Air-X Wind Generator in Shutdown Mode

[seandepagnier]

Hi,

I noticed today while sailing my wind generator went into overspeed shutdown.

I think it is unfortunate that it does not just brake it enough to keep it generating 400 watts exactly. At any speed of wind from 30knots to 110 knots

Is there a way to hack it to do this (modify or replace electronics ) ?

Any other wind generators on the market designed for higher wind speeds?

[Fishspearit]

I didn't think that the air x shut itself down for overspeed. I believe the blades just flex to slow it down. If it's shutting itself down, it's probably the regulator doing it because the batteries are charged up.

[anathema]

That was the original style. The new style uses some kind of 'electronic' braking to save on stress.

Lower stress design: AIR-X limits power on the input side of the electronics by controlling the torque from the blades. The power no longer has to be dissipated by the electronics resulting in lower stress on the circuit, bearings and other materials. Furthermore, stress on wind turbines occurs primarily in high winds. Under these conditions, the electronic stall design reduces the speed to 600 rpm, thereby significantly reducing turbine and tower loading.

[Paget lady]

Hi I hope somebody is still following this thread I am new to this forum and have found it helpfull reading your post re the air X. Mine has been working for two years without fault, but it startred to shut down at lower volts so i attempted to adjust the shut down voltage by turning the small screw clockwise as instructed in the handbook but unfortunatly the whole unit turned, the locking nut and I suppose the unit inside must have turned. I have oiled the adjusting screw and tightened the locking nut and adjusted the screw. Now it starts fine charges for a while but then it starts nocking off and on as if there is a lose connection inside I have checked all connections to the batteries taken the on/off switch out of the circuit and also taken the ampmeter out so ther is no fault there, has anybody any ideas to try, I have not yet had the unit in bits to look and see any advice would be very helpfull. I have considered upgrading to the new unit which is suppose to have higher output and a lot quieter.
regards Mike

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Paget lady

I have considered upgrading to the new unit which is suppose to have higher output and a lot quieter.
regards Mike

The newer unit, the Air Breeze, is indeed more quiet, but part of the cost of quieting things down was to drop the output from 400 watts to 200 watts.

[forsailbyowner]

I scrapped the board and installed a bridge rectifier in its place.The boards are problematic , fragile and expensive. the bridge rectifier cost $12.95 on ebay and is overrated for the unit, I think its rated at 75 amps. Pretty easy mod. used the original brushes and made a small plate to mount the rectifier on where the board was.

[Tim francis]

Mines doing the same. Working fine. Now just shuts down