Wind Mill for charging batteries

[Guest]

I am looking to build a wind powered battery charger for my fish house. Does anyone out there have any ideas or know of any web sites that could help me with this? I would appreciate any information. tha battery I am going to be charging is a 12v marine battery.
thanks

tjracer02

[Guest]

Thanks guys and gals

[Guest]

I think that is a great idea too. There are numerous websites with information on the subject, a simple keyword search on your favorite search engine should locate them for you. Are you on a budget? what kind of power use are you looking at? Are you looking to make it yourself out of spare parts or buy a complete system?

Basically all you need is a propeller, a generator(DC motor or automobile alternator) and some circuitry to rectify or invert the juice to a level you can use to charge your battery without cooking it.

There are some calculators available on the internet to help you figure out what the capacity of your system should be. Good luck!

[Guest]

I dreampt this up too,...but by the time I figured what it cost,....it was no longer appealing. Solar panels would be much cheaper but theres usually a lot more wind than direct sunlight out on the lake

[Grabs]

Bigguns, has come close to capturing the reasons why these are not very popular.

A) The cost of a wind generator quickly will add up to the cost of a new gas generator

Solar panels don't work well here in the winter because of the angle of the sun. To get ones that work well they are again very costly and some get rather large.

All in all, great ideas in theory, but there is a reason why the majority use gas generators on Mille Lacs.

[Guest]

Great Idea

I think you could attach a fan blade out of a fan, mount it to a alternator,would not need a belt and pulley system. Then use a automotive voltage regulator, to control the voltage.
Sounds like it could work. Heck I might even try it myself.

I have seen ones that guys use,with a gasoline engine and a belt to a alternator,then a regulator. Dont know why it would be any different, other than wind powered.

[Guest]

Almost forgot.
You should put a amp meter on also to see how much charge you are getting.You should be able to get one at any parts house.

Good Luck!!!

[osakisresort]

Just some info for you all on the solar powered, they work great, i have one myself, only problem is that when it gets really cold, below zero, its liquid inside, and it can crystalize, not a big deal cause when you warm it up, its ok then, but just tellin ya, like the past few weeks, it hasnt been charging much, but works great, rest of time. Usually not a problem if i know its gonna get super cold i just bring the bat. home and charge it here, but 90% of time, its in the house.

[neusbaum]

I have a remote cabin and I use a 12-volt deep cycle battery to run a few overhead lights. I use a solar panel to provide a continuous trickle charge to the battery and it seems to work fine.

[Guest]

I am looking to build a wind powered battery charger for my fish house. Does anyone out there have any ideas or know of any web sites that could help me with this? I would appreciate any information. tha battery I am going to be charging is a 12v marine battery.
thanks

tjracer02

[Guest]

How about solar instead of wind? A small solar panel would have a lesser chance to be vandalized. A windmill would be fun to build, but easy to dismantle if you know what I mean. A lot of boats use the solar panels. Even my buddy's 21' sailboat has one.

Good luck,

Hanger