I have read Hugh Piggott's suggestions on Meters. I am wanting to know what kind of information I am going to want to know and how to collect it from my off grid system. -Connecting an ammeter in the line from the rectifier to the battery so that one can see what the wind generator is putting out? Where on the pre-wired charge controller would this go? I know where the rectifier is but is it okay to connect lead wires to the meter on the same posts as the battery wires? Should it be fused and where? Can this connection be made with small guage wire? -Is it worth the $59.95 to buy a DOC Wattson model R102 digital panel meter? Is this more info that I would need. I'm all about end use and not creating/testing a new product -Do people install meters on their battery banks to always know the voltage status of the bank? I've read that: a moving coil meter with a needle on a scale is easiest to read. Can this type of meter be used for collecting different types of information based on where it is placed in the system? Ie. generator, battery bank...? Thank you, Joshua
http://cgi.ebay.com/Blue-LCD-Volt-M...410?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5641e2b2d2 This is what I use,it is also used above a diode to see the actuall wind turbines power made(on the dc side of the rectifier.) i ordered red ones for solar and the blue ones for wind..It just turns into a 1 once it goes over 30v...
I think I came up with a plan. I want to monitor two basic things: Power coming from the generator and the voltage of the battery bank. So, here is how I will accomplish that. With two meters. A 24 Volt battery meter hook up the battery bank and a 20 Amp ammeter hooked to two of the posts on the positive side of the control panel. I think I'd like to add a low battery bank shut off relay so I don't drain my bank too low. I haven't done any research on that yet. Ideas and comments welcomed, Joshua
You can put a volt meter after the dc outputs of the rectifier and a diode under that meter so the battery bank cannot feed up to that meter.That will show generators volts and then you put a duplicate meter on the batteries and that will show you just the battery banl volts.. They will move in tandem with each other with a 1-3 volt spread during gusts.)I also feed grid ties directly before the diode so it sees the batteries voltage but can not backfeed to the GT's.
Hello Jashua, Have you looked into a Trimetric 2020 meter? List all the information you need to know about incomming power and the available power left in your battery bank plus shows battery volts, amps, amp hrs, and a lot of other information you may find usefull plus, it is digital. Good for 12-24-48 bat banks. You can also use a charge controller made by Morningstar. Has a digital display as well. Larry
Morning Joshua, I think you have it right, the two meters that really count are volts and amps.The volt meter will let you know how much power you have in your battery bank.This can be attached with small wires right to the battery posts. The amp meter lets you know how much power you are putting into the battery bank. This wire has to be large because it is going to have to handle all the amps your windmill or solar panel put out.The amp meter is normally put in the wire going from the + post of the bridge rectifer to the postive post of the battery. You could cut that wire and attach the two ends to the amp meter. There is a on line supply house www.mpja.com that has really good prices on meters.I would go with at least a 30 amp meter,maybe larger if you are adding solar panels as well. The part stock # for a 0- 30 amp DC meter is 17679-ME it is 9.95 The 0-30 volt DC meter stock # is 17672-ME it is 8.95.At these prices you could by two because you will not be able to just go pick one up if it breaks. Good luck Mark
If you want something simple to let ou know your battery level, just use a simple 8.00 10.00 digital battery tester, You can just place the neg / pos probes in the outlet terminals on your rectifier. Leave it shut off and just turn to DCV in the range your bank is at. It is mobile and you can then use it for other functions. For amps, I would recommend an affordable clamp meter that reads AC and DC , in fact just it alone will come with leads and you can use it for reading your bank V As well as amps. Goo one I available in the 45.00 range
Minnesota posted a LCD voltage, amp, amp hr and kW hr monitor. It was only about 20 dollars but I can not find his post with the link. You can send him a PM and ask for the link to where you can purchase it. You could install a simple toggle switch to turn this LCD meter on/off so you do not have it "on" all the time .... only when you want to see the info. Or it may have such a low power consumption that leaving it "on" all the time would not even matter. We have low voltage battery bank shut offs in our store. They are listed under "low voltage disconects" and will protect your battery bank from draining too low: http://www.windynation.com/web/low-voltage-disconnect
Most are using the kill a watt for grid tie monitoring. Here is one I found close to Watson meter. http://cgi.ebay.com/GT-Power-LCD-RC-130 ... 255fac3d9a
I still haven't solved this problem. I am home from Africa now but will be returning soon. I was able to hook up a cheap and simple volt meter to the battery bank. At a quick glance anyone can read the needle gauge and read the current state of the bank. [attachment=0:1mo9176r]Wind 273.jpg[/attachment:1mo9176r] As for the amount of powering being produced by the Wind Generator I am still at a loss. I have read the other threads about the Watts View and such. These are much to complex for my application. I guess I need for someone to explain this and offer me a suggestion in "for dummies" format. I did take over an Amp meter and I must have hooked it up wrong because it fried when I connected it. It was an 0-30ADC CLASS 2.5 ANALOG PANEL METER/SHUNT from http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17679+ME Thank you again, Joshua-Missionary Safaris P.S. The install video is almost finished, I'll be sure to post the link ASAP!
The shunt goes between the rectifier and the battery. In series. The meter goes in parallel or across the terminals of the shunt. If the meter is not marked just do a quick tap to find out if the meter is going the right way when the turbine is turning.
Tom, I fried the one meter I took over with me. So, I'll be starting from scratch. I could get another one of those. I for sure didn't hook it up correctly :-( Joshua
-This is the most basic circuit I could find. [attachment=0:1a91l6dr]ShuntMeter.jpg[/attachment:1a91l6dr]
Tom, Can you "dummie" this down even more for me? What is the circle with the arrow representing? Does the Shunt Resistor on go on pos or neg? I'm guessing positive! I obviously don't know what I'm doing. So if I understand correctly, the negative (black wire) goes from the rectifier to the battery bank. the positive (red wire) goes from the rectifier to the shunt resistor then to the battery bank. The meter is hooked up to the shunt resistor. Am I following correctly? Thank you, Joshua (jack of all trades, master of none!)
Leamywind1, I got it!!!!! Now just need to get back to Africa and install such a thing. Thanks, Joshua
