Wind charger pole? sources

[MM5AHO]

I've bought a wind charger for installation over the winter.
I have options for the mounting system.
1. Buy the one that goes with the turbine. (about £200 including stays)
2. Buy second-hand from somewhere
3. Buy another type and adapt it.
4. make my own.

Any suggestions as to which best? Don't mind a bit of fabrication, or adapting of things. But I don't have a good value source of 316 tubing.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Mine is an old Carbon Fibre oar shaft; it came with the generator when I bought it secondhand. Works fine with a bit of stainless tube to brace it.

 

[Seajet]

Whatever you choose, insulate it with rubber at the mountings -' hatch seal ' stuff works well - or you and quite probably neighbouring folk will be kept awake by the noise thrumming through the boat like a drum !

 

[Storyline]

Depends on the model (weight) of charger you have bought. The one we have is a Rutland 913 and it is a heavy object. Decided to use their own pole and got a good discount by buying it during the boat show (they did the same price by phone without having to actually go there). Do not underestimate the forces involved when it is spinning like a whirling dervish in a gale. The pole we got had two rigid stays but even so I have added a piece of dyneema which is removeable and goes from the top of the pole to the other side of the boat. Use it when we are not on the boat and also when we are well heeled on port tack (the way the solid struts are mounted are good enough for when we are on stbd as they are under compression).

Had a long chat with the guy (v. helpful) from Marlec at the time and he strongly counselled against using wire supports. It may sound obvious but make sure, if you can, that your head cannot touch the blades when standing on any part of the afterdeck. I checked mine carefully and the closest i get if standing (with Dubarry boots on) on the after hatch surround (we have centre cockpit) is about 5cm. I know my head cannot possibly touch it but it brings looks of concern from onlookers sometimes when I stand near it ! It is also mildly disconcerting having the blades whizzing so close by.

Also have to regularly check all the fastenings as even though they are loktited they work lose over time. Also mounted ours on several layers of butyl pond liner. There is some amazing Japanese made rubbery type stuff that is supposed to eliminate (or near) vibrations but it costs an arm and a leg. I think it would be near impossible to eliminate all vibration when it really starts to go. All boats will be different and have different harmonic resonance. In know on Storyline that when the hum turns to a buzz we are putting in around 2ah (better than any digital meter !)

So to sum up. I would recommend doing your design and then beefing it up a bit more