hi everyone , iv herd the discussions to not use slip rings several times, I don't think all information on the slip ring is being used quite right. these are my thoughts from testing the slip rings. many people have a smaller system, 10-30amp out put max, and they say to not use slip ring, they fail. like all parts of the system, they must be sized properly. a 30amp slip ring is capable of 30amp at max, this is also the point that the life is drastically reduced. 30amp times the voltage of 12v is 360 watts, not much if a storm is on. the question is what is your gen capable of producing ? . iv found most of the home made mills have under rated slip rings. like most parts, there rating is absolute max before failure, to live a long and happy life there needs to be a safe operating rating , iv never seen this number advertised. I would think it would be about 60-70% of max rating being the highest operating amps applied for long service life. IF this is so, that would mean that the 30amp slip ring is only good to handle 19.5amps max properly, this could be the reason there failing. properly sized slip rings for a larger system are not cheap, iv seen 250-650$ for one slip ring, just not in the budget for most people me included, this much is better spent other places. making slip rings is not hard and can handle 50-100amp properly { toppentech.com } can help with his design, its what I use, I alter sizes for amps but these slip rings are easy to make. smaller systems can use the { moflon or senring } slip rings, these can be had for 30$ on ebay. the brushes can be purchased from most any altenator or generator shop, I use the biggest ones they carry in stock for ease of not having to order them. the idea of using a welding cable although might be tough is crazy, the weight of the cable is a extream overkill in most cases and vary expensive. they say to anchor the cable to carry the weight but if you anchor the cable the twisting factor there saying it will withstand will be gone once anchored and handle about 400amp, does anyone know a home system that is putting out even 200amps per line ?. dosnt seem vary sensible to me. iv never had a slip ring problem of any kind ever { when properly sized }. my three phase lines from the poles or tower are 12awg for 500w and under and 10awg for 1000w down to 500w, the larger mills all have 6awg secured to the tower { purchased a large spool in a auction } the 10-12awg are extention cords and I use the ends in place, I buy the matching ends from a electrical supplier that fit into the 1 1/2 pipe, all are soaked in dialectrical grease. never had any problems with this arangment since day one. to anchor the ends simply drill a 1/4" hole at the proper location down from the top of the pipe { this will vary with design } once the cord is fed through the pipe the 1/4" bolt is installed and that's it. now when you install the slip ring you just plug into the core and slid it down to the bolt easy and tighten the slip ring. there is a lot of realy good home made designs on the net, look at the pictures and you will get the idea quickly, they really are not hard to build and can handle way more than a lot of people think, if this was bs then ask your self why the mega watt wind mills use slip rings ?. the key is as always, they must be sized properly to work properly. I hope this helps to remove any of the welding cable misconceptions , this might work but dosnt make any sense to me. over kill can also lower the efficiency of your system bolth mechanical and electrical ends of the spectrum. thanks for reading.
--------------------------------------------------------------- update, today I replaced one of my slip rings. some birds needed some wire covering and plastic for a nest more than I needed a working slip ring I guess, this is the oddest failure iv ever had I must say. this is my 2 year in service slip ring and pissed me off, I now need to start over on the service life test of the smaller slip rings. this was a moflon slip ring and had 2 full years of service with no maintenance at all. I would of liked to see how long the life could have been. so back to the beginning .
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