Upgrade Lakota w/ginlong 1800

[Joseph OLall]

Has anyone attempted to replace the Lakota 900 (650w) generator with a Ginlong 1800?
The light weight of the Ginlong 1800 makes it very tempting..are there any cons to doing this?
:unsure:

[Joseph OLall]

Hello everyone,

I just got my PMG1800LV unit today. Total cost was $970 and delivered by DHL. It weighs 50lbs...not sure if it's because of the different wiring needed to make a 48v unit.

Delivery was as promised - within two weeks.

My customization project to mount it to replace the BS lakota generator begins....
:)

[Ric Murphy]

Hi Joe,
I'm on my 4th Lakota in 4 years. I expect this one to fail anytime now. Have not decided what to replace it with when that day comes. I'm interested in your conversion so please post your progress (and pictures)
Ric

[Rob Beckers]

Ric, what do they fail from? I don't mean to hijack this thread, but am curious. Joseph, so your alternator is a 48V version, bought directly from Ginlong in China? Or do they have a more local representation these days?

One thing I wonder about is how well the Lakota blades match the alternator. With an alternator that's so much larger than the original one that it replaces (1800W vs. 650W) the blades may be a bit small, and consequently prone to stall. This would depend on the power curves of the original vs. Ginlong alternator though (if both deliver similar power at similar RPMs you should be OK).

To echo Ric: Please post a few pictures of the conversion!

-RoB-

[Ric Murphy]

Hi Rob,
First unit I had (purchased new) flew fine for the first year. When I lowered it for its first annual inspection I decided to return it to the original supplier for review with me. I thought I had detected small sqeaks at times during the first year (possible bearing issue). When they opened up the alternator it was full of water. Original unit was upgraded to incorporate engineering changes implemented since it was manufactured. I believe new bearings were installed also. Rebuilt unit flew fine for about 3 months and seized during moderate winds....was turning one minute and stopped the next. This time the supplier replaced this unit with a re conditioned one. That unit flew ok for awhile (can't remember how long) until it fell apart one night during good winds. The Lakota uses an upward furl design. The pin that the alternator hinges on actually fell out and the alternator was hanging from the from the wires (see this thread-post 57 http://www.greenpowertalk.org/showthread.php?t=675&page=3 ). That unit was also replaced with another reconditioned unit which is the one I currently have. This unit does not produce near what it's rated for. For some reason it furls too early but has held together for over a year so far.
The Lakota is rated at 900w @ 28mph but should produce over 40A before furling. On my original unit I frequently seen 50A bursts before furling. The current one seldom hits 40A.
Ric

[Joseph OLall]

I bought the Ginlong PMG1800LV (48volt) directly from China. It was delivered within the promised two week window.

I also had early furling problems and so I clamped half of the spring with zip ties. This yielded much better performance as the unit furled in higher winds. I also had to place a custom made "rubber stop" on the rear of the alternator head so as to have a maximum tilt back of 60 deg instead of the full 90. This really helped.

All this said, it would NOT generate ANYTHING over 53volts 13amps. This was frustrating. That's way I'm onto an upgrade path that would use the spring system of furling as this reduces the overall weight of the complete turbine.

Here is the bench test data of the Ginlong PMG1800LV
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Here is the spring adjustment
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[Ric Murphy]

Joe,
Thanks for the picture. You know I'd thought about doing the same 2 modifications to mine!!! Now that I've seen what you've done I'll be lowering mine at the first opportunity. As for your low output situation I suspect you might have a wiring problem. The Lakota can be wired for what they call different "mod's". Each mod is designed to provide optimum output for different wind classes. After I got mine back the last time it would not put out any more than 200-300 watts no matter how much wind I had. I called the dealer and he told it must be wired for the incorrect mod. He gave me the wiring changes over the phone and it was quite simple to rewire (except it was March and my fingers kept freezing!!!). I can't seem to find my manual at the moment so I can't tell you any more than that. It's likely irrelevant at this point though since you're changing alternators.
Ric

[Joseph OLall]

Ric,

I did try the different MOD settings. Yes, I went from MOD 0 to 3 and back. I was told MOD 0 is for high winds and MOD 3 for low winds. So I kept it at MOD 0 to be safe.

I don't have a picture of the stop I used behind the alternator housing. Use anything that is UV resistant and measures 2inches. This keeps the head from going past 60 deg.

Joe

[Joseph OLall]

Work done on Lakota...NOT Ginlong Upgrade (I will start a new thread on this)

I just wanted to wrap up this Lakota modification for users out there (I hope I'm not the only one!).

I took the unit down in March to have the stator coils rewound as I could not get more than about 689watts out of it. I was told the unit furls too early..so I TIED it down and gave it a test run in 45mpg gusts. It still did not produce more than 53v 13amps = 689watts. After getting the unit rewound locally, It still does not produce more that 53v 13amps.
With that said, here are the photos of what modifications are necessary to get the Lakota to produce 53v 13amps (689watts) CONTINUOUSLY in high winds. This modification prevent a FULL furl, thus allowing the unit to produce power and not LOSE it in a full furl.

The springs used are stainless steel LEE SPRINGS LE 207N 01 S.
The stop on the back is a cut-out of flexible electrical conduit.

As far as my project to upgrade the Lakota to use a Ginling 1800LV....too heavy.
I'm working with a local metal shop on a complete new design of the head unit. I'm also replacing the tower with 4inch sched 40.

Look for a new thread on this. I will post once it is completed, tested and flying!!

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