Hello,
Ive recently been given a wind turbine that I am in the process of installing.
I understand it must connect to the batteries via a charge controller.
I wonder if this switch panel is that controller or if it is something seperate all together.
Thanks for your advice,
Josh
Hi Josh,
1) this is not the charging controller - it is the associated switch panel for the turbine. Basically providing On/Off and Brake On/off
2) you will need an appropriate charger to charge your batteries from the turbine - I'm sure others can recommend an appropriate charger.
With respect to the switch panel, your current photo of the back of the panel is taken from the left. If you take one from the right, we might be able to produce a schematic of the panel including the purpose of the light gauge red/black wiring.cheers,
allan
Could be an older version of the present digital controller as here;
www.naviclub.com/electricite/eolienne/sun-watts/EO-420-Hybride/
Their publications page has numerous pdf files but they don't download too well;
Perhaps you could email them.
Ok thank you Allan and r13.
Here is a photo from the left angle.
R13, it was a French cruising boat who gifted me the set up. And that website being all in French would correlate! I shall translate and explore once I get to a laptop. Thank you
Looks to me like the panel is the turbine controller and not a voltage controller.
The panel looks to be set up for DC voltage so I would believe that the turbine may have the bridge rectifier/reg built in.
If you have two heavy wires (positive and negative) and maybe a small green earth wire coming from turbine it's usually a sign that the turbine has internal voltage control.
If you have three wires coming from the turbine(usually all red and not overly heavy) the output from the turbine will be AC and will need to be rectified and regulated before going to that control panel that you have.
Your control panel appears to only have an amp meter, two swiches and no bridge rectifier/reg
I am guessing here but if you look at the terminal strip it is labeled.
+E (+EO). +B. -B. = E (-EO)
Wouldn't +B and -B indicate direct connection to a battery ?
Therefor the alternator could be internally rectified like the ones on our engines.
I would get a cheapy solar controller and connect the +B and -B on this unit to the solar panel in connections on the solar controller (2) and then out to the battery.
At least you would have some charge protection to test the unit.
Thank you Jolene
Yes, the turbine has three equal thickness wires extruding from the base.
Red, black and green. I will inspect in the morning but I suspect they will be size 6awg
Always be mindful that the colour of wires can be whatever some one used to set it up.
The one thing I would do is lift the turbine off the pole and look directly at the wires that enter it.
I would also bench test it by removing the blade hub and driving the turbine alternator with a power drill whilst checking the output with a multi meter
Select to expand quoteJolene said..
Looks to me like the panel is the turbine controller and not a voltage controller.
Yep, IMO that panel is for the brake & a read out of the amps the wind turbine is producing.
I have one of these on order (as an upgrade) which is what I think you need:
12v/24v Wind Generator Charge Controller 300w/600w Waterproof Wind and Light - It won't let me copy the link but if you copy & paste this into ebay search it will come up.
Here's some diagrams showing how the brake switch is wired & how to wire the controllers.
This for a n AC turbine with 3 wires - you can tell if it's AC by connecting all 3 wires together (which is what the brake switch does) the blades should have a resistance to turn whereas it will turn freely when the wires are not connected together.
However, it may be a DC turbine with a red +ve & black -ve & an earth which would go to your solar MPPT controller. I had one of these installed but it didn't have the 3rd (earth) wire.
Looks like either an air x marine or breeze - Made in the USA I have the x marine with the carbon blades.
www.windpower-srp.com.au/cms/uploads/Air_X_Marine_Brochure.pdf
...they have an internal charge controller no need for a secondary mppt - eg wire via panel to battery
Clearly I'm a ideas man
and sorry for going off topic but I imagine one day we will have reverse engineered turbines?
Imagine a windless day and you use the power storage of your battery to drive the turbine to create the wind for the sails! Than your propeller thrust that's achieved by the turbine wind powered sails is reversed back to power and feeds into the battery!
I'll show myself out
Select to expand quoteChopesBro said..
Clearly I'm a ideas man and sorry for going off topic but I imagine one day we will have reverse engineered turbines?
Imagine a windless day and you use the power storage of your battery to drive the turbine to create the wind for the sails! Than your propeller thrust that's achieved by the turbine wind powered sails is reversed back to power and feeds into the battery!
I'll show myself out
LOL, no you cannot use a turbine mounted on the back of the boat to create wind to power the sails in front. In an ideal world, the backwards force created by the turbine pushing the air forwards would equal the forwards force caught by the sails. Basic Newton's law - action and reaction are opposite and equal. But, the real world would include many energy losses between turbine and sail, resulting in your boat being pushed backwards. Why not just use the wind turbine as an air-fan to push the boat forward, or, use the batteries to power the propeller?
The same fallacy asks if, when you are transporting a bird in a plane, does it weigh less if it flies inside the plane or if it is sitting on a perch. (The answer is no, because the downforce created by the bird's wings get transmitted to the plane by the air currents generated inside the plane by the bird's wings - if it didn't the bird would fall to the floor, or the perch, or something).
I'll show myself out now, too.
Select to expand quoteAchernar said..ChopesBro said..
Clearly I'm a ideas man and sorry for going off topic but I imagine one day we will have reverse engineered turbines?
Imagine a windless day and you use the power storage of your battery to drive the turbine to create the wind for the sails! Than your propeller thrust that's achieved by the turbine wind powered sails is reversed back to power and feeds into the battery!
I'll show myself out
LOL, no you cannot use a turbine mounted on the back of the boat to create wind to power the sails in front. In an ideal world, the backwards force created by the turbine pushing the air forwards would equal the forwards force caught by the sails. Basic Newton's law - action and reaction are opposite and equal. But, the real world would include many energy losses between turbine and sail, resulting in your boat being pushed backwards. Why not just use the wind turbine as an air-fan to push the boat forward, or, use the batteries to power the propeller?
The same fallacy asks if, when you are transporting a bird in a plane, does it weigh less if it flies inside the plane or if it is sitting on a perch. (The answer is no, because the downforce created by the bird's wings get transmitted to the plane by the air currents generated inside the plane by the bird's wings - if it didn't the bird would fall to the floor, or the perch, or something).
I'll show myself out now, too.
Or re-invest the energy into making the sails flap like a birds wing.
I'll grab your hat and coats on the way out .
