I need guidance

[fabricator]

I have a 17 foot home built wind turbine which works great when the wind blows, I have 16 FLA deep cycle batteries hooked up at 24 volts that add up to 200 amp hours, I also have an AIMS 5000 watt inverter and a Morningstar relay driver to trigger a relay that dumps excess charge into heating elements in a tank connected to my hydronic heating system.
At present I have a DES 8/1 roid belted to a Delco 27 SI alternator, it has an external adjustable regulator installed that lets me set it from about 26 volts to 30 volts, I have it set at 27 volts to keep the bank at float.
This does not load the 8/1 any where near 70% so it tends to slobber a bit, my question is how do I load the engine sufficiently without turning up the volts and running the bank at higher voltage and constantly dumping and charging.
My goal is to run this thing pretty much 24/7 but I'm confused as to how to do that best.

[Tom Reed]

Sounds like you need more load. Assuming you want the heat, I'd add a controller to dump load the excess power from the 8/1 into the same heating elements as the wind turbine. Or plug an electric heater into the inverter.

[TimSR2]

reduce your rpm until you get a good match to your load.

[mobile_bob]

reduce or size the cooling system to where it is proper for the load you are running

this is one reason i don't like siphon cooling with a 55 gallon drum

not saying this is what you are doing, just adding an option if it is what you are doing

bob g

[XYZER]

A thermostat or valve slowing down the thermo siphon to your 55gal drum would help. Also did you break it in with an initial heavy load?

[fabricator]

Ok, all usable suggestions, I have a 195 degree thermostat, I only have a drum that is maybe 25 gallons, but intend to hook up a radiator with an electric fan with an adjustable electronic thermostat, I don't think 195 degrees is hot enough for a diesel to run at.
Lowering the rpms would certainly be simple enough.

[veggie]

Hi fab,

I'm with TimSR2... Slow it down and change your pulley sizes so that the engine is heavily loaded at the slower speed.
We could do some calcs to help determine the new speed but we need to know how many amps you are making when pumping your stated 30 volts into the bank. From this we can determine the watts (KW's), hence the HP you need to make when the bank is initially charging (highest power draw).
Then we slow the 8/1 down until the desired HP represents 80% of the available power at the new lower speed.
I did the same thing with my Changfa and it enabled me to keep the engine loaded to 80% @ 1150 rpm while making 1200 watts continuous.

veggie

[veggie]

Something else just occurred to me...
If changing pulley diameters is a problem, how about adding a second alternator.?
Can your bank take a greater charge than what you are giving it.?

you don't have to go as far as this guy...  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66MDs_Xzuu8

but maybe a second one would help add the load you are looking for.?

Just an off-the-cuff idea. Havn't given it much thought.

veggie

How about this one.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pQeeUkPoyk&feature=related

[Ronmar]

How about a heatex to transfer heat to your hydronic also:). I agree, if you are planning on running it for lomg periods, derate the engine to meet your average current draw at 75-80% load or add more load in the form of added heating elements in the hydronic storage...

[veggie]

Yes...adding heating elements is a good idea.
The resistive load is predictable and constant.
Fairly easy to add also.
That woud really get the listeroid grunting 
You will also get more heat from the cooling system by loading the engine more.

Veggie

[Carlb]

I like the idea of lowering the RPM to match the load and running a heatex to harvest the heat.  You will save a lot of fuel that way.   Using the heatex  you probably wont need the electric tank heaters if you plan to run it 24/7 like you stated.   

[rcavictim]

I have a 17 foot home built wind turbine which works great when the wind blows,

We would be very keen to learn more about your DIY 17 foot wind turbine. You could do a write up hopefully with pictures here.  http://www.microcogen.info/index.php?board=17.0

I am trying my best to build an ambitiously sized DIY wind turbine as well. Mine is a 4 blade VAWT. I have been at mine for the past five years in a row now full attention.  I have realistic expectations of having it generating power next summer.

[fabricator]

I slowed it down today by 100 rpms to right around 600 rpms, and had to turn the adjuster on the alternator up to make up for the lower rpms, I can tell it's loaded a lot more now.
My DocWatson died on me so I don't have any way of measuring the current right now, tomorrow I'm gonna go over to NAPA and see if I can get a 210 degree t-stat the same size as the 195 degree

[veggie]

Are you sure about going to 210f on the water temp. ?
Depending on your elevation above sea level, that could easily be over the boiling point.
If the the cooling system is a closed (pressurized) loop, one needs to be careful about system pressure.
Although others on this forum have done it, one needs to be careful about the amount of pressure allowed to build in the cooling system.
The gaskets and liner o-rings have limited pressure capability.
(sorry if this has already been said earlier).

veggie

[fabricator]

It's an open system right now, right now my exhaust gas temp is around 200 degrees (measured with an infrared thermometer at the exhaust flange) I'd rather be seeing 250 a diesel has got to run hot to burn clean.