Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

jaymie... if you're that worried about wasting wind then go fly a kite.

ok, I've started building my VAWT aerator. hopefully this hasn't been a waste of time, but it didn't cost anything so I'm not phased if it does or not.
I'd include the templates I made but they are a bit too big. if anyone wants them then I can email them.

I've used 8 coke cans for my blades, cut off the top and bottom and cut in half longways(16 blades), 3mm MDF disks to support the blades, a 2ft x 6mm threaded rod, an empty paint tin/milo tin, 4 skateboard bearings, nuts and washers, a bit of epoxy and some exterior enamel to protect the MDF from weather. putting it all together friday, will have some more pics of assembly and "hopefully" a working model...

Looks interesting, can`t wait to see it up and running
Plywood would be better than mdf if its going outside but i suspect its just a prototype. What are you using as the aerator.. a paddle or a pump?

I'm going to try an internal fan first like the one TimC posted about(photocopier fan). It'll be made from coke cans too but the blades will be straight. If that doesn't work then I'll probably try a pump type set up so it can build up enough pressure to push the water out of the airline.
I got this much done before the boags kicked in... it spins pretty fast but because it's so small it doesn't have much power.

Thats looking pretty cool AZ... How are you attaching the blades to the wood disks? It assume you are cutting slots in the mdf and sliding them in...

How heavy is MDF relative to the rest of it...?

not heavy at all. I had to add an extra disk (not cut) to the top and bottom, hopefully the extra weight will help with torque. I'm going to slap a few coats of weathershield on it too that will, more weight and protect it from weather. I work at a paint store atm so it's free.
If this works I'm going to scale it up to about 1 metre high. I've got a mate at a ali fabricators who said he'll make it for me. 3mm ali plate for the blades and 10mm ali plate for the disks and build a 3 phase generator. If the turbine is powerful enough I may even be able to attatch 2 - 3 generators to the shaft. I need a roofer to help me build a roof mount. Pending on how much power I get compared to costs involved I might see if there is a patent and mass produce them. who wants one?

3mm is a tad think, so is the 10 mm plate. I suppose if you need to tig it it would be easier if it was thicker. But weight wise a 1 metre length of 3mm plate would weight a fair bit.

Good source for wind generator plans: http://www.scoraigwind.com/

na man, I'm talking a huge one. considering the size to weight ratio, the large one with the 3mm and 10mm aluminium will probably be lighter by comparison than this crapy little coke can model. that website is where I got the idea for the 3 phase, much more efficient power delivery.
I'm getting ahead of myself, I always do, everything can be modified, upgraded and/or enhanced. look at the tooth brush for instance, you can get a damn mp3 player in your subsonic, vibrating, multi directional toothbrush now days with a tongue and cheek cleaner. If only people put as much effort into saving the planet as they did into dollar making gimics.
On that note it's time to go to work and make myself some more dollars.

T6 3mm thick aluminium weighs about 8kg sq/m, 10mm will be around 27kg sq/m.
Looks like it may weigh a fair amount

of course it will be heavy but as I said before it would be about 1 metre high and about 0.8 metre wide. Maybe 1.6mm for the blades would be better but in strong wind I'm not sure that will last too long considering the weight it has to pull. still a long way off anyhow so I'm not thinking to serious about it yet, just making approximates. have to finish the aerator first. As for efficient designs in harnessing wind I think I've found the winner. this little model I've made spins fast, really fast. I need to test rpm against wind speed and weight to get figures for comparison but having built a few wind devices before I have all the confidence in the world.

Aircraft grade aluminium would do the trick. Where is your closest plane scrap yard? lol.

good idea. I wonder what it's worth as a raw material. I had a really good design idea today at work, I'm drawing it now. I think I need to work on the blade angle a bit more. I might rebuild the model and see how it goes with the blades at 80 degrees, atm they are sitting at about 45 degrees. but again it's trial and error they might need to be 20 - 30 degrees. it's a tough call this one, to hard to estimate. also, I think I will have to go with a pump instead of the blower fan idea, simply for the fact there is not a great deal of torque on this model, hence the need to reposition the blades.

It doesn't matter how many coke cans or mdf discs you use, untill you get it perfect you don't want to upscale it...

Nothing wrong with a few prototypes. I would do it systematically. Step the degrees up and down 1 or 2 from your current model. Add a basic revolution counter to each one and see which one does the most revs over the same time period.

Just paint the bottom disc black with a white dot (or vice versa) and use a light sensor and a digital counter to count the revs and the speed.

agreed... I don't even want to build the aerator until I get it perfect. then I'll make plans to upscale. but when that's all finished I have an awesome design for a generator, it'll hold 6 - 10 coils. good thing I live on the coast, nice and windy.

were you thinking of using the blower fan (i assume you mean a centrifugal barrel fan) to actually move air or splash water?

if its for air movement i'm fairly sure they dont require much torque (relative)

the motors used for domestic heating fan assemblies have piss piss poor torque