Persistent Realities »

Sometimes when programming you get stuck on an annoying problem, and need to do something else. I have tried creating windmills for about two years now. but because of the lack of resources I haven't been able to make a 'real good one', unfortunately. More information about my windmills can be found here.

While thinking about the last windmill which I tried to make (from PVC drainage pipe, works quite well) and thinking about the 'Pringles can' projects which you see every now and then (like the Cantenna) the idea was born: The Pringlescan windmill. A year ago I worked on my PVC windmill. Creating windmill blades from a Pringles can is pretty much similar.

Note: You might notice that the photos are not from a real Pringles can, but from a clone (mister Potato). The cans are simply the same, and the contents nearly too. I just had these laying around instead of a real Pringles can. Photos of a real one will follow later .

Usage:

Ofcourse the windmill is not going to be big. We are limited to the height of the Pringles can. But, with a simple hobby motor attached to the windmill you might be able to light up a few LEDs. Alternatively, you could try making your own alternator from scratch. Unfortunately I do not have the magnets for it, so I cannot comment on the performance.

There are a few issues with the windmill:

The blades are made of paper/cartboard like material. I doubt it will survive rain.
The blades are "light" (as in weight). Which means that it does not have any mass to rotate: When the wind disappears, the blades will stop quickly.
The blades are relatively small; the windmill will turn fast but won't have a lot of "power" to turn things around.

Parts

I've tried to keep limited, nearly everything comes out of a Pringles can. I'm using one can to make six blades. If you plan to use three blades, you could use half of the can for other purposes like the tail. I realized this the moment I was writing this .

I think with two Pringles cans it would be possible to completely build a decent windmill, complete with a housing and everything.

Next to a Pringles can, we need:

A few nuts and bolts. Whatever suits you
A simple electrical motor. Whatever you find, and turns eaily. You might want to use a Voltmeter to determine it's (maximum) output. Unfortunately most small motors begin generating power at quite a high RPM. so not every motor you find is suitable, unfortunately. Assembling them is also completely up to you. I went from a simple DC motor to a harddisk motor (salvaged from my first windmill project).
Scissors,(or) a knife, screwdrivers...

Making your own Pringles windmill

Creating a windmill is quite easy, it will take about 30min to a hour, excluding the assembling on a motor. If you want you can follow these instructions as well to create a windmill from a different material - as long as it is cylinder shaped. Since I assume the Pringles cans are internationally the same, I have added the default values (where necessary) between brackets ([...])

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Step 1)

Mark a straight line on the can. I used the paper line (see picture).

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Step 2)

Measure the can diameter of the can [23,5cm / 9.25 inch].

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Step 3)

Divide the diameter by three (7,8cm / ~3.1 inch).

[To-do!]

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Step 4)

Draw two straight lines, similar to the straight line of Step 1. Start at that line, and add 1/3 of the diameter (as calculated in Step 3). When you have added the two lines, the can should have three lines, equally spaced from each other.

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Step 5)

Calculate 1/9 of the diameter, which should be 2,6cm or ~1.0 inch.

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Step 6) Read this carefully

Put the can towards you so the Pringles guy (or mr. Potato for that matter) is facing you correctly. Now, for each line go 1/9 of the diameter to the right (clockwise) and mark it clearly.

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Step 7) Read this carefully

Now turn the can upside down, and repeat the procedure: Go clockwise (right) and add 1/9 of the circumfence to the lines. Check the picture to be sure.

(Ignore diagonal cut!)

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Step 8)

First cut around the bottom of the can, to remove the alumiminium 'lid' thing. This will take some effort, and might not look pretty eventually . You could always cut off blades to make it look prettier.

Also remove the thicker part at the other side (where the plastic lid goes over). Cut along the three parallel sides (See step 1 and step 4). Now you should have 3 similar pieces.

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Step 9)

Draw a diagonal line from the marked offsets (Step 6). See the picture and drawing. you should have one diagonal line on each of the three parts.

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Step 10)

You can mount these on various ways on the "hub", which is going to be the aluminium part of the windmill. Mount them on the flat side of the aluminium lid. The side that normally is at the bottom of the can. I used glue and some tape in my prototypes. you can try quite some things to assemble them to the aluminium.

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Step 11)

Now it's time for your own creative ideas to mount it on a motor... .

Video

Here is a very short video demonstrating the Pringles Windmill! Unfortunately the LED doesn't light up, the old HD motor requires an incredibly high RPM. Something which I could not get (wasn't a lot of wind, but it turns smooth!). I found an old 3v motor which generates 1v easily. I'll try that one soon when I have the time for it .

Check out the Video.

Improvements

Some future improvements:

Make the windmill follow the wind direction, could use the old harddisk motor as bearing
Use the remaining half of the pringles can as "wind vane" or "tail" on the back of the windmill
Put the windmill higher. Getting it above the trees is a must for maximum of wind.

Next

A Savonius windmill made of a Pringles can. Should be a lot easier than this windmill!

Don't know what a Savonius windmill is? It's commonly used for air refreshing on vans, and as rotating marketing displays on the strees.

Checkout PicoTurbine.com. This site has an easy to build savonius windmill from some paper, and a small piece of cartboard.

I bet you can see how well this works with a pringles can .

Update 11 May 2007

Mike Edwards created the first Pringlecan based Savonius windmill! Check out his complete set of instructions here. Great work!