OOPS!

[roblanford]

I bought a beautiful home brewed wind generator from a guy that hand shaped the blades. He was rightfully proud of his work and bragged how the generator would spin in the slightest breath of air. On the day i hung up the generator, the wind in the anchorage was about 8-10kts and all the generators around were happily turning. As the wind slowed, one by one, all the generators but mine quit spinning. It wasnt ontil the wind stopped that I realized that I had forgotten to install the inline diode.

[Alan Wheeler]

Haha, now that is funny.
You could always face the genny toward the sails and have it push you along ;-) :-)

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Robert,
Let me get this straight. By not installing the in line diode, the generator was not charging, right and just free wheeling? Ha ha ha.
I'm new to this stuff so please forgive me.
JohnL

[SkiprJohn]

Ooops, it must have been powering that blade instead of free wheeling?
Like I said, I'm new to this stuff.
JohnL

[Alan Wheeler]

Let me get this straight. By not installing the in line diode, the generator was not charging, right and just free wheeling?

Yep you got it right on the second post. The genny was no longer a genny but an electric motor and allt he battery power was being sucked up by the very thing that was supposed to be putting the power back into the battery.

[SkiprJohn]

Hey Wheels and Robert,
Do I get a prize for being right on the second answer? In my school days it would have been an F.
Do most commercial wind generators not have this problem? Just checking because I might be installing an air gen.
JohnL

[Alan Wheeler]

Most will have that part built in. If it doesn't, you would be best to have a regulator anyway. The regulator will do the same thing.
A solar panel can do a similar thing. Although it doesn't turn into a giant torch. It just sucks away power. Most panels these days have a diode built in. But any panel above 10W really should have a regulator which solves the problem.

[David M]

Thats funny...I love it! Reminds me of the air boat on Flipper.

[roblanford]

It was the transition from pride, to what the heck?, to OH CRAP!!!!!, that cracks me up when I think about it.

The generator was built from an old tape drive motor and 3 trailing blades. It worked well for years until the blades met the back stay, but that is another confessional story.