How to Wire AMP meter to show correct amperage

[Potlicker]

Hi,

I have just installed a new Rutland Wind Turbine 613 and the book tells me that it will generate 20amps in 40knot winds.

However, when I hooked up an AMP meter (hardwired on to the positive lead after the regulator) to the system it reads (at 20 knots of wind) in access of 20AMPS. Kinda contradicts the specifications in the manual by double.

I have wired the AMP meter (DC)to the positive red wire of the regulator from the turbine and the other side of the AMP meter to the positive side of the battery terminal I am charging. So basically in on the same positive wire.

Seems funny to me because I have tried cutting the red line and connecting the AMP meter in to the line like that but it doesn't record a reading when I do that.

Do you think I have wired the amp meter correctly?

Do you need to have some distance down the red positive wire before it will give a reading.

I thought if I cut the red postive wire and installed the meter inline like that it would give a reading...  

-----> RED WIRE + -----> AMP METER ------> RED WIRE + ------> POSTIVE BATTERY TERM

Not sure if that is right. Its reading and going up and down with the speed of the turbine.... but seems to be reading higher than specified...

Regards,

Potlicker

[finnsawyer]

The correct way to wire the meter is to break the wire at the battery: red wire to + side of meter; - side of meter to + side of battery.  What you may doing is inadvertently shorting the regulator resulting in an unusually high charging current.  Doing it the correct way will show the proper current which may be quite low if the battery is fully charged.

[jimu]

Potlicker....

I was unable to locate the specs for a Rutland 613 but I did find the specs for the Rutland 913 :

Average wind   Output  

   speed          amps

  (knots)          12v

    10             1.6

    14.5           3.6

    19.4           6.0

    29.1           9.5

So, as you can see, you must have a bad amp meter.

Better way to measure current, as I do here for my RE Data Aquistion system is to measure across a shunt and read the amps as millivolts. A 1 foot piece of solid #10 copper will drop 1 mv per amp.

TomW has explained this quite well in some previous posts, and has a nice tutorial at

http://tomw.tk//   under the shunts topic

JimU    

 

[laskey]

Now, now... His ampmeter is doing the exact same thing.  All ampmeters are shunt devices (well, unless they're hall effect devices.) Chances are it's installed wrong.

The correct place for that meter is in the line between the regulator and the battery... if you want to measure battery charging current.  

As said above, if the battery is charged, and there is no load being drawn from the battery, then the charging current will drop down to nothing.  The Genny will be likely still producing power, it's just not going into the batteries.  If you've got constant wind all the time.  Use up some of that power.

Cya,

Chris

 

[Junkie]

The meter needs to have it + and - connected the right way, or the needle will try to move the wrong way.