Max Schulte's posts

My question is if I attached my ground wire from my inverter to the electric plug I have inside my house that is attached to my gas fired generator am I asking for trouble. The gen is grounded on its lug and so is the inverter. Overkill?

So I need the forums opinion. I have a C-35 controller that I am using as a diversion controller And a 60W 12V panel feeding a single battery. I have wire the system per the instruction in my manual BUT in Diversion mode the panel is straight wired(with diode) to the battery. Am I shaving life off of my battery by straight wiring? Anyone got more time in with this type of wiring?

Have you put that unit into the wind yet? I have a post here. Once I put mine into the wind even the high wind days I would only get 3.5 volts. Hub and blade drag. Take a look at my wind pic.

I will keep a wary eye on it then. Money's getting tight to have a failure of 2 parts of my solar equipment.

Take a look at the solar heating solatr thermal post and look for my name. I had a post there about water elements.

I have available to me two DC motors. One is up the pole and one in reserve. I in a moment of poor judgement bought one of those Ebay 70$ wind gens and it was blown in 9mo.
I reused the main body and several other parts that I had gotten to keep the original wind motor going. IE 2nd set of blades,40A diode.On the bench at 700 RPM it produces 8V 8A but at near 2000RPM it produces 13.7 10A. I have not done the math but I have a 3 blade set up and the blades are 1ft long. I think in the higher wind days here in the upper midwest I might be able to get the RPM's needed to charge. We had storms over the weekend with gust's up to 45 MPH and it is still intact. We will see.

I have just completed a DIY Wind Gen. I am double checking myself but if I wanted to check the output voltage I would place my volt meter on the gen side of the diode and then the negative. Correct.

It is printed with a .75 on it. One last question does the resistive air heater loads you use make a squeeling noise when voltage is applied or is it just me. I am on a learning curve up here in Il. Trial and error and error.

Much like with batteries you cant mix div loads either correct. I have a 125w and a 300w.

I have a question for anyone that has a C series controller? Does anyone use this controller in diversion mode with both solar AND wind inputs? So long as you dont exceed the amp rating. Will that work? I am currently using just a 60W 12V panel.

I have a C35 controller switched to diversion. A single 60w solar panel. With a air heating element load. I have an opportunity to get a 6g electric water heater and I was thinking of year round pre heating the water that goes to my water heater.1st question is is it worth my time? 2nd is what REALLY is the difference between the 120v heating element and a 12v element? 3rd would I be doing anything with only 60w of power?

I am getting a Xantrex C35 and I am wondering when I hook my 60W panel to it will I be required to use a blocking diode?

I do not have a diversion load that runs in water it is air cooled soo. I have not made a purchase but in summer I dont want to make heat. I will just save my money now. THX

This is just a little side note. If you decide to change to LED bulbs do not get light of America brand. 8 bulbs 8 failed in less than a year 50 down the drain.

Who in the forum actually has this controller? My question is how hard is it to switch from dump load to pmw mode?

Of the materials that panels are made of what is the more desireable? That is what is available to the general public.

David
 Well its all but over now. When I find a spare moment I am going to call not email. 2 days ago at the same time the motor quit putting out 12v and then I lost a blade.It was in a good steady 18 mph wind straight out of the east.Not good weather to be crawling around a tower even if is only 10 ft tall...

David
 Did you have a number I could call or there web address? I live in the midwest and the grain elevators are drying at full capacity so it is noisey. I noticed a strange sound over the noise and it was coming from the wind gen. I lost the web address and I hope if it comes to it they have replacement motors.

Right now I have one positive connection and one negative connection from the battery for my solar panels and then the same for my wind generator. Would there be a problem if the solar and wind were on the same ground connection to the battery? Basically two independent positive but one common ground?

David
 I know I am not in a good wind area but I have a question? Did you ever put an Amp gauge on your USAwind unit. I got the 200W unit. The best wind I get around here I have squeezed 3 amp burst with 1 amp average. Dont get me wrong I am not complaining I just want to compare.

Last night a blade hit the tower but we had some high gusts.I wonder if I am going to get into a balance problem? lost 1\2 in of blade. Does anyone know what size PCV pipe they make these blades out of?

I hooked up my amp gauge the other night when it was still and the meter was reading 00.1. It is a 2 amp digital meter so I took that as 100 milliamp. My question would be is that an excessive draw? Is the diode that is installed failing?

Yes I have the 200w version but only 3 blade. I have had it go thru 2 storms that the weathercube said 50mph gust. But I did have the tail turned 20 degrees.Do you know what speed you had blade failure at?I have had no problems yet that were major only a single rust spot.But I had the inside track and got the body and tail powder coated. I have put it into service now after 3 mo of testing. When I finally put it in its permanate spot the wind stops blowing.LOL Its been 3 wks...

If I have a 12v solar panel and it has a built in blocking diode if I would buy a matching panel and wire it in series would I get 24v? It seems like a simple question but I am having a moment.

Well dare I say I got it off E-bay. I wont say a homemade unit but its not a mass produced unit. The hub is drilled to accept 6 blades but it is shipped with 3. I also had thought that the load on half the hub would probably split it in half. There is no way to put a brake on it and you have to manual furl the tail. If I added 3 more blades would I be asking for problems on the top end.

I have a small Wind turbine that can take 2 to 6 blades. My question is for safety reasons if I switched to 2 blade would that undue strain on the center hub? I understand the principals of wind generating and I have posted here before. I am worried come the winter time that the winds would destroy this turbine. My thoughts are that with 2 blades I will increase its turn on speed but also its self destruct speed. This is a unregulated non-braking turbine. I can side furl the tail but manually. Or should I go 2 blade and 10 degrees of furl? Let me know.

I would like to thank everyone for all of the information I am going to have to grind thru. Right now I have put up a temporay pole and have begun testing this wind turbine I have purchased. I am certain I will be back with more Questions on a fresh topic line.
Max

53ft is the total run. However tonight with bargaining I might of shaved some of that distance off. Got a better location but I may be planting flower at the base of the pole.I am going to have to remeasure and repost for the groups opinion.

I just got a 150W wind turbine and I think I need to use 10 ga stranded wire. I am going 50 ft total.I have a 12v system but that is being regulated 3ft from the batt. So I am being told that this Gen will max volt at 36-40. Do you think 10ga will work?

I need someone to check my calculation. I am using a 5w 110v bulb thru an inverter. 6hrs a day 7 days a week. Average 4 hrs of sun a day with 4 days of no sun at worse. 4 .350ma 12v solar panels and 115 ah battery run down to 50%. I have done the math and I think that will fly. What do you think? Maybe  someone who is running battery's need to give me some guidance.