Wind turbine

Submitted: Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 13:35
ThreadID: 145038 Views:8605 Replies:9 FollowUps:12
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Hello i am considering a wind turbine to use when camping to recharge my batteries (lithium )

I looked at a turbine jay car currently has on offer but it specifies not suitable for lithium batteries..

Is this common ?? Are there turbines suitable for lithium ?

Thankyou.
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Reply By: Member - nickb boab - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 13:57

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 13:57
That would be a terrific idea if you went camping with me because it's always bloody windy wherever I go :))
Cheers Nick b

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Follow Up By: Pepper - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 14:12

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 14:12
We are between canarvon and exmouth ,the local s nickname this time of year ...." blowvember " blows every day ...
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Reply By: Member - LeighW - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 14:44

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 14:44
Looking at the specs it appears you can use it to charge a Lithium as the maximum charge voltage is 14.2V or so it states. The only issue I can see is once the battery is fully charged the controller turns off and won't start charging again till the battery drops to 13.1V which is pretty much flat for a Lithium. As long as you don't want fully automatic operation should work ok, just connect each day till battery fully charged then disconnect but make sure if your going to leave it erected that its bracking system will work with the battery disconnected.

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Follow Up By: Richard M29 - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 15:11

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 15:11
Not bracking, braking, on another note, I fitted a Jaycar, 500 watt wind generator, out at my cabin, and they work very well. It Has been out there 15 years. I have had to replace the turbine, once, as the braking system failed in extremely high winds, but the later turbine, was built for these high winds. EDIT: The braking system will work without auxillary power, it gets it's power from the turbine itself.
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Reply By: Zippo - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 16:22

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 16:22
With a suitable DC-DC charger you could use their unit.
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Follow Up By: Pepper - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 19:08

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 19:08
What difference would a dc dc charger make ?

Do you mean send the power from the wind turbine to the dc charger and from there to the battery ??
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Follow Up By: Zippo - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 20:44

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 20:44
Yes, DC-DC between the wind-generator and the battery. Requires a DC-DC with a (decent) Lithium charge regime.
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Follow Up By: Pepper - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 23:41

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 23:41
Thankyou ,understood.
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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 00:15

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 00:15
How do those wind generators operate without being connected to a battery. Will they start producing a stable output? How is their regulation without a battery to stabilise them? If there is any problem like those, you will need an extra battery before the the DC- DC charger. Also, the DC-DC charger will not work properly if the wind is not strong enough to provide sufficient power to keep the input voltage high enough.

I have my doubts that the DC-DC charger will not work properly if the wind is not strong enough to make the wind generator look like a vehicle alternator with its battery.


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Follow Up By: AlbyNSW - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 10:36

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 10:36
Peter wouldn’t a solar panel in cloudy or low light conditions have the same effect on a DCDC charger?
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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 17:09

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 17:09
There are three devices commonly used for charging batteries, mains chargers, DC-DC chargers and solar systems (through their regulator.) Zippo asked about DC-DC chargers so I was answering him based on what he asked.

There are a few boxes that combine DC-DC chargers and solar controllers. Some have separate input terminals, others share the input terminals and use electrical switching to convert the input from one system to the other.

Back when I was actively involved with these systems, regulators for wind generators were of the shunt type and not the series pass type used for solar panels. I am not sure whether things are still the same now. However, I would not use solar regulators for regulating wind generators unless I had the money to waste on good equipment to experiment with or the suppliers of those regulators can assure me they will be suitable for the purpose.


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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 18:53

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 18:53
I considered one a couple of years ago but the only ones I have seen were either pathetically small in terms of power output, or they made as much noise as a generator.
Either way, I lost interest pretty quickly.
I like the set and forget and silence of solar panels and most of our heavy energy use is during the day.
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Peter
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Reply By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 23:29

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 23:29
.
Pepper, are you aware that a turbine of this nature needs to be erected at least 8 metres above clear ground and on a substantial guyed mast? This means carrying an 8-10m pole of 48mm dia with you when camping and setting it up with secure guy wires.
Unless fully dismantled, the turbine itself is not very compact and has somewhat fragile blades so would not be very convenient to transport.

This type of wind generator is more usually used in a stationary situation rather than for mobile use.
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Allan

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Follow Up By: Pepper - Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 23:43

Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 at 23:43
Thankyou alan , i was not aware of that..
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Monday, Nov 14, 2022 at 07:33

Monday, Nov 14, 2022 at 07:33
.
The information came from the instructions on the Jaycar site.
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Allan

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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 00:19

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 00:19
Before purchasing anything, download its installation and operating manual. Read it and understand how it operates and what it will actually do.


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Reply By: Member - McLaren3030 - Monday, Nov 14, 2022 at 17:21

Monday, Nov 14, 2022 at 17:21
Hi Pepper,

I also have read that they do not put out enough amps to be really useful. Whether going through a DC/DC Charger would make a difference, I am not sure.

From what I am lead to believe, they can also be noisy. You might get a few complaints if camped near other people. Obviously not as noisy as a generator, but could be just as annoying.

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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 00:21

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022 at 00:21
If you can not get a solid power output from the generator that is sufficient to drive the DC-DC charger to its full capacity, I doubt that it will work successfully.



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Reply By: Genny - Wednesday, Nov 16, 2022 at 20:53

Wednesday, Nov 16, 2022 at 20:53
I am far from an expert, but I was on a FarceBook wind turbine page for a while. The general consensus with the Chinese turbines is that you are lucky to get 50% of the advertised output. They don't recommend using your usual DCDC chargers. When the battery is full, there will be no load on the turbine, and the turbine may self destruct through over speeding. Wind turbine controllers either dump the load somewhere, or electrically brake themselves.
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Reply By: Jane S6 - Monday, Dec 05, 2022 at 22:29

Monday, Dec 05, 2022 at 22:29
Also searching for good wind turbine and without load noise. It's hard to find.
Work Time company specialist.
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Reply By: Member - DOZER - Tuesday, Dec 06, 2022 at 20:36

Tuesday, Dec 06, 2022 at 20:36
Lithium likes a certain voltage (14.6) till they are full then switches off, no trickle or float. i own two under bonnet ones that are throttled back to 13.2 volts max, when i start the car, they are accepting 120 amps charge from my 130 alternator till they start to get full....., you may be able to use your car alt to do similar.
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