The Mount and Brackets

I have been writing about the epileptic power distribution and generation in Nigeria and how I built my home made wind turbine to supply 3500watts (>2 horse power) to my home in Abuja. I stumbled on a note on the internet about a government project (http://www.windfair.net/press/4068.html) in Katsina aimed at harnessing wind energy for local communities. Nice to know that Government has caught on – I have also noticed uncountable solar street lights in various Nigerian towns and wish them luck on their project. We have seen how to make the blades, also how I put the motor together. Now, we will see how I built the mount, mast and brackets.

The Mount and Brackets
One of the questions on ….. blog was how he managed the line. I came up with a brilliant design that would ensure that the line did not tangle or obstruct the swinging of tail boom. The design employed the use of a small ball bearing on which a tube was sandwiched between the alternator mount and the horizontal pole.

Since I have no metal work skills or experience, I had to turn to the experts. Again, nomenclature would rare its ugly head. I asked everyone to refer me to competent metal workers that could machine parts; no handy man in Nigeria knew what I meant. I tried welders, black smiths to no avail. Then just by share luck, I stumbled upon a mechanic who had just fabricated a vehicle AC bracket. He was the one who gave me the local name for metal workers – they are called “Turners” (because of their spinning tools like bench drills, CNC, etc). So if you need to fabricate any metal, be sure to ask for a “Turner”.

The drawing above shows how my turbine is mounted and this mount cleverly conceals the wires from the turbine inside the mast to the house.

If you are interested in making professional looking 3D drawings like this, use Google Sketch - quite intuitive.