Purchased the Istabreeze 2000w Windsafe Turbine and Charge Controller

[PawneeOffgrid]

I ordered the Istabreeze 2000 Watt Windsafe turbine and their charge controller. I also added their mast to mount it on. It is currently shipping from Turkey and I hope to have it by the end of the February 2024. If you want to follow me on this project then follow this thread and I will keep you all updated on my install and results.

I am a DIY Solar guy and a newbie with wind Turbines. My sales process with Istabreeze has been a positive one so far. Keep in mind this porduct is made in Turkey so there are some language bariers as well as time differences when dealing with the company.

I ordered their product from their web site and they gave me coupon code for 15% off the order. The day after I place the ordered I received a phone call (Pennsylvania phone number is what showed on my caller ID) Keep in mind, I am an IT professional and I receive lots and lots of sales call. So I get this phone call and some guy on the other end with a very thick Turkish accent starts talking to me. I immediately think it's a sales call and tell him that I am NOT interested and proceed to hang up. Well my phone rings again and it's the same guy so I am thinking man this sales guy is persistent. SO I ask what this pertains to and I make out that I bought a wind turbine the day from them. SO I immediately apoligize and start talking to the guy.

It was the sales manager from IstaBreeze and he had some questions for me. He wanted me to send him the specs on my batteries (48v EG4-Lifepower4 server rack batteries) so I send him the spec sheet. I worked with him and their Engineer to pre-program their charge controller specific to my batteries. Their concern was that I had 9 of these server rack batteries and that the turbine was NOT large enough to charge them. After explaining that I have solar arrays and just want the turbine to add some charge at night and during those windy cloudy days we came to agreement on the Charge controller settings. We set the Charge Voltage to 56v and the brake release Voltage to 53.5 Volts. I think this should work fine with my LifePO4 batteries. I asked why they don't allow the end user to set their own values and they said something about them ruining things. Remember there is a big language barrier between us. Although his English is much better than my Turkish or whatever language they speak.

So that's my sale experiece so far and I am looking forward to receiving the product. I will keep everyone updated through the Forum and through my Pawnee Off-Grid YouTube Channel.

Eric

 

[sunshine_eggo]

The sales process is always easy. They'll be happy to sell you a "more powerful" wind turbine even though it won't benefit you in any way. The results and the follow-on support are usually where the disappointment happens.

At 8m/s, the power curves show that it will harvest about 500W. It's likely to be about 350W max.

Regardless, I hope everything works out for you!

 

[JWLV]

Just curious, is there something special about their wind turbines? Why buy from so far away? Aren’t there similar ones in the states?

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

Just curious, is there something special about their wind turbines? Why buy from so far away? Aren’t there similar ones in the states?

I have not found any small wind turbines that are made here. 95% of them come from China.

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

The sales process is always easy. They'll be happy to sell you a "more powerful" wind turbine even though it won't benefit you in any way. The results and the follow-on support are usually where the disappointment happens.

At 8m/s, the power curves show that it will harvest about 500W. It's likely to be about 350W max.

Regardless, I hope everything works out for you!

Yeah I would have probably been better off spending the money on two more batteries, but we will see. If anything it will make for some good content for my YouTube Channel.

 

[timselectric]

You live in one of the rare places that wind can actually work.
Since the closest trees are miles away.
Good luck, I'm interested to see how it goes.

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

You live in one of the rare places that wind can actually work.
Since the closest trees are miles away.
Good luck, I'm interested to see how it goes.

Yes, I do live in the middle of the windy Prairie.

 

[Hedges]

How tall is the mast?

Wind speed is one thing, turbulence is another.
In one study of many small wind turbines, with wind speed measured by anemometer, power output was maybe 40% of expected.

Anemometer is a drag device, couldn't care less about turbulence. Wind turbine is a lift device, stalls (airfoil term, not necessarily fails to rotate) with turbulence.

It is lift, and moving faster than the wind, which lets a turbine generate operate at good efficiency and high output.

A very tall tower could get the turbine up to where there is decent laminar air flow.
Test first with what you have, plan to raise much higher later.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

^This

30' tower height is pretty much a minimum.

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

How tall is the mast?

Wind speed is one thing, turbulence is another.
In one study of many small wind turbines, with wind speed measured by anemometer, power output was maybe 40% of expected.

Anemometer is a drag device, couldn't care less about turbulence. Wind turbine is a lift device, stalls (airfoil term, not necessarily fails to rotate) with turbulence.

It is lift, and moving faster than the wind, which lets a turbine generate operate at good efficiency and high output.

A very tall tower could get the turbine up to where there is decent laminar air flow.
Test first with what you have, plan to raise much higher later.

15 feet. But It will be mounted on top of a 9 feet storage container.

 

[Hedges]

30' - 15' - 9' = 6'

Take up pole sitting, and hold the turbine over your head.

Wikiwand - Pole sitting

Pole sitting is the practice of sitting on top of a pole for extended lengths of time, generally used as a test of endurance. A small platform is typically placed at the top of the pole for the sitter. Led by the stunt actor and former sailor Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, flagpole sitting was a fad...

www.wikiwand.com

It's OK for a start, initial testing.
Is this a 40' container? Turn it on end.
Or make a guyed tilt-up tower.
Maybe you could gather wind speed data first, with a flimsier tower and anemometer.

https://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/adv_tech/photovol/2016CTR/SNL%20-%20Est%20Wind%20Speed%20vs%20Height_1985.pdf

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

I think with where I live it will be just fine. Flat and windy and not a tree for miles. Wind is consistent from the North West.

 

[Hedges]

Fine to start. But power output will be a high order of tower height.
Even wind velocity is shown as > linear, and power is a high order function of velocity.

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

Fine to start. But power output will be a high order of tower height.
Even wind velocity is shown as > linear, and power is a high order function of velocity.


View attachment 195330

At what point with a small windturbine is there too much wind?

 

[Zwy]

It seems the slip ring is a failure point on these. I think they do produce given the reports and why the slip ring fails. Actually might be a good candidate for fixed azimuth installation.

About 15 years ago I purchased a propane condensing boiler from a fella that installed geothermal. Original plan for their new home was geothermal powered by solar and possibly wind. The boiler was installed during construction to heat the house while they finished it. His arrays were tracking, he had received a grant from the state for the install.

I stopped by a few years later and he had installed just a small radio tower with a high amp truck alternator on it and as he was a high school shop teacher he made his own wooden prop. He told me it worked quite well at holding his buffer tank temp on below 0°F nights.

Instead of a slip ring he just ran a cord down the center and it would twist and untwist. I asked about it knotting up and he said in over 2 years he never once had to uncoil it. He said the wind would shift and uncoil it after shifting and coiling it. In theory, it might work. I should go check up on him again, it's been some time.

 

[PawneeOffgrid]

It seems the slip ring is a failure point on these. I think they do produce given the reports and why the slip ring fails. Actually might be a good candidate for fixed azimuth installation.

About 15 years ago I purchased a propane condensing boiler from a fella that installed geothermal. Original plan for their new home was geothermal powered by solar and possibly wind. The boiler was installed during construction to heat the house while they finished it. His arrays were tracking, he had received a grant from the state for the install.

I stopped by a few years later and he had installed just a small radio tower with a high amp truck alternator on it and as he was a high school shop teacher he made his own wooden prop. He told me it worked quite well at holding his buffer tank temp on below 0°F nights.

Instead of a slip ring he just ran a cord down the center and it would twist and untwist. I asked about it knotting up and he said in over 2 years he never once had to uncoil it. He said the wind would shift and uncoil it after shifting and coiling it. In theory, it might work. I should go check up on him again, it's been some time.

Ok I am going to ask the dumb question... What is the slip ring?

 

[Zwy]

At what point with a small windturbine is there too much wind?

From what I've seen on the Youtube videos, they say the rating is 31 mph it should be locked down at that speed. It also seems the slip ring failure occurs most often after high wind. I would guess the slip ring and wiring are not heavy enough for high current during high wind. That is one of the problems with low speed turbines, high wind raises hell with them.

Here is one failure.

 

[Zwy]

Ok I am going to ask the dumb question... What is the slip ring?

Watch the video in the next post and read the comments.

 

[Zwy]

The slip ring is what allows the turbine to turn and provide the electrical connection at that pivot point.

On the farm we had a silo unloader and these work by rotating inside within the circle. The heavy cord from below would supply power to a ring that did not rotate with the rest of the machine. This is how electricity would be transferred to the motor which had to rotate around with the machine due to how the drives were built. A vertical mounted motor would not have needed a slip ring but hey, you know engineers.

The brushes would wear out over time as would the large copper ring. These would transfer quite a few amps, we ran a 7.5 Hp motor on these at 240V. Every year before raising it back up to the top of the silo, we would pull the ring, check the brushes and the large bronze copper ring condition. Much easier to replace than when it was 40 foot up in the air and probably warmer as it wouldn't be fun in the middle of winter.

It is possible the brush material in the Istabreeze are made with alloys that are not like the old high quality brushes of yesterday. Those had a high bronze content, you could tell by the color. Over the years I've noticed replacement brushes for starters, alternators and motors are not that nice bronze color. To keep prices down, they are skimping on the alloys. I've noticed these brushes wear much faster than the older bronze units.

If the slip ring fails, you might be able to upgrade to something heavier that can handle higher current. These are usually wider too, so the wear isn't as fast. Many times the brush is longer to help dissipate heat so again, longer wear in between changes.

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

I dont use a slip ring, I convert to DC on the turbine then run a pair of feeds down the pole. When I had it in free rotation I never saw the feed lines bind, it would wrap once maybe twice and then unwind itself. Since then I have locked it out from a full 360 since my winds are either from NW or from SE, so maybe 200 degree is all I allow, so winding is no longer something I am concerned with.