Have an Air-X 48vdc Windgen, but a 12vdc Battery . . .

[ribbony]

We have bought a used Air-X Marine wind gen, it is a 48V model (400watts).

It came with a 48-12 converter, but we did not know that the converter was for use from the batteries to the appliances, it is not really for the battery charging from the turbine, and the converter is only rated at 300watts.

Is it simple or difficult to change the turbine output from 48v to 12v ????

If not, then can we put something in the system to change the voltage before it goes to the batteries ?

We have the battery system all set up and can not fit 4 batteries in to run a 48v system, and that is an overkill in a 35' yacht.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[capngeo]

Most of the higher amp dc-dc converters I've seen cost a lot more then the AIR-X!

[GordMay]

Have you asked Air-X for their recommendations; or (perhaps) an exchange?

[mbianka]

I agree with Gord May's advice. You should contact Soutwest Windpower first:
Southwest Windpower | Technical Support for Skystream, AIR and Whisper wind turbines
Might only be a circuit board change. The other alternative is to make a small 48 volt bank out of 4 small 12 volt sealed batteries and use the converter to feed into you 12 volt system. Another alternative is selling the 48 volt generator to someone converting their boat to electric propulsion. More and more people are. You just need to find them. Worse comes to worse you might be able to sell the 48 volt circuit board from the wind generator to someone (with electric propulsion) who might want to carry a spare for their 48 volt Air X.

Capt. Mike
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG

[donradcliffe]

two choices--dump the air-x on ebay and buy the right voltage one, or put the output through an outback MPPT solar controller

[ribbony]

Thanks for the tips. I looked at the "outback MPPT solar controller". Yep, cost more than the wind gen, I could not find a controller under $1000 AUD.

I will email the manufactures of the wind gen to see what their take is on this. I would be interested to know if it is the windings or the circuit board (or both) that are different in the various voltage versions.

This wind gen did come off a vessel that had an electric drive, converted to diesel !

If the conversion is too complex, then we might have to sell it and get a 12v version.

[cuthbert]

BK60A-048L-150F10G - 15V 10Amps OUT - 48V-In

I hope that the link works I'm posting from an iPad. 48v dc is the standard voltage for everything in a central office (telephone exchange) so there are many psu modules that take -48v input (reverse the input positive and ground to make this 48v) and kick out 12v with an overhead for further regulation. A search for surplus central office PSU modules should turn up many more. You should be able to do a similar search in Australia and get the same.

[ribbony]

Thanks, that is an interesting item. It could do the trick if we use our solar regulator before the batteries.

[senormechanico]

FWIW, for several years I have been using a 24 volt Air 403 mounted on a dock piling with a 12 volt 1320 Ah bank in the house for emergency power. An external homemade regulator is mounted at the battery bank in my house. I adjusted the 24 volt regulator up as high as it would go. Works fine.
The only reason I'm not going with 24 volts for the whole system is that I got a 2500 watt inoperative inverter for $5 which I repaired for $22.

The WG company says their units start charging at 7 knots which is true. Would mine start charging a 24 volt system at 7 knots? Nope, the output voltage gets just above 13 volts at 7 knots. I haven't disconnected the WG to see what wind speed would need to be to achieve over 24 volts.

[ribbony]

So those Air-x units don't kick into action until 8knts plus.

What about those other older units by other makers that have 5-6 blades (RVM, Airgen, etc). Do they have a better output at lower wind speeds to the Air-x ?

They did not have a stop switch like the Air-x, so they just get faster and fster in a gale of storm ?

[Sailmonkey]

The smaller 6 bladed unit are typically lower overall wattage, but will typically make more electricity over a given period of light wind.

[ribbony]

This is the reply from the manufactures:

"You can adjust the set points on the potentiometer, but to change the voltage completely, you will need a new circuit board. The price for a new circuit board is $165 before shipping."


What is the potentiometer in this case ? Anyone know if that is a worthwhile thing to play with ?

[cuthbert]

I would guess it is to allow fine tuning of the output voltage, but typically not more than fractions of a volt or so.
I would ask two more things of them
1) Will they take back the 48V circuit board in part exchange?
or
2) Is the 12V circuit board the same but with differing components/component values, if so then you might ask them what the rework entails to make the mods yourself.

[ribbony]

I might have to ask the exchange question of the Oz agent as the shipping back and forth to the US will be prohibitive. We are now slugged with a $8 surcharge for any package over 485gms to the US. That is due to all the extra security checks it has to undergo.

Good questions though and lets see what they say about the components on the boards. I have just sent that question off.

[ribbony]

Apparently there is an Air-X to Airbreeze conversion kit as well, but it is $600.