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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
 Posted - 11/03/2008 : 23:41:27
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Evening all,
A few weeks ago I bought a generator from a Rutland wind turbine. It has the product code of WG910 on it which I assume is from the FM910 or 910-3 Furlmatic.
See http://www.marlec.co.uk/products/products.htm
Anyway, it has a four wire output; two thick red wires and two thin yellow wires. I've wired it up to a four bridge rectifier set-up and all works fine as I would expect. Disconnecting the yellow wires seems to do nothing, so is the charge coming from only two wires (phases?)? And if so what are the two thin yellow wires for?
I'm quite looking forward to getting it up in the garden at the weekend. It's producing 13v at around 200rpm.
Cheers
Del.
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gotwind
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
843 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2008 : 11:16:03
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Hi Del.
The 913 that I once had (used same alternator) had a two wire output (DC)
Are you sure the two thicker wires aren't already rectified within the alternator - the two thinner wires may be some kind of sensor wires.
Just a thought.
Ben. |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2008 : 12:52:12
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Hi Ben,
Interesting thought. I hadn't even considered it I must admit.
I've just checked it on my multimeter and it's definetely an AC output. The DC setting gives hardly anything but flick it over to AC and I get 20+V with a good spin.
I'm sure one of our usual electrical geniuss (what is the plural of genius - is there a collective nown for them?) will know the answer.
Cheers
Del. |
Edited by - Del on 12/03/2008 12:52:56 |
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fungus
Moderator
290 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2008 : 18:17:40
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I'd check for resistances/voltages when spun between the two sets of wires ..
I have seen inside one of the rutland's before, I think it was the 910 and it had a set of bridge rectifiers, dont think I remember any yellow/separate wires .. |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2008 : 22:57:24
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Hi Fungus - do you mean between the two red wires and then between the two yellow ones, or red to yellow?
Cheers
Del. |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2008 : 23:24:26
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Just tested the lot.
Between the two (thick) red wires there is plenty of AC volts when spun and a resistance reading of 0.006 (when stationary obviously).
Between the two (thin) yellow wires the resistance is 0.000 and shows a AC voltage of 0.002 when stationary and doesn't increase when spun.
No resistance at all between reds and yellows. Meter just shows 1.
Any ideas / thoughts ?
Many thanks
Del. |
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MattM
New Member
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 04:14:47
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Must be used for a meter of some type. Is it a servo motor?
Go Huskers! |
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daveb
New Member
United Kingdom
52 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 10:35:52
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Are you using the rutland charge controller with it they're designed to turn the turbine off when the batteries are fully charged,That could be what the yellow wires are [ brake wires ] try contacting the manufactures at the web address below they might shed some light on the matter.
http://www.samreydist.co.uk/products/listcat/18
Daveb |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 12:43:45
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Hi MattM - nope it's a purpose built wind turbine generator.
Hi Daveb - I think you're right and I need to ask the manufacturer but is it Samrey? I know Rutlands are made by Marlec but are Samrey and Marlec connected?
Cheers
Del. |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 12:50:48
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Update:
I've just spoken to Lloyd at Marlec and he reckons they could be thermostat wires! He's going to have a dig around and email some wiring diagrams etc.
Will keep you posted.
Cheers
Del. |
Edited by - Del on 13/03/2008 19:02:40 |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 19:13:18
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Right, we've got ot the bottom of it. The two thin yellow wires are thermostat wires. They sence the temperature of the generator and go into a "choke unit" as do the red wires. The current from the red wires is then sent to a single bridge rectifier. If the temperature of the unit gets too high then the choke unit limits the current output to 2 amps until the temperature drops.
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ghurd
Junior Member
USA
304 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 19:53:10
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Does the unit over-speed or stall until the temp drops?
Neat idea. If the unit overheats, the batteries are usually full anyway.
G- |
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gotwind
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
843 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 20:15:50
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Glad you sorted that out Del,
I thought they might have been sensor wires of some kind, as they were thinner than the main current handling wires.
I suspect the original Rutland 910's relatively short blades, 910mm diameter? were matched to the alternator by Marlec, so I think you will have to make a similar sized prop or buy replacment blades from Marlec directly.
Maybe a DIY 3 Ft PVC 3 blader - pretty easy to make in a day or so, just for testing.
Will be interesting to see the results.
The Futures Green - Getwind of it. |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 21:09:16
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Ghurd - It must just let the unit overspeed as I can't think of any other way it would reduce the power output without shorting the output wires which would stall it and the Rutland manual says it just limits the output to 2 amps via the choke.
Ben - Yes probabaly 910mm in diameter. The unit is similar to the Futurenergy design in that the whole unit spins and is secured by a shaft. The six blades slot into six circular holes (approx 25/30mm diameter and the same in depth) and I think were secured by two screws (one in the front and one in the back. The only way i have of securing the blades is to utilise these holes so I'm making up a little frame and will mount six short pvc blades to the unit. It hits cut-in at 200 rpm so it should be ok for a little garden genny.
Should have it done by sunday so I'll post some pics when it's up.
Cheers all
Del. |
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daveb
New Member
United Kingdom
52 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2008 : 23:00:39
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Sorry about that Del what it was i e-mailed a company asking if one of the rutland charge controllers would work with another turbine[ Ametec ]and he gave me that link, your right Marlec are the maufactures theres one thing you now know where to get wind turbine purpose built charge controllers.
Daveb |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
368 Posts |
Posted - 19/03/2008 : 16:24:17
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Hi All,
well the Rutland is done and i thought I'd show you what it looks like. I'm quite pleased with it as it's very compact and shold be fine as a small turbine in my back garden.
I've gone for a six blade set up but the blades are only 280mm in length (that's 11 inches for our North American viewers) and cut from 72 degree section of 110mm soil pipe.
The chassis as you can see is very simple and just the top part of a car axle stand with a steel tube welded to it. The Rutland generator slides into the tube section and is retained by three bolts bolted through captive nuts onto 'flats' on the generator shaft. It's just 820mm from front to back and the whole unit slips into the top of a scaffold pole.
I've yet to test it as we have zero wind at the moment, but I'm expecting about a 200rpm cut-in and probabaly no more than 4 amps into a 12v battery. There's no cogging whatsoever so I'm hoping that it will be giving a trickle charge quite a lot of the time in even a light breeze. The unit is also quite heavy so acts like a flywheel so I should hopefully see my ammeter act in a more steady fashion rather than spiking up and down with the gusts, well, that's the theory.
Cheers
Del. |
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Topic |
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Rutland generator
