DR charging oddities [RE-wrenches]

[info at backwoodssolar.com]

Right on the ratio. Many automotive battery chargers have the same problem.
Usually it is caused by the generator having a nearly square wave form,
missing the peak of the sine wave curve.  Especially brushless generators.
You can see it on an oscilloscope.

A good cure is the 10% voltage boost transformer from Vermont Solar.  We
sell them with no bad result due to the boost.  You can use a Todd Transfer
relay externally so that boosted power only goes to the DR inverter or to
the automotive type charger and not to the house loads if concerned, but we
have never encountered any harm done to anything using that transformer.  I
am not sure if Trace endorses that application, but they do want the problem
remedied on the generator end.  I have suggested that an added relay in the
DR that flips in one more winding turn on the low voltage side while
charging would really cure it. I have tested that in weak automotive
chargers and it works.

Backwoods Solar Electric Systems www.backwoodssolar.com
A catalog business on a mountain
2 miles from utility lines,
powered entirely by our catalog products.
IF UTILITY POWER IS 1/4 MILE OR MORE FROM YOUR SITE,
get our free 160 page solar-electric Planning Guide/Catalog.
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Phone(208)263-4290  Fax (208) 265-4788  in Idaho, USA


----- Original Message -----
From: Kurt Nelson, SunWise <sunwise at win.bright.net>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 9:37 PM
Subject: Re: DR charging oddities [RE-wrenches]


> Roy Butler, Four Winds RE wrote:
> >
> Right back at you here, then I'm off to some sunny island where solar
> electricity is produced directly from sand, as long as smiley faced
> people are sitting on said sandy beaches.  I'll let you know how it was
> when I wake up in the morning.
>
> Regarding your last message, I was in part talking about lower battery
> voltage in the winter (we all run em down farther come December).  As
> battery voltage can effect the output of a generator, I thought I'd
> mention it as a possible cause for the effect.  "Lower charging amps in
> the summer than the winter".  I've seen a smaller generator with a DR
> inverter that will put 30 amps into a 24 VDC battery at 25 VDC, and
> about 8 amps into the same battery when the volts have come up to
> (about) 30 VDC.  It's the top of the wave-form deal.  When you have
> (essentially) a 10-1 winding on the Trace's transformer and you are
> putting 120 vac in, you're getting 12 vac out the other end.  As battery
> voltage rises above that 12 VDC, and charger output falls off in
> relation.
>
> Kurt Nelson
>
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For info contact list moderator by email:
 michael.welch at homepower.com

____________________________________________________________
T O P I C A  -- Learn More. Surf Less. 
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose.
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01