Generator to a bridge rectifier to a charge controller?

[Bossrox]

I just added a generator to my off grid system by feeding 120v into a bridge rectifier & using a 250v 2,200 mfd electrolytic capacitor for the DC filter then feeding that into a 120 amp charge controller.

On an oscilloscope the filtering looks perfect with no load but when I put a load on the charger the oscilloscope displays some aggressive high peak looking AC curves unlike scoping a charger running on panels which looks perfectly flat, so I'm wondering, do I need more filtering or a different size or type capacitor? The charger seems to function properly but I'm pretty concerned that those AC looking curves may damage the charger. Any suggestions?

An update: I found out chokes can be used with the capacitors to reduce the ripple even more but I couldn't find out what choke value would be needed for a rectified 120v AC to DC. Thx to a post on this, I discovered the 2200 mfd cap I was using is way under sized & would need at least 50,000 mfd but would still have a 5v ripple at 30 amps thus looking into adding a choke appears will clean up the rest. Anybody savvy on chokes?

[joestue]

I suspect your 22000 uf cap isn't as large as it says it is

there are online ripple voltage calculators you can use

https://pcbjunkie.net/index.php/tools/full-bridge-rectifier-voltage-ripple-calculator/

[Bossrox]

I suspect your 22000 uf cap isn't as large as it says it is

there are online ripple voltage calculators you can use

https://pcbjunkie.net/index.php/tools/full-bridge-rectifier-voltage-ripple-calculator/

Thx for that info, just what I needed.

[Bossrox]

I suspect your 22000 uf cap isn't as large as it says it is

there are online ripple voltage calculators you can use

https://pcbjunkie.net/index.php/tools/full-bridge-rectifier-voltage-ripple-calculator/

You were right, I made a typo in the capacitor value, it's only 2200 mfd.

[tanner0441]

Hi

I have two systems one 24V, main system, and a 12V system with a mixture of batteries hooked together. I had a big beefy battery charger totally unregulated and after nearly a week of inclement, c##p, weather I fed it into a rubbish 30A  PWM charge controller. It worked perfectly didn't boil the batteries in fact the batteries didn't go above 13.4V. Just have to remember to connect the batterie first to load the system

Brian

[OperaHouse]

I would do a choke input before the capacitor for better ripple reduction.  I would limit capacitor size.

[Bossrox]

I would do a choke input before the capacitor for better ripple reduction.  I would limit capacitor size.

Common sense would seem you'd be right. Choking out as much ripple at the start would give the caps less work to do. Got 5 10,000 mfd capacitors & if I see any ripple, I'll juggle the caps around to see what arrangement will work better. Right now I have 3 at pre choke & 2 post choke to see how it does but I'm guessing your suggestion sounds like it should work better. Thx