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Messages - Madness

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1
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 16, 2013, 12:29:56 AM »
You would have to have rocks in your head to pass up the grid connected solar income. Maybe you can run your Lister on used veggie oil connected to the grid. At that rate you could live off the income.

If have not done it yet setting up a tracking system for your panels might pay for itself.

2
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 15, 2013, 07:44:33 AM »
I am planning on going totally off grid and the genny will be for running my welder etc and back up for wind and solar. ATM I live near Nambour QLD.

Now in the middle of converting a dead fridge into a sound reducing box for the generator.

3
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 13, 2013, 11:26:52 AM »
Diodes arrived today, and success  ;D connected the 12v battery to the field and like magic it read 239.9 Volts.

Thank you to those who offered suggestions, it only took 1 diode to result in major damage. I don't know the history of the generator but it appears it must have been run for some time with this fault as the main field was burnt out and the AVR was stuffed. Hopefully I can fix the original AVR to keep as a spare in case the cheap ($38 AUD) chinese AVR karks it.

4
Generators / Re: Add on AVR ?
« on: March 06, 2013, 09:33:25 PM »
I can't show you but if you do a bit research on how capacitor regulated generators work you, will find they have an extra winding that in conjunction with the capacitor produces the field current. They work fine with power drills etc but are not kind to electronics. It is not the voltage variation that makes them so bad it is the harmonics.

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Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 06, 2013, 09:19:11 PM »
I am a lot less diplomatic than that, I get along with machines better than I do with people. There is long list of things I was told "you can't do that" most times I did do it. Sometimes I tell those people about Henry Ford, he said "it doesn't matter if you think you can or you think you can't your probably right!"

6
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 06, 2013, 11:08:58 AM »
Getting someone else to do it is very much a last resort for me. Rewinder laughed when I wanted materials to rewind the main field, said I couldn't do it and he wanted $800 to do it. I made a jig out of an old ride on mower front axle and rim, the wire in it is 2.2mm and needed a fair bit of tension. I used a piece of pine with a saw cut and clamp to keep it tight as it rolled on. Took me a day and a half and $130 for the materials, well worth the $670 I saved. No way I was paying $800 when you can buy a chinese copy on ebay for $990.

7
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 06, 2013, 06:43:40 AM »
Finally found the problem, one diode a dead short. Don't know how I missed that before, anyway I have ordered a new set, will post the results when I get them.

Thank you for our input guys.

Gary

8
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 04, 2013, 08:11:20 PM »
Quote from: Thob on March 04, 2013, 07:23:19 PM
The manual I downloaded indicates that there is a link on the AVR for 120 vs 240 operation.  Have you set the link properly?  (p20, AVR, no link between 3&4 for 240V)

There is no link on the AVR between 3 & 4, so it is set to work at 240 volts. All testing at this stage is without the AVR being used and a 12 volt battery used to energize the exciter, as per the testing procedures in the manual.

9
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 04, 2013, 12:11:15 PM »
The diodes all check out okay after unsoldering them and checking with a meter, there are 3 of each type on each side. Field windings and field rotor pass all the tests in the book. looks like I just need to go back and do all the checks again following the book to the exactly. I have done this at least 3 times now, but there may be something I have missed or got arse about face. I have a very busy day tomorrow so may be a few days before I can get to it again.

10
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 04, 2013, 11:05:37 AM »
I did it myself, it is wound exactly as per the original with proper nsns poles. Resistance is also within the range in the manual, I bought a meter from Jaycar that is a megger and low resistance ohm meter to test everything, I needed a megger anyway. The original field did work and gave similar result but slightly lower voltage and got rather hot.

11
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 04, 2013, 10:51:51 AM »
If it is not the diodes I am thinking then maybe a fault in the exciter rotor. The exciter field measures correctly and I have left it running on the battery for some time and there are no hot spots and magnetism is even across all the poles.

12
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 04, 2013, 05:58:00 AM »
I had to flash it initially, I am measuring voltages with only the meter on the terminals nothing else is connected. It makes power no problem but won't get up to the right voltage. I was wondering if diodes can fail under load or is a test with the meter enough to guarantee they are right? I am scratching my head been through all the tests in the manual a number of times and still can't find what is wrong.

13
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 04, 2013, 02:51:05 AM »
Every thing tests ok following the steps in the manual, trouble is it is not possible to measure anything on the rotor while it is running. At this point I thought I would give this forum a try otherwise I will order a set of Diodes. I forgot to mention there is currently no varistor fitted, the manual says it is only there for surge suppression and running without it will not effect the output. I was told by a rewinder that they remove them because they claim they cause more problems than they are worth.

I have been trying to work this out for a few months now, only thing i can think is that there is Diode failing under load. Has anyone had this happen?

14
Generators / Re: Stamford Generator with low voltage
« on: March 03, 2013, 11:35:44 PM »
Gidday,

Yes the half voltage has got me stumped, 3 and 4 on the AVR are not connected. With a 12 Volt battery on the field (so AVR has no effect) I am getting 130 volts across terminals U and W. According to the manual doing this with 10 to 12 volts on the exciter field and  no load should be within 10% of nominal voltage (240). It is wired to the Zigzag configuration as per the sticker under the cover. The numbers are Serial C075546/01 ID 96495044 Frame/Core BC.164B WDG 311.

Thanks

Gary

15
Other Fuels / Re: Wood Gasifer Kit Now Offered
« on: March 03, 2013, 01:33:18 PM »
For those who are interested there is a very good web site http://www.woodgas.nl/microgasifiers/microgasifiers.html about microgasifiers. Theses are designed for engines producing horsepower similar to that of a single cylinder Lister.

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