None
of my wind turbine and mast components actually need painting since they're made from either
plastic (possibly glass-fibre reinforced) or galvanised steel. However, the thing will be hoisted 3.5 metres
in the air and be in full view of me, my wife and various neighbours and so I
spent some time last weekend painting the wind turbine and the tube clamps to
make them stand out less. As you can
see, this is truly a green energy solution:
Rather than paint
the tubes, I wrapped them in brown PVC electrical tape:
The instructions on
the paint tin specified a temperature range of 15 °C to 25 °C for
application. The painter himself would
have appreciated a temperature in that range too but the paint and I had to put
up with a mere 5 °C along with splashes of rain carried into the garage by
gusts of unwelcome wind.
The plastic parts
were sanded over with some roughish sandpaper to provide a key and given a
couple of coats of primer followed by a couple of coats of green gloss. I gave the blades more coats since they'll
get the most punishment. It'll be
interesting to see how well the paint stands up.
Here's a scruffy diagram of what I'm trying to build:
The tube is split into two sections to be joined by the T-piece. This is so I can man-handle the tube plus turbine section and make it easier to erect. The wires will also run through the T-piece and into the shed.
The bottom base plate will be fixed to concrete with self-tapping concrete bolts.
I'll also be adding some MDF reinforcement inside the shed on the other side of the T-piece + base plate since this will be taking quite a lot of lateral force and torsion when the wind blows hard. I did wonder about trying to calculate some of the wind loads - but then I reasoned that the shed is basically an enormous sail - and it's still standing. It can handle a bit of extra push. I hope.