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Forum Index : Windmills : Windmill Stator Possibilities
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MacGyver Guru  Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
How cool is this? 
This is a stator out of a computer hard drive. Looks almost exactly like the F&P guts without any cogging iron cores (although they may actually be there, merely hiding under plastic). Still, it's pretty cool that you could save weeks of shop time short-cut by a little creative dumpster diving! Just a thought. Of course, you know what they say about "idle minds"! 
Edit: I just figured out that if 4 coils were wired in series and the magnets spinning inside the core were arranged properly, it would make this puppy a 3-phase alternator, right? (Thanks to Oz for that cool link!) . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Err . . . um . . Apparently, all roads do not lead to the Emerald City. Case in point: 
I scored a throw-away-ready hard drive from a neighbor. I took it all apart to find that cool motor pictured in the first post. Ain't takin' stuff apart a gas? 
Here's the part I thought I was looking for. That's a quarter next to it (American 25-cent coin) to give you an idea of its size. As most are already aware, I'm into "small" but this is even beyond me. There's a country-western song sung over here and the guy singing says something like "It's okay to be itty-bitty . . . etc." so I just figured that if small is cool enough for the s*!t kickers, it's okay for me too. Well, small is cool, but this is way too small, even for me! 
Don't quite know what to make of this. It's an itty-bitty electric motor with a worm and down-gears. Too cool to toss. It's headed for my "Damfino" drawer. Damfiknow what's in there! 
Remember that Barbara Striesand song, "Memories"? Here's some for ya. This is the hard drive memory, I think. That's the same quarter sitting there, by the way; everything here is rrrrrreally small! I feel the dumpster-diving urge comin' on me! I'll find one sooner or later and when I do, I'll post it here. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Andy R. Newbie  Joined: 07/05/2010 Location: United StatesPosts: 18 |
So if you would have had a "Quarter" in the 1st photo with the stator, how big would the "Quarter" be? (How's that for improper grammer?) |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Andy R. (grammar) Hmmm . . . . You know, that's a really good question. I got the picture off the Internet and just "assumed" it would be about as wide as a computer tower, like 3" or 3 1/2" or so. Heck, I hope they're not all that small. What a disappointment that would be, eh? 
. . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Mack You should put it in the photocopier and make it a bit bigger then it might be useful. Jokes aside the way they make things for nearly nothing really amazes me. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| larryp7639 Newbie Joined: 21/06/2010 Location: AzerbaijanPosts: 1 |
Great post! It's very nice. Thank you so much for your post. Watch Grown Ups Online Free |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
You just have to love it when Mac finds a new toy. They are the same as what some of us have used for ages in anemometers and phone charges, rotory encoders, etc. You will find they are already a 3 phase motor and no rewire of the windings needed except for the same reasons as we do with a F&P. You will find these sort of motors in many things from HDD, to pc fans, video heads..........and the list goes on. A lot of times you will find there is 4 wires because they bring the star connection out and tie it to +v and then phase the 3 sets of coils in sequence with V- to give rotation. If you want to use it as a generator than forget the star connection and rectifie the other 3 wires and ...presto.. instant generator. Im just not sure what you will do with all the power you make. Maybe dazzle yourself with a led. They are cute all the same. Happy dumpster diving. (me i would rather m-ff diving) Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Fooled Again Where this all started was in my mind. Yeah, I know -- flag on the play! Anyway, Glen had a post in his diary about a motor that looks the same as the picture I posted and he said it was out of a hard drive, but the thing was like 12" diameter and even had a rubber wheel mounted on its perimeter. He was going to use it to drive a solar-powered car or something, I think. So, I put 2 and 2 together (and apparently came up with 5!) and figured a hard-drive motor would be similar in size to the width of a computer tower and used that information to springboard myself into misunderstanding everything. This generator stuff is like flying R/C planes. When you first go to the flying field and watch stuff, it looks so easy. About that time someone hands you a radio, with a little plane about 6 mistakes high and you suddenly realize everything you thought 30 seconds ago is all rubbish! I'll keep trying. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Steve_O Newbie Joined: 10/07/2010 Location: Posts: 10 |
Hey there! I have a similar stator in my hand at the moment. It measures 1.5 inches - outside diameter. It came out of an old cd burner. Hope that helps! "As for me, all I know is that I know nothing." - Socrates |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
You guys and miniture stators, I can see the price of hampsters going up soon. 
Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Steve_O Thanks, mate. I threw the post up hoping to find one the size of Gizmo's. His looks to be about a foot across the middle, perhaps the size of an F&P (?) dishwashing machine motor. As Pete pointed out, I'm all into small, but this is TOO small. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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