Wind Generators

[colinb]

Having lived with an Aero4gen for the last 5 years I'd be interested to hear others views on wind generators in general. I've found the Aerogen unreliable - two new sets of bearings in this period and far below advertised output. Others on the pontoon seem to like the Rutlands and Ampairs but I'd like to hear from anyone with a view.

Thanks

Colin

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by colinb on 02/10/2002 12:26 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Dolphin

I used to have one of the Dolphin type ..... doesn't have the prop style of others and is reported safer. The manaufacturer had I'm told produced a number of larger versions and I managed to get one of them at a B.Jumble .... paid about 75 quid for it ... The size was approx. 50% more longer than the standard version and designed for stern rail fitting instead of mast front.

Its output was exactly as stated on docs .....and I wish I had removed it from the boat when sold on ..... I can say that the more common smaller version if anything like mine should also be good.

I'm sold on 'em .... just don't like paying the price !!!!

 

[Chris_Robb]

Had a Rutland - generator worked well enoung but regulator either boiled my batteries (3 x 160) in a gale or started dumping charge at 13 volts which of course would never charge a battery in a hundred years.. Rutland could never sort it out to get a charge limit of 14 - 14.4 - money back (after arguement)

 

[JerryHawkins]

How much power...

Depends on how much power you need. I've got a DuoGen (see http://www.duogen.co.uk). At the top end price wise, but has advantage of both wind and water mode (not towed on a bit of string!). Small company who are great to deal with - they welcome constructive comments on design and have already made some improvements after comments I made.

Cheers,

Jerry

 

[summerwind]

I also have a Aero4gen. I haven't had any problems with mine, thank God, but I noticed that when it was not on-load, that it made "Bearings shot", vibration type noises.

Could it be that your gennie wasn't working hard enough?

 

[DIOGENES]

I have a Rutland 913. In 4 years its had 3 sets of bearings. On taking it down this year I found the rotor and blades surfaces are breaking up leaving an exposed fibergass surface bad enough to give a rash. Contacted Marlec about this, got an unintrested response.

 

[colinb]

Thanks everbody. It seems that like everything else you pays your money and hope to God.

Cheers

Colin

 

[AnneW]

I was looking into wind generators and was recommended to get a solar panel instead. I was a bit dubious but am really pleased with the result. New generation panels produce power in very low levels of light and for the same price as a generator you can get a 60 watt panel with no moving parts to wear out. 15 watt ones were advertised at £99 in the press this week.

 

[snowleopard]

Re: Noise Generators

i have an air marine gen, i have seen 35 amps in 25 knots of wind if the battery is low. overall i get around 50 ah per day when near full charge. but.. the noise takes some getting used to.

 

[Pete_k]

On my last boat I fitted a Rutland 913 with an RWS200 regulator which monitored two batteries and decided which to top up. This system worked very well and the batteries were always fully charged, the generator itself was a very quiet running piece of equipment even in a gale whereas some other generators could be heard whistling from a good distance even in a gentle blow. I also had a solar panel linked through the regulator to help with the charging for when the wind did not blow, overkill really in these latitudes!!

The Rutland I found would start to charge in very light winds which was handy, but I couldn't say how it matched up to advertised output for any given windstrength without guessing as I don't have an anenometer.