Air-X and Air Breeze Mounting

[gettinthere]

Looking to buy an Air Breeze wind gen.

Should I buy their mounting hardware? Or are there other options. Standard schedule 40 pole is required. Stainless Steel?

[duncan_ellison]

I have the SWWP aluminum pole and hardware kit.

I found it pretty expensive for what it is. Stainless brackets are just stamped out and not polished or anything.

OTOH, it meant I had all the pieces in one place to to the installation in an afternoon.

Been OK over 3 seasons, but does transmit quite a but of rumbling noise to the hull. I dread to think how noisy it would be wothout the rubber insulators.

It's not the prettyest thing on my boat, but it OK.

Wish I had the money for a Scanstrut which I could mount the solar / wind / OB crane / lights / antennae on (sigh).



Duncan

[gettinthere]

anybody else??

[chuck711]

The Aluminum mounting kit is quite good. If you're mounting to the transom with angles it's the best way to go. As well as being coated
on the inside with dampening material.

If you can mount a pole on the deck straight up and get a support to your
stern rail then a stainless steel tube is better with a 4 1/2 inch square
foot. About $350. The stainless adds strength and reduces the need for
additional support tubes.

Chuck clcjr54@hotmail.com

[GordMay]

Can you fabricate your own Mast & Stays, better or cheaper than the OEM product?
➥ http://www.windenergy.com/documents/...wer_Manual.pdf

[JamuJoe]

For my Air-X installation, I purchased the mounting kit but sourced a 12' 1 1/2" SS pole and two 8' 1" SS struts locally (La Ceiba, Honduras). Their mounting kit was expensive, but the pieces would have been hard to find in Honduras. In retrospect, I could have had the local machine shop make all the fittings except for the rubber isolation mount, but that isn't sold separately. You can see the installation in my photos.

[cvondo]

I made the pole out of a used windsurfing mast.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by cvondo

I made the pole out of a used windsurfing mast.

There's a touch of irony here: regardless of whether the OEM mount is used or something like a used windsurfing mast, what some folks on this thread are calling a "pole" is more properly called a "mast." Much more nautical to speak of a "radar mast" or a "wind generator mast."

This is true for power boats as well.

[cantxsailor]

I to used their kit to mount the mast on my boat. I have added a solar panel to it and some other odds and ends so it's got a bunch of extra crap attached.

It can allow some noise to be sent througfh the hull but if the wind is enough to make the noise there are lots of other noises as well.

My boat got tossed ashored by hurricane Ike and both the turbine and the mast were undamaged even after several hours of the boat being slammed against the dock to which she was still attached. I did remove the solar panel before the storm for safe keeping just in case but other than some extra windage I don't think the mast would have had any problems.

I have changed out the OEM straps for attachment of the legs and now use stainless bimini fixtures that are bolted through the tube. It has made the whole thing easier to remove when I have to as the legs now lay flat against the mast and the whole thing seems stronger and more secure.

Having said all that the kit price IS a bit steep but it does have all the parts in one box so no hunting for just the right shaped part is required......................m

[JamuJoe]

Irony? Well, since it's snowing here in Durango, and I'm still 1690 miles from my boat in Isla Mujeres, I'll play a round of nautical trivial pursuit with you.

From the New Oxford American Dictionary:
irony 1 |ˈīrənē; ˈiərnē|
noun ( pl. -nies)
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect : “Don't go overboard with the gratitude,” he rejoined with heavy irony. See note at wit .

mast
noun
1 a ship's mast spar, boom, yard, gaff, foremast, mainmast, topmast, mizzen-mast, mizzen, royal mast.
2 the mast on top of the building flagpole, flagstaff, pole, post, rod, upright; aerial, transmitter, pylon.

And from Nautical Dictionary, Glossary and Terms directory.
Mast: "A vertical spar on a sailing vessel employed as the support for the sails."

And from the venerable Annapolis Book of Seamanship:
Mast: "A wooden or aluminum pole supported by standing rigging from which sails are set."

I purchased a Sch 40 1 1/2" SS "tube" to use in place of what Southwest Windpower, the manufacturer of the Air-X call a "pole" to support my wind turbine (some call it a wind generator, but it doesn't actually generate wind - wouldn't that be handy?). http://www.windenergy.com/documents/...Air_X_Spec.pdf

Now what shall I call this vertical appendage supporting my wind turbine? I'd not want some neophyte sailor trying to raise a sail up it, nor wish to be viewed as a ignorant lubber, but despite having Google at my fingertips I am at a loss for appropriate nautical terminology. Ironic, isn't it?

Originally Posted by Bash

There's a touch of irony here: regardless of whether the OEM mount is used or something like a used windsurfing mast, what some folks on this thread are calling a "pole" is more properly called a "mast." Much more nautical to speak of a "radar mast" or a "wind generator mast."

This is true for power boats as well.