Building Control Box for 10' axial flux Mill.

[snowcrow]

  I bought a surplus emergency lighting box for $17.  It's 15" x 15" x 7" deep with a locking slide bolt to prevent unauthorized access.  In the photo below I have used a hole saw to make three holes so the rectifiers could mount directly to the CPU heat sinks.  I also notched out each hole for snap disc that control the fans with a fret saw.  It's nice to have nothing but woodworking tool when you're working with metal!!

  Here below, the fans have been mounted and wired.

   In this front view of the control box below, the little black dot (top left) is a push button switch ON - (OFF) for a resetting the "Doc Wattson" meter (top center).  ( ) means momentary, for those who don't know.

  The small black panel (top right) is a retro- fit for Ghurd's LVD \ Dump Load Controller, with it's own toggle switch built in and two holes for the LED's, labeled input and output, already!!

  The big DPDT (ON) - OFF - ON toggle switch (bottom left) is for braking, soft braking in the (ON) position with 0.2 ohm 300 watt resistors on each phase, and the ON position for direct short, for all stop.

  The Heat sink (bottom center) for the Dump Load Power Mosfet and two SSR's, which are mounted inside on the door.

  Below is a picture showing the wiring on the inside of the door.  I'm going to remove the SSR's from the AC side and replace them with IGBT's mounted remotely near the dump loads.  Not sure it will work yet!!

 This next picture is the wiring of the rectifiers and fans.

  The last picture below is of the wiring for the soft braking. The power resistor (0.2 ohm 300 watt), will be mounted off the side of the box. YES, I'm making a bracket that will keep them well away from the box and door!

Blessings, Snow Crow

[commanda]

Looks good.

What, if anything, controls power to the 3 rectifier heatsink fans? Or do they run 24/7.

What's the resistance of the cable run from the mill, compared to the 0.2 ohm 300 watt resistor for soft braking?

Amanda

[SparWeb]

Nice!

And there's still room for a few analogue needles, too.

[electrondady1]

slick !

[sPuDd]

Very sexy SnowCrow, very tidy wiring & attention to each connection.

Love the re-use of old CPU heatsinks. I'm filling a box with them as

well for just that purpose. Well done :-)

sPuDd..

[wdyasq]

Nice work snowcrow. That locked box is a good idea too. It will keep folks from stealing electrons.

Ron

[snowcrow]

  Thanks Amanda, The CPU fans are controlled by a snap disc thermal switch mounted at each rectifier and runs off the DC side for each fan.

  My line resistance is 0.032305 ohm for each phase (4awg) and the 300 watt resistors are adjustable.

Snow Crow

[snowcrow]

Thanks Steven, the only think I need now is a RPM's meter!!

Snow Crow

[snowcrow]

Thanks sPuDd, YES, cannibalizing is one of my favorite thing to do!!  Doing the retro-fit or re-using old parts, makes the windmill even greener!

Snow Crow

[snowcrow]

  Thanks Ron, the lock is more to keep out the curious, than anything else.  If anybody was looking to steal anything, it would be the copper!!

Snow Crow

[ghurd]

That looks really great.

Do the bridges go through the metal case directly to the heat sinks?

G-

[snowcrow]

  Thanks G, Yes, the hole are through case for both the bridge rectifiers and snap disc thermal switches that control them.

  The Dump Load Controller I have installed right now is your original circuit design.  I will be replaced it as soon as I get the new "experimental one", you designed for the IGBT's, built and tested. Hope to get some close-ups of your great little controller on that little black panel soon!!

Blessings, Snow Crow

 A.K.A (Chief Run'a'muck)

[SparWeb]

Working on a very cool implementation of just that.  Lots of electronics splayed out over my desk this weekend.

[brianpretty]

Hi Snow Crow, I was trying to find out how the dual stator worked out, as i am trying to build one and would like to know if there were any issuses you ran into.

please email

brianpretty(@)gmail(dot)com

Thanks.

[snowcrow]

  Well...I decided not to build a double stator windmill for several different reasons.

  1]  The blade set would be moved about 2" further forward from the hub, and may cause much more wear on the bearings than a single stator mill.

  2]  More wear, means more maintenance of bearings, alignment of rotor disc and stators, not to mention the raising and lowering of the tower.

  It's not that it can't be done, because it has been done, at least once, (link below) Allan would be the best one to give you a more detailed view of the issues andor benefits.

  http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2005/2/24/62721/0494

Blessings, Snow Crow