With the publication of an updated 2023 edition of my metric Wind Turbine Recipe Book it seems appropriate to update my suggestions for sourcing materials. Often the best supplier will be a local one, but I will offer some links to online suppliers below in case this is useful.
This post is mainly for UK readers but if you are in the EU there will be other options that are easier to access such as the Ti-eole shop in France. Ti’eole offer magnets, and steel disks and courses and everything.
Neodymium Magnet Blocks 46mm x 30mm x 10mm thick :
Powermagnetstore have N40.
The web site may display low stock, but they tell me this is not accurate.
“We always stock these magnets ” See them also on eBay
Guys magnets may have N35 blocks. These are a bit weaker.
If you want to buy from China then I can recommend Lily as a trusted source for magnets [email protected]
In the EU there is :
Supermagnetic in Germany,
the Ti-eole shop in France
(or Enesmagnets in Poland who can offer 50 x 25 x 12 magnets in N38 which can also work well with the Recipes, slightly adapted.)
Winding wire
I buy my winding wire in 20kg reels from EC wire.
For smaller deals, here is an ebay supplier I found quite easily.
Resins, Vinyl Ester, Epoxy etc
East Coast Fibreglass
Polyfibre
These suppliers also offer the glass cloth you need for reinforcing the resin castings
Mostly I use West Epoxy nowadays for magnet rotor castings for maximum protection of the magnets.
Steel disks
Find a local workshop that offers profile cutting services. Bear in mind that it will be much cheaper to buy a larger batch if possible (shared with friends?). I like to get them sent to be galvanized on their way to me. Another option is to get them powder coated but I don’t find this lasts so long in my maritime environment.
It is fairly simple (if slow) to cut your own disks using a grinder (a big polygon works OK). Harder to get a precise result this way, but provided the assembly is balanced at the end there is no problem.
Trailer hubs
There are several online suppliers.
Trailertek offer stub axles and hubs for small turbines around 2m diameter
(beware of the seal behind the bearings which wears through due to thrust of the wind, so it is safer to remove this seal as the worn out seal causes a very slack bearing.)
You may wish to replace the bearings with decent ones such as SKF or other major brands.
I have also used AutoW for cheap options.
Towsure are another source.
For larger turbines I like to use 5-stud hubs with 140mm PCD (aka 5 1/2″)
I hope this helps. If anyone needs further advice (or if you have a good source to add to the list) please contact me at [email protected]
I gather that a single hydraulic ram can be supplied in place of the two (that brought the turbine mast down and up). The ram requires blow out valves to prevent collapse of the mast in the event of a pipe burst.
My unit has not been lowered for bearing greasing in 3 years and, just in case, the yaw rollers and spring bushes may need replacement. I would look to use my tractor to supply the required hydraulic pressure instead of a power pack.
My unit is the Kingspan supplied 6Kw turbine.
If you supply spares for the above I would be grateful if you could supply costs for consumables. Up in Caithness, by the way.