One of my latest restoration projects. These are pretty hard to come by, so I was surprised to find it still out on top of a house and got it from the landowner for a good price which included an extra propeller and the control panel box that was inside the house. I've been completely through the entire thing including rebuilding the generator. Nice to work on something completely American made in Sioux City, Iowa, and fairly simple to understand. I took lots of digital photos while taking it all apart and during the restoration. Now just need to wire it up and go off the grid!
Very cool!
Very pretty! How did you restore the artwork? And what about all those in-process photos -- where can we find them?
What Will You Do With 6-Volts ?
Could not you have rewound for 12 volts and made this compatible with available storage devices?
Are 6 volt storage systems and LED lights readily available?
Paul in PA
Which model?
Model 39 or 611?
You can still buy 6v batteries - I know because my 1949 Cub is 6 volt.
Model 611. The tail is hand painted. I could still see enough of the original paint to redo it. I'll post more 'in-progress' photos later today. One of the main issues I encountered with the generator was that it had about a cup full of dried mud inside it. There are four vent holes where mud wasps routinely entered the holes and made their nests in there.
What Will You Do With 6-Volts ?
6 volt batteries in series is better than 12 volt batteries when inverting back to 120 volt, or so I have been told.
In reality, a couple solar panels would probably out perform the wind generator in overall performance. It would supplement for night time power generation.
Can't beat the cool factor though.
cool.
I was always amazed at the simple design and functionality of vintage wind equipment. It looks like it survived simply because of its superior design and construction.
Very nice and good restoration.
Of course, most of us know that the antiquarian value is in relation to the original condition.
Avoid any suggested modifications to the original design to retain the value.
That is awesome. I need one of those projects. But not today.
> ...Now just need to wire it up and go off the grid!
A Wincharger 611 has 110 watts, I think. According to my dusty-trusty HP11C that's a little less than 20 amps produced with 6 vdc.
I hope you weren't going too far off that grid....;-)
It's all about storage and eliminating/reducing powered devices.
Grandfather powered his house with a 30 amp car alternator driven by water power. Power was stored in a large bank of discarded batteries he found at the dump.
It's easier to be off the grid than most people think.
That looks like a lot of work. Nice job!
