DIY Wind Generator

[ears]

I have a bit of spare time next week as the family are all away so I decided to have a go at this.

I had seen a review of a commercial product (linked below) and the 'two fan' version together with delivery and all the extras was over £200 - a bit much for something that's just a bit of fun.

Now I realise that most of the time I race in cars with windscreens and even open wheeler drivers wear helmets so whether this introduces any realism is up for debate.

However, realism and immersion are not necessarily the same thing and I'm open to this adding some immersion to the experience.

Additionally, summer has come early and I do get very hot and sweaty inside that VR hat, so the idea of some cool wind blowing at me is appealing.

I managed to pick up everything I needed for this project on Amazon for around £80.

If it works, I'm a progremmer by trade, so might take a look at connecting to APIs in other sims to see if I can use the fans on those two - the scripts provided only work with AC so far.

If anyone's interested, I'll post updates. Should be building it over the weekend, early next week.

 

[Michal Burisin]

Anyone here got experience with Arduino + MotoMonster? I have already burned 2 Arduinos and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I have trouble with power supply and MotoMonster. I'm trying to build wind using SeaFlo blowers, Arduino and MotoMonster.

I connected everything normally - MotoMonster on Arduino as shield. For first tests, I used PC power supply and connected it to Molex +12 V branch and ground. It worked perfectly.

Then I got this 12 V power supply designed for LED usage and connected it like this.

But once I connected it to MotoMonster, exactly as before I smelled something burning so I plugged it of instantly, but the Arduino was burned - nothing cannot be uploaded anymore and power LED is off, but it's still recognized by PC so it's not burned completely.

Also with this power supply when turned on, one of the MotoMonster chips gets very hot instantly, but over time this heat lowers a bit. This doesn't happen with PC power supply at all and chips are only mildly warm.

I thought I did something wrong and tested it again later with another Arduino, but it burned exactly the same way.

What could cause it to burn with this LED power supply, but work ok with PC power supply?

I have done some more testing on the burned Arduino - it still works, the program is still there so when blower is connected it turns on. I have measured it with multimeter and both power supplies give 12 V as they should.

I also measured all the pins going to Arduino and there is major difference between those two power supplies.

With LED power supply, most of the pins has 12 V or more on them, so it seems the power from power supply is leaking through to Arduino through all the pins which caused it to burn.

If I use PC power supply and connect it to Molex +12 V branch, the pins going to Arduino have correct voltage, for example on +5V pin is really around 5V on +3,3 V pin is really around 3,3 V.

I can do more testing on this fried Arduino as I'm too scared to try it on new one before I figure out what might be wrong.

Anybody has idea what's going on? Why one power supply does something so different, but both of them has steady +12 V voltage? Unfortunately I have only 10 Amps maximum on multimeter so I'm afraid to measure current.

Am I doing something wrong or the LED power supply is faulty? Or perhaps LED power supply shouldn't be used at all? It was quite cheap and possibly from China. Should I try to buy some more expensive brand like MeanWell, for example this SP-240?

This was my first time soldering pins to MotoMonster, but it looks nice and it works with PC power supply so I guess problem shouldn't be there. Really cannot think anything else beside faulty LED power supply...

Many thanks for any help!

 

[Moxley6969]

Power Supplies as such usually have a 220v/110v Switch.....is it in the right position for your Regions power ?

 

[Michal Burisin]

Yeah, thats not the problem, it's for 220V and I'm from Europe.

 

[Moxley6969]

Pictures of your MM/uno wiring ?

 

[Michal Burisin]

Pictures of your MM/uno wiring ?

I use the MM as shield for Arduino, exactly like this image:

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab274/avenga76/Racing rig/IMG_2283_zpseb9d291k.jpg

Thanks for trying to help!

 

[Daniel oliver]

My go at a DIY wind generator consists of 2 thermal right 140mm pwm fans and a symprojects fan controller using the free simdash software. Very impressed so far especially when driving open wheel cars it just adds that extra level of immersion.

 

[BrainsBush]

Thanks for above posts. It convinced me to buy also a Symprojects fan controller and two Thermalright fans. It should arrive somewhere mid next week. Will post my first experiences afterwards.

 

[Michal Burisin]

So I was unlucky with cheap power supply, now I bought MeanWell and it works perfectly, however MotoMonster is faulty and only 1 fan works, I ordered another one. I'm kind of unlucky with this project... Hopefully next MM will work ok, but from what I read, they can be quite faulty in general...

 

[BrainsBush]

This weekend I received the Symprojects fan controlller and two Thermalright fans. Did a quick installation on my rig, setup the software (peace of cake!) and gave it a try on a Maserati openwheeler. This is fun! Not yet a shock and awe effect but a subtle addition to the already immersive experience with VR and NLR v3 motion platform. Great solution!

Now I need some creativity and time to mount the two fans to my rig without disturbing the view on my monitor. They are right in front of me for the best wind effect and because of the relative short cables connected to the fans.

 

[Ceolmor]

This weekend I received the Symprojects fan controlller and two Thermalright fans. Did a quick installation on my rig, setup the software (peace of cake!) and gave it a try on a Maserati openwheeler. This is fun! Not yet a shock and awe effect but a subtle addition to the already immersive experience with VR and NLR v3 motion platform. Great solution!

Now I need some creativity and time to mount the two fans to my rig without disturbing the view on my monitor. They are right in front of me for the best wind effect and because of the relative short cables connected to the fans.

I use heavy duty Velcro. One side on the underside of each Thermalright fan and a larger strip on the surface you want them to attach to. Then I can move them around. Works well.

 

[museumsteve]

I use Symprojects for mine and love it. I made a wind box out of a D-Line cable tidy box, mounted the fans inside and then uses 100mm ducting to feed 2 x Audi TT air vents I got from ebay. It's great as I can adjust airflow or even turn it off from the cockpit. I spent a while walking around B&Q and came across thick rubber joint housings in their roofing department that were a perfect fit to marry the ducting to the airvent.

 

[Mr Chip]

Now that’s s great idea

 

[FrejkiChodak]

What games are supported with the SymProject fan controller? I saw PC2 and AC, what about DR? That Arduino stuff seems tooo complicated.

Would max 1300rpm be enough? I was looking at the Scythe GlideStream PWM (SY1225HB12M-P) fans

 

[Ceolmor]

What games are supported with the SymProject fan controller? I saw PC2 and AC, what about DR? That Arduino stuff seems tooo complicated.

Would max 1300rpm be enough? I was looking at the Scythe GlideStream PWM (SY1225HB12M-P) fans

Works with most, if not all, racing sims. I have it working well with AC, rF2, PC2 and DR. Also works with iRacing, Raceroom, F1-2018 and ACC etc.

The bigger the fan and more rpm the more 'wind' you will get. I have 2x 140mm 2500rpm fans which is fine but not excessive. The Scythe GlideStream PWM at 120mm 1300 rpm will give you much less wind. I'd go bigger and faster.

 

[FrejkiChodak]

thx a bunch, got some more questions tho;
1) And it has to be PWM, not Molex connection, right?
2) At the webstore Im looking, there are fans where the rpm has a range and some just one number, does that mean it could not run slower?
3) Wouldn't Air flow be more significant than RPM?
4) It says on the site "Please not, due to its power, this fan requires up to 0.6A of current. Because the power supply normally included with the fan controller is rated at 1A, it means only one fan of this type can be connected to fan controller, unless the power supply is upgraded."
So do you have a bigger power supply, what kind? Like a 12v 4a?

 

[Ceolmor]

thx a bunch, got some more questions tho;
1) And it has to be PWM, not Molex connection, right?
2) At the webstore Im looking, there are fans where the rpm has a range and some just one number, does that mean it could not run slower?
3) Wouldn't Air flow be more significant than RPM?
4) It says on the site "Please not, due to its power, this fan requires up to 0.6A of current. Because the power supply normally included with the fan controller is rated at 1A, it means only one fan of this type can be connected to fan controller, unless the power supply is upgraded."
So do you have a bigger power supply, what kind? Like a 12v 4a?

1) The connectors on the Symprojects fan controller are for 4 pin PWM plugs. Also, as I understand it, you need the fans to be 4 pin PWN to have variable speed.

2) Is not that the maximum speed. I thought the variable fan speed was controlled by the PC, or in our case the Symprojects fan controller.

3) You are right. Although speed and size must effect airflow. See the fan lists at the helpful Quiet PC website. https://www.quietpc.com/140mmfans and https://www.quietpc.com/120mmfans

4) The power supply unit I received was 12v 2A, not 1A as advertised. So I was able to connect two fans at 0.6A each and still have 0.8A left to add extra fans if I want. You could email him and ask what power supply unit you will get.

 

[FrejkiChodak]

I saw it comes 2A for EU and UK power supplies. Thanks a bunch man

Ordered the SymProjects fan controller, will show when finished

 

[Grudyjsy]

Just to let everyone know that there is a new version of the fan controller. The software can work out the cars top speed and adjust the fan curve. I emailed symprojects and they are going to update the software so it works for the old version of the fan controller.

 

[metalnwood]

I stumbled across another option, I wasn't really looking for it but it works well.

I had been using simvibe for my tactile but want to go away from that as I am going to the SFX100 for motion. So I tried simhub as I still want tactile but I will have it limited. Simhub still does a lot more than I will be using for tactile.

I then saw it had the option for fans while supporting various controllers. I went for a couple of single channel monster motor knockoffs at about $7 each, a $7 arduino and a 12V power supply. They are connecting to two bilge blowers.

You end up just connecting an arduino to the computer, telling simhub what functions you want it to perform and it programs it for you. I then told it I wanted the motor connected to the games speed and done.

Very happy and like HoiHman, I am running less than 100% most of the time. Even in warm weather 100% can start to feel too cool so I reserve that for when it's very warm. I like 100%, it's great to have the power of the blowers but at my place it's not required until later in the day when the heat has built up. If I used it at 10am I would be freezing.

 

[Peter Klawitter]

hi guys, i am completely stuck and no clue how to get SimTools (i have the Pro version) working for my WindSim. would you guys be able to help out? i have SimTools, but everytime i start it, always get a message "no game plugins found".
i got the plugin rfactor2 from the XSimulator/SimTools forum, installed it, but not sure now what to do, all starts but i am looking at screens, i have no clue about and don't understand. any help, guidance or instructions would be greatly appreciated.
thank you!
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