No Power

[kenputer]

I have 75 watts of solar and a c40 controller,sunny days and the batterys go full charge each day.Also have a garbogen and air-x tied in to the the same 450 amp.hr battery bank, not much sun but a real windy day seeing steady 10+ amps from the grabogen and the same from the air-x off  and on but the voltage stays around 13 on the batteries and no more. Is there a reason that 75 watts of solar can do a better job of charging my batteriers ,or I am I missing something here.

Ken

[Countryboy]

75 watts continuous beats 120 watts sporadic.

Tortoise and the hare...

[Flux]

Doesn't Air X have its own regulator? is it set low.

If those batteries are not AGM I am surprised that 75 W of solar will keep them up and let you use significant power. Are you sure they are charged (sg reading?)

Countryboy is right that the occasional peak at 10A will probably be averaging nearer 2 to 3 A if you measure it with an integrating device such an Ah meter.

Many wind generators would burn out if kept at maximum output continuously for an hour.

Flux

[kenputer]

The batteries are 6 volt golf cart,225 amphr,4 of them.I will check the sg. to see if there is a problem there.

Ken

[tecker]

The two gens probably don't match voltage wise .  May want to look at the output of each and split he bank up  when charging with the wind generators at a load that matches the individual  output.  

[ghurd]

I bet the surface charge is being read. Even 75W will get the batteries voltage to read 'full' on a reasonably sunny day, but they are not really full.

G-

[tecker]

Probably is a surface charge deveolping there with a 5amp full sun or less averaging maybe 3.5 there abouts. It takes awhile to get the cells to mix at that amperage .Just a side note I tried to mix the cells by moving the batts around prior to charging ( thinking car batt of coarse the amperage is up there with an auto alternator ) It makes very little difference( probably none). But the cap charge drops a little >  

[SamoaPower]

"Many wind generators would burn out if kept at maximum output continuously for an hour."

You make a very poignant, astute point here that many would be well advised to heed. I've come to the belief that the majority of machines built by DIYers are simply under-engineered and are a failure statistic waiting for the right wind storm to happen.

Well said, Flux.

[SamoaPower]

Ken,

I am also surprized that 75W solar will keep up that bank and allow you to use much.

As an example, I have 320W (rated) solar on a tracker and a small wind machine feeding the same sized bank as yours. My daily use is about 50-60Ah and the charge sources barely keep up. I still have to run the grid charger 2-3 times per month to make up the deficit (darn clouds).

Yes, please check the SpG to see if you are really obtaining full charge. Remember, chronic undercharge is the real battery killer.

[Grant MacLeod]

Is specific gravity the only way to know if a battery is healthy?  How do the more sophisitcated battery chargers know when to stop pumping the amps to a battery?

Thanks

Grant MacLeod