Mini Wind Turbine || DIY or Buy

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In this episode of DIY or Buy we will have a closer look at a commercial wind turbine. I will show you how it works and how much power it can output. Afterwards I will then 3D print a mini wind turbine I found on thingiverse and test it as well in order to figure out whether it makes sense to DIY such a wind turbine or whether we should stick to the commercial solution instead. Let's get started!
Thanks to JLCPCB for sponsoring this video
Visit jlcpcb.com to get professional PCBs for low prices
Music:
2011 Lookalike by Bartlebeats

[@lukemagdalin6169]

Diy or Buy? GreatScott: Yes

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

Yes great scott is a cheater: jlcpcb wins clearly

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

@Santosh Wankhede Today GreatScott is a coward The buy is clearly the winner if you don't look at the price tag but 300mW is way too low anyway.

[@calistohuettich]

@Santosh Wankhede it is referencing a meme

[@johnsmith-oy9kx]

yep, not a socialist !

[@johnsmith-oy9kx]

Never a socialist !

[@tsanggary6422]

4:45 Even FULLER BRIDGE RECTIFIER! Oops, wrong channel :D

[@6754bettkitty]

Go, Team ElectroBOOM!

[@UPSWINDOWS]

He is a very good teacher btw watch electroboom for a bit of more understanding

[@wunderwaffeyt4077]

Anyone else watched Mehdi's latest video about the human jumper cable and glowing radioactivity before watching this one?

[@Sluggyi]

Haha

[@MathewZ788]

@@wunderwaffeyt4077 definitely

[@azatecas]

Whoever designed this thing did an amazing job, the 3d printed turbine looks more commercial then the commercial one

[@mircoheitmann]

i love how the outro becomes more and more enthusiastic

[@lucien7904]

One day he will scream.

[@nunziodimauro4053]

@@lucien7904 l

[@mrksaccount123]

“Distance of as close as possible” 😄

[@BIZKIT551]

it's a measurement used only in Germany

[@efeyzee]

Good enough for engineering lol

[@rananomi2043]

That was really interesting

[@FreshRigs]

I call This " bailey's before your eye get all wet"

[@thisfeatureisbad]

DIY or BUY: Handheld vacuum cleaner.

[@lifeai1889]

DIY or BUY: robot vacuum cleaner.

[@greatscottlab]

I can put it on my to do list :-)

[@thisfeatureisbad]

@@greatscottlab Yay! (Again)

[@thisfeatureisbad]

@abdul bari *Angry dyson sounds in the corner*

[@GRBtutorials]

That’s pretty much Buy, as they’re cheap and it’s not exactly easy to make. Also, Jeremy doesn’t have too much time as he has money, so Buy usually ends up winning in most cases by default.

[@kreynolds1123]

Comparing both wind turbines output was fine, but while you gave a cost for the commercial, we didn't get to see an estimated cost for the diy project. A cost per watt for both for both would have been very usefull, and likely a major decesion factor for many. 😊 And lastly, a better test for 2 turbines with different blade lengths is to have the same wind blow across the entire surface area of the blade. Maybe take a box fan (or four), and make wind tunnel.

[@back40bandit98]

Building one myself is much more exciting. So, DIY is my choice. Like you said, It's a learning process. The second and third ones will be much better than the original DIY.

[@C0mmentC0p]

your videos are usually the best thing to happen on a sunday, thank you!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks :-) You're welcome :-)

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

Both win: cheater mode, you cannot compare the 2. The Nema motor is a big mistake. Inefficient as a generator

[@johnnodge4327]

Absolutely. Use a suitable BLDC motor instead. The gears aren't the issue, as those gears are almost 100% efficient, say 95% efficient or more. You're issue is the generator. ;)

[@buragoja9052]

yep i wonder how diy design work with generator or hmm some diy generator from rewind motor?

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

@@buragoja9052 probably a brushless DC motor with a better efficiency but it is much more expensive. A diy generator is fun but you need the computer tools to simulate the magnetic fields before you try to wire the motor. Or you will spend ages and probably fail.

[@Speeder84XL]

Exactly my thaught as well. That generator probably sucks big time. Even if the motor works fine, driving a reduction gear backwards may be really heavy and will probably waste most of the power.

[@markdaniel8740]

@@RomanoPRODUCTION there are many inexpensive brushless motors to match the exact needs. Match the motor kv to the expected rpm, and you can have direct drive.

[@volvo09]

Man, the design creativity in that 3d printed turbine is crazy! Very cool of the creator to release it. Too bad wind is nearly useless around me, but around a big lake or ocean I'd totally build my own.

[@susceptibility_]

"Let me know your farts" 10:16

[@Dzatoah]

oof

[@joachim1973]

I actually thought the same XD

[@robelengida6211]

hahaaaaaaah. but a great video. I love this guy.

[@daneins]

I came here looking specifically for this comment

[@covertpluto]

He’s still a great guy

[@Anima420]

Can you try to build the 50W version too, please? :D

[@rickytorres9089]

If the 5W version is about $150, then I sure the 50W version would be much much more expensive, time consuming and quite huge in size.

[@bitsurfer0101]

It's always nice to learn from something you are making rather than just build it, in my opinion. I like the Passive Variable Pitch design shown since it could be used in higher wind conditions.

[@eugenejohn3682]

Your videos are some of the few things that I appreciate in life

[@xavierlahey]

Verticle wind turbines can spin regardless of wind direction I recommend looking into them

[@rickytorres9089]

I heard they are generally better for lower wind speeds as well. So I suspect they are great at lower evaluations to boot.

[@DoctorX17]

God I love this series. And I agree with your answer of "yes" in this case

[@PerKroon]

For small to medium wind turbines a vertical turbine is more efficient, also much easier to DIY Thanks for great content!

[@LikeOnATree]

your level of knowledge, and your ability to explain it to us is amazing and appreciated!

[@timm3802]

Just the video I needed for my project "Windmill" Thanks Scott.

[@MrVaradir]

Your comparison is truly great! Also, I would defenitely recommend trying out the DIY version with a much bigger motor, or maybe even with the one from the commercial turbine!

[@syber-space]

So you know, you can add a pause into the print in PrusaSlicer (use a color change or the pause feature in the beta). That way you don't have to deal with the movement while inserting components.

[@olachus]

I do believe in the power of a DIY project. It gives you the opportunity to experience and improve the concept. Your DIY wind turbine can be greatly improved. Don't give up!

[@tartanrambo]

Excellent presentation. Thank you for sharing and stopping me from buying the commercial version.

Some grease on the moving parts might help regaining some lost power as electricity, i think. And the design is mechanically brilliant but, maybe keeping it simpler and finding a way to make a lighter propeller would help a lot.

[@amnesie6615]

Cool, gerade für uns im Norden eine Idee! Danke für das Video!

[@sonivvk]

This is the first video I watched from your channel and it made me subscribe. Great stuff. Look forward to seeing more such content! 🤩

[@wademartin8822]

I think DIY is always the winner because LEARNING!

[@jjppmm29]

4:13 TFW you go in with a dremel just to find threads on the other side been there XD

[@sYoshki]

Hah true

[@RobertSzasz]

Looked like a snap in rather than threads.

[@jjppmm29]

@@RobertSzasz also kinda looks like it was glued 🤷‍♂️, in either case it *probably* could have been been opened by less destructive means. not that it particularly matters except to serve as a spring board my allegorical shared feels moment.

[@MaxC_1]

pretty much why I soak stuff in acetone first and try and if it still doesn't work, some heat and then maybe a cut

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic work, dude! Really well done! 😃 I bet you could make a few tweaks in the model and use a better motor. Who knows. 😊

[@clemensmayer9171]

the most impressive documentation I ever saw on a thingiverse download!

[@giuseppesilano7857]

I think the DIY solution is the best one. First of all because as you explained, I teach a lot. And then, also because it can improved to fix all the issues the affect the current design.

[@roshandev8604]

Finally!!!.... I've waited too much!!😎😎

[@dexter1448]

Same

[@wodsex]

Same

[@pancake_crab4457]

Well, screw my other ongoing projects I wanna make my own wind turbine now.

[@mavismoi1]

the breathing is so annoying. downvote for sure

[@50Hz]

That’s interesting, it didn’t end how i thought it would. Great video

[@SimonCas]

I’ve downloaded this guys stl.’s also deeply impressed with his work. Thorough!

[@norm1124]

Swiss German for "My Wind Turbine" 🙈 = "Mini Windturbinä" Cooles Projekt

[@titanox_2155]

my phone is currently charging with 18w. the probably try to sell it as an outdoor energy source but with that kind of output power you're better of packing a power bank of the same size.

[@captainheat2314]

Or a solar panel

[@Znkank]

I was waiting such a video like that. Ty for this diy or buy video.

[@RoadRageLive]

Great video! Thanks for the links to the projects online.

[@milanhlavacek6730]

Would you make video about cocroft-walton voltage multipliers?

[@lazyh-online4839]

I second this request.

[@mcbigelo]

Nice comparsion. Know I want to build my own wind turbine ;) For comparsion I think you need to also test the generated energy in real environments. Cause in the average I think you get more energy from the diy genrator. And the wind from the leaf blower produce wind only on one spot. :) only some thoughts of mine :) Like your work! Gives me a lot of inspiration

[@simontay4851]

He just needs to visit the UK. Plenty of wind here at the moment with the storms we're getting.

[@formouthica]

Very interesting! I've been wanting to make my own mini wind turbine for a fun side project. This has given me some ideas :) Great video :)

[@majorkramer]

Thanks for your time Involving this video. I'm glad I found you by accident. I'm a noobie & don't know anything but I'm eager to learn. This was an eye opener to everything I'm going to need & want. Right now I have very little but I'll find a way to get it as I learn. Thank for the reality check. Lol

[@hans8905]

4:45 *FULLEST BRIDGE RECTIFIAAHHH!!!*

[@6754bettkitty]

No, it is the "even fuller bridge rectifier."

[@sasodoma]

Or as the Germans call it: SECHSPULS BRÜCKENSCHALTUNG!!!

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

I recently bought a hand cranked emergency USB charger. You could do an episode on that

[@EmreDUR]

JLCPCB part literally blew my mind. Nice script :)

[@jameswalsh5683]

one of the best video of yours! enjoyed it a lot :)

[@LucasHartmann]

In this episode of DIY or BUY.... DON'T! LOL. A 10x10cm square PV panel can do about 4W, though you still need a battery for night time.

[@vylbird8014]

I came to the same conclusion. Wind power doesn't scale down: To be practical, it must be huge. The power produced is proportional to the cross-sectional area, so if you make your turbine twice as wide you get four times the power. It's also proportional to wind speed *cubed*, so you need to mount it at some height to get a good wind flow. Photovoltaics are linear in scale: Spend twice as much on panels, get twice as much power output.

[@jklmnpqrst]

​@@vylbird8014 turbine twice as wide cost more than twice as much

[@bluecrush4658]

0,1m*0,1m=0,01m2 with 1000W/m2 is like 10W and with the efficiency of 15-20% its like 1,5-2W max

[@vylbird8014]

@@jklmnpqrst It costs less than four times as much. So the bigger you build your turbine, the better your cost-per-watt gets. The cost of building twice as big is usually less than twice as much too - the blades are cheap, it's the bearings and support that make most of the cost. The economics of wind power are just not in favor of small-scale generation. The rapid fall in the cost of wind power generation in recent years is largely just due to the introduction of bigger and bigger turbines. GE has a model with a 220-meter blade diameter! Those things are around the height of a seventy-story building.

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

@@jklmnpqrst But less waste means more saving and faster to pay itself

[@DoNotHackMyAccount]

Would've been interesting to know how much he spent on filament and other parts.

[@jakegarrett8109]

Filament I buy is about $10 USD per killogram (so about $5 per pound). Since these don’t really need to be solid you could save some weight but even assuming it’s solid then that’s like maybe a pound of plastic. **Technically I rarely pay over $8 per kilo shipped to my door, but I also don’t care about color so if ugly puke green or fluorescent yellow is on sale that’s what I get! I have used more expensive like $50-$60 per roll as well and it’s often a pain and super picky for some reason, so I use the cheap stuff. I typically print ABS and PLA (I even got a nice kilo roll of glow in the dark PLA for $9.99, haha, I literally switched my machines parts to work with 3mm filament just because it was such a great sale, haha! Locally it’s also like $12 for a roll of any size and nearly any color (it’s the clearance rack, but they usually have like 10 rolls of a good variety), otherwise retail store mark up your looking at $17 per kilo but they have a whole rainbow gambit of colors and materials (some specialty like carbon fiber reinforced, wood or metal additive, or TPU will cost more). NEMA 17 motor is like $8-$10, so not a lot and the NEMA stepper does not make a good generator so I’d pick something else personally, but that’s roughly what it cost is like maybe $20 in total with the voltage controller and stuff (could be as high as $30).

[@Oscar4u69]

@@jakegarrett8109 what a nice and detailed explanation, thank you good man :)

[@Todestelzer]

Jake Garrett 1kg PLA filament cost around 20-25€ in Germany.

[@Jehty_]

@@Todestelzer or 12€ - 15€ on eBay. You don't always have to buy the most expensive filament.

[@earlspencer7863]

@@jakegarrett8109 thanks! $30 bucks seems fair.

[@freezyAndHaze]

Awesome model. Definitely gonna build this one too.

[@michelewhitewolf3712]

This is a subject close to where I live. I am going to attempt to be building a flat pack cabin for up in the Cascades mountains and need to provide power. I will build a DIY wind turbine but from other materials. Great video and you have won 👏 an appreciation day on my calendar.

[@SuperBreazer]

MyDealz, i see you are a man of culture as well ;)

[@JanSeewald]

;)

[@robink.9459]

He really should order a wind turbine for his Gästeklo

[@vaibhavhayaran]

4:45 even fuller bridge rectifiaahhh

[@SimonStuff2000]

😁

[@danjonesguitarist]

Terrific video, thank you!

[@t-rexgamer172]

Great video! I am inspired by projects like this!

[@ithaca2076]

Actually, I have been waiting my for PCB assembly from JLC for maybe a month now. That's how long they have delayed my project. Not to mention, they had to cancel one of my projects

[@doctorpex6862]

Maybe they found your YT username....

[@ithaca2076]

@@doctorpex6862 maybe

[@derrogers]

Since the Corona pandemic everybody body has to wait for parts from China... I really liked oshpark... Certainly not as cheap but even with shipping from us to Germany a good option.

[@derrogers]

@Joe Blow yeah. Customer service is really great, on my first project I fucked up my drill files... And they were kind enough to email me back...

[@peerappel2012]

Thats quiet odd! My order was produced with almost no delay...

[@wunderwaffeyt4077]

"Their products are healthy" -GreatScott 2020

[@alexanderschroter565]

I think there is a disc generator (Scheibenläufer) used in the commercial unit. The problem with the stepper motor is the cogging torque of the individual steps. This force is also higher with the used gearing. I recently printed a vertical wind turbine and made such experience. On the other hand you need some kind of MPPT for a wind generator. Or just make multiple load cases. A single point of measurement is not significant for comparism between both units.

[@efeoktay244]

Very nice video. thanks. I intend to do a much smaller one but i'm not sure if it even charge a single battery.

[@kinsi55]

Adding the nut while printing? Sounds like a broken printer / failed print wanting to happen.

[@kruemmelbande5078]

Someone probably: There wont be enough airflow to make it turn. Also it doesent work in every weather! German Weather: UNLIMITED POWER!

[@Stocksn100]

Yep. Especially this year.

[@kruemmelbande5078]

@@SimonWoodburyForget OK... Uhm did you.... Not not get that this was a joke?

[@paigegamer7769]

@@SimonWoodburyForget hmmmm....charge cell phone at the beach? But no signal there anyway, soooo.....

[@maxximumb]

The DIY looks like the more fun option. It would also be customisable, in that you could use a better motor as your generator.

[@ahloo6920]

I love ur videos man. Keep it up

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

I'm going to do a DIY RBMK 100 nuclear reactor. Makes plutonium as a bonus.

[@psun256]

Isn't the RBMK family only RBMK 1000, RBMK 1500 and RBMKP 2400?

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

@@psun256 Well yeah, but there's no way you could print out a 1 GWe reactor core on this printer. I figured toning it down to 100 MWe would be more realistic.

[@psun256]

@@AndrewTubbiolo Literally ten times easier to make now (not really but yeah)! But yeah I guess it is a bit more realistic but you'd have almost equal numbers of problems with the government than your reactor

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

@@psun256 I'm joking. .... It's not realistic. :)

[@CarbonCoil]

9:47 The marker smearing the ink ahhhhhh o_O

[@wunderwaffeyt4077]

Why does EVERYONE hate that?!

[@JanSeewald]

I hate this too! It's hurting me

[@lucien7904]

Why is this in each of his videos :(

[@stevec00ps]

This always upsets me. I know before I click on the video it's coming and try to brace myself, but every time ARRGHHHH!!

[@wunderwaffeyt4077]

@@lucien7904 I know right?!

[@BensHacks]

The efficiency was highly reduced by the forward voltage of the Diodes. It was not mentioned if they are shockey ones or not. But lets assume 1.2v for two Diodes. In the buy option an output voltage of around 1.5v can be seen. In this case the loss is a bit less than 50%. At the div option a voltage of about 0.75v can be seen, witch results in about 60% loss.

[@user-mx5we1li2l]

Es macht wirklich spaß zu zuschauen.

[@cyborgsheep6077]

1:43 LOL!!!

[@covertpluto]

The virus is so sad tho

[@creazychannel]

You bought yourself? From whom? 😂

[@reysun9935]

Nice work. I subscribed. Keep it up, your videos are great

[@pavankishore1174]

Good education video, please do such useful videos. Thank you Mr.Scott

[@bartt7425]

Im so high i can only focus on his inhale after finishing every sentence....

[@dominiklaim8504]

Same 😂 his accent kills me even as a swiss.

[@ncofab46]

Awesome building very interesting. Is there going to be a 2nd part were you Improve upon both options

[@Oddman1980]

I have a large (~2-3kw) BLDC motor just... lying on a shelf in my garage. I bet the parts for that 3D printed turbine would scale right up.

[@JohnTarbox]

I would love to see you do an update video with another DIY wind generator of another type.

[@Mike-gr2ok]

The variable pitch is really important to it's start up and running, go back to it at some point and give it another go, maybe sort a better generator for the printed one? Great video keep them coming 👍

[@TheCommuted]

Peak voltages of motors make diode drop material. Smooth voltage from generators makes active regulation safe.

[@woowididit]

This is such a good video idea

[@jlourens070]

Great video as always, after seeing this I watched a few other 3d printed turbines on youtube. And it looks to me you forgot the spring in the nose cone that pushes on the swashplate. The tention of the spring dictates the force needed to rotate the blades (not the turbine).

[@Inspironator]

I like your make or buy videos.

[@Iulius4]

Like your videos. Greetings from Valencia, 🇪🇸. 👍

[@HH-xf9il]

Scot, the passive variable pitch system is a break to prevent the blades destroying themselves in high wind; looks like your leaf blower put the brakes on and limited your result

[@DuudSimon]

I found out that the stepper motors have a small ring in the bottom that creates friction when spun. If it is taken out it reduces the energy loss a lot.

[@FactFlicker02]

Hey bro i like u r way of calculations n 3d printing n all

[@neagoecatalin879]

Man, you're really doing GREAT things! Thank you and compliments! In my opinion DIY wins because of more flexible and customizing system. It's a scalable turbine and I'd the pitch it's working, the efficiency should be higher, am I right? Again, thank you!

[@zh411001]

combine both of these together, for example, use the commercial motor instead of the stepper motor since the DIY project has a better rotation angel. if you ever would add wind-generated power in combination to your garage solar system how would you do it? and what futures would you add to make them work seamlessly charging the battery?

[@avejst]

Fantastic video👍 Thanks for sharing👍😀

[@nic5779]

great video would love to see you build a bigger one

[@jacobmollernielsen7198]

Nice build!

[@samsstills]

I was looking at printing the 50 watt turbine but ultimately abandoned it as no one seems to have actually got anything useful out of it, making another video for you :) Great video as usual.

[@AkosLukacs42]

I think it's extremely cool that you can 3D print a wind turbine. Lifetime is a question tho :) The output voltage with the DIY is just 0.7-0.8V, what diodes did you use? If you used regular diodes switching to schottky would be a significant improvement. Or as others have already said, probably a bigger one might make work better.

[@cristianaguilar6569]

Excellent video my friend keep up the Great Work! You also need your own tv show on the discovery channel! Your videos are so educational and will help influence kids to think outside the box.

[@TheFinalRevelation2]

You need a HDD motor and low drop off schotkey diodes with voltage drop of 0.2-0.3 v and then an energy harvesting circuit

[@StigDesign]

Well made video and good conclusion :D

[@ThomasSanjurjo]

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the difference in durability. I assume you used ABS plastic, do you feel like the DIY option will hold up as well as the store bought in high wind conditions? Also, would you be able to customize out the motor for a direct motor? I wouldn't like to use the gears if I can avoid it.

[@theorangebaron1595]

The assembly did not go as planned because it was "Assy". :) Love the videos!

[@dfdice]

Worth to give a try to the Liam F1 Design!

[@freerideshuttle]

Pvc pipes used into the industry (based on thickness) you could find them in pecialized shops or ordering them.

[@tspark1071]

Very clear. Thank you