I'm not sure what you mean by thrust bearing. I have a 10 year old
Windbugger that is just back from a factory overhaul. They replaced a
bunch of brushes and bearing and sent me the old ones for spares. I didn't
see anything that looked like a thrust bearing..

If you can give me a better discription of what you are looking for, I will
look my parts over and see if I can id what you need.

BTW. I purchased this Windbugger new on eBay for about $800 and the seller
had just spent $235 for the factory rebuild.. It's in great shape. I'm
starting my second season of living aboard 'disconnected'.. The Windbugger
and 2 solar panels handle everything, including a frig and TV, etc.

I haven't experienced any objectionable noise or vibrations..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

"Steve"
I'm not sure what you mean by thrust bearing. I have a 10 year old
Windbugger that is just back from a factory overhaul. They replaced a
bunch of brushes and bearing and sent me the old ones for spares. I didn't
see anything that looked like a thrust bearing..

Thank you for the help. The thrust bearing assembly is what allows the body
of the generator to stand on top of a pole and turn freely to follow the
direction of the wind.
It is presumably made by one or two ball bearings fixed to the pole (inner
ring) and to the generator body (outer ring). Within the assembly there
must be also a way of transmitting the electrical power from a free turning
part (the generator) and a fixed part (the pole): probably by means of two
slip rings.
Assemblies like these can be adapted from surplus material but I would
appreciate advice.
The name "thrust bearing" is what the guys at Windbugger call it and
commonly stands for a particular ball bearing which supports an axial load
(as opposed to a radial load). In this case both loads could be important.

Ok, now I understand.

If your missing this assembly, then you are missing some major components
that will require some machine shop work..

The bearing isn't a big deal but the slip rings and the nylon insulators
become more complicated. This might not be too bad if you had an OEM to
copy.. I have had mine apart briefly and only remember that the contact
rings are oriented in the horizontal plane, one ring inside of the other.
The stationary contacts are spring loaded buttons in a lower nylon
insulator.

I can't remember how all of this works with the bearing.

There is a few drawings in the literature, I will see if I can find that.
There really isn't a field service/repair mainual. Too bad.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions