Ruthland wind generator

[olavs]

Hi
I am in the process of changing the roller bearings of my Ruthland WG 910. I am however not able to seperate the flywheel(the disk that hold the 6 wings) of the generator. I have removed all the screws that seem to hold the two pieces together but are not able to split them apart.
Can anyone help me out?
Thanks
Olav Saastad
Norway

 

[AndrewB]

Re: Rutland wind generator

I had a Rutland 910. We needed to get it apart because a fishing line had wrapped round and was firmly stuck on the shaft. It was some time ago, but I think we undid it somehow by inserting long bolts into certain of the vane holes and tightening them to force the two halves apart against the magnet. Even then we couldn't get at the bearings. The manual describes them as "sealed for life" and warns of potential damage to the ceramic magnets with rough handling.

 

[Guest]

Re: Rutland wind generator

Thanks for the reply Andrew

I was surprised to hear that the bearings are "sealed for life". My bearings are not really worn out but I think they produce slightly more noise than they did before, hence the effort to change them. The noise from the bearings travels through the hull and is disturbing at night(sounds like a boat is coming, leaving, coming.....)as the wind drops and picks up.

I finally found an email address to the producer in UK and am awaiting a repsonse from them to my question.(if I'm lucky...)

Anyway, the trick of using the screws to seperate the two disk halves sounds logical.

I'll take another look at it and see how it works.

Thanks again.

Regards
Olav Saastad

 

[AndrewB]

Re: Rutland wind generator

The makers are Marlec Engineering, Rutland House, Trevithick Road, Corby, Northants NN17 1XY, UK: tel 44 536 201588. I found the company very helpful with queries. The Rutland 910 was last produced around 1995, and although once common on English yachts there are not many now left. It was designed originally for agricultural applications, and though hardwearing always had a reputation for vibration and noise.