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Author Topic: Video of current setup  (Read 26848 times)

mikenash

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #30 on: January 06, 2019, 05:02:25 PM »
Guilty as charged on topic-slip, yes

And +1 on "thanks Ade" too

BruceM

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #31 on: January 07, 2019, 01:24:41 AM »
I was wondering if there are any forums besides this one where people are designing and building interesting projects- electronics and mechanical.  i haven't been able to find that.  Most of  my electronics type stuff isn't suited for this forum but most public forums seem to attract the unskilled which makes it not interesting or useful to me.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd be grateful.


BruceM

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #32 on: January 07, 2019, 06:25:23 AM »
I rarely find use for the arduino or other microcontroller boards, as I usually need low power and that means no USB port.  Since then I also need some interface hardware, it's easiest to just put the bare processor on the board with the interface.  I've never used a ''shield'' either.

I prefer PIC 18F series for low power 5v, as the AVR parts use much more current at 5v.

I bought a TeensyLC 32 bit board for some low power testing.  It is massive in computing power and high speed timers, as well as having USB built in.  Haven't done the power consumption testing yet but hope to soon. 




BruceM

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #33 on: January 07, 2019, 04:53:36 PM »
I have more interest in the embedded microcontrollers with micropower.  I start loosing interest with a running power draw over 25ma, and start getting really interested below 10ma.  I just don't need that much muscle for most controller applications.  My inverter was a bit different in that it was doing real time H-bridge gate control that normally would have been in hardware, so the puny AVR was maxed out trying to compute RMS voltage accurately at the same time. The RMS voltage regulation is only barely adequate due to 10 bit A/D and too widely spaced waveform sampling rate.  Because of the stepped sine, a very small shift in sampling vs step time results in a few RMS volts of error. I need 12bits and 10x the sampling rate to get it down to +-1 volt. 

I'm sure there are applications for the Pi and other bloated super-controllers, but I don't have any like that. It's a power hog.






BruceM

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #34 on: January 07, 2019, 11:49:41 PM »
I complain but the inverter regulation of 230+-3 volts is good enough that I haven't bothered to change it.  I just get annoyed seeing my panel meter jittering a couple volts as it hunts.

I don't run any of my controllers on my main 120VDC power, they are instead run on 12V, thus I make the effort to choose the design and components to minimize power use. I have a very small 12V system for house and shop- just one 140 watt panel and a 110AH AGM battery on a custom linear charge regulator.  Since I don't want to use standard 12 to 5v buck converters for things around my living space, I found it's easier to just keep the power use tiny and then throw away 7V via linear regulator.
With the new micropower op amps and comparators, and mosfets, it's not that hard. Stuff that is on all the time needs to sip lightly on my 12V.

Most commercial products are designed without any concern for power use, or EMI concerns.
Most of the new basic top loading washers sold in the US, for example, not only draws power 24/7 when "off" but plugged in, but also has a badly designed switching power supply on the single electronics board- so you can hear it across much of the AM band at 5 feet from any wire in the house. There is no indication that is not really off so the typical consumer won't know. Maytag et al were too ignorant to design a decent supply, and too cheap to put in a frigging off switch. That same power supply/controller board is used in 6 different "brands" including Maytag.  In the US, only Speed Queen still makes one basic top loader with mechanical timer and no microcontroller. It's a ''commercial'' model at twice the price.




 



 
« Last Edit: January 07, 2019, 11:53:31 PM by BruceM »

xyzer

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #35 on: January 08, 2019, 03:59:46 PM »
I Appriciate the dock bumpers. I assembled a couple of 6/1's for mobile operations. I also noticed it looks like you have a 3 point base. I learned if you use 4 points you never have the same load on each mount and they tend to move until it finds equal load on all 4 points. A 3 legged stool doesn't rock! I'll do that next time.t
Vidhata 6/1 portable
Power Solutions portable 6/1
Z482 KUBOTA

John (Boston)

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #36 on: January 09, 2019, 02:16:35 AM »
Sorry Guys for the delay…

Bruce, on ELF…
I guess I need to read up on that.  I've heard of the problem before but never investigated it.  I'm very health conscious so it does worry me, although I'm not so sure what I could do about it.  Here, we are required to have the neutral and ground bonded at the entrance panel.  Even if I were to remove that bond the neutral is grounded out on the street.

I really don't want to remove the lightning system.  I put a lot of effort into installing it, with quite a bit of overkill, including using the heavier cable.  I bonded the water pipes in several locations and even the heating system pipes.  It was tested a couple years ago when, according to a neighbor, the rod on my chimney was hit.

Speaking of fields, I found that parking my car under a high tension line (I estimate over 100KV by counting the disk insulators) caused it to become charged.  I assume this was due to capacitance coupling.  This line has the three phases stacked one above the other.  I assume this causes the field from the lowest phase to be stronger at ground level than the others and thus not "cancelled".

I got a good buzz off the painted surfaces of the car and an uncomfortable, sustained tingle off an unpainted bolt head on the door striker.  I repeated the experiment with a shopping cart and could feel a good buzz on that as well (I had been shopping).

I no longer park under those lines.  I don't think it could be good for all the computers in the car.  I bet being fairly well grounded had something to do with feeling the tingle (no shoes) and most normal people would never be the wiser.

Mike, on belt tracking…
After a lot of measuring and squaring (none of which worked) I ended up skewing the generator a bit at a time until I "caught" the belt where it was "comfortable" being.  I assume the generator shaft and the crankshaft are fairly parallel at this point.

I used a Jeep jack (mechanical bottle jack) between the flywheel and the sheave to adjust the tension in an incremental way - much better than a crow bar or a 2X4.

I bought an adjustable motor mount, a Dayton 2M513 (as a member here had suggested - Thank You).  Strangely, it came by motor freight, just like the other guy's did.  This has front and rear independent adjusting screws which should make the alignment a lot easier.  I'll use it when I do the concrete block.

XYZER, on the three points…
This was something I learned from working on my old Ford Model T.  Pretty much every major component in that car is mounted by three points.  A genius solution to the bad roads of the day.  Three points prevented uneven stresses in things like the radiator and gas tank - even as the car twisted and flexed over the road.  The dock bumpers were from McMaster Carr Supply and were pretty inexpensive.  They call them "vehicle mount bumpers".

-John (Boston)
Metro 6/1 (genset)
Cummins 6BT (89 Dodge truck, bought it new)
Cummins 4BT (91 Oshkosh bread truck)
Kubota D1005 (B2320 tractor)

BruceM

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Re: Video of current setup
« Reply #37 on: January 09, 2019, 04:27:31 AM »
Hi John, you absolutely can fix the neutral to earth problem without disconnecting your lightning system.  By bonding to metal pipes and adding this, yes, you have created a situation that is certainly way above the 2 milligaus for doubling of leukemia in children level.

If you were to remove the "ground tie" which connects the line neutral around to your secondary neutral, your problem would go away.  Alas, since that can't be done you must then use and isolated neutral system; your lovely low impedance ground would be used for the home safety ground instead of the power co. neutral.  This is known as T-T grounding.
I can give you more info if you contact me.  Your connection to metalic water or gas lines would have to be revised, as this is in fact another power co. neutral.  Neutral current on metalic water and gas mains is another major source of ELF magnetic fields.

Your first step might be to borrow and ELF magnetic field meter.  Please realize that in almost all cases the problem is readily fixed, and without great expense.  For whatever reasons, most people find it too anxiety provoking and just lapse into denial.  It is actually not hard to do or fix, but it's unknown to most electricians.  If you know basic house wiring, it's a snap.