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*SPAM* Cheap shunt regulator kit
By BT Humble, Section Controls Posted on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 02:52:41 AM MST
Nothing to do with me, but possibly of interest

There were a few people asking about schematics for 12V/24V shunt regulators here a little while ago. I just noticed this kit from one of my local (Australian) electronics suppliers:
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/kits/k220.html
You can download a comprehensive set of circuit notes here:
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/kits/Notes/k220.zip
They'll do international orders, and since most of you are in the US you wouldn't have to pay our 10% GST, and the difference in exchange rate ould probably cover the postage. I expect it'd probably come to about USD$22 or so.
They also have some cheap Chinese wind generators now (well, cheap for a bought one):
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/alternative_power.html
Note: I have no association with Oatley Electronics, apart from buying stuff from them from time to time. This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. No animals were harmed in the making of this post.
BTH

***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit | 25 comments (25 topical)

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by Chagrin on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 02:00:29 AM MST

Those wind generators are pretty pricy. An AIR 403 would be much cheaper.

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by domwild on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 02:46:09 AM MST

Thanks for that. This kit may appear in the June edition of "Silicon Chip", an Oz magazine probably unavailable in the rest of the world. This kit rounds off three or four articles by Glenn Littleford on how to build a mill using an F&P.

Thought to add that for what it is worth.

dom We only ever use the best fencing wire for our repairs!

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by richhagen on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:59:05 AM MST

A friend of a friend broke their laptop and needed to get a research paper off of it for a class. I found the power supply wasn't working. The thing used a power supply rated at 4 amps and 15 volts. I had a tube of T0-220 7815s I bought for probably less than a quarter a piece and bolted 9 of them to a 2" by 1/4" by 10" piece of aluminum and rigged them all up in parallel to power the laptop from a couple of 12 volt batteries hooked in series. I noticed my drill had a nice 18volt battery on it and used that instead. It did the trick for the computer, as soon as I get it back, I am thinking about using it as a small shunt regulator for solar at 15volts on a flooded battery. I figure it can probably handle about 13.5 amps depending upon the voltage, turning the excess into heat. Probably need to limit the incoming open voltage to less than 35 volts or so though. Don't think it would work for wind as the regulation would allow the wind generator to see a virtual open circuit when no current was conducted on the regulated side at 15 volts. The voltage at the output side of the generator would soar, probably destroying the regulators, and the generator would overspeed. Rich
'A Joule saved is a Joule made'

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by ghurd on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 09:27:51 AM MST

Maybe this could help keep the volts down.
About 3/4 down, Solar Charge and Diversion Controllers, 'Shunt #1'.
A big page with a lot of graphics- Be warned if using dial-up.

http://www.redrok.com/electron.htm

I am planning on a pair of small ones for one of those little conversions,
mostly just to keep from getting shocked when playing with the wiring.

The thing is not going to overcharge a 2 or 4 T-105 bank,
but it has overcharged me!

G-
Ghurd.info
[ Parent ]

***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by richhagen on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 05:05:40 PM MST

I hadn't ran across that Red Rock site before, I guess I'll have some reading material. Rich
'A Joule saved is a Joule made'
[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by Trivo on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 03:31:10 PM MST

BTH talk about good timing, i was ordering parts for a shunt when i saw you post appear and ordered 2 of them
Thanks
Trivo
ps my fluro still going well

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by TERRYWGIPE on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:51:48 PM MST

Thanks for the link
Terry

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#8)
by Trivo on Wed Apr 20, 2005 at 03:59:48 PM MST

BTH
I have just put together the oatley shunt regulator and I needed to put a 5k pot in to replace the 2k pot to bring the voltage down to 12v-14v range. Seems to work fine but it is designed for solar panels to plug in to it in series with the battery and when the voltage reaches a set figure the dumps open, up to 4 on a board, and a fan starts for cooling if required. it wil handle 7 amp per dump not cooled so cooled would be quite high. To use it for wind turbine I will be using the dump to switch a relay to divert the power from the battery bank to ??? something, maybe a few peltiers I bought from them now winter is starting here. Thanks for the link
Trivo

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#9)
by Trivo on Wed Apr 20, 2005 at 04:08:08 PM MST

Trivo

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#10)
by doceanboy on Wed Apr 20, 2005 at 04:47:36 PM MST

Thanks Trivo

Please keep sending any/all info on these....

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#11)
by BT Humble on Wed Apr 27, 2005 at 09:39:53 PM MST

It's a nicely designed board all right. I'll get around to using it someday, I'm thinking of buying one of the 200W generators for the Fiji project (to help power the school's upcoming computer lab of 8 laptops):

http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/alternative_power.html

BTH

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#12)
by ghurd on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 07:31:20 AM MST

Seems cheap enough to me. Includes the tower even.

Two things...
Can that be right? 200w and a 2.2 meter blade? Thats bigger than the 400w blade.

If it pops a rectifier or something, will anyone in Fiji know how to fix it?

G-
Ghurd.info
[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#13)
by BT Humble on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 04:48:33 PM MST

Seems cheap enough to me. Includes the tower even.
Two things...
Can that be right? 200w and a 2.2 meter blade? Thats bigger than the 400w blade.

Maybe it's optimised for low winds? I've never seen one, so it's hard to tell.

If it pops a rectifier or something, will anyone in Fiji know how to fix it?

Well, I guess they'd just have to rely on solar panels alone for a while. I think it's worth a try, especially since I've got too many irons in the fire at the moment to be able to find time to build a wind genny too... :-(

BTH

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#14)
by doceanboy on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 07:44:57 PM MST

I'd be tempted to go with the 2k pot and short out R6

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#16)
by Hanski on Wed May 18, 2005 at 06:24:15 AM MST

Trivo,

How is your project with Oately K220 shuntregulator?

I ordered the same regulator and put it inside a PC power along with bridge rectifier and amp- & voltmeters.
Thank´s to your post I also used a relay to switch the power from battery to resistor.
However when I teststed it with motorcycle lead acid battery it seemed to switch rapidly (about half a second) to the resistor every 5 seconds when the voltage reached 13,7V?
I know that the battery is not in it´s best condition and the chager is for small batteries putting out only 0,5A. Maybe it's the old battery?

On some regulators I have seen "lo" and "hi" voltage potentiometers. Or maybe there should be some kind of delay?

//Hanski

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#17)
by Trivo on Wed May 18, 2005 at 03:58:39 PM MST

Hanski
I am a bit confused so if i go off track please excuse me.
First the theory as I understand it.
Your battery is connected to the shunt and also to the charging supply be it wind solar or battery charger. When the charge reaches your preset voltage you set with the pot, in your case 13.7v the relay should switch and the load which you put on it will take the voltage down and the battery will stop charging.
Points to consider
1. the load must be more than the supply from the charging supply.
if it is to low the voltage to the battery will keep going up
2. if it is to high the supply will short out. if it is a wind the mill might stop or battery charger blow fuses but not solar they don't care.

The battery wont lose charge until it is drained by an appliance attached to it and when it reaches 11V? the dump will switch off and the battery will charge to 13.7v again and the process continues.

Now to your problem
1. connect the relay to your battery directly and make sure it switches correctly
if not the relay is wrong
if ok then connect the positive lead of the relay to the circuit board and the negative directly to your battery negitive but don't put any load on the relay output. Charge the battery and see if it switches ok. use a multimeter directly to the battery to check the voltage as this is what powers the relay, if ok then attach the dump you have to the relay. The dump must NOT be connected to the battery in any way.
Try this and let me know how you go
Trivo

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#18)
by Hanski on Fri May 20, 2005 at 04:21:47 AM MST

Thanks Trivo for your reply,

I rechecked the wires and found that relay negative (86) went to positive. That must be the reason why the relay started flipping between battery (87a) and load (87).
I'll try it again tomorrow an let's see what happens. I hope not to see any smoke.

brgds Hanski

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#19)
by Trivo on Sat May 21, 2005 at 03:08:05 AM MST

Hanski
I think it is not quite right
The power coming from the 25A fuse should go directly to the main +
and 87a should not have anything connected to it and a diode should be connected so the battery power cant leak back
It may work the way you have it but the relay contacts will probably burn out quickly switching full loads
least that is the way I understand it
Trivo

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#20)
by Hanski on Mon May 23, 2005 at 02:01:54 AM MST

Thanks a'lot again Trivo,

You're right about the relay. It's 30A relay and estimated current will be 10A but anyway. And contacts don't like high frequency current! I'll do as you described.

I still have the original problem where the regulator switches between battery and load. There should be 1V margin (hysteresis?). So if the voltage is set to 13,5V and regulator switches to load, it should switch back to battery when the voltage is 12,5? It doesn't. It just flips between load and battery every 2sec.

Anyway as I'm not a genius with electronics I'll re check the K220 if all the components are in right place and right way inserted.

As I'm not native english speaking I didn't understand if I should short the "serial", "dump" on neither in the circuit board. Now the serial is shorted.

brgds
Hanski

Picture of the PC power which I modified.

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#21)
by Trivo on Tue May 24, 2005 at 03:06:56 AM MST

Hanski
I have 2 of these K220 and they both worked when i built them and i pulled them out to test them and they both are not working properly, the dump is staying open all the time? i will have to do a bit of checking tommorow.
You have done a nice job of your pc conversion. are you going to connect the fan to the fan outputs on the k220 it keeps going 1 minute after the dump closes so they can get rid of extra heat.
with regards to the dump "series - short" it should be the series to center hole like you have it.
english is not your native language were are you from?
I am in Perth Western Australia
Trivo

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#22)
by Trivo on Thu May 26, 2005 at 12:13:18 AM MST

Check the relay is wired up as drawing above + in and out to K220 board as when the board switches it goes to - (ground)

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#23)
by Hanski on Thu May 26, 2005 at 08:58:42 AM MST

Yes I forgot that K220 connects ground to load. It's now done the right way. I also have second K220 board wich I haven't put togeter yet. I'll do it and try if it behaves differently. The one I have connected still switches back an forth between load and battery without that 1 volt hysteresis as described in manual.

//Hanski

PS. I'm from Helsinki, Finland

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#24)
by Trivo on Fri May 27, 2005 at 07:57:39 PM MST

Hi Hanski
I have contacted Branko at Oatley and he said to turn the Q3 and Q4 around so the flat is down and i did this and it works perfictly
Hope this helps
Trivo

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#25)
by Hanski on Tue May 31, 2005 at 02:44:32 AM MST

Thansk's Trivo!

I'll try it on saturday.

//Hanski

[ Parent ]

Re: ***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit (3.00 / 0) (#15)
by pyrocasto on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 10:25:19 PM MST

Too bad they are in Australia or I would order quite a few things from them. I'm extremely interested in thier electric bike motors. I want to put one on a mountain bike and they seem very easy and probably reliable. I guess I'll just have to build one... ;)

***SPAM*** Cheap shunt regulator kit | 25 comments (25 topical)

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