10-footer up in the air!

[elt]

I've dreaded raising a tower and that's been a stumbling block to finishing my mill so I decided to put it up on a short (16') pipe.





My son pulled on the rope while I walked the pole up. There was a point in the lift where I wished I was two people but all in all it went up easier that I expected.

I figure that that convenience of raising and lowering on the side of my shed will help help me if I have to adjust the tail or something. Another view also shows my 32' tower in sections stacked on the other side of the shed...

The controls aren't quite done ...





Still have to beef up the battery shelf and get the dump load working.

BTW, I was thinking that putting the dump load under the battery shelf would keep the batteries warmer in the winter; does that make sense?

 - Ed.

[s4w2099]

Looking very good man. I am eager to know how much power it will be making.

[willib]

Thats a nice looking yard you have there

the mill looks good too.

[SparWeb]

Is that the tower I see on the other side of the shed?  It looks like a leg got smashed or something (maybe just a trick in the photo compression).  No wonder you got impatient, then.

Is the floor not safe for the batteries?  I have my doubts about having them up on a cantilevered shelf like that, maybe you do to, or you wouldn't have asked.

Ask yourself what happens if it's very cold, and NOT windy.  What happens to the batteries then?  Just having the batteries in an insulated enclosure and discharging/charging will keep them a little warm in the winter.

I'm afraid of the fault/corrosion issues if you put the batteries above the dump.

Nice mill, BTW!

[elt]

I think the tower's okay though it'll need a new coat of galvanizing paint before it goes up...

... so you're suggesting that I build an insulated cabinet on the floor? I can do that. I don't understand the corrosion issue with the dump load beneath it though... are you thinking of dripping battery acid?

Thank you,

- Ed.

[phil b]

Nice work!

I think Steven is right about the batteries.

Here's an idea. Put them on the floor, in an ice chest with the lid opened slightly. That's what I'm doing. The cables on my system tend still to corrode if I don't keep the air off the terminals with axle grease.

Xantrex charge controller manuals also say not to put their units in the same enclosure with the batteries. Hydrogen is generated from charging the batteries

and the vapors tend to corrode things.

I like to use laquer spray (Grainger) made for electronics to coat my home constructed electrical components remotely close to batteries.

Hope this helps to clear things up a bit...

Phil

[elt]

I'm shooting for a little over megawatt per year; about 250 watts per hour during the winter and spring when it's windy and whatever I can get during the summer and fall.

I've started my digital watt meter ...





... and have verified that the hall effect sensor is working (at the top, most of the other stuff is to protect the input of the 5 volt supply from over-voltage) so I'll be able to record the actual power made.

- Ed.

[coldspot]

SWEET-

Very nice set-up!

" in an ice chest"

At least,( chest freezers should work great if not another section of shed with good insulation and great venting, maybe even power venting, (O-man I love computer fans, free to cheap and quiet with many sizes!), sucking warmed air from near dump load, (at least from heated part of my sheds/shop, hope to use some dump as a helper for heating), and then the exiting air, drawn from both lowest and highest points), out a PVC pipe ran up the tower about half way up. Might get a draw doing this way,. ?

Well, sort of my planned system, I"m trying to get finished up.

$0.02

 PS: Any more info on meter build?

[willib]

that looks like an Alegro hall current sensor?

[elt]

Yes, that's an ACS752-50...





I've added a tiny45 to it and configured the pins for one a-to-d and four outputs to make a quick and dirty storage meter. It's now in place...

The processor reads and averages 16 values over two seconds and then records the data and shows statistics on its LEDs:

The four LEDs show

1. instantaneous amps
   
2. amp-seconds in the last minute
   
3. amp-hour rate over the last half hour, and
   
4. amp-hours in the last 24 hours.
   
   

... IIRC, the sensor is about $5 USD, and probably about less than ten for the entire project.

- Ed.