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Randy's Pivot Weldment
 
This page shows how to assemble a conventional horizontal shaft windmill using a F&P motor and one of my pivot weldments.  Available on the order page
 
 
 
 

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So you have done a great deal of investigating and are now looking at the possibility of using a F&P motor to generate electric.  How difficult can it be?  The following steps should help you decide if this is right for you.  As you can tell, I am in love with these F&P motors.  What do you need?  That is up to you.  Read through the following and you should get a pretty good idea.  Maybe it might even give you some ideas on a way to make something different.

 You do need some means of having the motor/generator pivot to face the wind.  Some people just use a piece of pipe slipped over a pole.  The Yaesu GS-050 thrust bearing was designed to allow a large Ham radio antenna to be rotated, which is why it was chosen.  I would offer them but I haven't been able to find a source that would give me enough discount to recoup my shipping costs, so I tell people to buy them direct for less.
Here are a couple of links for the pivot bearing.
http://www.hamstation.com/shopping/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=118
http://www.universal-radio.com/CATALOG/hamrot/ysurot.html
http://www.texastowers.com/yaesu_g450a.htm
In the worse case you can always weld a piece of pipe to a plate for it to pivot on. 

One of the first steps is to mount the Yaesu GS-050 on the top of your pole or mast.  The thrust bearing is adjustable to fit from a 1 to 2-1/2" diameter pipe.  The key here is to make sure the top mounting surface is perpendicular to the mast.  One way to do this is to use a level, making sure the mast is plumb and then putting the level on the top surface of the bearing mount.  I designed the pivot weldment so the Yaesu bearing will bolt right on.  The center is open or hollow to allow the wires to come up thru the center.

The next step is to rewire the stator .  There are many different ways the stator can be wired.  The one method that I like is four sets of nine coils.  A web search will reveal more detailed instructions.

The re-wired stator is then bolted onto the pivot weldment.  The magnetic hub should be checked to make sure it doesn't rub the stator when mounted.  If it does, the stator should be marked and re-positioned or the high spot filed.

I'm cheating here and using an old tail/vane as a template to make a new one.  The size is not critical.  I'm starting with a 2' x 2' piece of plywood.  The 1/2" pipe should be tightened to the pivot prior to mounting the pipe to the tail/vane.

Mounting the blades can be done in several different ways.  The spline shaft is almost exactly 7/8" in diameter so a 7/8" bored pulley or sprocket can be used to mount the blades.  Another way is to use a magnetic hub to bolt the blades to.  This will then bolt onto the splined mainshaft.

Here it looks like the blades are mounted using a pulley.  As I mentioned the splines on the mainshaft are almost exactly 0.875" in diameter.  You might need to take a file to the sharp edges on the spline.

A plastic can lid can be used as a weather seal for the Yaesu bearing.  This keeps the rain from washing the grease out of the bearings.

I find it best to assemble the unit prior to mounting it on the mast.

I like to bolt the pivot unit to the already mounted Yeasu thrust bearing.  This can be difficult if the mast is very high or deosn't tilt down for access.

The F&P motor as a generator puts out about 0.9 watts per RPM.  Of course it depends on how much wind you have available, but I would try using a 44"- 48" length balde for a swept diameter of about 8'.


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