Balancing PVC Wind Generator Blades

Arguably one of the most important steps when building a wind generator using PVC blades is balancing them. If you don't balance the blades your wind generator will 'wobble' and can cause serious damage to it or you (if a blade breaks). Balancing PVC wind generator blades is easy so let's get at it.

First, let's get all of the tools you're going to need in this step.

What You'll Need

 

  • Wet Erase Marker
  • Pen & Paper
  • Blades mounted on the hub with an arbor
  • The body of the wind generator which you started in the previous step
  • Some cutting pliers
  • Sandpaper
  • Touch up paint

 

Here's what your entire setup is going to look like:

 


Click For Larger Image

 

Let's get into what you need to do to balance your blades.

If you would like to learn more about building a wind generator just click here

First off, you need to mount your body onto your workbench. I used a wood screw to hold it in place. It's important that it's high enough that the blades can spin freely.

Now take your wet erase marker and number your blades. We're using a wet erase marker so we can easily remove the numbers once we're done.

Here comes the fun part. Give the blades a good spin and mark down which blade number ends up on the bottom. Mark this down on your piece of paper. Give the blades another spin and if the same number blade ends up on the bottom than you're going to have to use your snippers and cut off some of the edge of that blade.

Make sure to cut only a little bit off at a time because you don't want to have another blade that's unbalanced. Repeat this process until the blade which ends up on the bottom is somewhat random.

The video explains in great detail what you need to do.


If you would like to learn more about building a wind generator just click here

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