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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
361 Posts |
 Posted - 13/04/2008 : 22:05:19
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Evening all,
I currently have a couple of small turbines in my garden and I have each of them wired up to a analogue voltmeter, an analogue ammeter, then the blocking diode and finally a digital voltmeter so I can see the battery voltage.
What I'd really like to monitor is the maximum amps input and the total cumulative amp-hours of charge current. I think the Watts-up (doc) meter meter may record the max amps seen but not the cumulative amount. Is there such a thing that exists out there?
Any ideas?
Cheers
Del.
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gholt
Starting Member
USA
47 Posts |
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super windy
Junior Member
195 Posts |
Posted - 13/04/2008 : 23:45:49
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Hi dell I have the watts up meter, and I'm loving the data from it, here is what it can show:
on screen it shows: amps volts, watts and data queue( data queue)shows:
(a) amps on average,
(ap) amps peak, so maximum peak amps since meter was connected,
(v)voltage, it showns (vm) voltage minimum.
(wh) watts per hour
(AH) amps per hour
(W) watts and (WP) watts peak, so peak watts achieved.
if someone could make another meter exactly the same has this, but able to dump load when batteries were fully charged this would be everything you could possibly need, has all the data is there on screen, so you know exactly whats happening, hope this helps dell.
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rwave
Starting Member
4 Posts |
 Posted - 13/04/2008 : 23:55:12
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Del,
You might also want to consider Eagletree eLogger V3:
http://www.eagletreesystems.com/MicroPower/micro.htm
I believe it has more features than the Watts-Up and includes a "USB Live Mode", allowing you to datalog real-time data for charting/analysis using their included software.
Richard
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speo
Junior Member
Canada
104 Posts |
Posted - 14/04/2008 : 00:10:50
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Indeed, the Doc Watson does not record cumulative Ah.
C35, C40, C60, and T60 with digital multimeter, stores the cumulative Ah, but only for solar configuration, not when configured as dump load.
I just got an XBM and the more I play with it the more I like it: http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/96/p/docs/pt/7/product.asp
Check chapter 4 from the owner's manual: http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/865/docserve.aspx
I think H02 multiplied with H05 will give you the answer.
This is an awsome battery monitor, a little bit more expensive, but you can get it cheaper on eBay.
Also, there is Link10 from Xantrex, and there is one more from Xantrex, I can't recall it's name, it's designed to monitor two battery banks.
Speo
www.windpulse.com |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
361 Posts |
Posted - 16/04/2008 : 23:31:59
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Blimey,
Thanks gholt, superwindy, rwave & speo.
I've now had chance to look at all these and I'm not sure that there's anything that does what I really want in a simple format. And although some pieces of kit, like the Xantrex battery monitor are very tasty they ain't cheap. I find it a little surprising really that so much of this type of equipment is either designed for boats or model aircraft.
I've looked at quite a few of the Xantrex meters and some of them look interesting but are designed to work in conjunction with other bits of Xantrex kit so are not really ideal.
The Xantrex C series charge controllers would be fine, shame they only do what I want in solar mode. Still, it's worth considering for that side of my RE systems.
Maybe a cheap(ish) option would be to buy an old household electricity meter and use that to measure the cumulative charge.
Thank again all.
Cheers
Del. |
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Gill
Starting Member
Australia
35 Posts |
Posted - 17/04/2008 : 12:28:22
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G'day Del,
If you are into electronics, there's always the option of building your own. Alternatively you can cook one to thebackshed.com's recipe. I've built one and it's quite good. The heart is a PICAXE processor which is a ($5Aust) UK item so you'll have no trouble getting one. The site does not shows the updated logging program. The current one logs Battery Volts, Amps, Watts, Watt Hours, Windmill RPM, and Wind speed. Here the address: http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/PicLog.asp for a look.
Cheers... Gill |
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Del
Junior Member
United Kingdom
361 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2008 : 11:57:07
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Thanks Gill,
That would be absolutely spot on. I'm surprised that these aren't commercially available for people producing their own power - especially for turbine users. To be able to glance at how much power has been produced over a given period is essential stuff really.
However, electronics is way beyond my level of electrickery ability.
Does anyone else of the forum fancy making a batch of these. I'm sure a few of us would want one?
Ben - is this something that you could look into having made up for the impending Gotwind shop?
Thanks all
Del. |
Edited by - Del on 28/04/2008 19:36:22 |
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Capt Slog
Starting Member
United Kingdom
29 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2008 : 12:46:36
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@ superwindy (or anyone else who owns one of these meters)
What happens when the Ah gets full? ie reaches it's maximum of 65Ah |
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gotwind
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
762 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2008 : 12:48:52
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If someone builds a bullet proof prototype I am happy to offer it in the upcoming shop.
Ben. |
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Data logging
