Windgenerator producing 6 vdc

[Birdmmjb]

Hi. My solar panles are running my samll 12 volt system well and I am happy with it untill I can get more.  More batteries, more panels, more energy.

However, my amitec (sp) generator produces enough volts to charge a 6 volt system with very rare spikes to the 12.5 volt area.  I would like to make use of even this small amount of power.  power generated and not used in some maner makes me crazy.

There are 2 questions here.

1. Is there a charge controler out there for a 6 volt system??
   
2. What types of loads could it run.  I allready figure on some 6 volt lighting but are there other options.  For example a neochrom wire heater??? Its cold weather and any ues of otherwise wasted energy to heat would be a help.
   
   

I have a passave solar heater in the dressing room window and that is doing some of the heating and any other gas saving would be great.  Gas was $2.59 a gal and rising when we filled the tank.

Thanks

Jan

[elvin1949]

Jan

 I would add a small nichrome coil to the

out put side of the solar heater.

It want be a lot of extra heat,but every little

bit helps.

 You would not have any wasted power that way.

later

Elvin

PS   2.59 a gal propane  Closer to 3 dollars here.

[ZooT]

Well......I'll tell ya' guy.......to learn about this stuff, I'm working on a "Rube Goldberg" dump load controller the uses an amplified zener to trigger a signal relay that in turn triggers a 30 amp automotive relay that connects the dump load to the battery......

Why?.....because it's better than doing nothing......

It does have some bugs yet that I don't know enough about to figure out, in that a couple times it didn't "turn off" and drained the battery, but only when I wasn't there watching it, so  it does work at least part of the time.......and I think that as I learn more I might be able to figure out how to kill the bugs

It's kinda' cool sitting out in my yard with the multimeter connected to the battery and hearing the relays click at 14.4 volts and click again at about 13.5 volts and watching the little muffin fan that I have connected along with the electric space heater element turn on and off....

On another thread though ghurd mentioned something that led me to believe that an FET can act as a relay.....and if this is true, I think I might just have a usable dump load controller in the works with the voltage determined by the zener diode....once I learn enough to figure out how to do it without making smoke....

He also mentioned something about relays sucking rocks when it comes to low current aplications....and I suspect that that's why my battery got drained.....the relay contacts stuck........

But then again......I might just be wasting time.....anyways.....I'm having fun and it isn't costing me too much money....

[Nothing40]

One other thought is a SMPS/DC-DC converter.

Convert the 6V to 12V,and use it that way?

2x the voltage,but 1/2 the current. (ignoring losses,etc. Switchers are pretty efficient though.)

Just a thought I've had about making use of some of my lower-voltage sources,since my batt bank is also 12V.

Or maybe use it to charge a 6V batt,and use that energy for heat/light? (6V LED lights come to mind.)

just a couple ideas.

[ghurd]

I can't help thinking the Ametek has a problem with the blades.  Too slow or too long?

G-

[ZooT]

yeah those ametek motors do their best when you can really get them spinning....and even a small change in blades might make a big difference in output....

On my 30 volt ametek genny I use a set of Ed's $9 ABS blades.....they make about a 32" rotor, and it starts in lower winds and run faster than the same motor using a set of hornet blades that make a 60" rotor.....down in the turbulence just above the trailerpark rooflines...14 feet off the ground....

Ed's blades are going at a decent speed in winds that are just making the hornet blades "want" to start......and chances are that even in higher winds Ed's blades would out do the hornet blades because they'd spend more time over cut-in speed...

But again.....that's down in the turbulence of the trailerpark and not up in clean wind.....

Maybe up in clean wind the hornet blades would really shine....but I don't have clean wind....so I did what I could....

[Birdmmjb]

The blades may be to long.  This set crashed a few months back and I had to shorten them a little but it may be I need to take off some more?

I also dont have clean wind as I have to work on the generator by my self and getting it very high is beyond my ability. My tower is only about 12 feet if I could get it out to the pasture on top of the ridge I would have more wind but the run to the house would be 300" and the wire cost would make such a move not worth the cost.

Thanks for the idea I hope to shorten the blades next week and have better things to report.

Jan

[Bruce S]

Birdmmjb;

   There was a good answer over in a different post by Flux:

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/7/25/526/29456

What are the sizes of your blades and what speeds are you seeing even at 12Ft. Which BTW is much better than I can even hope for in the city :-)

Anyway have a read , Flux is one of the best when it comes to helping out with these.

Cheers

Bruce S