Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I am having difficulty with my Monitor WB opening all the way when the pull-in is engaged. Obviously something is wrong, but I can’t figure it out. This is the first and only WB I have worked on/installed...it is for looks and not a pumper.

I have looked at pictures and read about them trying to troubleshoot, but damned if I known what is wrong as to why it will not fully open into the wind. I can’t see any twists in the chain and I’m using the 7th link in the chain for which that particular link is more round that oval leading me to believe that is the correct link. I have adjusted the vane spring setting from the shortest to the longest setting to no obvious avail. Everything is good, oiled, and greased in my opinion. The brake engages like it should when the pull-in is released. I hope my terminology is close to correct.

Thoughts? I’ll post a good number of photos. Thanks in advance.

Michael

More pics of which this time the pull-in is engaged in these pics

Last series of photos of which the pull-in level is engaged. Not sure why these photos rotated. Thanks.

Okay. Here we go. Oh what fun it is to work on the furling on a Monitor.

STart with the spring in the center hole in the tail frame. The other end of the spring in the 7th loop from the top hook. Looks like you are either there, or close anyway. With the tail closed, the hook on the end of the chain inside the tower should be as close to the top as possible. ( if you open the tail, the chain will get longer inside the tower, making it easier to hook the hook higher up, when the tail is shut) With the tail shut, the bail under the stormstay should be close to, or maybe even hitting the underside of the stay. When you pul;l the bail down, the tail should open, and the top of the bail should be , or close to hitting the top of the stay. This way, you maximum travel out of the bail. It looks like your bail is all the way down and not pulling the chain as far as it needs to go. Hook your brass swivel higher on the chain.

Here's the important thing.......up on the head, the hook and swivel should open and close from UNDER the pulleys. Not out from the head. It CAN go both ways, but the right way is for it to swivel under the pulleys, not out from them.

Now, see how it works. If the mill does not furl when letting up on the handle, or maybe not opening up completely, tighten the spring one more hole back in the tailbone. If the mill does not furl totally, before doing anything, check the brake. It might be pressing on the hub fully, and not letting the tail come in totally. But your problem is the tail is not opening all the way, so the brake should not be an issue. If it opens good, but starts to furl quickly in the wind, it's okay. Sometimes I have run into that. And it supposed to come in with the wind anyway. Some are more touchy than others.

Thank you. I will give those thoughts a try.

okay. looks like you're there except maybe hooking the bottom hook higher on the chain.

All now seems to work as designed. Thanks Windybob.

yup.

I recently had an old Baker put up and I am having the same issue where the tail is not opening up perpendicular to the head like it should, which I believe is what is causing constant screeching when the windmill is actually spinning. I think the brake is constantly partially engaged since the vane is not opening up all the way. Can you please provide some info on what you did to fix the issue and provide any other thoughts? Thank you in advance!

jmeade wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2024 10:27 am I recently had an old Baker put up and I am having the same issue where the tail is not opening up perpendicular to the head like it should, which I believe is what is causing constant screeching when the windmill is actually spinning. I think the brake is constantly partially engaged since the vane is not opening up all the way. Can you please provide some info on what you did to fix the issue and provide any other thoughts? Thank you in advance!

In my particular scenario, I determined (or believe) the storm stay is mounted too high in the tower and the storm stay should come down about 2 more inches. When the mill is turned on, the swivel (like in my attached photo) bottoms out at the storm stay, inhibiting the tailbone from fully opening.

When I purchased the mill, the storm stay was in that current position, but you can see bolt holes in the tower where the storm stay could be lowered about 2 inches or so. My brake disengages fine, so it doesn’t drag any at all.

I only occasionally turn it on so it doesn’t bother me much, but it is on my list of things to do. In my scenario, since my tower is short, I might take the wheel off and brace the mast pipe in place. Then lower the storm stay.

You might post some photos of yours.