Aerogen wind generator - is it working?

[SteveTibbetts]

I have inherited a wind generator that to the best of my knowledge has been spinning wildly for the last 5 years. I don't know whether it has been connected to anything . The wiring goes straight to the engine start battery. If I disconnect the leads from the battery and connect to a voltmeter I get a small reading if I give the fan a bit of a spin. Is this sufficient to know it works?
Also, I stopped the prop some time ago with a piece of cord; when I took it off at the weekend I noticed it seemed to take quite some draft to get it going. Is this just a case otaking the cover off and spraying a suitable lubricant around?

 

[doug748]

Mine has been spinning for over 25 years so I think there is plenty of life left in it yet.

If you get an output you are probably ok. At 15 knots the Model 25 should be giving between .5 and .75 Amps. As a further test, disconnect the wires from the battery and touch the outputs together while the fan is spinning, you should see it slow down. If not, you will have to investigate further. Take great care not to attach the wires to the battery incorrectly or you will knacker the rectifier.

Put your ear against the back of the unit as it spins if you suspect internal problems. Any grinding noises will need to be looked at. I have never replaced the rotor bearing but have had several sets of bearings on the mast; they carry on working but allow the thing to vibrate and produce noise. In good order there is no mechanical or wind noise in all but big winds.

 

[TradewindSailor]

Wind generators like the Aerogen need 12 knots + to get any meaningful juice out of them.

If the fan rotates easily and smoothly by hand the bearings will be okay.

I would wait until you get a wind of say 15 kts plus. Have it connected to the battery, and either take a current reading max could be 25 amps in high wind, but more realistically about 10, or watch the voltage across the battery. If the battery is fairly small the voltage should rise to 13v + fairly quickly, depending of course that the initial voltage was not too depressed .. say 12.4 v +.

I don't have any experience with the Aerogen. It is one of the better makes. I would suggest you go to the manufacturers site and download a manual. Personally I would suggest you leave it alone unless you know there is something wrong .....

 

[TradewindSailor]

.5 to .75 amps at 15 kts!! .... wow! I didn't think they were that bad. What's the point of them then? Even the Ampair Aquair 100 would give 3-4 amps.

From
http://solazone.com.au/wind-generators/aerogen/

Aerogen Model Watts Rated Output Max output Prices
Aerogen 4 – 12 v 96 8 Amps 15 Amps @ 40 knots $2024
Aerogen 4 – 24 v 96 4 Amps 7.5 Amps @ 40 knots $2024
Aerogen 6 – 12 v 240 20 Amps 30 Amps @ 45 knots $2915
Aerogen 6 – 24 v 240 10 Amps 15 Amps @ 45 knots $3025

 

[GHA]

.5 to .75 amps at 15 kts!! .... wow! I didn't think they were that bad. What's the point of them then? Even the Ampair Aquair 100 would give 3-4 amps.

Where did you get that from? Spec sheet looks like about 3A @ 15Kts.

Back to the OP, from memory with a really good pin by hand I could get maybe double figure volts for a moment, but really needs a good bit of breeze to check for sure. Sounds like it might be OK.
Did you get a regulator with it? They're pretty powerful if there's a good breeze, you might need to be a bit careful you don't fry the batteries.

 

[GrahamM376]

One way of checking if it's working is to short the wires (when not connected to battery!) when it's spinning well and it will slow right down. Before anyone suggests otherwise, this is an LVM recommended practice to stop it or, brake it in strong winds. Be careful though, they can give quite a belt of you touch both wires when it's spinning fast.

 

[theoldsalt]

I have an Aerogen on my boat. It is not connected directly to the batteries but via a regulator and dump resistor - see photo.

I have found that if the Aerogen lays idol for a period then the bearings seem to stiffen and take some time to free up when put back in commision (I took it home to paint). I now leave it on the boat all year round and although the output is not large it is sufficient to keep both domestic and starte batteries topped up - and it has survived the gales.

View attachment 40949

 

[William_H]

Most generators will have a separate box containing the recifiers for the output of the gen. They also usually have a regulator of some sort to avert overcharge of the battery.
The best way to assess the usefulness of the gen is with an amp meter measuring actual charge current into a battery.
My experience is with a cheap Chinese wind gen. This had just a rectifier box. 6 diodes for rectifying the 3 phase output. (look up 3 phase bridge rectifier)
It had a permanent magnet rotor for field power. This permanent magnet was inclined to lose strength and so output fell over time. It would generate voltage but not enough to push current into a battery. The partial fix was to substitute schotke diodes for silicon diodes but charge was still quite poor.
We need more info from OP. good luck olewill

 

[coopec]

William

Are there any good 200W-400W wind generators that are not rubbish in your opinion? I like the idea of generating power 24/7 although I will certainly have solar as well.

 

[doug748]

Where did you get that from? Spec sheet looks like about 3A @ 15Kts.....

Well it is based on experience, as I own an one. If the OP looks for 3A he is likely not to find it and think something is wrong

Your data is for Aero4gen, the OP has not told us which model he has. He has just bought a small, older boat. He might have an Aero4gen but I doubt it, more likely to have the Aerogen 2, even the venerable Model 25 like mine. In which case, if he gets the 1amp at 20kts, boasted by the manufacturers when new, he will be very fortunate.

They are traditionally quiet, rugged, outstanding performers, but not manufactured by LVM for some time Sadly I think the new owners have limited interest in them and spares may be difficult. You can inspect the range on the Jabsco site who now distribute the product.

 

[SteveTibbetts]

Your data is for Aero4gen, the OP has not told us which model he has. He has just bought a small, older boat. He might have an Aero4gen but I doubt it, more likely to have the Aerogen 2, even the venerable Model 25 like mine. In which case, if he gets the 1amp at 20kts, boasted by the manufacturers when new, he will be very fortunate.

They are traditionally quiet, rugged, outstanding performers, but not manufactured by LVM for some time Sadly I think the new owners have limited interest in them and spares may be difficult. You can inspect the range on the Jabsco site who now distribute the product.

Thanks to all for the input.. Sorry about not supplying much info about the model but I've done a bit of googling and still don't know what model. It definitely says aerogen on it rather than aero4gen though. Given the age of everything else on my older smaller boat it's probably the oldest. Anything that gives an input to the battery is good though.
I have a spare ebay bought regulator I bought for a small solar panel (yet to be fitted), is this a nice-to-have, a necessity or a waste of space?

 

[sailorman]

I have an Aerogen on my boat. It is not connected directly to the batteries but via a regulator and dump resistor - see photo.

I have found that if the Aerogen lays idol for a period then the bearings seem to stiffen and take some time to free up when put back in commision (I took it home to paint). I now leave it on the boat all year round and although the output is not large it is sufficient to keep both domestic and starte batteries topped up - and it has survived the gales.

View attachment 40949

i have that same regulator & resistor

 

[doug748]

I have a smaller older boat myself, the point about the comment was to put my Sherlock Holmes guess in context.

The bigger units could boil your batteries, look out of place, take up valuable space, cost more than necessary and possibly poke your eyes out.

The fan diameter of the 2 is just under 2ft; the 4 is nor far short of 3 ft.

 

[theoldsalt]

To help identify the model, here are pictures of my Aerogen 2 (I lost the nose cone years ago)

View attachment 40968

View attachment 40969

 

[SteveTibbetts]

To help identify the model, here are pictures of my Aerogen 2

View attachment 40968

View attachment 40969

Yup, looks like that. But it could look like another cos I don't know what the differences are! I don't want to be generatorist but they all look the same to me..

 

[William_H]

William

Are there any good 200W-400W wind generators that are not rubbish in your opinion? I like the idea of generating power 24/7 although I will certainly have solar as well.

High Coopec. Of much depends on what sort of cruising you do and your current needs. My feeling however for you is that solar should be very adequate around these parts and into the tropics. A wind gen will be bulky and noisy not to mention expensive. I think you should do some cruising before you decide if at all that you need a wind gen. good luck olewill