Wind turbine from old computer parts

[Centmo]

I built this quite a while ago, but thought I'd share. It used to have CDs as blades but they broke off. It's a micro wind turbine build mostly from old re-claimed computer parts from the junk bin at my old work. The generator coils, magnets, bearing and support disc (platters) are all from old hard drives. The vertical fin is made from fibreglass backings which they used to put on old HDs. The rectifier circuit components are from an old computer PSU. The only parts not reclaimed are the aluminum magnet supports, the steel support rods, nuts, bolts, washers, wires, and of course prototype boards and LEDs.

Don't get too excited that you're going to power your house with a bunch of these. It generates less than 1W, but does light up a dark room when you spin it.

 

[newtonoid]

Neato; so, it generates single phase, I guess?

 

[Centmo]

Yes, and it's a pretty funny looking waveform. Without the LC filter, the LEDs pulsate quite badly. With the filter, it still pulsates but only slightly.

 

[newtonoid]

Cool, thanks for sharing.

 

[ArNvC]

This is a good project...thinking of building one...thanks for the post.