GreenEngineer07 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Your correct this is not the answer to energy independence, its a hobby. Do you really want a guy who can't build a furling system to be experimenting with fusion?In all fairness I don't know why you would consider this a Malthusian solution? Wouldn't the Malthusian solution be to let people run out of energy. . . I like wind compared to current technologies because, as I understand it wind is a transient energy, resultant from solar energy(fusion).Thanks for the post that needed to be said

pvsheridan (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

A wind turbine that is not engineered to tolerate . . . the wind.Sheer genius (pun intended).The notion that Malthusian lowtech garbage is our "road to energy independence" is like saying George Bush represents the "road to peace."Pathetic backward-looking JUNK like windfarms will soon be relegated to the ash heap of history.What a total joke.

vecaisvecis (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

For your next turbine some kind of automatic braking system is a must be.

vecaisvecis (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Something like that once happened to my home built wind turbine which exploded and showered my neighborhood with shrapnel during windstorm Erwin when windspeed hit 40 m/s. Later I found large part of blade in a forest 400 m away from my house. Luckily failure occurred at night when people were inside so there were no injuries only some broken glass. I consider you very lucky because if some of those larger pieces hit you at several hundred m/s it could be fatal.

artgoat (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

I think I'll be working towards fiberglass blades. If/when they fail at least the chunks are lighter.

rudly (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

at a wind speed as that great do you suppose an object hit the wood blades (60 m.p h) hmmmmm 5 star idea/project

captncaveman81 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

ever look into microcontrollers? i have a homebuilt 8052 based Atmel microcontroller that im going to use for my turbine. it will be able to automaticly switch the coils from start /delta, read rpm and windspeed, and to control the furling system..

gearhead937 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

If your up for the challenge, I would look into making a constant speed prop as used on some aircrat. There are those that use engine oil pressure, but also some that are purely mechanical using springs and flyweights... This would benefit in terms of sound volume, efficicency, and life of the various components. Good Luck with the rebuild!

xlqex (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

*splinter* :(

jackmonkey26 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

sorry to see that your turbine ate it. At least now you know what it can take. 5 stars for letting us see!