarrassing" LOL keep up the good work
glad you liked it mate - cheers
Thanks for the video. Nice to hear you got up to 20 volts. What watts or amps did you get from it?
following
Great video. I am going to try this out and see some of the results it gives me. Thank you for your time and help with this.
Jolly Good Job Man!
We live in a Beach Town so have a constant coastal breeze; this will work nicely,.
Thanks so much for this, as soon as the lockdown ends I’m off to a car scrapyard for one of those motors! Be nice to see an equally simple way of connecting gene up to Batteries, and perhaps, from Batteries to 240Vac appliances. A voltage regulator or charge controller etc for gene to Battery bank, and a simple inverter etc, from bats to appliance sockets?
awesome mate
You would be better off getting a car alternator, and some magnets! If you want real power!
JAMES Just James Yes if you need more power, but that fan motor would be enough for my needs. Also it’s the simplicity of only having to make blades etc, no rewiring or fixing Magnets etc. And alternators are heavy so would need a v strong pole, bearings to swivel on etc. I only have a 1 bed flat so only need a motor like that, but yeh if you live in a house then a car alternator would be better,
Remember an alternator has to be energized, it doesn't have permanent magnets. You have to put current into it to get more out. That makes it more complicated.
DFPercush Yeh, which is exactly the reason I prefer motors like the one in the vid, nothing has to be done to them except attach blades etc.
20 volts at how many amps though. You need the amp measurements to calculate watts. The a dc to ac converter to step up the voltage at the expense of amps.
Or a DC to DC charge controller to charge a leisure battery. No need for an inverter if everything runs off 12 volts. You're 100% right about the amps produced at said voltage for anything really useful, I was hoping he'd have gave us that info at the end of the video too 👍
Exactly. Any nominal 12 V solar panel can create +20V open circuit too. The power it's able to generate varies with size of course. Put a load on it and watch the voltage drop. If the load is matched to the power rating of the source the voltage should stay stable at around 13-14 V or so. For example, a solar charge controller ensures that it only puts as much current into the batteries as it can while keeping the PV array voltage at around 14 V, enough to keep current flowing in the right direction.
Awesome job Robert, I am sure many will benefit from your show. God bless you.
having seen washing machine motors used i wondered about using the drum fixing vertical blades and driving motor that way!
I find eating beans to be the most effective way of generating Wind!
old spice
Save gas and fart into a jar.
I bet you could make a bean power plant.
... or for a nice bubble bath!
@@Gethin_Duggan these fart jars make good Christmas presents !
Great vid Robert! Thank you for sharing! And you get a thumbs up simply for reminding me of Anthony Hopkins.
An exercise wheel for a pet? You got my wheels turning.
Thanks for sharing !
And thank you for sharing with us. I like the way you talk and explain. Keep up the good job.
Nice idea. Now, my concern is, that probably the cheapest way to store the power, is using car batteries. But I put four of them in series, when I was 14, to make an arch welding setup. It operated intermittently successfully for perhaps a minute. However, during the high current discharge, the batteries had created very large quantities of hydrogen gas, which I didn't think of. Also, I had severely underestimated how thick the wiring needed to be. (I musn't ever have seen car jumper cables?!) The wires melted and somehow, some small spark was created, igniting the hydrogen gas outside and inside the the car batteries, causing two of of them to violently explode and hurling shattered batteryparts through the air, and presumably also acid. Perhaps luckily, I had my back turned at the explosion.
In conclusion, I since then carry great respect and awareness of the dangers associated with car batteries. Indeed any high capacity battery. And I feel hesitant to build a huge powerbank with them. It would have to sit in another shack / building away from my house. And then I would still feel I lived close to a minor bomb.,
Nowadays there are LiFePo4 and LTO type batteries. That's a lot safer. Of course, a BMS is used here. And no, they are not really more expensive when you calculate the number of cycles and the service life. (Not to be confused with Li-Ion!)
Hi there, just a little something I learned while restoring old batteries. The extent of the battery exploding depends on the how much water is in your battery. The more water, the less cavity, and less gas build up.
Hope this makes sense.... All the best.