Wiring Rectifiers question

[triple t]

i am almost done with Hughs' 8 foot mill design .. question,, when wiring up the rectifiers i have the + - wire running up to the rectifiers how is the - wire grounded? does the ground just orgininate in the rectifier? because the ground on the rectifier does not pass through the heat sink and ground to the yaw assembly.i have searched site and canot find answers..and is there any wiring skematics posted anywhere?

[Flux]

You should have 2 wires down the tower, positive from the rectifiers goes to positive on the battery. Similarly negative from the rectifiers goes to negative on the battery.

There is no circuit to the heat sinks or any of the machine frame.

It is normally a good idea to ground the negative lead and also ground the tower for lightning protection but this is not needed for the thing to function.

In most cases it may be best to ground rectifier negative and tower directly at the bottom of the tower. If you are in an area prone to lightning there may be other considerations about where you ground and it could be influenced by such factors as having grid connection and other grounds. Too complicated to give a general answer about lightning protection, but the dc path is completed by the 2 leads down the tower.

Flux

[triple t]

thank you for your quick answer Flux. my tower is a tree that i cut down.. the generator asembly is mounted at the top of this.. is it ok to run the negative wires from the rectifiers to the frame of the windmill ..and concect the the negative wire to that and then conect the negative wire to my main suports, that are steel I beams embeded in concrete?

[Flux]

That seems reasonable. A tree may not be the best proposition in a very lightning prone area but if lightning is not that big a problem then it should be ok.

Flux