Anotherpower.com Forum
Renewable Energy Questions/Discussion => Wind and Hydro => Topic started by: niall on August 19, 2014, 02:49:02 pm
-
[attachimg=6]
we rebuilt this mill back in December , the rotor polyester was on its last legs then and with very few spare neos to replace the rusty ones ....
i havent been back to the site since then and was a bit apprehensive when i called back this week , even with all the good work put in back then i half expected the worst when i rounded the corner ....
so it was a nice surprise to see the mill still running producing good output , no one really looks in on it anymore , i doubt it was ever shut down through the winter for checks on rigging , balance or basically ...well ...anything
a bit of a recap on the work ....
[attachimg=2]
the "front" of the rotors was used for the re cast , the back was too pitted (last pic)
[attachimg=3]
the poly and neos were easy to get off
[attach=4]
this week .....at least the air gap looks good , still good clearance ....holding up pretty well really
[attachimg=5]
i,ve no idea the kwh its produced , but i,d say its payback period is well passed now ....its on a good wind site and has spent a lot of time fully furled .....
[attachimg=7]
-
If only neo had some of the properties of ceramics, and the power of neo's.... it would be nirvana
..............oztules
-
nice to hear it survied all by its lonesum.....proven design !!
-
:)
its hanging in there alright ....it may write its memoirs one day , would be an interesting read ...
strangely the original bearings ( which were second hand to begin with ) are still in place , with no back seal ...
i think this had something to do with the solid cedar prop, which is ridiculously light.....
still ....i shouldnt temp fate , corrosion is hiding in the long grass somewhere .....for now
-
Always nice to read a success story.
Hopefully the next time you see it you can post the same results.
-
i,ll do that Bj .....
lately i,m near the location , i,ve a soft spot for this mill ...mine is a clone of it
later then :)
-
i finally got around to servicing my own mill and getting it back up , mainly weathering issues (a lot) and a new tail.....its the clone of the above mill
[attachimg=1]
the yaw pipe does dry out after time so i added a grease nipple to allow lubing without having to do a partial strip down ....
[attachimg=2]
this is a bit cleaner than "spooning" on grease.....although the yaw is,nt really affected much when it runs dry , it just gets a bit squeaky
[* Edited]
the little picaxe mill controller fired up straight away after a 3 month layup, one capacitor was failing (almost) when the mill was last run . i think i should have a bigger capacity cap bank on the system ......
that a little 2 euro/dollar micro can be the heart of the controll is still very gratifying......
its all painted bright yellow now ...why not :)
[* Mod edit - removed invalid attachment tag; no file associated - Steve]
-
got a call from the owner of the mill ....something like
"the mill started making a strange noise about a month ago , but it self corrected and i didnt worry about it...now its stopped "
it self corrected alright ..the ultimate type of self correction..........
the front rotor seems locked against the stator ( which hasn't moved ) and the blade tips have way too much corroded away
the bearings seem completely shot ...but hard to tell till next week when it comes down ....its still in one piece though.....with zero maintenance its a credit to it .........
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
after the initial rebuild ...( a coastal site ) ....6 months seems a minimum for preventative maintenance ......
-
I have found that a marine environment is tough on ferrous material
In fact it appears that every possible nook and cranny is exploited by the elements, making mills very maintenance intensive.... very.... ( not worth it in the end... solar by the ton works though.)
.............oztules
-
i,m not so sure Oz......the mill ( and its getting old ) has had its right of passage in time ....french Italian students , Oz Paul , ..they all come and go ....some did maintenance ....others not .....the mill was the kind of focal point in a way ....fun really ...
perhaps worth it ...maybe ..ish
-
note to Kiwi Shawn ....( proper maintenance )
if your read this and aren't doing anything next week .....call over ....you havent posted in a while :)
-
still getting corrosion revisits on some neos on my mill .......once it sets in ...you cant really get rid of it , slowing it down ( if its got underneath ...end game ) is the only option now .....this one took 4 months to re- produce rust again....its seems a bit like dental work now.....
more new epoxy coating and chemical rust treatment....
[attachimg=1]
the other mill ( who,s diminishing prospects look ...erm ...challenging but not lost ) comes down saturday .....labor intensive for sure Oz....
always the optimist though .... :)
-
got down to the other mill this morning ......unfortunately it was running flat out , the brake had no effect and lots of bad mechanical noise ...the prop was running that fast it was self stalling due to erosion ....not good
the only way to stop it .....
[attachimg=1]
some clunky things
Not a valid vimeo URL
the prop survived pretty good ...John came over to help out
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=6]
the front rotor eating the stator...
[attachimg=3]
the new brake pad
[attachimg=4]
the villian of the piece ...rear bearing with a busted cone
[attachimg=5]
the extra float in the hub would have been audible long before complete disintegration...kind of like a small hammer tapping the yaw pipe....a clear knocking sound .....bit of a pity that
is there a positive side ?... ??? i guess every thing else is good :o vinyl ester is totally superior to poly , even with rusty mags ......
so a new stator ( that would be a bit of a pain ), front rotor rebuild ( more fun )...resurface the prop leading edges and its good to go again ...
i doubt its retired yet somehow.......a project for some more students that pass through the site .....maybe
if it were a commercial mill you could basically bin it at this stage ......as its not , theres always the local agri store for 90% of the spare parts .....(and china )