I decided to finsh some details on the stator while I was kicking around the shop today.

The generator terminals will eventually need to get connected to the line so I installed stainless terminal end lugs. The stainless will hold up to weather with no problem, but the main reason for using it is that it’s non-magnetic and I didn’t want them interfering with generation since these will be be in an area between the rotors.

You can see how each phase of the generator output is attached in the photo above and, on the flip side (below) how the line will connect to the opposite side of each lug. It should be an easy matter to hook it up when the time comes.

With the rotor metalwork completed and the layout of the magnets done, it’s time to cast the rotors in fiberglass.

I have no doubt that these magnets would hold fast to the backing plates by their own strength & with the bead of CA adhesive around each one… and then embeding them in epoxy fiberglass, but I’m giving the outer edge a few wraps with fiberglass reinforcing tape. It will hold a magnet in should one start to slip from the rotational forces but will also help prevent any minor long-term stress cracking.

Nothing jumps together by itself and there’s two rotors that need to be cast. We could make one mold and re-use it to pour each rotor, but while I was at it, it is just as easy to make two at the same time and then pour both rotors at the same time. 

The base of each mold is a 14″ x 14″ piece of 1/2″ plywood because I had 1/2″ on hand ;) , but since the rotor backing plate is 1/4″ thick and the magnets are an additional 1/2″ it was necessary to use 3/4″ plywood for the center piece with the 12.5″ hole in it.   Continue Reading »

On shift at Remote Energy Plants without the benefit of other employees or the designated Safety Representative watching over your every move – That’s right, it’s a “benefit” - a non-participant might make the incorrect assumption that it’s easy to make “Safety” a subordinate consideration.

I recall one day on the job with the aforementioned benefit of others – when a mechanic admonished me with, ”How do you get by without sideshields?”. I hadn’t realized that I had gotten up from my computer and walked into the plant while still wearing my regular reading glasses. His “calling me out” for my own good was greatly appreciated and I immediately corrected the situation. I won’t forget it.

In Remote Energy Plants, many of the work areas are out of the main stream (pun intended) and a lot of times we’re working nights/weekends/holidays when others are enjoying their earned time away. Either way, “Safety isn’t 9 to 5″ with this team and like many other individuals in this industry, we take personal ownership of it.

While preparing for a job the other night, I needed to grab some equipment from our tool cage. Since the cage here is professionally organized, it didn’t take me but a few seconds to grab some orange cones, a portable light and a cart on my way out from collecting the other tools I needed.

When I got to each of the areas needing my attention, it was easy to set-up some extra lighting, put the cones out and string the extension cord overhead. You’ll also notice a Fire Extinguisher, the wheeled glare screen, and the cart; the cart doing double duty as a good place to post the Job Safety Briefing & Hot Work Permit since I needed to relocate for each consecutive task.

Even though the possibility of foot traffic through this area at 1AM is very slim, I don’t want to be the one apologizing for someone getting hurt because I didn’t anticipate the possibilities of a Security Guard, unexpected late night worker, etc… and I can say that set-up and take down of the safety equipment added less than 3 – 5 minutes overall.   

You don’t need to milk a job to get it done safely and at the other extreme whenever someone tells me that they don’t have the time to do a job safely, I tell them that I don’t have time not to.

It’s how we roll.

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