Hi Colin Here
I live in Quorn South Australia with my own Standalone Solar system and been working great now for 6 years .
In my system is 2 Magnum Energy inverter 4.3kw each 230v at 48v with there own monitoring system running off a 660 amph BAE battery
All so 3 off 60amp Morningstar mppt controllers 2 off 150v and 1 off 600v controllers .
About 4 years ago purchased a 2Kw wind turbine from OZ Wind here in Australia the guy bragged about how much torque his 3.2m blades gave that if I put on bigger blades it would bun out the turbine . No Hope in Hell that would happen
With his blades I get in 10mph winds between 150w to 300w and at 20mph + between 1kw and 1.5kw on the down side we get very little wind of that speed.
I did try to get it to work with Outback 4kw mppt solar controller but the blades was too small aloud the controller to go to sleep all the time in the end it was too much trouble so I went back to a PWM Morningstar controller which made it usable
The manufacturer Whispering Wind of the 2kw wind turbine has 5.5m blades and at 10mph 1kw and 2kw at 20mph
I'm planing to get new blades. 6off 650mm of shaft with 3m GE222 aluminium blades to help with the torque of the blades I have all ready modified the tail to close and open automatically by wind speed and voltages
I have just got my self a new Midnite Classic 250 for my wind turbine ;D :D 8) Quite existed about it beaning able to program a wind power graft
But my QUESTION is off AUX 1 and AUX 2 . On AUX 2 it has the pwm mode for Hi volt in mode to control the input voltage from the turbine to the DUMP and the Whizbang Jr wont's to connect to AUX 2 as well so is it possible to connect the Whizbang Jr to AUX 1 in stead any hwlp on this matter would be Grateful .
Thanks
Colin Jordans
The Whizbang only works on Aux 2 and you then can't use that for anything else.
Larry
Yes, that is a compromise with the Aux 1 and 2 ports.
However, Aux 1 can drive a dump load to keep the turbine from over voltaging the Classic or over spinning when the battery gets full.
What you lose with Aux 1 is a higher frequency PWM signal that might work better for turbine clipping.
Hi Larry and Bob
Thanks for the reply and the info . That sux about AUX2 :-\ So probblery ILL try AUX 1 with the Whizbang Jr for now ? And then maybe down the track with the new blades upgrade I will connect 2 Midnite Classic 250 to the turbie and then run the Whizbang Jr. off the second controller .
Thanks for the info Guys
Colin
Wondering from the photo, are those nickel iron batteries or flood cell lead acid?
mike
I particularly like the screwdriver laying across the cables
Hi Mike
Year ;D I should have used a more later photo where everything was finished
The batteries are 660Ah BAE Lead Acid (VRLA-GEL) when the time to replace them I do plan to use Nickel Iron batteries
Do you use them . I don't Know off any one in Australia that's using them , do the perform well
The solar panels Im using are Hanover HS250P
Thanks Colin
Quote from: Colin Jordans on September 28, 2019, 11:13:05 PM
.... when the time to replace them I do plan to use Nickel Iron batteries
Do you use them . I don't Know off any one in Australia that's using them , do the perform well ........
Mine have been great since Oct 2011, and a refresh in 2018.
They do need at least 10% more power for recharging, they are less efficient, and consume more water than FLA
http://tinyurl.com/LMR-NiFe-Install
and refresh:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Lucky-Monkeys-Ranch-120212794718849/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2113125788760863
Thanks Mike
That was cool, good info and great pitchers of your install
Hopping my batteries will last a while yet because a bank of 1200ah Nickel Iron here in oz is $38,000
Have a good day
Thanks Colin
I've found, if you don't need a lot of cold weather capacity, you can use a smaller bank, because deep discharge does not hurt the batteries. I thought I'd have more issues with their high impedance, but it's not been a problem.
Nice installation, Colin !
Why the extra fan on the Morningstar heat sink ? What is it being used for and how much power does it process approximately ?
Saw the nice folks from MS last week at the SPI show in Salt Lake City. They are good folks.
Good Day Mike and Bob
Year Mike the the Nickel Iron batteries are the way to go . I only wished I know about them when I first installed the system , I wouldn't have to replace them in another 5 to 8 years . Hopefully when I finish my wind turbine it will be 8 or more years before replacing them .
Hi Bob the reason for the computer fan on the 600v Morningstar gets a error when the ambient air temp get above 45 degrees and our summers can be over 50c degrees in the ambient air temp, we have had 57.5c degrees last summer apart from that Morningstar controllers are quite robust unites , up in the right corner of wall i've got a 18 inch 12v fan used for cooling, it's form a radiator and I use it to pull the hot air out my power room, so the 2 fans are powered by 2off 120w by 12v solar panels on the roof and only works when the sun shines witch seem to works well
Cheers ;) :D ;D
Hi Guys
Just a bit of a up date on my Midnite Classic 250
After waiting just over 4 weeks for my Classic from OutBack Marine .
I'm Over all really happy with my Classic the way it wakes up when it detects the wind and it performs well . Not enough wind yet to be sure but it seems to be generating twice the power as using it on a PWM Morningstar TS 60amp on these little blades of the turbine . The wind Graph in your program on the PC and the program itself to set up is excellent and to set up aux 1 and 2 excellent to set up with all the different ways to use aux 1 and 2 . But the only let down is the Aux 1 and 2, the relay them self are so delicate to touch and insert wires , I find this difficult and not user friendly . It operated the solid state relay once but then wouldn't operate any more on auto in high winds, it was in pv high mode .
The 200 milliamps power supply and the 1 amp for the relay it self should be fine . The solid state relay I used by all accounts on AUX 1 it should have handled it easily at 15mA to 20mA current drage from the solid state relay I was quite excited about it . I only used telephone cable to connect to AUX 1, I double checked the polarity from aux 1 to the relay before firing up, all okay but no luck , I put back the jumpers and tried a separate 12v power supply but still no luck . I ended up using my old voltage control relay LMCVR-20V 24-230VAC/DC for the solid state relay which works quite fine but not like yours . I didn't try AUX 2 because I am still going too try the WhizBang Jr on it.
But I'm still very Happy with my midnite Classic .
But I do have a question about the WhizBang Jr . Can it be used on a Magnum Energy ME-BMK Battery Monitor system . Using the same type of shunt. The Magnum is a 500amp 50mv Deltec , which I believe is what a WhizBang Jr uses . Will any side effect happen to the Magnum BMK system .
Like loss of accuracy to the Magnum BKM system if the WhizBang Jr is connected too it to . The next question is can you add a extra 1.5m off similar cable to the WhizBang Jr to make it longer with no loss to it ?
I do have a wish list ;D :D You know that Raspberry pi that you Guys have been talking about.
I had a look at what could be done with them like adding relays to it and a wifi receiver frequency like for PanTech Weather Station 433mhz and 868.0-868.6MHz frequency band for Davis Weather station
And If you could get one of the Raspberry Pi to connected by USB to the Midnite Classic and controlled by the Classic program you could add up to 16 relay and the weather stations to be controlled all by the Classic .
And Say three of the relays to be controlled by three different wind speed to close a tail on a wind turbine and the others relay for all types of load control even a couple of them could be PWM solid state relay for load control all by the Classic :) ;) :D .
It would be a Wicked tool to the Midnite tool box
Thanks Guys
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System
48v Magnum Inverter 4300w MS-PE Series Pure Sine wave 230v 50hz 2 off stacked 8.6kw
BAE PVV Solar Batteries { VRLA-GEL } 2v 660ah at 48v
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 150v 60a 48v 2off
6kw of Hanover Solar HS250M 250w Voc37.9v , Vnpp 30.5v , 8.19a , 3 gropes off 4 at 113.5v each for 3kw 2off
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 600v 60a 48v 1off
1.7kw 190w solar panels Voc 37.5v 9off 337.5v 6.3a
Whispering Wind turbine 2kw with a 4kw dump
Midnite Classic 250 for the wind turbine
Colin ,
Not sure if it would work for you but I have a friend who uses an SDR receiver to decode weather station signals directly - forget which model he is using. Maybe that would work on Raspberry Pi - something else for you to check into. But if you have a Davis Weather station the Weewx program running on a Pi will support that.
To get the modbus control of Classic you need to either use the IP or serial output of the Classic . Keep in mind only one IP program will connect at a time on Classic - so if you use Local Status App you can't have another one running on it until you turn Local Status off.
Larry
Yes, the WB Jr. can be used along with the Magnum BMK.
You will need a standoff or something to mount them both but it's done quite a bit.
You might give our techs a call and ask ? We might have a specification for screws and standoffs ?
It's been a long time since I've looked into this but I do know it works.
Hi Bob
My WhizBang Jr did come with 2 standoff and 2 screws for the unit .
So does by extend in the wire to the Whizbang have any effect on the accuracy off the Whizbang
Thanks Mate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System
48v Magnum Inverter 4300w MS-PE Series Pure Sine wave 230v 50hz 2 off stacked 8.6kw
BAE PVV Solar Batteries { VRLA-GEL } 2v 660ah at 48v
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 150v 60a 48v 2off
6kw of Hanover Solar HS250M 250w Voc37.9v , Vnpp 30.5v , 8.19a , 3 gropes off 4 at 113.5v each for 3kw 2off
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 600v 60a 48v 1off
1.7kw 190w solar panels Voc 37.5v 9off 337.5v 6.3a
Whispering Wind turbine 2kw with a 4kw dump
Midnite Classic 250 for the wind turbine
Hi Larry
It Would really cool to get that that info on the Raspberry Pi to connect up to the Classic and get the wind and temperature from the weather stations in conjunction with the Classics Input volts and battery volts to control all the different relays .
Like batteries full temp cold turn on the heater , or batteries full close the tail to a wind turbine .
But a just bit too Tech savvy for me to work out .
For me I used Voltage relays and timer relays to do what I want.
Thanks anyhow Mate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System
48v Magnum Inverter 4300w MS-PE Series Pure Sine wave 230v 50hz 2 off stacked 8.6kw
BAE PVV Solar Batteries { VRLA-GEL } 2v 660ah at 48v
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 150v 60a 48v 2off
6kw of Hanover Solar HS250M 250w Voc37.9v , Vnpp 30.5v , 8.19a , 3 gropes off 4 at 113.5v each for 3kw 2off
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 600v 60a 48v 1off
1.7kw 190w solar panels Voc 37.5v 9off 337.5v 6.3a
Whispering Wind turbine 2kw with a 4kw dump
Midnite Classic 250 for the wind turbine
Quote from: Colin Jordans on October 23, 2019, 01:17:59 AM
Hi Bob
My WhizBang Jr did come with 2 standoff and 2 screws for the unit .
So does by extend in the wire to the Whizbang have any effect on the accuracy off the Whizbang
Thanks Mate
The single purple wire to the Classic is fine. The WB Jr. PCB still needs to be mounted to the shunt along with the BMK.
Connecting the WB Jr. through the standoffs is fine also.
Some have connected the two WB Jr. shunt connections to the shunt by way of two extra wires and that doesn't work too well because of WB Jr. self current draw (voltage drop) adding to the shunt measurement voltage
boB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System
48v Magnum Inverter 4300w MS-PE Series Pure Sine wave 230v 50hz 2 off stacked 8.6kw
BAE PVV Solar Batteries { VRLA-GEL } 2v 660ah at 48v
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 150v 60a 48v 2off
6kw of Hanover Solar HS250M 250w Voc37.9v , Vnpp 30.5v , 8.19a , 3 gropes off 4 at 113.5v each for 3kw 2off
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 600v 60a 48v 1off
1.7kw 190w solar panels Voc 37.5v 9off 337.5v 6.3a
Whispering Wind turbine 2kw with a 4kw dump
Midnite Classic 250 for the wind turbine
Hi Gang
Iv turned off my Midnite Classic 250 today :-[ :-X :-\ :-*
First real wind day here , turbine working nicely getting 1.5kw to 3kw out off it , around midday the batteries nearly Full 95%,
So when the classic got around the 50 amps at 148 volts, it went into absorption mode the voltage shot up to around 300 volts
And went into Hyper VOC !!! :o ,
I checked and made shor the dump was working , it was cutting in around 146 Volts,
its as though the 3kw from the Classic is being released to go into Absorption mode allowing the 3kw off extra power shoots up into the dump which is a 4kw dump ,
That's when the Classic Goes into Hyper VOC mode I seen it around the 250v up to 300v .
When the Classic is in Absorption mode the dump holds the volts around 145v to 160v without too much trouble around 25 to 30 mph wind
Today is 41c and 25 to 35 mph wind
So the big Question is because I can't find this info yet,
How long can it work going on and off !!! and is it safe ? Will it damage the Classic !!!! with it going into Hyper VOC ??
Hay Guys any ideas ???
Thanks Cheers Colin
The Whiney @&%@ is working
Quote from: Colin Jordans on October 24, 2019, 12:10:08 AM
I checked and made shor the dump was working , it was cutting in around 146 Volts,
its as though the 3kw from the Classic is being released to go into Absorption mode allowing the 3kw off extra power shoots up into the dump which is a 4kw dump ,
That's when the Classic Goes into Hyper VOC mode I seen it around the 250v up to 300v .
What is the dump load consist of ? Are you using a Midnite Clipper ?
A Clipper should keep the turbine from going so high in voltage.
A dump load on the battery side, if that is what you are using, will not do that.
Hi Bob
No I dont have a Midnite Clipper
I not shor I think that each dump resistor is 4 omh each
The dump is set to cutting in around 146 Volts,
its as though the 3kw load on turbine going to the Classic is being released to go into Absorption mode allowing the 3kw off extra power shoots up into the dump .
But When the controller is not fully loaded up it works okay
Not quite shor how to get around the probland
Thanks Mate
just Pitchers
Picture
Picture
Quote from: Colin Jordans on October 23, 2019, 01:43:26 AM
Hi Larry
It Would really cool to get that that info on the Raspberry Pi to connect up to the Classic and get the wind and temperature from the weather stations in conjunction with the Classics Input volts and battery volts to control all the different relays .
Like batteries full temp cold turn on the heater , or batteries full close the tail to a wind turbine .
But a just bit too Tech savvy for me to work out .
For me I used Voltage relays and timer relays to do what I want.
Thanks anyhow Mate
I documented how to hook Classic up to its serial connector here
http://midniteftp.com/forum/index.php?topic=4046.0
This is where you find lots of other info on using micro controllers with Classic and info on Node Red
http://midniteftp.com/forum/index.php?action=collapse;c=13;sa=expand;dfd4a290d2=2ab875feab7b1eefaeb7283ad9629ed5#c13
Larry
Colin, do you have a simple wiring diagram ?
I'm not sure what I am looking at in the picture below but it looks like you have a rectifier and SSR maybe ?
Is it wired up on the turbine side or the battery side of the Classic ?
What kind of turbine is it ? Is it an axial flux turbine ? Does the turbine have steel laminations or is it "coreless " like a typical axial flux machine with only permanent magnet rotor and stator coils ? The reason I ask this is because some (or all ?) turbines with iron/steel laminations that the wire is wound around CAN speed UP when loaded too heavily.
On the other hand, when the Classic has too much power available on its input (the turbine), the Classic will raise its input voltage enough to try to reduce the voltage at the battery side and keep the absorb or float voltage constant as it can.''
Hi Bob
Since I have chatted to you last , I have been looking at it from many angles ,
I ended up readjusting the wind graph of the Classic so when the dump comes on its is about 1800w now and stays on till it gets back blow the 1800w ,
And I all so made the tail to close earlier so the blades cant get full wind to the generator.
The wiring is,
It is 3 phase AC 2kw generator going into a 2 off 3 phase AC bridge rectifier 400 amp peck each out to DC single phase.
Then single phase DC to a circuit breaker to the Classic .
For the dump starts from the 3 phase AC side of the bridge rectifier to the solid state relay then to the dump,
I reconfigure the load resistor to a 3 phase AC dump ,
it seems to have made dump softer in slowing the turbine down . But I ree wired the load resistor so that there is 2 load resistor on each phase ,
It stops it a lot quicker now
When the dump was a DC dump, and all 3 load resistor wired as single phase ,
it stop the turbine a lot quicker .
And you were right about the Classic when it got to full load and it unloading it self to protect it self .
Thanks for your help Bob
Colin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System
48v Magnum Inverter 4300w MS-PE Series Pure Sine wave 230v 50hz 2 off stacked 8.6kw
BAE PVV Solar Batteries { VRLA-GEL } 2v 660ah at 48v
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 150v 60a 48v 2off
6kw of Hanover Solar HS250M 250w Voc37.9v , Vnpp 30.5v , 8.19a , 3 gropes off 4 at 113.5v each for 3kw 2off
MorningStar MPPT TriStar 600v 60a 48v 1off
1.7kw 190w solar panels Voc 37.5v 9off 337.5v 6.3a
Whispering Wind turbine 2kw with a 4kw dump
Midnite Classic 250 for the wind turbine
Hi Larry
Thanks for all that cool info on the Raspberry Pi
lot more research to do now
Thanks Mate ;D