Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Windmill Generator Fire

There goes the carbon footprint....

Looks like some sort of accelerant was involved.

Any periodic maintenance done? Looks like the gears got hot enough to set the fiberglass on fire. I've heard one of the downsides of these things is they need lots of maintenance.

Something got hot! That is for sure!

The gear oil in the transmission breaks down under the stress, overheats and ignites taking anything that will burn with it.

So it was improper maintenance? I've seen a lot of these sitting idle in rotation with one or two that is/are running off of Interstate 80/90 headed west across the country. I've been told they constantly need maintenance.

That looks like one of the ones where the blades are 100' - 120' long - each!

The blades are 120' long. We have stepped them off while the blades were being moved on trucks. At least that is how it is in western Oklahoma

I hope to have one when I pay off my house. Not that big of course! With the confidence I'm getting from getting up to the top of my log home I think I could handle climbing up for maintenance! On the other hand it may be better just to contract it out.

Cecil, I've been up to the very top of the LA Coliseum when we did the earthquake restoration (the "dome" that's above the archways at the entrance where the flame is) after the Northridge earthquake. We had to climb up a wrought iron ladder that was attached to the outside of the dome. At that time, there was no cage around it. That was a whole different perspective on the city of LA! Being that high up on the outside of a building is completely different than being on top of a 40' ladder.....

It was pretty neat. It seemed that all the workers that built the Coliseum back in the late 19teens/early '20's all signed their names inside the dome. Mine is there too.

I can't imagine what it's like to work on one of those windmills. How high are they at the rotor hub?

Xtremely high maintenance, low producers of electricity. Approx. 3 million finished price.In the summer time, when outdoor temps spike,( here they are so expensive to operate, they are only considered "peak demand" justified) and the peakers start being alerted to possibly fire....when these things are needed.....the wind stops blowing.And these things go offline. At least around here. What many do not know, is that grid power is required for these to even begin to operate.i.e. They will turn, but not produce.

Wow, 3 million bucks each?

Dave, that's what I've been told, by VERY RELIABLE sources. Cant tell you who or how they know, but let's just say they should know....

There's alot more to these things than just erection.....now you have to tie them into the grid, among other things.

Ah once you get so high you loose perspective. It's like flying in a jet and looking out the window. Doesn't bother me a bit if I feel safe.

Is there anything you haven't done Scott? No worries I won't build a windmill hybrid system that big! I doubt my neighbors would allow it anyway. I have a strong feeling the retired cop behind me will complain even with a small one. He whined about the sound of one of my aeration compressors and he is hundreds of feet away!

Maybe these things are not what they are cracked up to be, but has anyone noticed the power companies are building more and more and the government is restricting them for use by private citizens? Now I'm the last one that believes in conspiracies, but you have to wonder if some of our officials aren't getting their palms greased by power company lobbyists.

Jim,

I asked some questions of my local power company about hooking them up to the grid. Strangely they didn't have a clue and did their best to discourage me...

True.....here you can hook up to the Rural coop grid. The best you can do is what they call net meter. They buy back what you produce, but you will NEVER receive anything more than a zero balance on your monthy statement. BUT you must carry at least 1 million in liability insurance to protect against any damges to THEIR system.

A few years ago, my brother was merely investiagting average wind temps here at the farm, for the possibility of a wind turbine.The word got out to our local cooperative. They then done a wind study, and done a big story about it in the Coop monthly circular. After a year of testing the Elec. coop. deduced that wind generation was absolutely not feasible in this area.

Later.....Lo and behold, with political persuasion, our local coop announced the great benifits of wind power.They also announced the bveginning of a decent sized wind farm. A friend of mine, who lives in the very close proximity of the wind farm claims that everyone who got a turbine on their land (which comes with monthly lease payments)happened to be big political supporters of the party of the ones building the wind farm.........

Sure it's all political, everything else is, why wouldnt this be?

The interesting aspect, is it's my understanding that a privately owned electric provider,which operates in the area, has been encouraging industrial sized users of electricity, to actually install power generation which can be used during times of peak demand, to not only supply their own facility, but to sell the excess to the power company.They actally offer financial incentives to do so. The same company offers enough money in many instances, to relamp facilties. Energy consumption is greatly reduced. And the electric provider almost pays for the entire project.

Call Rural coops what you wish, but they are definitely in MY OPINION, nothing more than a government agency. I better stop now, I've already said too much. Will probably get moderated!

Lots, Cecil, Lots!!

I know from very reliable sources that these wind turbines are not reliable. One utility put up 20+ of these in MN, and not a single one worked at all.

Every generator had to be replaced, under warranty.

The same utility built a 1300 MW Wind Farm, and they were getting only a few hundred MW out of it.

Sounds like these companies need to make a trip to Denmark and see how they do it, and what technology they're using. If the domestic systems are that unreliable, then there must be a better one out there somewhere.

The charging systems used in most of today's autos are the same way, as in they require current to excite the windings before they will begin to produce output.

Interesting discussion. I read a solar/wind energy forum occasionally, the consensus on that forum is that most wind power generation systems are junk. Common problems that wind generators seem to have are: failure to produce advertised power generation levels, excessive noise levels produced by the system, and high mechanical failure rate.

The dam things are taking over southwest Minnesota.

Since our tax dollars help fund them, they will continue to be built (workable solution or not).

Feel your head banging against the black hole wind wall?

Didn't Germany switch from wind to solar a while back because of some of those exact same problems? (How's THAT for opening up a can of worms?)

Sunil, Same situation here.....high failure rate, mega warranty issues.Many of them didnt run, and several of them had phasing issues.The original wire was cut too short for merely un terminating and reterminating. This was discovered AFTER they were erected. Now the experts would not allow splices, so they had to be totally re-wired from the ground up.Sure it was warranteed, but what was it Chris Farley said as Tommy Boy? A guaranteed P.O.S.!! Dwight, you nailed it. Now that's an "inconvenient truth".

Sprkplug, that's the exact scenario with these wind turbines. Shut the coal and nuke plants down....lights out!

The land requirement is huge to get the same amount of power as a coal or nuclear power plant. Its unreal. They are more hassle than good at least around here. But as long as 'Moe' and 'Curly' think wind and solar is the solution, they will be built.