estate sale/ceiling fans

Originally Posted by mike1

i saw that there is going to be a estate sale for 2 days and i dont have any money but i was going to go look around anyway to see what they have. i was thinking of giving the person my number and what i take since its close by. sometimes on the last day they just want to get rid of stuff instead of hauling it back in. has anyone had luck with estate sales getting stuff for free at the end? i was wandering how much brass is on a ceiling fan?

Some are converting the ceiling fan motor to wind generator.



I previously brought a couple of them home from the dump, neither were permanent magnet motors, magnets are part of the modifications. One I brought home this afternoon of you turn the shaft you can feel it cogging,so I know its a permanent magnet motor and will need very few mods.

Don;t let the brass fool ya, it's only anodized over cheap metal, probably non magnetic but the weight of those parts would be a dead give away.

Originally Posted by HipoGear

My understanding was that for wind generation it needs to be a DC motor. Using an AC motor would limit your ability to correct or store the energy. I know that treadmill motors are often used.

Can use either DC or AC the latter is more preferred as its possible to transmit power over further distances using less expensive wire while DC current has much loss over distance and requires much heavier cables to distribute the power.

Thomas Edison promoted DC power, George Westinghouse with his AC current prevailed.

The most efficient wind generators used for small off grid operations produce AC current, the AC current is rectified to DC near the battery bank.

Automotive alternators in fact produce 3 phase AC current which for charging a battery is converted to DC before reaching the battery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_H...nerating_Plant

Originally Posted by alloy2

Some are converting the ceiling fan motor to wind generator.

I previously brought a couple of them home from the dump, neither were permanent magnet motors, magnets are part of the modifications. One I brought home this afternoon of you turn the shaft you can feel it cogging,so I know its a permanent magnet motor and will need very few mods.

Don;t let the brass fool ya, it's only anodized over cheap metal, probably non magnetic but the weight of those parts would be a dead give away.

yes since brass is heavy