DIY windmill, need help with generator/motor among other things

[FUEL]

Alright, well i've been thinking of building a windmill to power a friends cottage. i want to do this at minimal cost, recycling anything i can. I've been spending alot of time reading up and think i understand most things. Now from what i've read many people are building there own generator them self's, i'd rather not do this due to reliability issues and maybe having to re-do it a few time to get it right, not to mention the cost for supply's. I've decided to use a variable speed DC blower motor from a high efficiency furnace. i want to use this motor cause it cost me nothing and since i work in the heating and cooling industry i have access to many used motor from old furnaces and such for free. i'm unsure if this motor will be suited for the job. i'm not sure of the best way to test it, anyone have any idea's?

Here's is what i know about the motor so far. i will copy what it has on the rating plate.

GE Motors
ECM programmable motor
GE modle no: 5SME39HL0003
Serial no:0009S6
Date code:19SHX
HP: 1/2 RPM: 0-1300 Volts: 120/240 Amps: 6.40/4.30
Cust Modle no:HD44AE116
Rot: CCW

Now what i've done is i've removed the back housing and have removed all the ECM electronics, what i'm left with is a small 3 phase AC generator. i've hooked up my digital multimeter (Sperry DM-350)to 2 of the 3 leads, set it to 600VAC, spinning the shaft by hand i can get 15V easy. i hooked up a power drill to the shaft and at full speed i has able to get a bit over 270V. not sure if you need to know the specs of the drill but here they are, it's a 120V 4.5A variable speed drill, RPM: 0-2700.

now i'm thinking this motor will work find but i haven't been able to figure out how much Watt's i can get out of it. my multimeter has a setting for Amp's but i haven't been able to get a reading off it. i though maybe it was due to the fact that there was no load on the generator so i hooked it up to a 120V, 150W coffee grinder and spun the generator with the drill, the grinder worked, i ran over 250V, 2 phase to it and it's didn't burn out but i still wasn't able to get a amp's reading, maybe i'm not using it right, i don't know.

So does anyone have any suggestions?

Also i think i may want to got with a VAWT, it looks to be easier to build and set up, also it would not use as much space, what are your opinions on this

[Sephiroth]

Alright, well i've been thinking of building a windmill to power a friends cottage. i want to do this at minimal cost, recycling anything i can. I've been spending alot of time reading up and think i understand most things. Now from what i've read many people are building there own generator them self's, i'd rather not do this due to reliability issues and maybe having to re-do it a few time to get it right, not to mention the cost for supply's. I've decided to use a variable speed DC blower motor from a high efficiency furnace. i want to use this motor cause it cost me nothing and since i work in the heating and cooling industry i have access to many used motor from old furnaces and such for free. i'm unsure if this motor will be suited for the job. i'm not sure of the best way to test it, anyone have any idea's?

Here's is what i know about the motor so far. i will copy what it has on the rating plate.

GE Motors
ECM programmable motor
GE modle no: 5SME39HL0003
Serial no:0009S6
Date code:19SHX
HP: 1/2 RPM: 0-1300 Volts: 120/240 Amps: 6.40/4.30
Cust Modle no:HD44AE116
Rot: CCW

Now what i've done is i've removed the back housing and have removed all the ECM electronics, what i'm left with is a small 3 phase AC generator. i've hooked up my digital multimeter (Sperry DM-350)to 2 of the 3 leads, set it to 600VAC, spinning the shaft by hand i can get 15V easy. i hooked up a power drill to the shaft and at full speed i has able to get a bit over 270V. not sure if you need to know the specs of the drill but here they are, it's a 120V 4.5A variable speed drill, RPM: 0-2700.

now i'm thinking this motor will work find but i haven't been able to figure out how much Watt's i can get out of it. my multimeter has a setting for Amp's but i haven't been able to get a reading off it. i though maybe it was due to the fact that there was no load on the generator so i hooked it up to a 120V, 150W coffee grinder and spun the generator with the drill, the grinder worked, i ran over 250V, 2 phase to it and it's didn't burn out but i still wasn't able to get a amp's reading, maybe i'm not using it right, i don't know.

So does anyone have any suggestions?

Also i think i may want to got with a VAWT, it looks to be easier to build and set up, also it would not use as much space, what are your opinions on this

If the motor was rated at 1/2 horsepower, then I would guess that you would expect to generate around 370 watts depending on the speed and the load...

[wrtner]

It is possible to wind your own generator coils:
http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/Chapter14.pdf
See page 12 onwards.

[theremart]

Recomendations ->

Alright, well i've been thinking of building a windmill to power a friends cottage. i want to do this at minimal cost, recycling anything i can. I've been spending alot of time reading up and think i understand most things. Now from what i've read many people are building there own generator them self's, i'd rather not do this due to reliability issues and maybe having to re-do it a few time to get it right, not to mention the cost for supply's. I've decided to use a variable speed DC blower motor from a high efficiency furnace. i want to use this motor cause it cost me nothing and since i work in the heating and cooling industry i have access to many used motor from old furnaces and such for free. i'm unsure if this motor will be suited for the job. i'm not sure of the best way to test it, anyone have any idea's?

Here's is what i know about the motor so far. i will copy what it has on the rating plate.

GE Motors
ECM programmable motor
GE modle no: 5SME39HL0003
Serial no:0009S6
Date code:19SHX
HP: 1/2 RPM: 0-1300 Volts: 120/240 Amps: 6.40/4.30
Cust Modle no:HD44AE116
Rot: CCW

Now what i've done is i've removed the back housing and have removed all the ECM electronics, what i'm left with is a small 3 phase AC generator. i've hooked up my digital multimeter (Sperry DM-350)to 2 of the 3 leads, set it to 600VAC, spinning the shaft by hand i can get 15V easy. i hooked up a power drill to the shaft and at full speed i has able to get a bit over 270V. not sure if you need to know the specs of the drill but here they are, it's a 120V 4.5A variable speed drill, RPM: 0-2700.

now i'm thinking this motor will work find but i haven't been able to figure out how much Watt's i can get out of it. my multimeter has a setting for Amp's but i haven't been able to get a reading off it. i though maybe it was due to the fact that there was no load on the generator so i hooked it up to a 120V, 150W coffee grinder and spun the generator with the drill, the grinder worked, i ran over 250V, 2 phase to it and it's didn't burn out but i still wasn't able to get a amp's reading, maybe i'm not using it right, i don't know.

So does anyone have any suggestions?

Also i think i may want to got with a VAWT, it looks to be easier to build and set up, also it would not use as much space, what are your opinions on this

Go here,

Bit's recommend this site it is awesome for win gens.

TLG Windpower Power Class Series Wind Generator Blades.


Listen to the audios.


Other things to think about.

Protect yourself from lightning.

Think ahead if a strong wind took down the tower, what exactly would it fall on.


I have put up a wind generator but I underestimated the force of the wind on the wind gen. Made a nice hole in my deck from my silly setup. All is repaired now, but I learned my lesson.

That site is gold for what you want to do.

mart