# got some wind turbines but need help



## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

I was given 4 of these. Same guy that gave us the windmill,8 solar panels, 8 L-16 batteries, charge controller and inverter. Nice guy!!
We can not find them any where on the internet to show us how to wire.
You folks seem to know all about this stuff.
We are stumped about the three wires labeled A+, A- and F+.
Also seems as though there are three corresponding openings for wires to exit from. Two on the bottom and one large on the top.
Thanks for any advice you can give.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

WWII Era Leece Neville L-3, 24504 Aircraft DC Generator

You can use a volt/ohm meter to determine the +/- and ground

Looking at the A+, A- and F+ we could "*assume*" that

A+ = +/positive 
A- = -/negative
F+ = ground

But these are *ASSUMPTIONS*, use the volt/ohm meter to verify.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Well spoke to some one about them. They are a 3 phase system. They need a rectifier to convert the 3 positive wires into a positive and negative.
Thanks


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

The A terminals are probably armature terminals and the F is the field. They are 24 volt generators designed for high speed operation and not suitable for wind generator use. Lots of us wasted much time 30+ years ago trying to make them work as a wind powered generator with little or no luck.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

steff bugielski said:


> Well spoke to some one about them. They are a 3 phase system. They need a rectifier to convert the 3 positive wires into a positive and negative.
> Thanks


Cool steff, rectifiers are easy to find, could possibly find an electronics guru (Radio Shack, usually has a few walkin around) to help find one.



WisJim said:


> The A terminals are probably armature terminals and the F is the field. They are 24 volt generators designed for *high speed operation* and not suitable for wind generator use. Lots of us wasted much time 30+ years ago trying to make them work as a wind powered generator with little or no luck.


High Speed operation is easily remedied with properly sized gearing or pulleys. That is how the big guys (GE, Pioneer, etc) get those generators spinning from those slow moving blades.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Just an FYI, this may give you an idea about costs:

150A 800V 3 Phase Bridge Rectifier

Shopping 3 phase Bridge Rectifiers


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## idahodave (Jan 20, 2005)

I think Jim got it right....

These would need an old fashion voltage regulator to use. The regulator varies the field current (F terminal) to adjust the output voltage


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

I was told they were low speed generators. Good for wind.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

steff bugielski said:


> I was told they were low speed generators. Good for wind.


I've been trying to find the #'s. Not much luck. They are pre WWII aircraft generators. L-3 would be a non-military genny. Most likely used on civilian aircraft or marine applications. 

The 3 terminals are:

A+ - armature positive 
A- - armature negative (ground, many boats and aircraft had wooden frames)
Field+ - Field excitation (usually grounded thru the A-)

They are not low speed generators. But what some tried to do was use 24V generators on a 6 or 12v system. That would allow them to produce power at lower speeds. The field would be excited with 6 or 12v instead of 24v to accomplish that. The bad side was they also put maxed out at 1/8 to 1/4 the rated power.

Finding parts for these is going to be difficult and expensive. Have a place that rebuilds starters and generators check the armatures out and see if they can get brushes for them. If the armature is shorted out it will need rewound and turned. 

You might be farthwer ahead if you can find someone that into restoring old aircraft. They might be able to locate manuals and NOS parts.

WWW


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Ok so how do I wire it with a voltage regulator.
If this is not 3 phase as I was told then the terminals are like Jim says how do you wire it?


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Thanks WWW.
Since I have 4 of them I was hoping to get some use out of them. They are as I type, going out side to test as you said F- to A-.
I will let you know.
Do I need a voltage regulator or rectifier to hook up.
If so how is that going to hook up. Like anything else Pos to pos- neg to neg


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

OK we get continuity when using a ohm meter hooked from A- to A+
also when hooked from F- to A+ or A-
Our thinking is it is already grounded from F- to A- internally.
Can you confirm


We put power to it via a power drill to spin and got 2 volts
We seem to be missing something. We think we need to hook something else to it. Might that be the regulator


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

You might want to take a look at the brushes first.

Are you able to control the RPM for testing?

If so, wire to a battery that is not fully charged:

For testing only, non regulated.

A+ to battery positive with a stocky blocking diode.
A- to battery negative.
Field to battery positive with a switch (something to shut it down quickly if needed).
Voltmeter to the A+ and A-. 
Ampmeter (optional) in line between A+ and battery.

Slowly bring the genny up to speed monitoring the voltage. It should read 0 when not turning and increase as RPM increases.

How to hook up with a regulator will depend on the style of regulator.

WWW


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

To check it..

Connect the A+ and the F+ together with a piece of wire. Connect the positive of a 12 volt battery to this connection. Touch the negative of the battery to the A- quickly and see if it wants to spin. It should. Note the direction it tries to spin. It needs to spin in the opposite direction to generate.

Once you figure the direction, connect a 12 volt bulb across the A+ and the A-. Connect the negative of a 12 volt battery to the A-. Get it spinning and quickly touch the positive of the battery to the F+. The bulb should light. It might fry the bulb depending on how fast it's spinning.. 

Regulation is achieved by the amount of current applied to the field (F+) circuit. More current, more output from the A+ post. The A- is ground to the whole thing. 

A cheap and disgusting regulator can be made with a standard light bulb. Start with a 100 watt bulb between the A+ and F+. You may need to play around with different wattage bulbs to get the desired results. This will work in tandem with the amount of current draw on the A+ connection to the battery and the field circuit. The bulb is a variable resistor. It will show you the generator is charging and how much by how bright it's lit up. More bright, it's charging heavy. Less bright, the battery is charged. It won't totally shut the generator off but to shut it down, just unscrew the bulb. You'll need a switch between the A+ and the battery to totally disconnect or a big diode.

Have fun!


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

My F is - does that reverse everything?
And if so how do we hook a battery to it?
Is there something I am missing?


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## Big Dreamer (Aug 6, 2010)

You might investigate the operation of a 12 volt Delco generator use in the 50s and 60s they operate in a similar manner and a little search will you can find out how the regulator works to control the fields to control the output of the generator.


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

There are two curcuits with ground being the commom to both. A+ goes through the armature to ground. (A-) F+ goes through the field windings to ground. (A-) These windings are heavy so you may not see a whole lot of resistance with a VOM. A- is usually connected to the case of the unit.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

steff bugielski said:


> My F is - does that reverse everything?
> And if so how do we hook a battery to it?
> Is there something I am missing?


Yes I think it would. F- might indicate that you have gennies designed for positive ground use. Many 30's and 40's cars/trucks are like that. Not sure how that will affect the wiring or if it would be possible to use them on a neg ground setup. 

I can't see the pictures from this computer (firewall). Will look again from home but your OP stated F+.


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## Big Dreamer (Aug 6, 2010)

Here is a link to good diagram of a generator and regulator setup
http://www.wiringdiagrams21.com/2010/07/09/delco-remy-generator-wiring-circuit 

It might help understand what is going on


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

B G that is exactly what I needed.
Sorry my F is +
we did hook to battery and it did spin backwards. Followed the instructions above.
I also will go get a diode. 
I will keep you posted. We are determined to get them working.


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## idahodave (Jan 20, 2005)

I think you should look at the diagram.....the F terminal connects to ground. 

Zero resistance is maximum field current and when the voltage regulator reduces output, a series resistor is switched in. 

The 6v regulator I looked at uses a 21 ohm resistor.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

wy_white_wolf said:


> You might want to take a look at the brushes first.
> 
> Are you able to control the RPM for testing?
> 
> ...


OK
We hooked it up as above. 
We got power running it in reverse. Good power.
When hooked to the battery only it spun the same way.
What are we missing?


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Well we brought one of these to an old mechanic. This guy knows how everything works. 
We did get power when we hooked it up and turned it backwards. WE were correct. One of them is a L-3 and three are L- 2. Apparently the L-3 runs backwards from the L-3.

He also had in his shop, this shop had 6-7 of everything in it. What a great place. He had a bracket and pully that fit the shaft. So we are on our way to wind power with these.


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