I am in the process of rigging a wind turbine up to my sailboat and have a alternator with voltage regulator attached. I was wondering if I should hook the voltage regulator directly to the batteries, or what? This should keep the recharges at safe imput levels, am I correct about that? Thanks
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I have a hart inverter/battery charger on my boat and am also going to install a wind generator. I know this inverter charges my batteries off of shore power and can sense the correct point to stop charging. Can I hook my wind generator leads directly to some terminal on the inverter or does the fact that this current would be DC to start with make it necessary to use a DC regulator to protect the batteries?
Heart Inverter/Charger.
Your Heart unit is a good 3-stage charger but is using 110V AC as input. There is possibly an internal connection point after the rectifier that you could use. You would need a schematic and some electrical know-how. You could try asking the manufacturer. See Related Link. I look forward to their answer.
Your Heart unit is a good 3-stage charger but is using 110V AC as input. There is possibly an internal connection point after the rectifier that you could use. You would need a schematic and some electrical know-how. You could try asking the manufacturer. See Related Link. I look forward to their answer.
Wind Generators & Regulators
Dennis and carisea - You need a separate voltage regulator for the the wind generators. Only part of the reason is that they are DC only outputs. More importantly, the voltage regulator from the alternator needs the field wire to control the output. The alternator's voltage regulator is made specifically for controlling your alternator output, nothing else. It's connected with wiring to a number of different points: the alternator's field wiring, the tachometer, etc. The inverter/charger's internal regulator is different than the alternator's regulator, in that it is sensing the condition (i.e., voltage) of the batteries to determine the right three stage charging. You can't find a place to connect another DC source to the guts of the inverter/charger, nor would you want to, since it would void your warranty big time. I suggest you each take a look at the West Marine Advisors and/or Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Manual before you go too much further. You need to fully understand both what you are doing and how it should work before you start installing your proposed equipment. This includes the equipment you already have installed (i.e., alternator, it's regulator and the inverter/charger). The wind generator should go to the house bank directly, properly fused, with its own regulator. Good luck. Stu
Dennis and carisea - You need a separate voltage regulator for the the wind generators. Only part of the reason is that they are DC only outputs. More importantly, the voltage regulator from the alternator needs the field wire to control the output. The alternator's voltage regulator is made specifically for controlling your alternator output, nothing else. It's connected with wiring to a number of different points: the alternator's field wiring, the tachometer, etc. The inverter/charger's internal regulator is different than the alternator's regulator, in that it is sensing the condition (i.e., voltage) of the batteries to determine the right three stage charging. You can't find a place to connect another DC source to the guts of the inverter/charger, nor would you want to, since it would void your warranty big time. I suggest you each take a look at the West Marine Advisors and/or Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Manual before you go too much further. You need to fully understand both what you are doing and how it should work before you start installing your proposed equipment. This includes the equipment you already have installed (i.e., alternator, it's regulator and the inverter/charger). The wind generator should go to the house bank directly, properly fused, with its own regulator. Good luck. Stu
KISS wind generators do NOT use a regulator
I am just buying one now. In a conversation with Doug Billings, the mfgr, he does NOT recommend a regulator. You will loose 25% of your ah output.
I am just buying one now. In a conversation with Doug Billings, the mfgr, he does NOT recommend a regulator. You will loose 25% of your ah output.
Wind Gs regulators, again
Andy Please excuse me, but IMHO, you may have been misguided. The issue of voltage regulation, whether with solar panels or wind generators, is the size of the batteries compared to the output characteristics of the source of charging. The West Marine Advisor on wind generators states: "In addition to speed controls, the AIR Marine features an adjustable internal regulator which limits voltage output to safe levels, and which can be negated by setting it to a high voltage if you would prefer to regulate the turbine using an external regulator." As long as you have a BIG battery bank with a relatively small DC charging source (i.e., 1 to 1 1/2% of battery bank in amp hours for a solar panel output), you can run without a regulator without damaging batteries. Otherwise, regardless of the source, damage could be done to the batteries from overcharging, hence the regulator. That's why they have them on alternators and chargers. Your referenced source may have been right in suggesting that nothing compromise the output of the generator, but that (maybe) didn't take into account the whole system. Why fry batteries just to get more output from the wind generator? Especially if one manufacturer includes it within their own product. Agreed, it's a difficult subject at best, but it's important to understand the whole system, in addition to each of its parts. He may have been unclear and confused diodes with regulators. Regulators are specifically designed to let current and voltage pass through, but only to pre-set limits, where dioldes will drop a volt off no matter what's coming in. Regulators shouldn't cut 25% of output. And, most importantly, what's Doug's answer to how to "regulate" output into a battery bank when it's blowing 30 kts and your batteries are full (and you're not on board)? If you are present, you can always turn it off manaully. Just some questions.
Andy Please excuse me, but IMHO, you may have been misguided. The issue of voltage regulation, whether with solar panels or wind generators, is the size of the batteries compared to the output characteristics of the source of charging. The West Marine Advisor on wind generators states: "In addition to speed controls, the AIR Marine features an adjustable internal regulator which limits voltage output to safe levels, and which can be negated by setting it to a high voltage if you would prefer to regulate the turbine using an external regulator." As long as you have a BIG battery bank with a relatively small DC charging source (i.e., 1 to 1 1/2% of battery bank in amp hours for a solar panel output), you can run without a regulator without damaging batteries. Otherwise, regardless of the source, damage could be done to the batteries from overcharging, hence the regulator. That's why they have them on alternators and chargers. Your referenced source may have been right in suggesting that nothing compromise the output of the generator, but that (maybe) didn't take into account the whole system. Why fry batteries just to get more output from the wind generator? Especially if one manufacturer includes it within their own product. Agreed, it's a difficult subject at best, but it's important to understand the whole system, in addition to each of its parts. He may have been unclear and confused diodes with regulators. Regulators are specifically designed to let current and voltage pass through, but only to pre-set limits, where dioldes will drop a volt off no matter what's coming in. Regulators shouldn't cut 25% of output. And, most importantly, what's Doug's answer to how to "regulate" output into a battery bank when it's blowing 30 kts and your batteries are full (and you're not on board)? If you are present, you can always turn it off manaully. Just some questions.
Generators and alternators
Generators and alternators are like compairing apples to oranges. Each function differently with the same end result. Alternators use DC exitation voltage to create a AC voltage as the alternator spins. The ac voltage is rectified using a bridge circuit back to DC at a higher potential. Many alternators have built in regulators that will limit battery charge and once excited are self sustaining. If not a regulator is required not just a nice thing unless you have stock in a sulfuric acid company, because you would be buying quite a bit over time. Generators are not self exciting. They require a voltage source for excitation, this is generally speaking. Were not going to get into residual magnatisim excitation here. Generator regulators are usually a seperate unit. But are still required. As the one responder said, connect the output to a connection that will allow you to direct the charge to whatever battery you wish. Make sure your distribution setup allows this (like a battery selection switch). This way you can charge what ever batterys need a charge at the time. All regulators do consume energy. However it is just a small amount of the generated output that it uses. Make sure you have a switch that can turn off the regulator when not in use as it uses energy even when the generator is not in use.
Generators and alternators are like compairing apples to oranges. Each function differently with the same end result. Alternators use DC exitation voltage to create a AC voltage as the alternator spins. The ac voltage is rectified using a bridge circuit back to DC at a higher potential. Many alternators have built in regulators that will limit battery charge and once excited are self sustaining. If not a regulator is required not just a nice thing unless you have stock in a sulfuric acid company, because you would be buying quite a bit over time. Generators are not self exciting. They require a voltage source for excitation, this is generally speaking. Were not going to get into residual magnatisim excitation here. Generator regulators are usually a seperate unit. But are still required. As the one responder said, connect the output to a connection that will allow you to direct the charge to whatever battery you wish. Make sure your distribution setup allows this (like a battery selection switch). This way you can charge what ever batterys need a charge at the time. All regulators do consume energy. However it is just a small amount of the generated output that it uses. Make sure you have a switch that can turn off the regulator when not in use as it uses energy even when the generator is not in use.
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