rutland 503 mounted on a winch ?

[simonfraser]

i need more charging power, but loathe sailing with a wind gen

so, just like a winch handle clips in, could i clip in a wind gen somehow ?

perhaps there is an adaptor ??

many thanks

 

[Norman_E]

The winch handle socket is definitely not a suitable mounting point. The wind generator needs to be high up, in the wind and out of the way of any contact with you or crew.
Why not fit a piece of stainless steel tube about two feet long vertically to the pushpit, and of a diameter in to which you can simply insert a monting pole, and remove it when you are sailing.

 

[philip_stevens]

My 503 is mounted on a 6 feet SS pole, and it has 3 stays to keep it from moving about. So in a winch socket I would say is a no-no - unless you use stays to keep it steady.

 

[simonfraser]

thanks, phil, what is your best guess for power generation, winter time A per hour ???

 

[macd]

From a 503? Not much. It's little more than a top-up charger, typical output of around 10Ah per day.

 

[Malish]

I tend to tie off the wind gen when sailing - we keep power demand to a minimum, and untie it when I leave the boat to topup the batteries during the week.

 

[Stocky_Helm]

Why not get the towed one that hangs in the rigging when you stop....Aquagen I think, I've heard they are good.

 

[shmoo]

We have an Ampair towed generator. Works well. Not noisy and puts out about an amp per boat knot upto 5. I would guess it slows the boat about 1/4 to 1/2 knot.

If you wear big industrial gloves its possible to ship it without stopping the boat.

 

[philip_stevens]

We've also got a very small solar panel that utilises the same regulator as the 503. When at Bantham last year for 3 days, the pair kept the batteries topped up, even though we used lighting as and when, and also had a small TV and stereo working when we wanted.

Talking of Bantham, what a wonderful place to be - in good sunny calm weather.

One word of caution for anyone going in there, the chart-plotter chart is not accurate after the narrow entrance - confirmed by Hydrographic Office.

 

[simonfraser]

10 A per day, that's awsome ! much better than my 3 panels in the winter time, just checked them today, 100mA at 3pm :-((

 

[Marmalade]

We were worried about sailing with a windgen but bit the bullet (Rutland 913) and have never looked back. Mount it high enough (also v safe) and you don't even notice it in the cockpit and so what if the boat doesn't look as elegant - cold beer in the fridge and no running engine to charge the batteries is worth more than looks alone...

 

[macd]

Sorry simonf, but was that '10 A per day...awesome' remark a response to my post? Just to be clear, a 503 in around 10mph wind will generate some 10Ah per day -- i.e. an average of 0.4A continuous.

 

[simonfraser]

thanks, i did get it 1st time, compared to my solar panels that's still v good
10A per hour, now that would be some windmill !!