Experiences with aquair/ampair anyone?

[Hampus]

Does anyone have any first hand experiences from the Aquair http://www.boost-energy.com/ampair/products_product4.asp combined wind/water generator? We can't mount a conventional wind generator anywhere but high up on the mizzen mast, and I don't want it there for various reasons; it wouldn't be effective in the trade winds, it would be hard to reach, it would be mounted directly above our cabin where we sleep (admiral is allergic to noice, including my snoring ) and it would add extra weight to an already heavy mast.

Solar panels are out of the question for space/effectiveness/cost reasons. Using towed generator only would be fine for passages but not for when we are anchored or moored.

There are several combined wind/water turbines but only a few offer a way of mounting it as a wind generator that doesn't involve poles. Out of the ones that offer this feature, only the Aquair is reasonably priced.

It offers a hoist in rigging kit. Benefits would be; no fixed pole, easy to access and it could be hoisted in the forward triangle where the wind is best while anchored and it's also as far away from our sleeping compartments as possible.

The only other option I've found is the http://www.duogen.co.uk/
It produces a lot more power but from the price tag you'd think it's made from solid gold and it's above our budget.

So, does anyone have first, second or even third hand experience with aquiar/ampair?


/Hampus

 

[oldvarnish]

I towed one across the Atlantic a couple of years ago - very good. At hull speed it pumped out 4/5 amps. As you say, easily mounted and not much effort to use.

I've got the wind conversion kit that goes with it but I've never rigged it. It's always seemed too much of a fiddle, and the whole bundle is quite heavy. I'll round to it one of these days, I suppose.

 

[TQA]

I was a liveaboard cruiser for 7 years in the 90s and had one.

It is was reliable and the only maintenace required was a coat of paint on the blades after 4 years and twice I cut off the bottom inch on the short poles that are used when you hang it in the rigging. [ wear ]

Plus points 5 amps at 5 knots plus towing. Hanging it in the rigging means it is quieter than a pole mount. Well engineered. Seems more reliable than most. You can get it higher than a pole so more wind. No complex electronics to get fried. [ Mine survived a mast lightening strike while hoisted and generating. ]

Minus points Low output compared to the current generation of wind generators. if you get 50 amp hours a day in the Caribbean that is a good day. Big fish will hit the towed propellor when you are going fast - have a spare.

 

[Hampus]

Thank you for your replies!

We don't consume a lot of power while anchored and I think it will suffice.

/Hampus

 

[TradewindSailor]

I've towed my Aquair 100 throughout the Caribbean and two transAtlantics. Never had a fish try and strike the propeller as far as I know ..... and I don't believe they could take it if they tried - the rope is 10mm diameter polyester and the prop has about 2 1/2 feet of 1" bar : not very appetising. It's hard enough to get them to strike the lure on the trawl line. It used to be a problem with the impellers on a Walker log which are much, much, smaller. I think the story generated from that, rather than putting the blame on poor knots and line wear.

50 amp hr per 24 hr day in the Caribbean? I'm sure I got more than this. It ran my fridge/freezer that averaged 2.5 amps/hr, my computer, and my lights.

I wouldn't recommend painting the blades. They are VERY carefully ballanced at the factory and sold in balanced pairs so there is no vibration.

As for the poles used to hang the unit in the rigging: Yes the holes in the end of the poles that go into the main body do wear, but it you fill them first with high density epoxy filler they will last much longer. They wear because of the constant stainless/alloy contact.

Hanging in the rigging ..... not much of a hassle. I had mine permanently wired to the dc circuit and popped it into the cockpit locker when not in use. To disassemble it, I took the two bolts out of the propeller hub and took the tail off (3 bolts). To hoist it I used the main halyard, a strop from the top of the top pole to the topping lift, and two or three support ropes on the end of the lower pole to the deck and boom.

Benefits : very quiet operation, adequate charging (especially when towing), and excellent backup from the guys in Ringwood that make it.

Duo-Gen. I've never used one but a good friend of mine had one. It produced good power, but the air prop is too close to the deck to be safe ...... and he got his head badly cut by the blades. I rather think it lacks efficiency in the water towed position due to the pitching motion of the boat.

 

[Billjratt]

We had one for 6 years between UK and med. Towed, it grunted and got warm but didn't push big amps - about 5 probably. Recovery of the spinner can be fun - we sent a funnel down the line to stall the prop, but it got mangled and was never seen again... we found hauling it in and letting the rope fall back overboard to untwist was a solution.
Hauled up into the rigging - you have to be careful it CAN'T get near anything as a crash will wreck the blades, and maybe other stuff as well (one caused a lost mizzen on a pal's boat)
Very heavily built and should last well if looked after, and you are satisfied with a low power output. Hog-tie it when your not needing a charge, or the bearings will age prematurely, and a bit of cord on the vane will stop you wrecking the cable as the aquair doesn't have slip rings.

 

[syfuga]

Aquair

Nearly all said.. ok to tow - my son towed his on long crossings and it pushed around 5-6 amps, but the bearings gave out before the circumnavigation was over.

We now have it with a new generator supplied by the company when in Ringwood (2003). Most helpful at that time, but not sure now?

We have been using it in 'air' mode. Quiet, only works in c. F4 upwards though. But it is heavy and a devil to stow with the 'windmill' assembled onto the unit. When we have guests we have to disassemble it so that it will go in the lazarette in bits.

In this mode, it is a fag to get out, and is never up when it blows.

 

[Goldie]

Concur with most of the above! Circa 1 Amp/Kt in towed mode; less effcient than newer generation in wind mode. For our ketch though, and not wanting to mount a wind generator up the mizzen mast, it works a treat. The hoist system eliminates vibration and there is very little blade noise - visitors are often unaware of it even when sitting in the cockpit. Swirching from wind to water or vice versa takes 15-20 mins, but we're not doing it daily.

 

[Onyva]

We towed an Aquair quite a bit on our 2005/7 circumnavigation and liked it a lot. You can buy ours if you want!

Its main strength is that you can just chuck it out the back and (almost) forget about it and yes, you get a good 5ah out of it 24h/day. We took a spare prop around with us just in case but never had to use it. It's well built and well engineered. The after sales service was also second to none in terms of helping me fit it and we've never had any problems.

As with Old Varnish we have never hung it in the rigging either as our onboard generator gave us significantly more ah when on anchor.

No weaknesses but four potential downsides (to the Aquair):
1) you must stop the boat to haul it in otherwise it (the rope) will take your fingers off. This isn't always as easy as it sounds.
2) At high speeds, say 7kn or above which is common on long passages, the prop tends to surf and tangle (and stop charging)
3) it may foul your fishing line (it never did ours but you have to remember it's there)
4) Unlike in the towed position which is fixed in position and ready to go, hauling it up into the rigging always seemed a bit like too much work so we never used it. With a fixed wind generator we would have used it all the time.


All in all a nice bit of kit.

Bon courage

 

[Neil_Y]

Great piece of kit, get the slow and fast prop for towing, we had nearly 10 amps at 6-8 knots. It did get one bite from a shark looking at the teeth marks on the blade. It was used for over 10,000miles in 12 months.

Never tangled even at 12 knots and it was jumping clear of the waves, you do have to slow to almost stopped to pull it in.

As a wind gen we hoisted it above the boom as the fore triangle was used for a hammock, Once we had the two down ropes cut to length it took less than 10mins to change from stern rail to hanging. We used it above our aft cabin with hatches open in trade wind 25 knots and we didn't notice it. I made my own hanging mount with a few shackles and two pieces of old stainless tube, it slid up the backstay and there was no shortage of wind even though it was behind the mast.

It's one of the few bits of kit I've kept for my next boat.

 

[Goldie]

There have been a few comments about stopping the boat being essential for recovery; it certainly makes it easier, but we have found another way. I acquired a plastic funnel with a top diameter slightly greater than the prop diameter and split it down one side. I also drilled a couple of holes and inserted light lines to tie together (to stop it opening unintentionally). Pop the funnel over the line, let it slide all the way down to cover the prop, wait for rotation to stop and haul it in. There's a fair amount of drag, but at least the line's not rotating.

 

[TQA]

I've towed my Aquair 100 throughout the Caribbean and two transAtlantics. Never had a fish try and strike the propeller as far as I know ..... and I don't believe they could take it if they tried - the rope is 10mm diameter polyester and the prop has about 2 1/2 feet of 1" bar : not very appetising. It's hard enough to get them to strike the lure on the trawl line. It used to be a problem with the impellers on a Walker log which are much, much, smaller. I think the story generated from that, rather than putting the blame on poor knots and line wear.
.

I have a picture somewhere of some kind of bill fish which made repeated passes at the towed propellor hitting it on at least two occaisions. We also had a definite strike at night with lots of splashing which left scrape marks on the propellor. We had no problems from the UK to and around the Windward/Leewards. But around the Virgins, the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas we saw passes.

We had a spare and never needed it but did break the plastic connector once when we sailed into an uncharted shallow area and had to do an emergency stop snagging the bottom. I was able to dive and recover the rope and propellor.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

that averaged 2.5 amps/hr, my computer, and my lights.

I'll understand that one in a few miles per hour.

you get a good 5ah out of it 24h/day.

And that one in a couple of Coulombs per Watt