Rutland 1200 wind gen

[bgallinger]

I thought the D400 was the GOLD standard of wind generators. I have a Silent Wind generator which does perform ok, but it does have an associated "growl" noise. I'm envious of the guy two slips away who has the D400 on his boat as it runs very quietly.

[Emerald Sea]

I was after a1200 until I learned Rutland haven't a charger yet configured for
LiFePO4.

[Dockhead]

Not a 1200, but I had a Rutland 914i for a couple of years. It produced no - zero - usable power despite using in very windy latitudes. It would not even keep up with self discharge rate of my battery bank. Sold it on eBay.

Sent from my D6633 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[gpeacock]

Originally Posted by Emerald Sea

I was after a1200 until I learned Rutland haven't a charger yet configured for
LiFePO4.

I spent quite a bit with tech support on this exact issue. They were helpful but advised to wait until they have a perfect charge profile worked out. I strongly suggested they sort out a way for the consumer to set up they own charge parameters like most other controllers.
Time will tell.
For now they are off my list with silent wind now at the top.
Gary.

[DavidLGCrawford]

So we had a ton of work to do on the boat, and mounting the wind was low on the list. We were finally getting close to ready in September and had Hurricane Hermine come through, so we waited. Then we spun a bearing on one of our engines. Then we had Hurricane Matthew.
Finally got the mast down and the wind mounted, only to have 20+ knot winds come steady for days. So, it is now up and running! It's mounted on the top of a 5 meter (16 foot) pole, along with a radar.
1 hour update: It is quiet. I mean, really quiet. There is no vibration at all. There is a slight hum coming from it, but it's not loud. It sounds like a small electric motor running. You can only hear this if you are less than a meter from the pole, or in the room directly below the mounting point. We don't think it's going to be annoying in the room below, but time will tell.
I'll post another update in a few days.
In the mean time, you'll be able to see some photos of it on our website at Home.

[DavidLGCrawford]

Update/correction. You can NOT hear the hum outside unless you put your ear to the mast or on the deck. You can hear it a little in the cabin directly below the mast but is not as loud as the fans on the PS4 in that room.

[SJFK]

Hi Dave
that sounds very promising. CinC Home is worried about noise as our cabin is almost but not directly below the mounting point, which also happens to be on an arch. So if it is as quiet as yours seems to be, I reckon the noise will be dispersed through the arch; hopefully it will not be attenuated! From your home page it also seems to generate a good amount of power, so all round it looks like an excellent proposition. Thanks also for the tip on the wifi booster.

[lamadriver]

Interesting.

I bought a 1200 after a long debating buying a 1200 or a silent wind. The price was about the same. It is sitting in Langkawi waiting for me to pick it up .

I picked the 1200 for a couple of reasons.

1) a vendor with a good reputation who sells both when asked what he would put on his boat said the 1200

2) the charts appear that the 1200 produces a bit more power , earlier.

3) claims to be a little quieter

4) I liked the controller and the option for the remote head instead of having to use a smart phone or tablet to with the SW

5) replacement blades are a much cheaper for the 1200 and you can buy 1 instead of a set.


I am heading to high latt/ windy places so buying a new wind gen made sense. . Ill post comments once i have it up and running

LD

[Steini-nor]

Any news or more input regarding the 1200?


I am in the market for a windgen myself.

Best regards
Steini-nor

[flit]

Any new word on the rutland 1200 wind generator? How reliable has it been, what kind of noise, has anyone used the emarine anti-vibration adapter, Is it making the rated power, Is the regulator tappering off voltage and charge rate too soon for anyone?
Thanks for looking and answering...
(We are in a Farrier R36/F39 Trimaran headed offshore this september on a world cruise. Considering purchase of the Rutland 1200)

[Pacey16]

I have had one in operation for 2 Months now and love it, it pretty much does exactly as the specs state and it is quiet, when the wind gets up over 20kts we can here a slight hum but not annoying at all. Just sat through TS Bret with it and after 12 hours of 30kts wind I thought I had better turn it off as the controller was getting very hot but still working perfectly.
The unit itself does look a bit plasticy and cheap but i dont mind that as its very light weight for the pwer output. i am even considering installing a 2nd one.

[Nick Newington]

I bought two Rutland 1200's. Shipped to Grenada. There was a problem with the controllers. I was very annoyed however I got two new ones pretty quickly and only asked to bring the original ones back when I next returned to the UK. Marlec have admitted a software fault. I am back in the UK. They are testing the originals I brought back. As a way of apology they are giving me a monitor worth £140. So I guess they are a good company that stands by their products. Now as for performance; they make almost no noise from the blade turbulence but there is this very annoying growl. It is not noise more a resonating hum that travels down the mounting structure and is amplified in the aft cabin. This prompted us to have a rubber mount made which helps. The performance is pretty much as advertised but and it is a big but to get 40w at 10k it has to be absolutely steady, both wind and boat.I have to say whilst sailing with the wind forward of the beam it really pumps out as the apparent wind is pretty solid. So all in all I am quite happy but they should have sorted all the software issues before shipping to a distant location like Grenada. On my last boat I had a 913 for ten years no problem. The 1200 is more ambitious. Only time will tell.

[rms95835]

Looking to provide both some feedback as well as get some advise. Purchased and installed a Rutland 1200 the beginning of ‘16. Stern mounted on a pole with elastomeric mounts, and added a 265 watt solar panel on top of the davits (vendor tested the panel, and claimed while slightly over the rated input, it functioned well with the controller). In May ended up leaving the boat in the DR for 9 months. Left the solar and wind to tend to the batteries, no shore power. Should be noted that on occasion, I was getting an over voltage alarm on the start battery on my electrical panel (2010 Jeanneau SO 42i). Voltage feedback wires were connected to both the house and start batteries, but could not determine why this was happening. Fast forward to when I got back to the boat after 9 mos in the DR. Both house and start batteries were completely flat, and there was no response from the controller. Rutland replaced the controller, and subsequent testing determined the solar panel in mid day sun (NE Caribbean) was likely exceeding the controllers input rating. This has been dealt with by covering a portion of the panel, and seems to have resolved that issue. I live aboard in Fajardo, PR (NE corner of PR) and so typically have shore power. However, after a couple of hurricanes, which thankfully resulted in only minor damage, my wind generator is smoked, and the solar panel (which was removed for the hurricanes and re-installed after) is not maintaining the batteries. I’m not aboard, so there is no draw on the house batteries, and yet a friend checked the other day and they are down to 11.6v. Not good! Shore power is not an option for obvious reasons. The wind generator survived Irma shut off, but not Maria. Probably should have tied down the blades, but live and learn.

So now, about performance. The wind generator is, IMHO, very quiet. Even sitting in the cockpit with it running directly overhead, it’s not an issue. I would not install with out isolation mounts, as when prepping for Irma, the Bimini frame rested against one of the support poles for the wind generator, and it did transmit sound into the boat. I’m not so pleased with the controller. If you read the spec’s, there is nothing it has encountered in my install that it should not have handled, but all evidence points to having had a second controller fail. Worse, there are no diagnostics that tell you this on the controller itself, so trouble shooting the system is made more difficult. Perusing this thread, seems I’m not the only one that has experienced controller issues. I’ve ordered a new system to replace the wind generator and controller, so we’ll see if the 3rd time’s the charm. At this point, I’d have to say I’m a bit disappointed, as my average draw at anchor (or when there is no shore power!) is only about 100 AH / day. My expectation was this system would have more than covered that draw, and kept my two new 8D, 245 AH batteries topped off, but so far, not happening. Any input/advise would be appreciated. BTW, house batteries are #1, and start is #2 at the controller.

[gpeacock]

Originally Posted by rms95835

This has been dealt with by covering a portion of the panel, and seems to have resolved that issue.

At this point, I’d have to say I’m a bit disappointed, as my average draw at anchor (or when there is no shore power!) is only about 100 AH / day. My expectation was this system would have more than covered that draw, and kept my two new 8D, 245 AH batteries topped off, but so far, not happening. Any input/advise would be appreciated. BTW, house batteries are #1, and start is #2 at the controller.

Good to know you are at least happy with the wind generator. Just have to wait for them to get the usability of the controller sorted.

First off. Be careful trying to reduce solar output by covering part of a panel. Unless you happen to know how the cells are connected and where the diodes are you will end up hurting the panel if the panel is always covered the same way.
Doing the math, with just a 265 W solar panel at full sun you should see around 20 to 25 amps assuming your batteries are able to accept it. Do you ever see this? If not try removing the controller to see if that is the issue.
Contollers hate heat and given your location I'd assume you are pushing the limits that Marlec designed for the system. Thats why you keep going through controllers. Unless Marlec says otherwise, split the system up and put the solar on its own controller. Things will be much happier.
Lastly... Have you checked the batteries to make sure you dont have a dead cell somewhere thats dragging the whole system down? Sure, you might only be using 100AH of power, but if you've got an unhappy battery you could easily be dissipating that much again as heat from a bum cell. Even new batteries can have issues.
Post back if you need help troubleshooting a specific part of your system.
Gary

[rms95835]

Thanks for the feedback Gary. The controller is rated for 20 amp input on the solar side, hence the 265 watt panel is just slightly above the rated input. I figured I’d never see full output from the panel, but I must have a panel that is operating at 11 10’s. I’m off island now, as there is no water, power, cell communications so a bit tough to do anything. I’m lucky to have a place to go, but will have to wait on additional trouble shooting until the situation in PR improves to the point I can return. Please pray for those who are not as lucky as I and are stuck there to deal with this mess. Appreciate your offer of assistance. Will see how things go when I get back and post again once I have more information.