Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
Is there any alternative to the budget busting Rutland charge controller for an Aerogen4? It's going into a 420Ah bank and will only be 'on' when we're on board.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Cheap wind generator charge regulator?
- Thread starter Rivers & creeks
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lenseman
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As the Aerogen is basically an alternator, could you not use/modify a standard regulator from the motor trade?
All it would have to do is to limit the output by controlling the field windings of the Aerogen when your batteries are fully charged.
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All it would have to do is to limit the output by controlling the field windings of the Aerogen when your batteries are fully charged.
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FullCircle
Well-Known Member
Something like this?
Saving around a hundred quid....but a bit 'clunky'
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-600W-...21129452116?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4ac4ce9254
Saving around a hundred quid....but a bit 'clunky'
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-600W-...21129452116?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4ac4ce9254
lenseman
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This unit might be a little better as costs about £15 and is just a regulator/controller:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....akeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en
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FullCircle
Well-Known Member
How does dump load work on that David? Probably need one of these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-600W-...21121856917?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4ac45aad95
But that is included in the kit I posted.
rotrax
Well-Known Member
I have thought about this as well. I suspect as the generators are invariably permanent magnet type a motorcycle solid state rectifier/regulator would work OK. They can be bought for £15.00'ish up to £60.00ish for the Rolls Royce British made Boyer Brandsden.
VicS
Well-Known Member
I think you will find they have permanent magnet fields. So no scope for controlling them via the field current as you would a car type.
Maybe an outboard engine regulator, but many are combined with the rectifier and some are even water cooled.
There are some that may do the trick if they are of an adequate rating but a good deal of investigation necessary to find something suitable I suspect.
Maybe something in the motor cycle world ????? Know nothing about motorcycles
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
We have an Aquair on Rampage. The manual for that states that when using it as a wind turbine it does not need a regulator if you on board the vessel to monitor the state of the batteries. You simply have a switch in the charging circuit so that you can turn off the supply from the Aquair if the batteries are in danger of being overcharged.
I think that I'm right in saying that both the Aerogen and the Aquair, in common with many wind generators, do not have the ability to have their output regulated in the same way as an engine alternator (ie vary the current to the rotor coils so as to control the output voltage) as they do not have rotor coils: the rotor is a set of permanent magents and the output comes from stator coils. A wind turbine regulator senses the battery voltage v the output voltage and if the battery voltage gets too high it dumps the excess energy to a dummy load. Thus the first ebay regulator will provide the required protection to the batteries by dumping to the dummy load whilst the solar regulators will not achive anything.
I think that I'm right in saying that both the Aerogen and the Aquair, in common with many wind generators, do not have the ability to have their output regulated in the same way as an engine alternator (ie vary the current to the rotor coils so as to control the output voltage) as they do not have rotor coils: the rotor is a set of permanent magents and the output comes from stator coils. A wind turbine regulator senses the battery voltage v the output voltage and if the battery voltage gets too high it dumps the excess energy to a dummy load. Thus the first ebay regulator will provide the required protection to the batteries by dumping to the dummy load whilst the solar regulators will not achive anything.
lenseman
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In that case, as the OP only wanted a regulator the load should still be on the yacht and he possibly only needs:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-600W-...21127216995?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4ac4ac7763
this is the same unit that VicS suggested without the (clunky) load thereby saving about £30?
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FullCircle
Well-Known Member
In that case, as the OP only wanted a regulator the load should still be on the yacht and he possibly only needs:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-600W-...21127216995?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4ac4ac7763
this is the same unit that VicS suggested without the (clunky) load thereby saving about £30?
David, if the wind genny cannot be stopped (and you risk high spotting the bearings if you do it by restraint), that means it will have to be dismounted when he is not on the boat. Surely, the option I offer allows LK to leave the damn thing running to top the batteries in his absence (something I have been doing for years)?
Phew.
VicS
Well-Known Member
What you will find in fact is that modern regulators such as the Rutland HRSi do not dump the excess power. They are PWM regulators. http://www.marlec.co.uk/products/windchargers/windcharger-controllers/hrsi-charge-regulator/
They also reduce the speed of the turbine, as the battery charges thereby reducing wear on the bearings
However he OP's Aerogen may not be suitable for use with this type of controller. The Aerogen regulator is in fact a dump type and a retail price of £164 a lot more expensive than the Rultland HRSi which is only £75
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
Vic is correct about the HRSi. However, you would need the HRDI(twice the price) on the Aerogen 4 due to its power capacity limitations. Marlec are quite clear that it is designed for Marlec manufactured units. I have an HRDi, it is excellent, especially for instant power readout, battery charge state, and total combined amp hours generated.
I have also just bought an Aquair 100, and I have bought the unit I am proposing, which will hook into my Sterling Alternator to Battery Charger.
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
It's to ensure the wind genny doesn't overcharge the batteries. I suppose if I got the load dump thingy I could leave it on 24/7 - I've had a Rutland in the past but that was easy to stop - one of the posts suggests you can't stop an aerogel by shorting the output?
One option is to just leave it spinning, with the fridge and stuff we have running we use about 5amps an hour and I wish the wind genny would be that powerful!
One option is to just leave it spinning, with the fridge and stuff we have running we use about 5amps an hour and I wish the wind genny would be that powerful!
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
LK,
here is a link to the LVM manual for the Aerogen. It has electrical brake wiring information there, and an output graph which suggests it can be that powerful....
http://www.shop.solar-wind.co.uk/acatalog/Wind_turbine_LVM_AERO4GEN_Marine_Manual.pdf
here is a link to the LVM manual for the Aerogen. It has electrical brake wiring information there, and an output graph which suggests it can be that powerful....
http://www.shop.solar-wind.co.uk/acatalog/Wind_turbine_LVM_AERO4GEN_Marine_Manual.pdf
Cardo
Well-Known Member
Bit of Fred Drift...
The Aquair 100 manual suggests using the Ampair regulators (funny that), which seem to simply disconnect the generator once the batteries are charged. Much like in towed mode where it says to disconnect the wiring once the batteries are charged.
Rather different way of doing things.
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
Simplicity is a virtue, however, my memory is poxy, so something that will switch it off for me seems to be a good way of heating the cabin that the dump unit is in.
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
OK - thanks - it says "With the fan turning in the
wind and the two output leads open circuit, allow the fan to build up speed, then touch the two output leads together
(shorting them) the fan should noticeably slow down and act as a brake. "
But only available at under 20knts so I need a switching regulator or a dump load regulator - at least £60 based on earlier posts.
Cardo
Well-Known Member
As far as I can tell, there's no dump. The circuit from the generator is broken so the generator is left to spin freely, creating no power, from what I can tell.
apogee
Well-Known Member
When I bought an Aerogen 4 at least ten years ago I phoned Marlec to ask whether I would be able to use their dump regulator from my previous 913(?) on the Aerogen. (There is not much that Marlec do not know about windgens) Most certainly Sir was the reply and it is still going strong after around twenty years use. The design has changed since then it seems, but maybe somone somewhere has an old-model regulator with the dump facility that they no longer use.
