[RE-wrenches] advice on testing turbine on tower

[Ron Young]

I have a client with a Whisper 200 that failed recently. It was shortly after a severe lightning storm so the assumption was that the controller got fried. The wind turbine would not spin, it was as if the brake was on - if you know the Whisper, the brake is electrical, basically a shorting of the three phases. When the turbine was disconnected from the controller it would spin up and produce voltage at the leads. So the controller was replaced with a Clipper and Classic and the same problem still exists. I have resisted pulling the turbine down as it is a complicated sidehill installation but it looks like it will have to be done. Before I do that I thought I'd throw this out into the Wrenches community to see if anyone could offer suggestions. My conclusion is that there is some kind of short in the electronics in the turbine that only shows up when it is under load, i.e. has a battery connection. Suggestions, ideas? 

If the turbine is fried I guess I'll be looking for another turbine that would work on the 80' tower installation already in place, I know SWWP has folded it's tent.

Ron Young