WCMD Pure-Wind MPPT Wind Charge Controller with Dump Load

Small Turbine, Wild Output. This Box Tames it. A small wind turbine is the easiest thing in the world to wreck a battery bank with. Its voltage climbs with every gust, it keeps charging after the bank is full, and on a wild night with nothing loading it up the rotor just winds up and up. The controller is the half of the system that stops all of that: it takes the turbine's three-phase output, turns it into a clean DC charge, holds the battery inside its window, shunts the surplus into a dump load when the bank is full, and pulls the turbine up short when it over-speeds. The WCMD is the pure-wind MPPT controller we fit to our own small turbines, the M-400, M-600, M-800 and X-300, sold here on its own for anyone who already has a turbine and needs the box that goes with it. Three versions, one per battery voltage: the LWCMD400W-12V for a 12 V bank, the LWCMD800W-24V for 24 V and the LWCMD800W-48V for 48 V. Every one ships with its matched dump-load resistor in the box. It is part of the unit, not an extra. Straight Up About the Numbers: the 400 W and 800 W in the model names are the turbine sizes each controller is built to sit behind, not power the controller makes. A controller makes nothing on its own; what reaches the bank is whatever the wind gives the turbine. And the manufacturer has not published a maximum charging current in amps for this series. What it does give you is a charge limiter you set yourself: enter the bank's capacity in amp hours on the screen and the controller caps charging at 0.3 times that figure. Cable and breaker sizing is your electrician's job, from your system, never from the number in a product title. What it Solves The Breeze That Never Quite Charges: when the turbine's voltage sits below the battery's, the boost stage lifts it to charging voltage instead of letting it idle. When the turbine is above battery voltage, the buck stage takes over for the best harvest. That is the boost / buck MPPT the manual describes, and it is why a small turbine on a big bank still puts something in. The Overcharged Bank: the controller holds your 12, 24 or 48 V bank inside adjustable low, float and full-charge limits, with lead-acid and lithium charging both supported. The Runaway Rotor: over-current, over-voltage and over-speed protection all dump the turbine's output into the resistor to load it up and slow it down, and there is a manual brake in the menu for when you want it stopped: press the button and set the charging mode on the screen to "no charging". The Surplus with Nowhere to Go: a full bank on a windy afternoon is the classic small-wind failure. The dump load gives that energy somewhere to go as heat, so the rotor stays loaded instead of climbing. Not Knowing What is Going on: the LCD shows turbine volts, amps and watts, battery volts, charging current, rotor speed, total energy, controller temperature and any fault codes, so when the turbine reads nothing you can see whether it is the wind, the wiring or the bank. Key Features Pure-Wind MPPT: built for wind and nothing else. There is no solar input on this unit. Panels go through their own solar controller onto the same bank. Boost, Buck & Boost-Buck Charging: the controller switches between them automatically as the turbine's voltage moves above and below the bank's. Dump Load in the Box: one 800 W resistor with the 12 V unit, two 800 W resistors wired in parallel with the 24 V unit, one 2 kW resistor with the 48 V unit, as the manufacturer supplies them. Lead-Acid or Lithium: both battery types supported, with the low-voltage cut, float and full-charge points all adjustable on the LCD. User-Set Charge Limit: enter the bank's amp-hour capacity and the controller limits charging current to 0.3 times that figure to protect the battery. Three-Phase Turbine Input: the three wind terminals take the turbine's AC cable directly; the rectifier is inside. Built-in LCD & Menu: browse the readings, set the battery limits, set the turbine's maximum voltage, current and speed, and use the manual brake. Optional Extras from the Factory: an RS232 or RS485 port for PC monitoring, and battery temperature compensation. Neither is fitted unless ordered, and this listing is the standard unit without them. Low Idle Draw: 1.8 W or less standing consumption. Which Model for Which Turbine Match the controller to the battery voltage and the turbine. The manufacturer's own configuration sheet pairs them this way for our range: LWCMD400W-12V: M-400, M-600 and X-300 on a 12 V bank. LWCMD800W-24V: M-400, M-600, M-800 and X-300 on a 24 V bank. LWCMD800W-48V: M-400, M-600, M-800 and X-300 on a 48 V bank. Our 1 kW and larger turbines take the heavier WW series pure-wind controller, not this one. Running a turbine we did not sell? Ask us before you buy, with its rated power, its output voltage class and your battery voltage. A mismatched controller is the most expensive way to find out what a dump load is for. What Else you'll Need A controller is the middle of a system, not the whole of one. Either side of it you need cable sized for the run and a battery bank worth protecting. Fit a DC breaker or fuse between the controller and the battery, close to the battery, so you can isolate the system before you touch anything. Don't put a plain breaker or isolator on the turbine wires: cutting that line while the blades turn lets the turbine overspeed. You don't need an extra switch there either — the controller brakes the turbine itself. Your electrician will confirm what the wiring rules need for your site. That protects you, and it protects your new turbine and the rest of your power system. The manual says the connection order is dump load first, then battery, then turbine, and that the turbine should be connected in calm air, not while it is spinning hard. Browse bus bars, breakers and wiring in the Electrical Supplies collection. Where it Lives: indoors. The manual carries no water rating and says plainly to keep water and snow out of it, so it goes in the shed, the cabin or a sealed enclosure with the breakers, never on the pole with the turbine. The dump-load resistors get hot in use and need air around them. Q & A The Faceplate in the Photos Says "Wind Charge Controller" but the Manual Cover Says "Wind & Solar Hybrid Controller". Which is it? Wind only. The manufacturer builds several controllers in this same white housing and prints one manual for the family, so the cover photo shows a hybrid sibling. Count the terminals on the unit itself: battery plus and minus, three wind phases, dump load plus and minus. Seven terminals, no solar pair. If you want one box that runs panels as well, you want a hybrid controller from the Wind and Solar Controllers collection, not this. Will it Charge my 24 V Bank When the Turbine is Only Making 12 to 20 V? That is what the boost stage is for. The manual says that once the turbine's voltage drops below the battery's, the controller starts the boost module automatically and lifts the turbine voltage to charging voltage. It does not print a fixed voltage at which boost starts; the wind start-charging voltage is a parameter you set on the LCD. What it will not do is make power that is not there. A turbine turning slowly in a light breeze is making very little, boosted or not. Why is There No Charging Current in Amps? Because the manufacturer has not published one, and we will not invent one by dividing watts by volts. That is how people end up sizing breakers off a guess. The controller does have a user-set limit: enter the bank's capacity in amp hours and it caps charging at 0.3 times that. Your electrician sizes cable and protection from your turbine, your cable run and your bank, not from a product title. When the manufacturer gives us the figure, it goes in the table. Is the Dump Load Really Included? Yes. The manufacturer's own words are that "controller" means the controller unit plus the dump load, and the dump load does not need to be bought separately. What is optional is an enclosure to put the resistor in, which they say is generally not needed. The 24 V unit ships with two 800 W resistors that wire in parallel; the 12 V and 48 V units ship with one resistor each. Does it Work with Lithium? The manual lists lead-acid and lithium batteries as supported, and the battery low-voltage, recovery, over-voltage and float points are all adjustable on the LCD. What it does not print is the adjustable range for each, so if your battery maker wants a specific full-charge voltage, check it against the unit on your bench before you commit the bank to it. The factory defaults are in the spec table. What is the Most Turbine Voltage it will Take? 80 V on the 12 V unit, 180 V on the 24 V and 48 V units. The printed series datasheet shows 80 V against the 24 V column; we asked the manufacturer which was right, and their written answer was that 180 V applies to the 24 V and 48 V versions and the 80 V figure is for the 12 V version only. We have published their answer. A small turbine's open-circuit voltage in a storm is a real number your electrician should know before it is wired in. Is the Cable from the Turbine AC or DC? AC. A small turbine of this class makes three-phase AC, and the rectifier inside the controller turns it into DC for the battery. The three wind terminals take the three phases in any order. The voltage on that cable rises with rotor speed, which is exactly why the controller's input is rated well above the battery voltage. Can I Use a Turbine you did Not Sell? Probably, if it is a three-phase permanent-magnet machine of the right voltage class and rated power. We will not say yes on a product page without seeing the turbine's figures. Send us its rated power, its rated and maximum output voltage, and your battery voltage, and we will tell you straight whether one of these three suits it or whether you need something else. What About Delivery? Free Standard Delivery. Allow 5 to 10 working days from the day you order. Allow 1–2 days for fulfilment. Regional and remote addresses can take longer. Shipping anywhere else in the world? Send us your address and we will confirm delivery to your door; import duty and any tax on arrival are the buyer's. Specs Download: WCMD wind charge controller user manual (PDF) Figures below are from the manufacturer's user manual for this series and its configuration sheet for our turbines. Where a value differs between models it is shown per column. Battery voltage points are the factory defaults and are adjustable on the LCD. Specifications LWCMD400W-12V LWCMD800W-24V LWCMD800W-48V Controller Type Pure-Wind MPPT Charge Controller (No Solar Input) Battery Voltage 12 V 24 V 48 V Matched Turbine Size (Max Wind Power) 400 W 800 W 800 W Pairs with (Our Range) M-400, M-600, X-300 (12 V) M-400, M-600, M-800, X-300 (24 V) M-400, M-600, M-800, X-300 (48 V) Wind Charging Mode Boost, Buck & Boost-Buck MPPT, Switched Automatically Wind Start-Charging Voltage User-set on the LCD ("Cutin"); no factory figure printed in the manual Maximum Wind Input Voltage 80 V 180 V (manufacturer's written confirmation; the series datasheet prints 80 V, which they state is the 12 V version only) 180 V Turbine Input Three-Phase AC, Three Terminals; Rectifier Inside the Controller Maximum Battery Charging Current Not specified by supplier. User-set limit: 0.3 times the battery capacity entered on the LCD. Do not size cable or breakers from the wattage in the product title Dump Load Supplied 1 x 800 W Resistor 2 x 800 W Resistors, Wired in Parallel 1 x 2 kW Resistor Unloading External dump load, PWM controlled; an enclosure for the resistor is an optional extra the manufacturer says is generally not needed Wind Protection Wind Over-Current, Wind Over-Voltage, Over-Speed, Manual Brake Battery Types Lead-Acid & Lithium; Battery Reverse-Connection Protection (Correct Polarity Still Required) Battery Low-Voltage Protection (Default, Adjustable) 10.2 V 20.4 V 40.8 V Battery Low-Voltage Recovery (Default, Adjustable) 11.5 V 23.0 V 46.5 V Battery Over-Voltage Protection (Default, Adjustable) 14.7 V 29.4 V 58.8 V Battery Over-Voltage Recovery (Default, Adjustable) 13.2 V 26.4 V 52.8 V Battery Float Voltage (Default, Adjustable) 13.5 V 27.0 V 54.0 V Load Output None. Loads run from the battery through your own protection Display Built-in LCD with four buttons: readings, settings, fault codes, manual brake Communications RS232 or RS485 port with MODBUS address is a factory option at extra cost; not fitted on the standard unit sold here Battery Temperature Compensation Factory Option; Not Fitted on the Standard Unit Sold Here Working Temperature & Humidity -20 °C to +55 °C; 35 to 85% relative humidity, non-condensing Enclosure & Mounting Wall-mount steel box with rear heatsink and keyhole slots. No water rating published; the manual says to keep water and snow out. Indoors or in a sealed enclosure only Static Power Consumption 1.8 W or Less Controller Size 242 mm high x 160 mm wide x 96 mm deep Controller Net Weight 3.8 kg Without the Dump Load Boxed Weight (Controller & Dump Load) About 4.3 kg About 5.1 kg About 4.9 kg Carton 370 x 230 x 225 mm Manufacturer's CE Designation ESWF-LW500W ESWF-LW800W ESWF-LW800W In the Box Controller, matched dump-load resistor(s), user manual. Cable, breakers and isolators are not included Free Standard Delivery. Allow 5 to 10 working days from the day you order. Allow 1–2 days for fulfilment. Regional and remote addresses can take longer.