Xantrex C60 for repair or my mistake?

[Goahead]

Hi everyone.

Finally i connected my xantrex c60 to my 10foot turbine.
24V bank
1ohm dump resistor (home made)
- voltage jumper 24V
- equalizer jumper manual
- jumper load control

Well, when i connect xantrex to battery bank, the led blinks red (seems perfect), the problem is that it starts to dump to resistor imidiatly.
When i change LVD trimmer position, the led changes to full red (dumping) and the resistors continus to dump.
Currently trimmers for 28V starts to dump and 25V stops dumping.

In conclusion, no matter if led blinks or stays red (changing trimmer), xantrex is always dumping.

I need to be sure im not messing things before trying to repair it.

Any help welcome.
regards
Goahead

[dave ames]

Hey Goahead,

When we use the C60 as a dump load controller the jumper pins need to be in the top 'charge control' position, not the bottom load control slot.

You will now see a green led when dumping 

Hope that helps...A very common error, I blame the C series instruction manual for this confusion!

Cheers, Dave

[Goahead]

rely??
 
Let me go outside and change that jumper!
Ill check back in a minute!

Goahead

[Goahead]

Well, the wind is not picking up to take my 24V 250AH to a full 28Volts.
I cant check this, but currently the led blinks green one time every 3 seconds (batteries <26,5volts)

I checked in xantrex manual page 87 (troubleshooting) that it states that i should change to charge control!!
This is so confusing.

Tomorow forecast states "heavy winds"...ill check again if controller is working

thanks for this important hint.

regards
Goahead

[dave ames]

Sounds normal now. You will see that led flash rate climb as the battery voltage comes up..from very low (more that 1.5v below bulk =1 flash) up thru five flashes (bulk setting), then solid green when we get to float.

Fun stuff, dave

[Goahead]

Today was a windy day, but unfortunatly i was at work and could not check proper workof xantrex.

Left the system running and when i return at night, batteries are charged 25,55V (maybe a bit overcharged)

Now what i didnt understand is that xantrex does not blink led anymore.
I disconnected the controller, connected it again and no led again.
I then disconnected de resistor and the led starts to blink showing normal operation.

Was xantrex in a protetion mode and disconnected it self? Why?
Over-Voltage? did my dumpload not enough for windturbine?
Is there any fault in xantrex and it should never turn off it self?

I better make a new dumpload

regards
G.

[cdog]

My c35 is always green when dumping....
It was orange once but i had too many resistors on it.

[cdog]

If your dumpload wasnt enough your volts would climb too high......
Do you know the wattage of the resistor?

[dave ames]

The fingers are automatically pointing to a problem with the DIY dumpload resistor. Hard to know exactly what you have there. (store bought stuff takes away most the guessing here)

Good chance to double/triple check our wiring setup and proper sizing.

Those batteries are sitting very low! Do you have any other way to charge them up? A 24 volt charger you could use?

A charger would be handy getting the set points tuned in as well... A good starting position would be 12 o'clock for the top dial and 9 o'clock for the bottom dial.

Best to do a good long test run with the proposed dumpload resistor measuring the current into it and observing that it can dissipate all that heat it generates for an extended test period.

Edit: Spell Check.

[Goahead]

Thx everyone for replys

Let me try to explain what i have:

I cut-out one oven resistors (2400W) in several parts a end up with one resistor with 1ohm (28^2/1=784W) 10 parts in series and parallel.
I have 10 x 12Volts 49AH batteries arranged for 24Volts
Those batteries are in bad shape (some are 3 years old, others are 5) but they where free from a Telecom company.
Sealed MARATHON M12V50FT so, having 25,5V is not to bad...i know some are overcharged and others are a bit low...but until they explode..that just fine

Why did xantrex c60 stooped blinking led like its was dead and i had to restart it?
Didnt check resitor but im gessing its not shorted or open.


Regards

[dave ames]

Everyone loves to see pictures Got any more?

Looks like a nice job making that resistor bank

Not sure why we are having controller trouble..Can you confirm that the rectified turbine output is going to those battery bus bars? ..not to the C60.

I always get a kick out of how a camera bends the blades in pictures of spinning turbines.

It's still good fun, dave

[Goahead]

Hi Dave,

yes i have tons of pictures but the quality of some are not the best.
Bending blades..what a phenomena!

Yes, turbine goes direct to break switch->rectifier-> turnigy meter-> fuse->bus bar-> C60
Input from to bus bar from the left and output to C60 in the right side of the bus bar.
All those connections to batteries seem a mess, but i tried to have same length in wires.

I have lack of safety in system, since the fuse i use in the holder, is only 30A...
Turnigy has registed a peak of 50A and luckily it never blown up the fuse.


Power to C60 is coming from inverter input (very thick wire from bus bar).
Wires going to dumpload where just for testing but they are thick enough.


I better buy power resistors for dumpload and abandon the DIY one.

I have to guess that there was a overcharge in c60 and it must have shut-down it self.

Thx for your help

regards
Goahead

[dave ames]

Hi Goahead,

I hope you might keep us updated as to how you get on with that controller...Curious if the Turnigy has registered a peak voltage as well?

May sound counter intuitive but you may want to try a larger dump load..something around 0.5 to 0.6 Ohm rated in the 2K watt range...thinking we may be too slow in keeping those voltage spikes in check? won't hurt to beef that wiring up as well.

Thanks for the extra pics

Kind regards, dave
73