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Here is something almost no one I talk to even thinks about. What is one of the many things people tend to give away free on sites like Craigslist? Treadmills, a device that houses a wonderful 130VDC motor which is capable of producing power when properly assembled with a prop. When linked with others in parallel, they can produce enough juice to charge almost any setup and on an almost shoe string budget. In fact, with this setup, the most expensive part will be the charge controller. "DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS PART", if you are going to drop a chunk of change on something, a good charge controller is what you should do it on. But as I said, on average if you're willing to travel you could end up with 2-5 FREE treadmills a week that you could then convert into wind turbines to produce off-grid power to assist your solar charge system.

Yes treadmill motors are AWESOME for power generation. They are DC motors so they need no conversion. They product high voltage, mine is 90 volts, so they do not need large wires.

You do need an MPPT wind charge controller though to get the maximum power to the batteries.

I have one on my bike generator for pedal powered backup. I get about 300 watts of power off the bike when pedaling hard. But you cant sustain that level for long.

I see free treadmills in Cl all the time.

nice to see that you already have a second working wind generator now (not counting the very small one on the porch!)! (and all for free!, lol, when we discuss this problems there are always people looking and sending stuff to help you out!, great Troy!

the first one is spinning already in low wind cond!, have you already mesured the average amps?
(is the diode big enough?,) sugest you place a fuse after the diode(in connection to positive buss bar , and a schort circuit switch over the positive and negative from the generator , in to high wind conditions you can use the switch like a brake on the wind turbine to prevent overspeed and distroying it!.

regarding to the second you just got, hope that the blade configuration is good, its quite a load for it, these magnets are strong!
hope it wil turn in your windload condition!
(you can always use the alternator for a self build genny project otherwise!

begins to look a bit like your parents place with all the windmils!

wouldent say ive told you before on the mppt charger ,panel config, putting the panels series parralel, it wil not go above the 60 ap load restriction of the charger , but will work mutch better in these low light conditions , wat I can advice is put array one in the morning light direction , and array 2 in the noon position , all panels facing the same side per array (maximum amps in that way , if you put half the panels of array one or two in differend direction the wil work less efficient (altough the diodes wil do there work iff one pael is giving less wats as the other ), better is making two arrays, facing both other directions , as spreading the panels out (you can test that with your multimeter on amp setting (10 amps)at the pannel side in the medow, for maximum power direct 4 panels to same spot, not as you do now with 4 panels per array in other directions . (ive tried myselve before), make the max out of your system Friend!

keep it up, getting nicer every day!

I cant wait to get the second wind turbine up and running. Yes it is amazing that people watch for a need and send me stuff. I cant believe it.

I am painting the new turbine today. Has to be painted before you put it up and it has been too cold for that recently.

I like your idea with the solar panels. I will do that. Thanks.

Another thing to watch for is celing fans as adding magnets can make a wind generator. There is many youtube videos on this.

The treadmill motor I have I need to figure a way to break the flywheel free. I just don't have a bench vice to keep the shaft stationary so I can unthread it.

Not sure how to answer about the treadmill motor being jammed on there. I would maybe just mount the blades and hub assembly onto the flywheel of the motor. That was my plan one day myself.

I have a couple ceiling fans I want to play with one day. The problem for me is the expense of magnets. Maybe next year. I was just talking to a professional who says you need multiple wind turbines up in the air anyway for best results.