Wind power! Any body know anything about it?

[Melee]

Hello, any tech head out there who can suggest a wind turbine to keep my batteries charged up whilst out camping (Well i say camping, really i just want to power my stereo through the night at a few parties etc!)-something portable that i can put up and down easily.
I know a bit about electrics from a past career, so not such a novice,...but pointers where i can buy such a unit and/or any idea's on efficiency would be ideal (i would like to power stereo & 1200Wish amp and may a light although i can use a touch i guess).

[VWCamperfan]

You are gonna need something a lot bigger than you can move around if you want that sort of power!

[Melee]

ok, perhaps forget the amp bit...that was pushing it a bit-just something to power the stereo-or top up the battery

[dink]

I've read in MMM magazine a few years ago about using cordless drills
I very much doubt you'd get enough to power your amp though

[tonytech]

Maplin Electronics do this.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=224964

I'm sure there are lots of other suppliers.

T

[busbas]

they have that sort of thing on yachts - perhaps an on line chandlers would be a place to look

[Red Westie]

Five and a half hundred quid for a rated 85watts hmmm and it's 1metre diameter so not the most portable thing.
I've often wondered why there isn't an alternator kit.. "pooh"! I just gave away my 10 million pound idea! to turn scrapyard alternator into a wind turbine..it would need to be geared up a bit (to make the alternator rotor turn 5-10 times faster than the turbine) but I reckon if someone came out with a DIY kit...with universal fixing brackets for common alternator types....wayhay. Lets face it, it's already fitted with a regulator and is rectified for DC charging (car batteries) car alternators are reliable and cheap...well if someone makes a mint off this idea I want royalties.
Martin

[jamesc76]

Five and a half hundred quid for a rated 85watts hmmm and it's 1metre diameter so not the most portable thing.
I've often wondered why there isn't an alternator kit.. "pooh"! I just gave away my 10 million pound idea! to turn scrapyard alternator into a wind turbine..it would need to be geared up a bit (to make the alternator rotor turn 5-10 times faster than the turbine) but I reckon if someone came out with a DIY kit...with universal fixing brackets for common alternator types....wayhay. Lets face it, it's already fitted with a regulator and is rectified for DC charging (car batteries) car alternators are reliable and cheap...well if someone makes a mint off this idea I want royalties.
Martin

I made one a while back to trail on my dads boat it wasnt very good and the gearing to get it to go fast enought was a pain, to get it to work the blades were iirc 80cm!

[Davy MacLean]

Have a look at the ones fitted to the roadside signs these daysthat's about the size you'd need you could alawys pilfer one if it happens to be out in the sticks as well

[Rozzo]

a little super silent genny would be a better option i reckon the problem with the wind turbines is as mentioned, in order to get meaningful power from them they have to be pretty massive.

[mrhutch]

I tried this a while ago... the problem with using alternators is that as soon as there is a 'load' on the circuit, the alternator becomes too difficult to turn. Thats why domestic wind turbines don't use the same coil and magnets - emf system as in alternators.. they have a differnet type of coil - magnet setup...

clear as mud... hope so!

[tonytech]

Have a look at
http://www.instructables.com/
Do a search for wind generator.

T

[ju]

I have seen that you can fashion wind turbines out of the old type sturmey archer hubs and even the bottle type generators that used to fit to the back wheel of bikes and turn on the side of the tyre.

[mrhutch]

wow... http://www.instructables.com is a fantastic site.. cheers Tony, now I'll be doing NO work all day!

[Therunner]

I have seen that you can fashion wind turbines out of the old type sturmey archer hubs and even the bottle type generators that used to fit to the back wheel of bikes and turn on the side of the tyre.

I have a booklet somewhere with detailed plans for this, it's one of many things I've never got around to actually doing!

Melvin