Aerogen 4 with Marlec MRDi regulator?

[pmcdermott]

Anyone have any experience of running an Aerogen 4 with a Marlex MRDi regulator? My original Aerogen regulator has failed, so I am looking for a replacement. Unfortunately, the Aerogen replacements do not seem to exist any more. The Manual for the MRDi says that these regulators are only for use with Marlec's Rutland range of wind turbines. But they do not say why and I am wondering if they are just being over-cautious.

 

[Caladh]

https://www.jabscoshop.com/marine/wind-generators/a412-aerogen-4-wind-generator-12v.htm - regulator listed below. If its anything like my Aerogen6 it needs heat sinks for regulation a higher power generation and cannot be run open-circuit.

 

[NormanS]

Ask Marlec. You'll find them very helpful.

 

[doug748]

I have an Aerogen 25, not sure how the output compares to the 4 but I think it may be similar. I have never noticed the LVM38 regulator getting even warm, so mine may be busted as well. -)

LVM did say that as long as the battery bank was larger than 75 amp/hour a regulator was not necessary.

 

[pmcdermott]

@NormanS I did, and they said no it could not (which is consistent with the manual). But they were not very clear why. I'm a sceptical soul...

 

[pmcdermott]

@Caladh Well done for finding a source for the original regulator. I did visit that site previously, but when I clicked on the regulator product for more details it didn't go anywhere, so I assumed it wasn't actually in stock. But it appears that I can still add to basket. However, I am still interested in using the Marlec MRDi as it does 3-stage charging of the battery rather than the older Aerogen approach of just clamping the voltage at 14.2 V. Would still like to hear from anyone with positive experiences of the HRDi with non-Marlec wind generators.

 

[duncan99210]

I think that the Rutland turbines use a braking mechanism in the turbine to regulate the speed of the turbine when the batteries are fully charged, rather than the more conventional approach of a dump resistor used by other regulators. In other words, the Marlec regulators are designed to work with the internal arrangement of the Rutland turbines only. If you hooked up a Marlec regulator to another make of wind turbine, it would not control the output of the turbine once the batteries were charged, as there is no braking mechanism present as there is in the Rutland ones.

 

[robmcg]

I asked the Aerogen folk the same question about four years ago as I had a Rutland regulator from a previous boat. I can confirm the technologies aren't compatible so you need to use the Aerogen regulator with the dump resistor.