This was the culprit that needed to be changed out on my Enertech 1800 wind turbine this past week. The good news was that it was the brake and not one of the keys in a Lovejoy coupler.
When I first built the mounting system for the turbine in 2001 I gave some thought to the future and made a nice platform to stand on when doing annual maintenance. I did not put enough thought into it so that the platform was at a level that I could reach any of the parts that might need attention. In years past I would haul up a 6 foot step ladder and lash it to the tower to work off from. This was always a hassle.
So I decided to weld up a ladder out of 1" square tubing.
The ladder is hooked over an angle iron at the top and the legs are pinned into the platform at the bottom. The step is at a level that when I am on it I can now reach everything in the nacelle that might need looking after. I will most likely just leave it on the tower. The turbine is on a five foot mast that will be cranked up when I am sure the replacement unit is not leaking. Securing the blades and controlling the yaw of the turbine is still a problem. My low tech solution is marginal at best.
This coming week will be a Kid Wind Challenge at the Mineral Point Library. One of the father and son teams that did it at the MREA Fair in Custer last month wanted to get some interest going and maybe start a Kid Wind Team in Mineral Point.
I will be conducting another Yard Art workshop at Shake Rag in Mineral Point this coming Saturday and Sunday. Here are some pictures of what they created last month.
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