Question for all you boat electric guru's

[ShaktisBoy]

solar charger sensing wire is on battery 1. Inverter sensing wire is on battery 3. It is a temp sensor.

[Caribsailors]

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

Don't bail out now many are trying to help.

We hope not in vain.

Lloyd

Ding Ding,!!

Just need more info. I to am looking at the unlabelled + - block and need clarification.

[ShaktisBoy]

DeepFRZ
when we fire up the generator the amperage is in the 120s for a bit then steadily declines during the charge cycle. after 4 hours or so we can get the house bank to 12.7 volts and the amps will be down around 5 or so in the float charge mode.

thanks for all the help guys

[westwinds]

Maybe no problem here with your setup. The land MPPT has a lower voltage set point to bring the wind generator all the way up to full amps. When the charger inverter driven by AC generator is running it puts amps to the battery rather than amps from the wind generator because AC generator puts out at higher voltage because that is its set point.

[ShaktisBoy]

Originally Posted by westwinds

Maybe no problem here with your setup. The land MPPT has a lower voltage set point to bring the wind generator all the way up to full amps. When the charger inverter driven by AC generator is running it puts amps to the battery rather than amps from the wind generator because AC generator puts out at higher voltage because that is it's set point.

So in this scenario the wind generator senses less battery voltage due to the higher genset amperage going in? I think this makes more sense to me. I think to test the theory I will go ahead and put a larger load on the batteries tonight and see if the wind generator increases output as the batteries are run down its blowing 15 - 20 now. Does that sound reasonable?

[westwinds]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

So in this scenario the wind generator senses less battery voltage due to the higher genset amperage going in? I think this makes more sense to me. I think to test the theory I will go ahead and put a larger load on the batteries tonight and see if the wind generator increases output as the batteries are run down its blowing 15 - 20 now. Does that sound reasonable?

See what the wind speed is and make a guess what expected output is at maximum output for this wind speed. Turn on a few lights or something to get close to that current draw and see if the wind generator keeps up with the load.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

solar charger sensing wire is on battery 1. Inverter sensing wire is on battery 3. It is a temp sensor.

I'm out.

A battery temp sensor does not sense charge voltage, it measure bat temp and adjust the voltage output to bat/temp/voltage.

I cannot help without knowing "AS BUILT"

As it stands now, you are asking for help with-out knowing how it is actually wired.

You expect this to be a guessing game, until we have exhausted all probabilities.

If you have a great distances where wires appear and disappear then you can only disconnect each and trace with an ohm meter.

But I assume that you are not willing to put that effort in.

So why should any forum member spend anytime trying to help diagnose?

I can go on a boat and usually with in 30 minutes create a true as built for the most frustrating circuit. Or I can spend days peeling an onion online from someone that is not even in the least bit interested in helping...

Lloyd

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

So in this scenario the wind generator senses less battery voltage due to the higher genset amperage going in? I think this makes more sense to me. I think to test the theory I will go ahead and put a larger load on the batteries tonight and see if the wind generator increases output as the batteries are run down its blowing 15 - 20 now. Does that sound reasonable?

Higher amperage as you state would mean bigger voltage drop across the circuit.

That is not how it works.

Lloyd

[ShaktisBoy]

Damn FC! If I have offended you in any way please accept my apologies. I have literally been crawling all over the boat this afternoon and tonight to provide the info you asked for although apparently not to your lofty expectations. Please don't assume that I'm lazy or not willing to put in the effort to figure this out. Its simply a matter of no more light to see with, A wife that is asleep in our cabin so access to part of the system is unavailable now and to make matters worse its blowing 20 - 25 knots now and the anchorage is rough with 2 foot chop. I asked the question because I know people will try and help however I guess I should have remembered the dripping sarcasm that is prevalent on CF as well. I will figure this out from here on out by myself. Thanks again to all that responded.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

Damn FC! If I have offended you in any way please accept my apologies. I have literally been crawling all over the boat this afternoon and tonight to provide the info you asked for although apparently not to your lofty expectations. Please don't assume that I'm lazy or not willing to put in the effort to figure this out. Its simply a matter of no more light to see with, A wife that is asleep in our cabin so access to part of the system is unavailable now and to make matters worse its blowing 20 - 25 knots now and the anchorage is rough with 2 foot chop. I asked the question because I know people will try and help however I guess I should have remembered the dripping sarcasm that is prevalent on CF as well. I will figure this out from here on out by myself. Thanks again to all that responded.

Ok,

So answer when you have the time.

I'm sorry... I am not privy to all those things.

But we can only help when we have the correct parameters...else everything we tell you is only a hope and a prayer... until we peel the next layer of the onion.

You see it's double edged.

Lloyd

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by ShaktisBoy

Now here is the really weird thing. If I turn on the genset my wind generator starts producing the power my marine unit used to put out with no genset running. Which is to say is 5 - 15 amps consistently but only while the genset is operating.

Going back to square-1 here, This detail sounds very strange to me. It would suggest one of two simple possibilities in my mind that have not yet been explored. The first possibility I see is that your ammeter is reading the amperage from both sources, rather than just the wind turbine, which you & your diagram both say is not the case. The second possibility is that the genset/inverter-charger is actually malfunctioning & consuming power, rather than producing it. You could eliminate these two possibilities by using a clamp-on ammeter to check current at the places where the wires come directly off of the individual devices.

Another test that may prove educational is to completely disconnect the wind turbine from the rest of the system & just hook it up to charge a single isolated battery that is low on charge. This test might allow you to see if other components in the system are affecting it's sensing circuits in some way.