One or two Xantrex?

[bigkahoonaa]

This is how I'm thinking of connecting each of 5 pairs of coils from my wind mill:

I probably need to add a fuse somewhere.  I need to divert current through a transformer at some point because the voltage will be too high for the Xantrex (max about 50 VDC).  Am I going to need another Xantrex for a dump load?  Is there another charge controller which I can used to regulate battery changing and dump excess current?

[stephent]

According to my book the max dc input volts for a C-40 is 125vdc. (C35 and C60 are both 55vdc max input)

Umm--one question, how are you planning on using the C40 in charging from the genny?

Looks like a normal solar hookup to me--which isn't recommended for wind at all.

(I could be wrong there--so correct me if so)

Reading your other post about rewinding the coils does seem to have presented a problem.

[CmeBREW]

Bigkahoona,

      So you are going to control 15 separate relays with a computer interface in order to try and match the wind/mill speed with load---sorta like a MPPT controller?. Are you going to switch the 5 separate phases on and off according to wind speeds? Also, are you going to have 10 separate wires running all the way to the windmill or is this controller going to be at the location of the mill controlled by a data control line?

It is an interesting interface idea. I don't know too much about it, but awhile back someone tried something similar with a transformer and a few guys here said something about the frequency (Hz) into the transformer would be 'messy' and much too LOW of hertz to be efficient. Even though i don't understand it all, it convinced me to stay away from transformers until the day i do fully understand it. It sounds very complex. Can you explain more about the system and your intentions?

[bigkahoonaa]

CmeBREW:

Something like an MPPT is what I had in mind.  I didn't know such things existed.  I Googled MPPT and found a circuit with an explanation of how it works.  Arrgg.  I think it was in English, but I'm not sure.  Expensive to.  What I have in mind is something like:

Voltage in can range from 0 to 125 VAC.

Voltage out should be about 11 to 15 VDC.

Breaks should come on (i.e. short one or more coils) if RPM > 500.  Doing it this way, I can short one coil but the 4 other coils could still produce power.  Need to be carefull about balance.

The box with a ? is my interface.  I haven't figured it all out yet.  The interface is not behind the wind mill but 100 feet away, inside a room, with 10 leads.

[CmeBREW]

But wouldn't 10 wires cost more than 2 or 3 bigger Ga. wires? This is alittle confusing. I thought you initially wanted to save alot of money on 'running wires' by using the higher voltage? It sounds like using only a couple of coils for braking purposes like you mentioned ,could burn them out easily if they are shorted more than several seconds. It sounds risky.

The Zantrex "c-series" controllers can be set-up for only ONE of three different control funtions.  -PV charge control mode ; -Charge & Diversion control mode ; or Load control mode.  I think most people use it for 'Charge & Divert mode'.(including myself)  This appears what your set-up is also, so I think all you need is one C-40 set to this mode, since it can handle up to 125vdc input as Stephent said. Of course, normally the diversion load is a heater element of some sort. I'm not sure if thats your intention of diversion.

I am looking at my C-60 booklet right now and it shows that the C-40 has an max input of 125vdc even for the 12v charging set-up. I am beginning to wish I had purchased the C-40 instead of the C-60 which the max input is only 55vdc.

I haven't even hooked up my C-60 yet.

But that does confuse me. Is that saying that the C-40 can handle upto 125vdc input and convert it electronically in an EFFICIENT way to charge 12volt batteries in the 12v set-up? I don't know if that is the case or not. If it is, then you could probably skip using the transformer. I can't see any information in the booklet about this. Maybe someone else would know about this here in the discussion group. If the C-40 can efficiently convert upto 125vdc to 12vdc for charging, then I ALSO would rather make a high voltage wind generator to save alot of money and efficiency on wire!! But I do not know for certain yet. Sorry I don't know more. -good luck on your efforts though.

[bigkahoonaa]

CmeBrew:

Saving money on wire is one thing I had in mind.  I have 2 AGW wire to run a 1000 W inverter.  It's heavy, expensive, and not very flexible.  I didn't think it was very practical to run a 100 feet of this stuff.  I also wanted to max power going to batteries.  What's the point of making all this effort to build something, if you loose half your power in a transmission line?  That's why I opted for higher voltage.

The interface is not as complex as it may seem.  I realised early that I would need something to control this puppy.  The interface provides flexibility and automation.  It's run from the parallel port off my old 486 pc.  You can get kits for about $30 which will control 8 relays.  All you need to do is print a byte to the parallel port.  Each bit of this byte is going to determine if the corresponding relay is on or off. A 0 means it's Off and a 1 means it's On.  Google "parallel port relay."

The parallel port has 18 data lines, including ground, and 3 ports (usually ports 378h, 379h and 37Ah).  The data output port controls lines 2 to 9 (output only).  The control port controls lines 1, 14, 16, and 17 (input/output).  The data in port controls lines 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 (input only).  I got two kits and hooked them together so I can control a max of 12 relays.  

I run the RPM sensor off of line 10.  I made a skirt around the hub of the mill with a notch in it.  On one side is an LED and on the other is a light sensitive resistor.  I use this to drive a transistor that brings line 10 from high (+5V) to low (0V).  Every time the blade makes a revolution, line 10 goes from high to low.  I use this as a signal and measure the amount of time between signals to calculate RPM.  I can also count the number of signals in a small time interval to get an average.  Eventually, I'm going to trash the computer and replace it with something (?).  It sucks up over 100 W.  

I can post pics if anyone is interested in more details.