Howdy!

I installed an "Old Jake" wind turbine this weekend at my place, a model 60 long-case that I had refurbished a while ago. It throws 70 amps at 40v, DC, for a nominal 2400 watts (and yes, I know, but that's what the plate says .

Now, Jakes originally come with a old "charge controller type breaker box thing" to keep the battery bank from spinning *them* but the one that came with this Jake, well, it's seen better days.
I am going to call Michigan Wind and Sun later today to get a quote for a new one, but don't expect them to be cheap.

I did get a pair of Enermaxers with it (the 12-24-32-36v ones), for voltage control, but these are voltage controllers and aren't used in series with the generator, so have no "blocking" features.

So, basically, what I need is a whopping big blocking diode to keep the juice coming into my house, not leaving.

Suggestions?

DJ

Xantrex C40/C60 has back to back FETS , which means it has the blocking effect you want , there cheap to 160 bucks should work OK

The Outback MX60 DOES NOT have blocking diodes and relies on Software to disconnect the array via a relay. It may or maynot work since the motor is NOT a PV panel type load. It is feature rich and would be very flexible , good for your type of setup , its also 600 bucks list

I see on the Xantrex page that the C-60s are rated for a peak of 85, and will self-reset if they see it; that should be ok, I think for my peak of 70.

I also see that they will load dump, as the Enermaxers will... but the Enermaxers don't block like the C-60 will... hmm.
Oh, and C-60s, up here, are 380$ retail. I do, however, have access to dealer prices though my company .

I'm thinking that maybe selling the Enermaxers to pay for the C-60 might be the way to go... Oh, and if anyone needs it, I have the Enermaxer's manual as a PDF.

Too bad about the Outback system this time, but I'm also going to be throwing on a few photovoltaics, probably a couple hundred watts now, eventually, maybe a full Kw (my house/business is off grid totally).

Thanks Gup!

DJ

An FYI

the Xantrex C40/C60 is not a true pwm contoller , it lacks the inductor part for that. It is really an On/OFF controller.

The OutBack is a True PWM power supply , the difference is the Outback can step down a high voltage and charge a low voltage battry bank with good regulation. The Xantrex C60 , many times a second applys the input to the output , if the source is a PV array , that's fines since the array will just lower the voltage to match the source in most situations

Since your using a wind generator , I'm not sure if the C60 would be a good choice ... I have no direct experiance with wind systems ... hopefully others will add their 2 cents

Ok, just talked to John at LMWS, the people that took over the sales of Jacobs stuff from Mick Sagrillo. The "authority", as it were.

For the illumination of all, I will share what I learned .

They suggest I run the delivery line into a rectifier, and then a load diversion regulator. I said "So, like a C-60?" and they said "Yep, that would be fine".

They did say, however, to make very sure I could dump every last watt that comes in if I need to, as you cannot "turn off" a Jacobs.

DJ

Ah, man, just checked out the specs on the Outback unit, though...

Too sweet.

Gonna have to call my supplier, and get a quote on that one...

Like all people that go off grid, I have to watch the money flow. Currently, I am running 12v, and figured that I'd have to reconfigure my batteries and get a new inverter to go up to 24v to use the turbine, or else get a transformer to bring it down to 12v and keep it where it is. Eventually, of course, I want to have a full 24v system, but I haven't won a lottery lately, so I have to keep saving! It looks alot like the smart money might be on this Outback unit...

I'm starting to really like those outback guys .

I'll have to wander over to their part of this board and ask them their opinion.

DJ

Keep in mind , if you lower the voltage , your amps will go up accordingly to keep th same power ...

The MX60 and the C60 are both 60 amp charge contollers , so if for example you want 12 volts from your wind genny , that will be 4x the amps at 12 volts using the MX60 ....

Which actually brings up a very interesting question:

What amperage does the MX60 divert? Would I need to have the ability to burn off 70 amps at 40v, or (realistically to include the 250 feet of line drop) 200 amps at 12v?

I guess it would be safe to hook up to something that could burn 200 amps... probably a water heater, then.
I am getting a quote from Michigan Wind for the load diversion gear they suggest.

DJ

NO !! , the MX60 is rated at 60 amps ... this is the maximum current at the output ! , the point I was making is if you have 60 amps at 40 volts and then run it thru the MX60 to have 12 volts , your still only going to have 60 amps !

I'm not sure exactly what the diversion is rated , I would be surpised if it was higher that the output amps ...

Ok, yeah, too few coffee today .

Ok, we got 70 amps (absolute best case) coming in; at 40 volts. 2800 watts of power, by my count.

You're saying that if the controller down-shifts it to 12 volts, it's still a maximum of 70 amps. So right there, I'm down to 840 watts of power to charge my batteries. So that ~2000 watts gets eaten by the transformer?

Do you see where my confusion comes from? I figured all else being equal, if the transformer took 40v and turned it into 12v, then it would HAVE to jack the amperage up to ~200, or otherwise make it disappear... or have I been missing something in elementary DC theory? .

DJ