difference between old & new Clippers?

[SolarWind]

Hi guys, wondering if you can answer a quick question. I am installing a Clipper, it's a MNCLIP1.5AC. I notice there is quite a difference in the electronic components in this new unit and the 1.6AC model I got a few months ago for my turbine. Can you tell me if there is any significant difference in performance or operation or did the design change for other reasons like safety or parts availability or...?

[Halfcrazy]

Functionally they are identical. There have been like 3 revs of the sheet metal based on feedback from myself and installers. There has been 2 Revs of the board. Basically Rev 2 made it more compact and fixed a couple mods we used to have to make.

Ryan

[OAKGRO]

I installed a Bergey XL.1 1,000 watt turbine this fall. Bergey sent a Solar Classic 250 and an EC-MNTCB Solar Disconnect Box with a rectifier. Are you calling this a "Clipper"?

Last night, I configured the Classic 250 according to the instruction booklet spiral wound to the the Bergey XL.1 manual. Wind Track, 48 volt battery bank, AGM batteries, 600 amp hour. Dual Radian Power Inverters with three, FM 80 Charge Controllers. It was night and no PV was coming into the system.  I found the Bergey XL.1 power curve for the 48 volt  graph. The graph said 48 volts and 0 amps. The fail safe voltage I set at 139 volts. I was told the voltage coming out of the power head would be three phase AC at about 90 volts. When I pushed the breakers up on the control box and opened the shorting of the conductors, the turbine spooled up to around 500 watts and 6 amps. Then all of a sudden the screen voltage value showed 200 volts coming in. The MATE 3 screen showed the battery bank at 50. 4 volts and remained there. The breakers for the FM80 chargers tripped off. What the heck happened. What did I not get right? The blades started to flutter in the wind and the high voltage spiked. I pulled the breakers down and stopped the blades. Now What? I would appreciate your thoughts.

[TomW]

OAK;

Not familiar with that EC-MNTCB Solar Disconnect Box but from your description it let your turbine freewheel because it disconnected it which is OK with solar but a bad idea for turbines.

The Clipper is a large box with resistors in it to allow the turbine to divert power when the batteries are full. It uses the AUX2 output to operate the Clipper.

Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in here with better details.

Just what it looks like from here.

Tom

[dgd]

Oakgro,

Sorry, no expert but...

It seems you have a Midnite turbine control box (MNTCB), I don't know what the EC means. This is not a Clipper.
The Clipper has the same switches/rectifiers as the MNTCB but has additional electronics that work with the Classic to keep the turbine loaded even when the Classic takes reduced power/no power from the turbine because the batterybank is nearing or is fully charged.
As TomW says above it includes resistors, BIG ones, these act as a dump load across the 3 phase AC from the turbine.

Without a Clipper your turbine will be unloaded, the voltage will rise and it will probably freewheel.  Maybe that OK for the Bergey and it uses furling or other means to slow overspeeding.

I am intrigued as to why you set the failsafe voltage at 139volts? the Classic 250 will be good for voltages up to near 250. I'm also not sure what failsafe means or what does it do?  The Classic can be setup to trigger an AUX output signal at a certain voltage (PV IN) and the AUX can then control a relay contactor or SSR to disable the turbine. Is this the sort of arrangement you have?
The MNTCB  does not appear to have a relay to disconnect or disable the turbine, maybe your does or has some other circuit that the Classic AUX controls?

And why did the FM80 breakers trip? These have nothing to do with the turbine, have they? Are they wired to PVs?
Is there something significant about the 50.4V battery reading?

dgd

[boB]

I'm not sure why the FM80 breakers would trip.  Maybe it had something to do with their use
as a GFP on the battery side of the controllers ?  That is how Outback configures them.
I'm just guessing on the GFP idea here but maybe ?

The MNTCB Wind and Hydro breaker and rectifier box is not a "Clipper" but is (I think) what
Bergey ships with their XL.1 turbine and the Classic.  Under non-stormy conditions, the
XL.1 won't usually go over the Classic's maximum voltage (298V input for a Classic 250)
but can go over voltage without a Clipper in very high wind speeds.  I have seen earlier
prototype higher voltage XL.1's go as high as 350 volts into a 250 at around 60 MPH
winds.  The Classic seems to be able to stand that for a little while but not forever.

The XL.1 also appears to be OK unloaded at 60+ MPH (at least for a while ?) and Tod
at Bergey says the XL.1 will just "flutter" its blades at high RPMs and self-limit its
RPMs to safe values.

My feeling is that with wind, there is always a wind speed where something will
break.

Don't know about the FM80 breakers tripping though.  However, I like to adjust
the wind controller to a slightly higher battery  Absorb and float voltage set point
than the solar controller because then, the wind should always be somewhat
more loaded because it will be supplying the  battery with the higher voltage
after the solar has already reached its battery regulation voltage set point.
This should tend to keep the turbine RPMs down a bit lower while there
is sun and wind at the same time.

boB