i was told by an older gent that if i put an AC cap on each leg of a 3 phase genny in front of the rectifier i'll get more out.can anyone advise?
There's an interesting thread on the use of caps here if you haven't seen it: series-capacitors-and-the-wintura-500-t458.html
thanks timber.i found the thread and read it...i believe i'll wait awhile...a LONG while before i consider capacitor manipulation.if its stumping the big boys how on earth could i get it right...i see lots of smoke.lol
Ya me too, somehow Dr. Frankenstine throwing knife switches while reading huge analog ammeters next to the arcing Jacobs ladder comes to mind if I were to try (i.e. all experimentation, no experience ... and copious amounts of blue smoke.) The www.backshed.com site has some interesting reading on the subject as well, as TomT mentioned. I've think the biggest problem that most have had with this is dealing with the inconsistency of the wind, so it's very difficult to make accurate comparisons with and without caps. timber
My setup worked good. But with the old tail and it furling too soon sometimes it was hard to tell. 2 of my capacitors were 30+ years old and partially shorted out after a little while. When they short out they let the 12v dc through and drag the turbine down just like not having any caps inline. Since all the windings connect together inside the turbine. I just did not like how fast it was going in high winds and the sound it was making. :shock: Also in the Fieldlines they have no idea how long before the output would go down from wear and tear on the caps in this configuration.
Hi Tom, It's my understanding that the caps help at lower wind speeds but can become problematic (as you have noted) at higher wind speeds(over-speeding). Seems like a control to cut the caps in or out of the loop depending on limits might have some promise here (essentially applying the brakes by going back to the norm). Perhaps, as a set voltage and/or amperage is met, a relay bypasses the caps to slow the turbine back down. Of course it's never that simple, it could tend to cycle on and off and cause various problems but if limits were set far enough apart might not be an issue. Is this somewhat along the lines of what you were doing in using resistance at a second rectifier, using that to control over-speeding? Just seems that there must be a way to utilize the caps for some gain at lower turbine potential yet bring the system back to normal operation when the turbine is in it's zone. Although a bit of work mechanically, even something like the old centrifugal switches used in induction motors could activate a relay near the caps, diverting from the caps to a second rectifier. Food for thought. timber
