Hi all:

I have a wind generator attached to a engine. I want to use it to
produce usable electricity not charge a battery. I have the RPM's
adjusted to produce 13 volts DC. The manufacture said it could
produce up to 900+ hertz. How do I regulate the power to be
60 Hertz?

Thanks

 

Your wind generator is likely not a synchronous generator that can be frequency locked to provide a stable 60hz output.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_magnet_synchronous_generator

Synchronous generators are the majority source of commercial electrical energy. They are commonly used to convert the mechanical power output of steam turbines, gas turbines, reciprocating engines and hydro turbines into electrical power for the grid. Wind turbines of any significant scale use asynchronous generators exclusively.

 

if its putting out 13 volts dc, its not an alternator, its a generator. is it actually designed to be an alternator?

 

The speed of rotation is directly related to voltage and therefore a determining factor in the amount of power you can produce. If your generator produces it's max power while outputting several hundred hertz frequency, then you cannot get 60Hz from it and still produce a useful amount of power. To get a stable 60Hz output will require you to rectify the AC output into DC voltage and use a battery and AC inverter.

 

Are you sure it is putting out DC? There is a difference between something which produces 900+ Hz vs. Something which revolves at 900 RPM or even 900 revs per second. Please explain further

 

the speed of rotation is related to voltage on dc generators, on alternators, tghe speed of rotation is related to frequency.

 

If you need 60Hz AC power, likely the best way is to use an AC true sine-wave inverter that operates from 13V.

 

Wind generators designed to charge batteries (The OP system seems to be one) use asynchronous generator systems (likely a Permanent-magnet ac generator for most small systems without pitch control) for a few important reasons. It's possible to control the speed of the generator by adjusting the load. To maintain a fairly constant voltage and power (the generator should be designed for peak power at this point) all you need is a dump load and some simple electronics (or even relays) to adjust the avg speed of the props as the rotational inertia limits quick speed changes with even slow control circuitry changing power resistors. The safety design is cheap for over-speed conditions without pitch control, just dump the output into a low impedance load.

 

Hi:

Thanks for all of the helpful responses.

The generator is made with Neodymium magnets.
For fun I hooked it up to an invertor, the alarm
buzzed and the light was red for about 7 seconds.
Then the alarm stopped and the light turned green for
about a second. Then it continued to run this cycle.
I'm guessing for that brief second it was in phase?

Just guessing here. If I'm using the correct term,
would a variable frequency oscillator keep it in phase?

Below is a pic of the generator.

 

The short answer is no for any practical system.

Slightly OT:

These small wind systems are the biggest rip-off in the RE energy field. Not only do most wind up in the junk yard after working for only a few years of producing minimal power they are also part of the massive environmental problem in China as they have 95% of the worlds rare-earth minerals needed to make the Neodymium magnets used in the generators.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/mos...er-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html

 

It appears that you have one of the more common Delco 10 or 12SI type alternators that has been converted to operate as a permanent magnet alternator.

Given that you can get both three phase AC and regular DC out of it if you tap into the right points on the stator and bridge rectifier assy. To get 60 HZ power out it would have to turn at 600 RPM which being a PM rotor unit means you will have very little usable voltage and power to work with directly available from the unit.

Ideally if you want decent stable 60 HZ AC you need to use your alternator to charge a big deep cycle battery which in turns runs your power inverter. There's no real way around it being a PM alternator of generator has no voltage regulation as the load changes other than to speed up or slow down the rotation.