Results Inconclusive

As I predicted, I climbed the wind generator tower twice more to try to correct the problem with the furling. And, as is so often the case, the situation improved without a clear explanation, or a defnitive cause to believe the problem fixed.

Our weather changed dramatically at the end of October. The lull in the wind I’d watched for came the 29th, coinciding with an unavoidable trip to town. We returned to the homestead in the late afternoon, and took advantage of the dropping wind to climb the tower once more. I won’t go into details; as before, the tools I carried proved inadequate. I tried a few things, and gave up on a few others because of conditions. At the end, I merely worked the machine back and forth by hand between furling and unfurling before retreating down the tower as the evening wind rose once again. With wet weather predicted for the next morning, I stripped the ladder off the tower as I went. We broke “work camp” on the Power Point, and stowed our gear.

The next day snow began falling. I spent a hard morning moving the cord or so of accumulated firewood off the Power Point, where it had been drying in the wind through the weeks of cold weather, under shelter. The snow “flocked” as it fell, requiring me to brush snow from each round, including its lee side, as I stacked. It proved to be a well-spent effort. The snow turned to rain the next day.

Since then, we’ve gone back and forth between rain and snow. Winter is upon us for sure. On Friday morning, 30 knot north winds and 40+ knot gusts savaged the wind generator. I cringed each time I heard it roar, a sure sign of furling, but to my surprise and relief, it fell back to normal position after each gust. Something—my efforts, the slightly warmer temperatures, the higher moisture content in the air—has improved the generator’s operation, at least for the time being.

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2 Responses to Results Inconclusive

  1. I love your blog. Good luck with your wind generator. Wish I could come lend a hand. We’re down in Ketchikan, and we’re looking at doing something similar down here. Finding property so far is the hardest part.

  2. Mark Zeiger says:

    Thanks, Russ. I imagine land in Ketchikan is pretty tight these days.

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