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How to Install Brakes on a Treadmill Wind Turbine

Wind turbines can help supplement electrical power or replace it in rural areas. A treadmill wind turbine is a turbine that has been constructed or rebuilt using a direct-current electric motor from a treadmill. A wind turbine brake is used to stop the turbine in cases of emergency. A common braking system for home wind turbines is a mechanical one that uses disc brakes. These type of brakes mount to the back of the turbine motor and clamp down on the rotor.

Instructions

- 1
  Access the wind turbine's casing using a ladder or disassembling the tower. Methods for taking the tower apart will vary, depending on the type of turbine. Tower sections are commonly held together with standard bolts.
- 2
  Remove the wind turbine's outer casing by removing the retaining screws with a screwdriver.
- 3
  Remove the mounting bolts on the old brake system if one is installed and pull brake assembly off the rotor. If one isn't mounted, locate the mounting holes to install the new brake system. There will be one to the left of the rotor and one beneath it.
- 4
  Hold the brake against the back of the motor casing with the caliper fitting over the rotor, which is a flat, round piece. The calipers clasp onto the rotor, which causes the braking action.
- 5
  Line up the mounting holes on the wind turbine brake with the mounting holes on the motor casing and slip the bolts through. Screw them in by hand, then tighten them with a socket wrench.
- 6
  Replace the turbine's outer casing with the screwdriver.
- 7
  Run the brake wires along the same path where the DC motor wires for the turbine run and connect them to the power at the base of the turbine. Do this by opening the power box and inserting the positive brake wire to an open positive terminal and the negative wire to a matching open negative terminal. Tighten the terminal screws with the screwdriver.

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