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Forum Index : Electronics : Is there a general ’Regulator’ post...
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| rori Newbie  Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
... and is that even what I'm after? :) Hi guys, have browsed 12 months worth of posts and love the site, and feedback given. I've been looking for somewhere to share/explore further windgen information and a few forums just seem to be full of bots. TL;DR Version: F&P Smart Drive as a wind gen. Rewired 7 sets of 2 for 42V AC 3 Phase Bridge recitied to 38V DC. (nameplate speed, NOT expected speed ;) ) I have not found (or stupidly missed) how we take what will be variations in voltage/amperage depending on wind speed, and lock it down to a specific voltage, and then manage the amperage. If you want to say "Read this post wombat" and point me, or even just say "Search" I'll try and use better terms heh. If there isn't a good "newbie post" I'd love to read, help with questions, and would happily put in feedback once I've got it sorted as a newbie point of view. (I'm hoping this all makes sense) |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Ah, you just have to ask the right question. Also, dont ask too many questions in one post, it gets too hard to answer so many dont bother. Now about locking down to a specific voltage. Thats the job of the battery. A battery will pull down a higher voltage from a alternator. This is a bit simplistic, but if your alternator is running at a speed that would make 20 volts, and you connect it to a 12 battery, it will load down the voltage to 12 - 15 volts, depending on the state of charge of the battery. The volts is turned into amps ( sort of, again, its a simple view of a complex bunch of stuff ). If you spin the alternator faster, the voltage will go up slightly, but the amps will go up more. The battery becomes a regulator. But we need to be carefull we dont overcharge the battery, so a charge controller is used. If you dont have/want to use a battery, then you need to use some more advanced electronics to regulate the voltage. Is this what your looking at? Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi Gizmo, thanks for the quick response (and suggestions on how to ask questions heh. I can be wordy). What we're trying to do, is have a wind generator to take up to the highlands when we go fishing. It will be connected to 12V batteries to run LED lighting, radio, that sort of thing. It'd be great to be able to connect it to smaller sealed 12V batteries (7Ah, 18Ah) and the like, and I'm not past hearing suggestions (or finding them as I keep browsing) on what's a useful thing to use the power for. Again thanks. |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
OK you will need a Charge Controller, or the windmill could easily overcharge the batteries. The best type uses a dump load to drain off the excess power once the battery's are fully charged, usually into a heater element or some 50 watt light bulbs. If you used solar panels, you can just disconnect them, but not with a wind turbine, it needs to be loaded or it will over speed and could be damaged. LED lights are good, but I prefer the light from fluro lamps, they may use a bit more power but are much better to see by. Most camping stores will sell a 12v fluro lamp. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Excellent! So the 2 last major components I need for the project are Charge Controller, and Dump Load. I've been browsing the dump load projects and it seems pretty full on. Some incredible builds. (The one Downwind created with the heat exchanger is rather spectacular). As we have been blessed with 3 F&P Smart Drive units, we're probably going to do each one at a time, taking what we've learned from the last build to create something better or more complex for the next one. I'm going to scour the site for the 2 simplest/hardest to screw up versions, but if you have a recommendation for either or both I'd love to hear them. Also, I've kept a bit of a diary, and photo archive of the exploits so far. Are builds from newbies frowned upon, or requested? (Sorry, I know this is an extra question hehe) |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Following the suggestion for 2 fluros. 1 in the camper, and one in the annex. Will have LED's for the less specific lighting (doorway, indicators.) Can get some automotive high wattage resistors, so will use them for dump load, and now just deciding the best newbie charge controller. Suggestions welcome, and thanks again to Gizmo for the advice. |
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| VK4AYQ Guru  Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi rori Link to Glenns controller use a few high wattage headlight globes they work great. All the best Bob http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/articles/TL084-Controlle r.asp Foolin Around |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Thanks Bob, just been in the shed pulling apart 2 4:3 monitors to see what I needed to fix them both, so along with the 2 caps, I'll get the parts for the that charge controller. hopefully Jaycar down here can sort me out. Looking forward to getting this together. |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
(new post for new questions) I finally got the unit wired up to the bridge rectifiers, so now I'm dealing with DC output! Attached an 80% charged sealed UPS style 12V battery today, with a multimeter in series to check Amperage. with my drill spinning the unit not terribly fast but not as slow as I'd do by hand, I was pulling 3.5A so about 42W. I'm hoping that sort of ampage/wattage is fine for charging car, deep cell and UPS style batteries, but thought I'd ask what sort of minimum is useful, and what maximum is unsafe (for the batteries). I figure with a decent wind, I'd be spinning twice as fast, or more than what I got with the drill, but I'm not wanting to guess. |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
rori, car starting batteries are designed to be charged with lots of Amps in a short time. Sealed & deep cycle batteries are different, perhaps no more than 1/10 of their Ah capacity for however long it takes to charge them. The smaller the Ah rating the more carefully you have to monitor the charging to avoid overcharging and battery venting if your charging device can deliver more than 1/10th of the Ah rating. Actually, a lot of sealed batteries have the charging regime printed on their side. You do need some charge monitoring gadget that limits the overcharging, with a windmill it will then switch the charge to a dump load. Klaus |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi Tinker. Thanks for the info, and yes, definitely getting a charge controller built to go with the system. Will likely keep the first one simple, and keep it for car batteries only, so we don't hurt any sealed batteries. Will look further into systems employed on this site to see how to charge my lil 7Ah battery without frying it. |
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Quite a few exams and assignments at uni at the moment so the project is coming along slowly. Just wanted to pop back on and say thanks Gizmo and Tinker. While a lot of this info is obvious to some, it really helps us that are a little less capable. And I can't WAIT to get it finished :) |
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| jjbob27 Newbie Joined: 13/10/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 4 |
Hi, everyone! I'm a newbie here and would like to try the charge controller circuit linked above. I'm just wondering if anyone can show me calculations made for the op amps? Thanks, Joseph |
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Bub73 Senior Member  Joined: 10/12/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 116 |
Welcome to the forum jjbob27, Maybe this pic will help if not do a forum search for TL084 controller should bring up lots of hits. Bob 
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| rori Newbie Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi jjbob and welcome! The search function on these forums works really well, and it's best to give it a shot first. Having said that, I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed by the info and the expertise of the forum members when I joined and thought it probably made more sense to ask because I'd FOUND a few controller looking circuits and wasn't sure where to head. http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/articles/TL084-Controlle r.asp Here's the full details from the site. Welcome, and have fun. I'll be finishing mine up in a few weeks after I've done my finals. Will try and do a bit of a write up as I go so people just starting have an idea of some of the pitfalls you can fall into that these crazy experts don't get stuck on. ;) |
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| jjbob27 Newbie Joined: 13/10/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 4 |
Thanks rori and Bub73 for the links and vero layout, However I was thinking that you can tell me what kind of operation does the op amp does? ie is it an inverting or non inverting circuit? It's for me to help doing calculations for the improvement of the circuit. I uploaded the file which shows typical applications for opamps but not quite sure which circuit is being used for this controller. In the file I found the closest circuit for the opamps with a variable resistor at the input is the Offset Voltage Adjustment for Inverting Amplifiers circuit. Please help me with this one. 
Thanks 2011-10-20_083008_AN-31_Opamp_App_Notes.pdf |
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| jjbob27 Newbie Joined: 13/10/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 4 |
I'm quite stupid with searching for answers but I tried to search for threads about the TL084 and found a very long thread that explained all of what the op amps does! So lucky to stumble upon it. Now I gained more knowledge about op amps and would design more devices based on it 
Thanks SOOOO MUCH!!!! |
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