Wind Generator Blowing Fuses!

[Bowedtoothdoc]

Last year I purchased a Hunter Passage 450 which already had a wind generator installed. It is a Sunforce 600 watt unit. In addition to the control unit it also has a meter installed which shows the amount of voltage going into the batteries when charging. At the time of purchase everything seemed to work fine. At some point later I noticed that the voltage meter was no longer registering, I checked behind the unit and the fuse was blown 40Amp.
I purchased a new fuse and it blew immediately upon insertion. I have not changed anything on the boat that could cause this to happen and sunforce says that it is most likely a wiring problem. Any help is appreciated.

 

[GeorgiaBII]

Well since nobody else has touched this, obviously there is a short. Especially since you blow the 40amp fuse upon insertion. As for testing and solving the problem you'll need a ohm meter. First thing I'd do is trace the wires from the controller to the batteries and the controller to turbine and check for pinching or damage.

I'm hoping somebody familiar with the system will have more than AI do.

 

[GeorgiaBII]

Here is a link to a PDF of the owners manual, It has some wiring in it. Enough to probably start the trouble shooting.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...5U6ENyLEYMpgZ1jFQ&sig2=66yPDjrW9EKbeL7XwT2Syw

 

[Maine Sail]

Check up in the mast for the wind gen where the wires for the motor are spliced to the wires to the batteries/controller. Wind gens move back & forth quite a bit and if chafe is an issue for shorting the wires. If a short is happening this is a prime spot.

Follow both wires to and from the win gen and check them very carefully for a worn jacket or area where they may be shorting to ground. Blowing a 40A fuse upon insertion likely means you have a dead short somewhere...

 

[Bowedtoothdoc]

Thanks Everyone, I have the manual and will start checking things tomorrow...

 

[sailaway78]

Is my math wrong

600 watt generator, divided by 12 volts equals 50 amps. Or am I missing something here.
I realiize that it takes a fair amount of breeze to get it to 600 watts, which you didn't address. I also think that the most logical solution is finding a short, but not sure about the 40amp fuse.

 

[Bowedtoothdoc]

600 watt generator, divided by 12 volts equals 50 amps. Or am I missing something here.
I realiize that it takes a fair amount of breeze to get it to 600 watts, which you didn't address. I also think that the most logical solution is finding a short, but not sure about the 40amp fuse.

Thanks for the reply, However the manual clearly states the fuse should be 40Amp. Not sure about the reasoning on that and also the main panel seems to functioning normally, no protection light coming on?

 

[Maine Sail]

Thanks for the reply, However the manual clearly states the fuse should be 40Amp. Not sure about the reasoning on that and also the main panel seems to functioning normally, no protection light coming on?

The reasoning is simple, you'll never see more output than that fuse because the max output rating is 35A and you'll need wind speeds over 30 mph to achieve anywhere near that...