I ran it a bit to make sure everything is working on my test setup. I found out the generator is actually running around 42 volts with the battery bank at about 29-30. I have an old silo unloader cord hooked up to the rectifier - about 100 feet of 8/4 wire. And two #2 welding cables about 150 feet long from the rectifier to the battery bank.
I have to figure out why I'm getting that much voltage drop with that big wire.
Why?
Partly, because of those "pulses", IMHO.
"test setup"?
Man, I have been waiting for somebody with this setup, except it needs a few wire and rectifier rearrangements!
Whats the chances you want to try something (almost) new?
The 2-ph has 4-wire output?
Connect the 4 wires to the 4 rectifier terminals.
Move the 8/4, and connect it directly to the 4 rectifier terminals.
Keep the 4 wires of the 8/4 separate! Meaning to
NOT connect pairs of Pos or Neg together at the rectifier end.
At the other end of the 8/4, connect them together normally with the two #2.
What I think is the magic part.
Hang a BIG FAT cap on each rectifier output. Something like maybe electrolytic 5800uF 100V (some on ebay now for cheap), or maybe 100,000uF 100V?
Then test the output.
Might want to try it with the battery at the end of the 8/4 too. (no long stretch of #2)
I doubt those caps would last long... I don't really know.
I think they would last long enough for a test run. Want to keep an eye on the cap temps. And wear safety glasses.
Eventually or permanently speaking, probably need some fancy caps to deal with it without overheating.
I tested it on 1-ph of a 3-ph PMA on a much much much smaller scale and got a 7% increase IIRC, and it started with nowhere near the voltage losses you have.
I do not have the equipment to do a test with much resolution.
A friend has about the same resolution equipment as me, but larger PMAs.
He tried it with motor run caps and the output went down.
Not sure if it was the measuring devices or the caps, though I'd lean toward the caps or a combination of both.
Then again, it could be the increased efficiency deceased the RPM from overloaded prime mover?
I have no solid idea. Betting on the caps were the problem.
This is nowhere near the Aussie's use of caps to gain power from F&Ps. Not even a similar concept.
The only thing I think it does is smooth out the losses from the wire losses produced by the pulses.
I have a feeling it will be most effective at about 2x ~ 4x cutin RPM... just a wild guess. I can not accurately vary the RPM to my choosing.
I do believe 3-ph is more efficient if everything is matched close enough to compare apples to apples.
But 90% of mine are 1-ph or 2-ph.
G-
PS- Let me know if you want to give it a whirl. I have some (enough?) caps that may be OK for a test but they'd need a big pile of them in parallel, twice.
PPS- This meets Bob's #2.