# Turning Pedestal Fan Into Windmill Generator



## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

The other day I happen to notice that the blades from one of my pedestal fans were free wheeling at a pretty good clip just from the passing breeze. The fan wasn't turned on at the time, but the breeze was strong enough to cause the articulating mechanism inside the fan to slowly move the fan head from side to side. 

I know that an unmodified induction motor cannot be used to generate power, but I decided to put my volt meter across the two prongs of the power cord anyway, and I was surprised to see that the spinning fan seemed to be producing between 15 - 20 volts all by itself. Not sure how this is possible, but I'm guessing that induction motor inside the fan was probably only putting out a milliamp signal, even though the voltage was ranging between 15 - 20 volts?

Anyway I was wondering if anyone else has tried this, and what type of output I can expect after modifying a small fractional horsepower motor like the type used in a pedestal fan? Also, do I need to install a corresponding magnet on the armature for each individual pole on the stator, or can I get by with only half as many magnets? Any advice appreciated.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Been kind of interested in this subject but not enough to do any serious searching for info. There are some vids on UTube that you can view and may glean some info. Pay attention to the description area directly under the vid, some provide a site addy you may find more info. You also might do some searching for "wind generator"on the net for info. I use Dogpile search rather than google. Mother Earth magazine used to be very informative many years ago don't know if you could access a useable database of theirs, but might be worth a shot.

Fred


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