A Wind Generator Review

[Neptune's Gear]

Hi Melani, Great that you are pleased with the SilentWind - so far everyone who has purchased from us is, but there seems to be one guy online who has had trouble with controllers (several), I don't know the details, but I'd suspect something odd in the install. Would have been great if you could have asked me for a a price delivered to you though!! :-). I'm sure it will give you great service!

[Ocean Diamond 2]

Originally Posted by Neptune's Gear

Hi Melani, Great that you are pleased with the SilentWind - so far everyone who has purchased from us is, but there seems to be one guy online who has had trouble with controllers (several), I don't know the details, but I'd suspect something odd in the install. Would have been great if you could have asked me for a a price delivered to you though!! :-). I'm sure it will give you great service!

A really big SORRY to Neptunes Gear, thats my bad.
I like to support local whenever possible these days as everything over here sems to be going to china!

[sy_gilana]

Personal experience...
Owned an Aerogen 6 for 12 years, quiet, rugged and good low wind performance.
Now have an old Air-x with the blue quiet blades, its OK, not as good as the Aerogen, but I put bigger solar panels and had to mount the new one on the mizzen, so had to go smaller. I have fitted 12 different wind gens on different boats, and the best one yet is the D400. I could not believe their claims until I actually stripped one just to see what they did. Its a very clever design with TWO stators around a magnet. They are superb, quiet-ish and put out power like crazy.

[Cuttyhunk]

Years ago, I had a Windbugger. The blades were long and it was a little wild to operate, but it put out a lot of juice all through the Caribbean. I broke a blade when my windsurfer's mast got a little too close, and the replacements were different and didn't work as well, alas.

[sailinglegend]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

...have fitted 12 different wind gens on different boats, and the best one yet is the D400....

We have the DuoGen which is a dual function wind and towing generator version of the D400. Great idea, if a bit expensive, but it works very well. We only have 140w of solar but on any passage with the DuoGen in towing mode we end up with more Ah in the batteries than we started with - and thats with two chartplotters and an autopilot and all other boat loads.

In wind mode we have twice blown the 35 amp fuse in a big blow with the auto feathering device disabled which will normally limit the output to about 27 amps. It is actually recommended by the manufacturers when at anchor to lock it inline with the boat to keep it into the wind as much as possible..

[GILow]

Our old (over 15 years) Aerogen 6 is still plugging a long well and I admit I am always slightly surprised to find it is still working. I put an ammeter on it when we first bought the boat, expecting it to be kaput, but nope, still working well. Absolutely silent in any conditions I have used it in, though I have not used it over 25 knots of apparent wind yet.

Would love to add a towed generator though, the Aerogen produces next to nothing when we are running before the wind.

Finally, I will say there are a lot of the small modern style wind generators around us at the club and they make a heck of a racket. I'd be pretty annoyed if I lived next to one. If I have to buy another wind generator and for some reason I was not buying another Aerogen I would spend some time wandering around our club on a windy day listening to the various models that have been installed. There may be some quiet ones, but by their nature, I would not have noticed them yet.

Matt

[chouliha]

We have been running a KISS for the past 12 years with no problems. It does compliment the solar panels. What we like about it is that if repairs are needed we can find the internal parts locally.

Chuck

[hubertstephen]

I lived on a boat with a Air Breeze and it was quiet with the black blades. Does anyone know the pricing on a SilentWind and or the blue rotors that go on a Air Breeze(can i ask that? maybe PM me?) they seem to be the favorite here. Otherwise there seems to be a constant flow of used Air Breezes around here for quite cheap.

[Neptune's Gear]

Yep, here you go. I'd be happy to help. http://www.neptunes-gear.com/collect...ind-generators
Matt

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Blue Crab]

$338.25 plus shipping. WOWSER!

[Neptune's Gear]

No freight on the blades, price includes delivery. Like most things, you get what you pay for. These blades are properly designed, immaculately finished, and balanced. Yep, they are not cheap, but they are a HUGE improvement over the standard blades...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Neptune's Gear

No freight on the blades, price includes delivery. Like most things, you get what you pay for. These blades are properly designed, immaculately finished, and balanced. Yep, they are not cheap, but they are a HUGE improvement over the standard blades...

+1 on what Matt says. I went from an older Air-X to a Silentwind generator which uses these Spreco blue blades. HUGE difference in noise levels. Unfortunately I can't tell you how much this is due to the new generator vs the blades, but I believe it is mostly due to the blades.

[Neptune's Gear]

Thanks Mike!
I can tell you that! I had the blue blades on an Air X which eventually had a meltdown (braking system failed in 50 odd knots!!).
This was before the SilentWind gen was available (although, as it turned out, only by a few months).
I replaced it with an Air Breeze, with their "new, quiet blades". Well, I installed it, and thought - "Its not that quiet, I think the Air X was quieter with the blue blades". So, I changed the Air Breeze hub for the Air X one, and installed the blue blades on that.
HUGE difference!! I reckon (estimate) 50% quieter, starts earlier (less Wind), and produces more! The only downside is that it seems that the unit switches off in a bit lower wind speed, which stands to reason as the blades are more efficient.
It is my experiences with these blades that lead me to want to resell the generator. Further descriptions can be found on my site.
Happy Sailing!!

[gholmes]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Can anyone help me with the differences between:

Air Breeze
Air Marine
Air X

From what I can tell they are all the same just newer versions?

From the Primus Windpower website:

One of the most frequent questions we are asked is regarding the difference between our products.

Air Breeze and Air 40 are identical with regard to performance and electronics. Air Breeze is marinized for salt water environments
Air X Marine and Air 30 are identical with regard to performance and electronics. Air X Marine is marinized for salt water environments
Air 40 and Air Breeze operate significantly quieter than the Air 30 and Air X Marine
Air 30 and Air X Marine are designed for higher wind regimes. Air 40 and Air Breeze are designed for low to moderated wind regimes.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

+1 on what Matt says. I went from an older Air-X to a Silentwind generator which uses these Spreco blue blades. HUGE difference in noise levels. Unfortunately I can't tell you how much this is due to the new generator vs the blades, but I believe it is mostly due to the blades.

I'm still messing with my AirX. I bought 3 Raptor blades after reading ads on net. The blades have the same bolt pattern as the stock 23" blades but are quite a bit longer, and while they bolt to the AirX hub, they rub the housing when installed. The new "hub" supplied is mild steel (!) so I painted the heck out of it and tried to install it on the genny. Nope. Now it needs a $14 spacer that will need painting.

Biting the bullet, I opened a cold one and did my overdue diligence. Turns out the Raptor blades are more for mounting on automotive alternators. I have abandoned this "upgrade" and took another look at my black original AirX blades. They were pretty beaten up but reading that the incredibly high dollar Spreco blue blades were well-finished, it seems to me that a smoother blade would naturally be quieter notwithstanding the comments regarding vortex forces.

So I wet-sanded the old blades and we shall see. At least I now have new bearings which was the original point.