Author Topic: Axial Flux turbine at 10,000' with Clipper and Classic - setup questions (Read 29994 times)

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #132 on:** October 28, 2019, 08:30:53 AM »

Quote from: bigrockcandymountain on October 24, 2019, 09:54:47 AM

You can text or call me to when you are onsite. Just pm for a number in advance.

PM sent!

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #133 on:** November 02, 2019, 01:09:50 PM »

Trying to get the new curve installed. Any advice??

Quick question on the curve. With my 48V bank my absorb voltage is set around 58V. Do I need to make cut in higher than that? Should I start cut in at 60V or 62V or no?

bigrockcandymountain · « **Reply #134 on:** November 02, 2019, 10:32:18 PM »

Hey sorry i will also be tied up tomorrow so i will try to help on here now. Yes set the first step at 60v. Or 0 amps at 58v 1a at 60v etc. Don't overthink the curve too much. The cut in is the important thing right now. Do 2a at 62v 4a at 65v, 8a 70v, 12a 75v, 16a 80v, 20a 85v, 25a 90v,... or whatever you think. Honestly, i have played with the curve some and it doesn't have a huge effect. Just the cut in matters the most. Mine is 60v.

I still think possibly the clipper is stalling or pulling some power off. If it is windy when your friend is there get them to test some things if possible.

Turn aux 2 to manual off momentarily. Go to status and see if you make watts. Turn aux 2 back to clipper control before leaving.

Disconnect the small wires on the ssr in the clipper see if that helps. Put back before leaving.

Multimeter across the dump load resistors with multimeter set on ac volts. See what voltage is across resistors. The thing will have to be spinning for those tests to be effective.

Let me know. I may have time for a text or call tomorrow. Possibly not though. I won't be on the forum though for sure.

boB · « **Reply #135 on:** November 15, 2019, 01:28:59 AM »

To see if the Clipper is loading the turbine, look at the LED on the SSR Solid State Relay near the 3-phase rectifier.

If that LED is on, then the SSR is being told to turn on. If that is the case, you should be able to disconnect the

input trigger of the SSR and it should open up and let the turbine free-wheel.

boB

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #136 on:** November 15, 2019, 02:17:29 PM »

BRC and Bob,

Thanks so much for all the input and advice! Unfortunately, I decided to have my buddy pull the stop switch on the clipper to shut the turbine down for winter. It just did not make sense to me to have it up there spinning when something is wrong. I will have to get back on it next summer and try to figure it out.

I do have to say that Midnite's customer service and tech support has been tremendous throughout this process. It is a breath of fresh air at a time when spectacular customer service is not the norm. Thanks Bob!

boB · « **Reply #137 on:** November 23, 2019, 02:11:25 AM »

Thanks wbuffet !

We'll continue when you can.

boB

SparWeb · « **Reply #138 on:** November 25, 2019, 09:57:09 PM »

Smart move!

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #139 on:** November 27, 2019, 08:10:59 AM »

Quote from: SparWeb on November 25, 2019, 09:57:09 PM

Smart move!

SparWeb thanks. Unfortunately it hurts. I was really hoping to have the turbine making power this winter. Big storms blowing in this week and the panels are struggling but the wind is blowing strong. Average wind speed at the turbine for the day yesterday was 7mph and had a several hour window where the average was 11mph. A working turbine would have been a real advantage this winter.

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #140 on:** December 20, 2019, 12:27:23 PM »

Heading up to the cabin for a week for Christmas! Got a checklist of things from Midnite. Hopefully I can get this dang turbine making some power! Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you all!

bigrockcandymountain · « **Reply #141 on:** December 20, 2019, 05:58:40 PM »

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

Merry Christmas

SparWeb · « **Reply #142 on:** December 20, 2019, 10:02:04 PM »

Hope Santa puts some Amperes in your stocking this year

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #143 on:** January 08, 2020, 05:00:27 PM »

Ok, great news for the most part!! I swapped in a replacement Classic 200 that Midnite sent me and I got the turbine to make some watts!! I have a new curve in place with step zero at 65 volts! Peak production was 276 watts at 83.5 V. Made a little more here or there over a 30 minute period. Unfortunately nothing since then.

Bad news is it still takes 10-12 mph or so for my blades to begin to spin. Maybe this is partly a function of my lack of wind density at 10,000'?? As usual, there was not enough wind to do anything while I was there. I saw the power produced on mymidnite. Hasn't been enough wind since then either so no more power produced.

Just thinking out loud here. Would a 5 blade prop be better up there with such thin air? Seems like I am missing quite a bit of 8,9,10 mph wind, etc. The 5 blades would somewhat limit my "top end" but maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing at a remote site?? Other option is to convince SparWeb to build me a set of blades that'll capture more low end than my cheap chinese blades do!!

More thinking out loud. Maybe with my thin air I also need to bump up my cut in voltage??

Bruce S · « **Reply #144 on:** January 08, 2020, 05:05:47 PM »

IF I were a betting man

. I'd go with SparWeb's blades

I would also be more inclined to try for the lower speed winds, not much below 8mph though.

Cheers on the classic grabbing sumtig :p

Bruce S

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #145 on:** January 09, 2020, 11:49:48 AM »

Thanks Bruce!! I am pretty excited about it!!

I know I am not going to make any power at 8mph. It just seems like it would be better to have it already spinning at 8,9,10 mph than to have it just starting to spin at 11-12mph.

bigrockcandymountain · « **Reply #146 on:** January 09, 2020, 12:07:23 PM »

I believe the blades you have are a fairly high tsr, so fairly flat to the wind. That doesn't make for good startup performance. Maybe you could add tapered spacers to increase the blade angle by 2 degrees or so. It might help startup performance a little. It would probably be better to design new blades with more chord, but i am just thinking of ways of working with what you have.

5 blades would help startup too. I am not sure which would help more. If it were me, i would try the tapered shims first because it would be cheap and easy.

What does everyone else think?

bigrockcandymountain · « **Reply #147 on:** January 09, 2020, 12:09:20 PM »

And congratulations on making power. You worked hard for it. Now we have you hooked for sure.

kitestrings · « **Reply #148 on:** January 09, 2020, 02:27:13 PM »

Congrats. Was there a problem with the Classic, or just had to get setting right? I think I'd also try shims, or longer blades, before going to five.

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #149 on:** January 09, 2020, 03:21:19 PM »

Thanks a bunch fellas! I appreciate all the help along the way.

Tilting the tower up and down is not an enjoyable process!! I would much rather install some "better" blades that would catch lower wind than take it down to "try something" if that makes sense. If I cannot come up with better blades then shims it'll be I guess. I'd rather not go longer blades just yet. I already moved up to the 9 footers from the 8's.

As far as I know I did not change one single thing programming wise. I replaced the classic that was there with a refurbished one Midnite sent me and voila it worked! Like I said I didn't know it worked till after I was gone.

Any thoughts about the wind curve and tweaking it due to my thin air? It is so frustrating to not be able to experiment because the wind will never show up when I need it to!! Also very frustrating to have 10-12mph on the anemometer all the time and not even have the blades turn!! The turbine spins very freely by hand when I have it on the ground.

Bruce S · « **Reply #150 on:** January 09, 2020, 03:35:57 PM »

Quote from: wbuffetjr1 on January 09, 2020, 03:21:19 PM

Like I said I didn't know it worked till after I was gone.

This is also known as the 7th Law of Wind vs 'Mills .
"Thou shalt NOT have wind while looking"

SparWeb · « **Reply #151 on:** January 10, 2020, 02:42:52 AM »

Well I've never been commissioned before. Not opposed to the idea but I can't promise a speedy delivery!

The altitude and high wind conditions of your site require special consideration. I won't recommend any "mail-order" blades until we can talk about some details.
I would want to understand how bomb-proof they'd need to be, and that would lead me to ask about the site in general (turbulence) and the tail furling (reliability).
I have a bias toward wood construction, not just for appearance but for durability, too. And I think you need that.
Other details like the generator's power curve are being fine-tuned but they started out way outta whack, so maybe more tuning will continue to improve performance without needing new blades at all.

Congratulations on finally getting some output. Trouble-shooting at a distance can be difficult for us, but we feel it's satisfying to hear it's working, too.

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #152 on:** January 10, 2020, 12:30:56 PM »

SparWeb thank you so much!! I will PM you with as many details as you need!!

I agree the power curve needs to continue to be tweaked, and I am a neophyte here so maybe I am wrong, but that doesn't seem like it will help my blades start spinning up sooner?? They just sit there dead in the water till ~12mph!

PM inbound!

I will be forever grateful for all the help from this board! I hope my thread in the future can help someone else avoid the costly mistakes I made early on!

wbuffetjr1 · « **Reply #153 on:** January 10, 2020, 01:18:17 PM »

Quote from: Bruce S on January 09, 2020, 03:35:57 PM

Quote from: wbuffetjr1 on January 09, 2020, 03:21:19 PM

Like I said I didn't know it worked till after I was gone.

This is also known as the 7th Law of Wind vs 'Mills .
"Thou shalt NOT have wind while looking"

Haha! No doubt! This one has been killing me!

DanG · « **Reply #154 on:** January 10, 2020, 01:51:33 PM »

*subsection 7, line 9 Exceptions: 'Out of Town Visitors' shall enjoy fresh stator rub 'Sci-Fi' special effects sounds... (from visiting DanB's at night - 10' at 60' provided never ending "Real UFO NoiseÂ©").

Bruce S · « **Reply #155 on:** January 10, 2020, 02:20:06 PM »

Quote from: DanG on January 10, 2020, 01:51:33 PM

*subsection 7, line 9 Exceptions: 'Out of Town Visitors' shall enjoy fresh stator rub 'Sci-Fi' special effects sounds... (from visiting DanB's at night - 10' at 60' provided never ending "Real UFO NoiseÂ©").

Dang, I totally forgot about subsection 7 line 9!!

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Author Topic: Axial Flux turbine at 10,000' with Clipper and Classic - setup questions (Read 29994 times)