ElPerfecto.com

Last updated on Dec-22-2008.

I am documenting the construction of my first wind turbine. I am not an expert, just learning as I go. I am not building a turbine from scratch, but instead trying to first succeed in mounting one to a tower and wiring it up to power small devices inside my house. I want to document the process so that it would be easier for me to duplicate this a second time, as I would like to build more than one turbine. Also, if the instructions are of any benefit to others doing a similar construction, I would be happy to know that. Let me know if you have tips to share or would like to show off your own DIY wind turbine.

Buy Wind Turbine

After I raise my first turbine, I would like to attempt building the turbine itself from scratch. But for my introduction and education, I decided to buy a pre-made wind turbine I found on eBay. I found a small turbine from eBay seller blairusa.  Butch (the eBay seller) builds turbines and sells them on eBay. The particular turbine I bought is small and according to Butch has the following spec’s:

• 12V
• 140 Watts
• Starts spinning in winds of around 4 MPH
• Can withstand winds over 40 MPH but not recommended
• weighs about 22lbs
• Made of aluminum and steel
• Prop is 36 inches diameter
  
• Length of generator is 42inches

I paid $305 total (including shipping).

Dig hole

I don’t have the windiest location but want to give this a try anyhow.

I picked a location in my backyard. My primary consideration for picking this spot was that it will be out of view for most of my neighbors. I don’t want to make enemies. The turbine will make a little noise when spinning which might bother my neighbors if I put it right on the property line. Some people, for whatever reason, do not like the way wind turbines look. I haven’t talked with all of my neighbors about it, so to be safe, I’m keeping this one tucked away to eliminate any trouble with the neighbors. Also, the location I chose is fairly close to the house, meaning the wiring will be fairly short, making it easier for me to run wiring to get the power into the house.

The turbine will be mounted to a steel pipe. The pipe will be secured in the ground with concrete and guy wires.

At the target site, I dug a hole 1 ft wide and 2 ft deep.

I used a pick and mattock with a shovel to dig the hole.

I had to get on my hands and knees to dig the last several inches using trowels and the shovel.

Assemble steel pipes

Assemble the steel pipes into a mount that can support the wind turbine.  Make a hinge joint so that the wind turbine can be lowered and raised from the ground whenever maintenance is needed.  Most of the pieces for my tower came from my local Sutherlands store.

Note that the tee above is a bigger diameter than the rest of the pieces, so that the threads are unused on the tee, allowing the tee to function as a hinge joint.  Most of the pipe pieces have a diameter of 1 ¼”.   The tee above is bigger, though, with a diameter of 1 ½”.

A tee was chosen above to allow the electrical cables to exit from the pipe.  Later, you will see how the wires come out of this hole.

Concrete

Insert the pipe into the hole.

Mix concrete and pour into the hole.  Used about (4) 60-pound bags of mix.  The mix itself then was about 240 pounds but water was added as well, adding to the weight of the base of this mount.

Dig a second hole and place a stationary pipe in it.  The second pipe has an arm that latches onto the first pipe.  The arm can be detached at any time.  I’m hoping that this arm can help hold onto the pole while the wind turbine is attached.  I also plan on using (4) guy wires to stabilize the turbine mount.

Apply Plumber’s Grease

I want to be able to detach the steel pipes at any time for maintenance, re-wiring, or other future modifications.  Since the steel pipes are outside and exposed to rain, condensation, and humidity, the pipe threads will rust and fuse the pipes together.  Already in the short time I have had them outside, they have already developed rust.  I picked up some Plumber’s Grease from Sutherlands.

I used an old toothbrush to apply the grease to all the pipe threads.

I put most of the pieces together, minus the turbine itself, to see how it fit together.

With the setup above, the wind turbine blades will be 16 feet above the ground.

Attach guy wires

Attach (4) guy wires to secure the pole and prevent it from falling down in high winds.

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The Video above shows how to drill and tap a steel pipe coupling.  Eye bolts are attached to the steel pipe.  They guy wires will connect to the eye bolts.

will be continued…

Next steps:

Attach guy wires to pole.
Run wire through the pipe and connect powerpole connectors.