Twinkle Bulbs 6 Keygen Generator
Carmel Kittell
I made a little windmill which is turning a small generator to light up an LED, but the voltage is too low even with high wind speed for the LED to glow. I thought maybe the electricity could be stored somehow maybe by a capacitor and released when the voltage is high enough, making the LED blink according to the wind speed.
Edit:What I want to know is how to make a circuit that charges up electricity from a low power source and discharge when the voltage is high enough. The frequency of discharges should increase when the power (wind speed) is increased.About the generator. It's actually a small electric motor. I tested it with another motor, connected their rotating heads together, applied 5V to one of them and measured about 4V coming from the other, so I thought it's not a bad idea to use it as a generator. This is a really small project and it shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Straightforward Explanation: Your problem is probably that there aren't enough volts produced by the generator, even when the LED isn't connected. You can measure this with a simple multimeter when spinning the generator. Set the multimeter to 20V AC or DC and see what voltage you measure. To get the LED working you should see at least 1.4 volts for a RED LED, 2.5 volts for blue, or 3 volts for a white LED.
Others have suggested a resistor is necessary to prevent damage to the LED. Normally, this would be true, but in this case as the LED starts to light up, it will slow down the wind turbine, protecting itself in all but the strongest winds. Additionally, most generators have the equivalent of a resistor inside them.
I just tested the EH300 with input from my bench supply, varying it from 1.1V to 2V to represent the varying output from a generator. After a few minutes, it was delivering a stable 1.8V from a 1.1V input, so the EH technique will definitely work. Once the capacitors are charged, it should function indefinitely, provided that there is enough wind to turn the windmill at a reasonable speed from time to time. A battery could also be charged with the EH300 output.
Without thinking about it much I would have the generator charge a CAP and regulate that voltage to a low-power micro (perhaps a PIC12F615 or similar). The micro would mostly sleep but wake on a edge transition that is created every rotation. I would use the TIMER1 count between rotation interrupts to calculate the speed. I would turn on the LED proportional to the speed and go to SLEEP. The slower the speed the more the uP would be asleep and take less power.
Anyways, I lost power today for a few minutes and when it came back up my lights were all flickering again. This was on regular power, not generator. The dimmers were literally strobing. I turned the breaker on and off for the hell of it and it instantly fixed the problem. I only thought of it as the clock on my stove sometimes gets out of whack with power outages. It actually runs faster than it should and I have to reset the breaker to fix it.
When the generator was running, the lights on the Insteon controllers would flash off for a split-second, and then back on. Sometimes once, often two or three times in rapid succession. They will occasionally do it on their own, but I can make it happen about 75% of the time by toggling any of the controllers off or on (whether that controller is for that light or not.)
Now I watched the Generac power with a DVM, a digital scope and a spectrum analyzer. Absolutely nothing is going on with the AC when this happens. Voltage stays rock-steady with freq. from 59.5Hz to 60.2Hz . The generator is supposed to be pure sine wave, and indeed there seem to be very little 60Hz harmonic and almost no energy at all in the 100KHz and up area where the Insteon signalling would be. There is a tiny spike about halfway up the waveform (about 2V), but I also see that same thing when on mains power, so it's a bit of backfeed from something in the house or whatever.
The network equipment and ISY are on a UPS to avoid power loss during the generator transfer switchover, which takes about 15 sec. It seems to be working perfectly fine - the battery is only about 1yr old and it self-tests fine. But since it's the only difference I can think of I've ordered a replacement anyway.
Mine does the same. I live in a rural area and my power fails quite often and I use a 9000 watt generator for the essentials. I too noticed insteon dimmers flash when on back-up power, especially during the ramp up and ramp down. I never thought much of it because it isn't a huge issue the short time we are on back-up power. All my insteon equipment is new within the last two years.
Yes, I am not too surprised by your reply as to the load. Back in the day when everyone was using incandescent bulbs this sort of *visual* indicator would be hard to see as the bulb would simply go brighter / dimmer with voltage rise / fall. With LED bulbs by their vary nature they are able to turn on / off very quickly even if this action is mimic from a standby generator.
He indicated above that the ISY and network are on a dedicated UPS. But, no mention of the PLM being on it so have to gather its on the mains. Afterwards the generator kicks in and the PLM is on the back up power.
This is definitely not a "flicker", and it isn't limited to just to the initial switchover. It continues as long as it's on the generator. I guess I would term it a "flash off". Maybe about 1/4 second off, then back on. Sometimes one flash, sometimes 2 or 3 in fairly close succession. It is peculiar (to say the least).
I used to have the PLM on the UPS But as I've replaced controllers with the newer DB units, the performance seems good either way, so it's been cabled over at the panel. I did move it back on to the UPS for testing while the generator was running and it made no difference.
I'm going to replace the UPS tomorrow since it's the only thing I can see that's different between utility and generator power. The generator output is just as clean as utility power. (There is a minor and expected frequency wobble when on the generator of about .5hz, but no reason that should matter.)
I recall there is an adjustment on the generator which allows the RPM's to be fined tuned. Perhaps engage Generac tech support and inquire what kind of fine tuning can be made on the unit. Also, on a off chance would it be possible for you to switch out one of the Insteon switches back to a normal switch?
Here is your chance to describe your twinkle lights experience. I call that a moment when you see things so clearly that you know the right thing to do for the benefit of all involved. Or a moment when you express your desire for something and it appears.
The official Lutron support page for flickering LED bulbs says the following. Is anyone able to explain why that would help stabilize the LED lights and if there's anything similar that can be introduced into the circuit that doesn't carry the same drawbacks (i.e. is out of sight and doesn't draw much power)?
A: When you approach the generator to investigate a shutoff, if you see a blinking red LED light in the CO Shield area, this means that the generator has been shut off due to an accumulating CO hazard. The red LED light will blink for at least five (5) minutes after a shutoff event. Move the generator to an open, outdoor area and point the exhaust away from people and buildings. Once relocated to a safe area, the generator can be restarted, and the proper electrical connections made. During startup, the red and yellow LED lights will blink eight (8) times simultaneously to let you know the LED indicator is working properly. Return to the location where the generator was shut off to introduce fresh air and thoroughly ventilate the area.
If the homeowner chooses LED lights they could string all 265 ft. together, end to end and plug them all into a single plug...but the LEDs are more expensive. If the homeowner chooses less expensive incandescent bulbs they'd have to run six separate strings that each use separate outlet plugs. And, it's highly likely the homeowner would have to make sure they were using two different house circuits to handle the capacity.
It's fairly common for people to wrap their porch railing, columns or front windows with mini lights. Inside the home it is also common to wrap trees, hearths, mantles or stair railing with mini lights as well. The side chart highlights a common scenario where you might need about 10-15 strings. Light counts can vary by string so to do a fair comparison, you'll need to compare bulbs to bulbs. If you use 1,000 incandescent mini lights the total watts used is about 408, whereas using the same amount of LEDs, would only be 69 watts. The incandescent string lights can only have 5 sets connected end-to-end, which mean you would need to use two plug outlets. The LED lights can have up to 43 connected end-to-end while using only one plug outlet. Either light type will create a great display, but the incandescent mini lights will require a little more planning to make sure you don't overload the capacity of your strings. While this example only uses a small amount of string lights, it's not uncommon for people to use 40+ sets of string lights to decorate their bushes, trees or landscaped areas. With incandescent mini lights, this would require planning for 8 separate plug outlets. LEDs would still only need 1. Again, either option can look great, but incandescent requires more careful electric planning.
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