HRDX plus Aqua4Gen

[Ric]

Hello, I have a Rutland 913 and solar feeding into a Rutland HRDX regulator. I have also fitted an Aqua4Gen towed generator, wired in as in the schematic. I have noticed that as soon as the Aqua4Gen starts generating, the output from the HRDX drops. Do I therefore need to add a diode downstream of the HRDX?
View attachment 34834

 

[VicS]

Hello, I have a Rutland 913 and solar feeding into a Rutland HRDX regulator. I have also fitted an Aqua4Gen towed generator, wired in as in the schematic. I have noticed that as soon as the Aqua4Gen starts generating, the output from the HRDX drops. Do I therefore need to add a diode downstream of the HRDX?

No infact it might upset the HRDX and in any case it will create a volts drop between the HRDX and the battery and possibly make things worse

The output from the Aquagen is not regulated. When its output volts rises high enough the HRDX ceases to feed the system.

You might squeeze a little bit more out of it all if you separate the systems by feeding the Aqua gen (via the ammeter ) to the battery separately from the HRDX, but not much if any

 

[winsbury]

I have similar setup with aerogen, solar panel and alternator all being summed with a shottky diode in each path prior to going via the pwm controller. That way the pwm controller only sees the battery volts and doesnt get confused by volts from one of the sources. I also have a mains charger but this is connected directly to the battery so its sensor works correctly while on mains and the pwm controller can dump any excess power from the other sources. Seems to work well for me.

 

[VicS]

I have similar setup with aerogen, solar panel and alternator all being summed with a shottky diode in each path prior to going via the pwm controller. That way the pwm controller only sees the battery volts and doesnt get confused by volts from one of the sources. I also have a mains charger but this is connected directly to the battery so its sensor works correctly while on mains and the pwm controller can dump any excess power from the other sources. Seems to work well for me.

I was concerned about using a PWM controller like the HRDX with the Aqua4gen, it would normally be used with a shunt type regulator. However your experiences suggest there are no problems.

The Aquagen should not need a diode in its output its own built in rectifier will prevent any reverse current flow through it

 

[winsbury]

I was concerned about using a PWM controller like the HRDX with the Aqua4gen, it would normally be used with a shunt type regulator. However your experiences suggest there are no problems.

The Aquagen should not need a diode in its output its own built in rectifier will prevent any reverse current flow through it

Strictly speaking I could probably get rid of some or all of the diodes as the alternator already has a bridge rectifier inside so produces dc, the solar panel also has a diode and the aerogen also produces dc (dont know if its a dynamo or has a rectifier inside.) However I dont know the maximum reverse voltage of the diodes in any of these devices as they are internal and intended to connect direct to a battery hence opted to play safe and although my layout loses about 0.70v per source it makes me feel more confident of not sending reverse current to any of the other sources.

I dont know the HRDX or Aqua4gen specifically but my particular pwm controller has a large heatsink integrated and is capable of dumping the maximum power all three sources could conceivably produce under perfect conditions (ie very unlikely ) so once the battery is fully charged it should hopefully just heat up instead of blowing anything expensive.

 

[VicS]

Strictly speaking I could probably get rid of some or all of the diodes as the alternator already has a bridge rectifier inside so produces dc, the solar panel also has a diode and the aerogen also produces dc (dont know if its a dynamo or has a rectifier inside.) However I dont know the maximum reverse voltage of the diodes in any of these devices as they are internal and intended to connect direct to a battery hence opted to play safe and although my layout loses about 0.70v per source it makes me feel more confident of not sending reverse current to any of the other sources.

I dont know the HRDX or Aqua4gen specifically but my particular pwm controller has a large heatsink integrated and is capable of dumping the maximum power all three sources could conceivably produce under perfect conditions (ie very unlikely ) so once the battery is fully charged it should hopefully just heat up instead of blowing anything expensive.

The Aerogen is basically an alternator ( permanent magnet rotor, and stator coil ) and a 3 phase rectifier.

There are warnings in the Aerogen owners manuals about the types of regulators which are suitable. PWM regulators are not specifically mentioned but the installation instructions for the HRDX do not indicate any special need to provide ventillation to disperse heat that would be produced by a "dump resistance". For this reason I beleive HRDX may not be a suitable regulator for an Aerogen or by the same reasoning for an Aquagen