Back before he passed away, Zubbly "Wayne Abraham" built me this sweet little 2 meter induction motor conversion on a Baldor motor frame.
It has been in the air since just before he left us in 2007. 5 years and a bit with no maintenance or problems. This is it on top of the 60 foot water pumper tower that JacquesM and Wolvenar helped me get installed. Plus one of my favorite pictures of it
:
The reason it has had no maintenance is I am simply not allowed (doctor / Amy) to climb anything much more than a flight of stairs since the heart attacks a few years back.
So, when we had the tree service guys with their boom truck here raising the canopy on our driveway I decided to do some maintenance on the wood parts, prop and tail. Long story short they would not just lift me up there (damned insurance company) they removed the tail and attempted to pull the prop but failed and I ended up having them cut the cable and retrieve the entire turbine since they were up there.
I did not get the camera until after they were done. It was crazy hot / humid and I just did not have the energy to go get it when I thought of it.
Anyway, here are some post removal photos:
The assembled prop
The blades and hub close ups:
The junction box and connections were in good shape. I think they broke that top weatherproof connector taking it off otherwise it would be much more nasty inside:
The magnet rotor is in excellent shape with only a bit of tarnish on the 1.25"X1.75"X.25" curved & skewed magnets. I noticed a shiny ring on the outside shell of that rear bearing not sure if that means it spun in there but the bearing rolls a long time just flicking it so it is not dragging, tight or anything:
The motor frame stood up well:
Motor Plate side view of motor conversion. 115/230 Volt 7.6 / 3.8 Amp 1725 RPM 60 Hz single phase, I believe.
Motor shaft end view. Those dings are from the boom truck guys trying to pry the prop off without loosening the set screws.
A more detailed photo on the short test tower:
RIP 1956-2007
Damn, that man built things to last.
edit:fixed typo on D.O.D.