Rutland Windchargers

[Adrian NAMT]

Does anyone have any experience with Rutland Windchargers? Any comparison with other brands & models? Their website suggests a lot of experience in 12v & 24 v wind & solar. Appear to have sold many. Prices looks very good for smallest model in particular. Does the company stand behind the warranty? Any device agents in Canada or USA? I don't see any threads from owners on CF. Thanks for insights & comments.

[toref69]

Hi,
I’m using a Rutland 1200 turbine. Quite happy with it. No problems, so far, after 6 months use. Excellent power output in medium to strong winds, poor output in lesser winds.

[coopec43]

They've been around for quite some time but I think they are more land based than marine. I've never heard any criticism.

40th Anniversary

2018 celebrates Marlec’s 40th anniversary in the renewable energy industry, we are the longest established in the UK industry and in an almost unique position worldwide. We have remained continuously committed to the use of non-fossil fuels for energy generation and over the last 40 years have attained installations numbering more than 100,000 of our Rutland Windcharger turbines alone. We were a key player in the emerging solar photovoltaic market from 1987 onwards and our solar panel distribution for BP Solar expanded from off grid sales to home PV systems

https://www.marlec.co.uk/about/?v=6cc98ba2045f

Reviews
https://www.google.com.au/search?sou....0.-qZVy0z-JWc

https://www.emarineinc.com/store/Pro...ProductID=1783

[Mr B]

I have a Rutland 911 wind charger on my boat, Its been there since 2002,
It never gave me or the PO any problems,
But I believe this particular one is now discontinued,
It took 5 knots to make it generate power, It gave out 350 amps at full power, But dont quote me on that one,
It still works,
In very high winds, You have to turn the switch off, It works as a brake,

[ilenart]

have been using a Rutland charger for the last 5 years with both the wind generator and a solar panel (80w I think) for the last 5 years. Works fine.

Ilenart

[harst56]

I have used a WG combined with PV since 2003.
First:
100W PV with AirXmarine WG. We didn't use AirXmarine very often because of the noise.

Second:
Since 2014 we have 100W PV and a Rutland 914i.
100W PV is perfectly working since 2003
Both PV and WG are controlled by Marlec HRDi controller.
The Rutland WG had already worn out bearings and a broken MPPT and has been repaired by Marlec and after reinstalling it back it actually never worked.
Don't know what is wrong but I believe the Rutland was a waste of money.

[Bill O]

We have had a Rutland 913 for many years and would rate its overall power production as ok, but not great for the up front cost. Does start to generate power at low wind speeds, but its only a trickle. Go solar instead. Even on a cloudy, rainy day our Kyocera panels out produce the Rutland many times over.
Another somewhat annoying characteristic of the Ruland controllers is they start throttling back the wind gen output once the batteries hit 13V. Maybe this saves the wind gen from over heating/having issues but ends up wasting potential power production when wind is available. Marlec informed me there was no way to change this in the controller. Other brands of gens and controllers may be different in their set up on how they control the output.

From my experience, would stick with solar and forget about the wind gen. You'll get much more bang for the buck w/solar.

Bill O.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Bill O

We have had a Rutland 913 for many years and would rate its overall power production as ok, but not great for the up front cost. Does start to generate power at low wind speeds, but its only a trickle. Go solar instead. Even on a cloudy, rainy day our Kyocera panels out produce the Rutland many times over.
Another somewhat annoying characteristic of the Ruland controllers is they start throttling back the wind gen output once the batteries hit 13V. Maybe this saves the wind gen from over heating/having issues but ends up wasting potential power production when wind is available. Marlec informed me there was no way to change this in the controller. Other brands of gens and controllers may be different in their set up on how they control the output.

From my experience, would stick with solar and forget about the wind gen. You'll get much more bang for the buck w/solar.

Bill O.

Had one for about 15 years with similar experience.

However it did provide a couple of interesting experiences. The first was being caught in a hailstorm and being obliged to hand steer with it screaming away and shattering hail stones a couple of metres over my head.

The second was being anchored in a funnel bay in high winds where I had everything on the boat turned on in an attempt to keep the charge voltage down. There is a device in the generator which unloads the electrical circuit if it gets hot and allows the blades to freewheel which I did not want to occur.

I think that ones experience with wind generators would depend upon the latitude where one used them. Higher, windier, cloudier, latitudes would provide better experience than lower less windy and sunnier places.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Had one for about 15 years with similar experience.

However it did provide a couple of interesting experiences. The first was being caught in a hailstorm and being obliged to hand steer with it screaming away and shattering hail stones a couple of metres over my head.

The second was being anchored in a funnel bay in high winds where I had everything on the boat turned on in an attempt to keep the charge voltage down. There is a device in the generator which unloads the electrical circuit if it gets hot and allows the blades to freewheel which I did not want to occur.

I think that ones experience with wind generators would depend upon the latitude where one used them. Higher, windier, cloudier, latitudes would provide better experience than lower less windy and sunnier places.

Agree with the overall statement that higher, windier latitudes that it may not be totally suitable for relying on solely on solar for all year power production. (Fairly obvious that the solar panels will produce next to nothing in the dark months, but assume most cruising in these latitudes is done in the summer w/sun light) If one were to pay the relatively high price for the wind gen (vs. power production), purchase one suited for these windier conditions. For example, the 200-250W Rutland 913 is for lower wind conditions and has 6 blades. The D400 is similar w/5 blades and has low cut in speed of ~5 kt. If we were looking to do the higher latitudes w/ wind speeds typically over 30 kt, would probably purchase a 3 blade wind gen to handle these higher wind conditions.

Already mentioned the regulator/charge controller for the WG that one should check to see if there are any unusual characteristics of it throttling back at too low of a voltage like w/the Rutland. This wasn't disclosed on the Marlec/Rutland pages/specs and one may need to dig deep to find this info. Also check if one has lithium batteries, the controller is compatible w/the bat. technology on the boat (the D400 has a specific controller for lithium) or get one w/settable parameters similar to most solar controllers.

Weight of the wind gen can be important depending on how high the wind gen is mounted. The Rutland 913 and the D400 are one of the heaviest WG at ~13 kg and 17 kg respectively. Besides the pendulum effect if the WG is mounted high (i.e. on a mast head), working aloft to install/remove makes it more difficult. On our boat the Rutland is ~2/3 up the mizzen mast to get clean air. We made a special harness to lift/remove the Rutalnd for maintenance (replace main bearings), it is still a chore to remove the heavy beast from its mount. Can only imagine the fun aloft with the heavier D400.

Blade noise is another possible issue w/a WG. Many strides have been made to reduce blade noise which can be annoying inside and outside the boat. Will say the Rutland is very quiet w/low vibration and this is very important to us. There are other brands that are quiet or special blades can be purchased to reduce noise, but none are quieter than solar.

Will say they there are more choices of manufacturers for WG these days as compared to when we originally purchased the Rutland. There are many cheap brands currently out there and one of these could be ok if you want to give it a go to see if it works for you.



Bill O.

[Franziska]

We have a Rutland 1200 and are very happy with it.

Initially there was a bit of bearing noise, but now it runs very nice and smooth, so that we can also leave it on at night.

Without it we could not run our old "household" fridge. This summer we had the fridge running nearly non-stop and enjoyed ice in our drinks for the first time.

[eMarineSystems]

Hi: e-Marine is the North American distributor for the Rutland products. We also provide warranty service on them should there be any problems. Marlec Engineering, manufacturer of the Rutland brand has produced well over 100,000 of these wind turbines and has been a successful company in business for many years based out of the UK. The older 913 models used to have a overload temperature switch that would allow them to free spin to protect the Armature winding which has now been eliminated in a new 914i model which has a built-in MPPT controller allowing for it to capture more energy and light winds. We recommend a 914i for light wind conditions and smaller boats up to 32 feet. For higher output their new three blade design 1200 model is an excellent producer. Both have downwind controllers which allow for easy monitoring and servicing. We hope this information helps in your decision.

[Snore]

I have delivered several boats with wind gens. One brand has a bike in break- Rutland doesn’t. The advantage of the break is that is you are having a “situation” you can flip a switch and the blades stop. Without a built in break the odds are you will let them spin and they WILL get into trouble.

[pcmm]

Keep in mind that the Rutland 913 is basically a trickle charger (or that's what I was told from owners when I was doing my research a few years ago) don't expect to get much more than 2-3amps out of them on average. To me it wasn't worth the expense for the little benefit they provided.

[Franziska]

Actually, you can do the same with the Rutland 1200. Press stop on the controller and the prop will almost stop turning completely, even in strong winds.
You can then easily tie the blade off if you would feel the need for it.

Originally Posted by Snore

I have delivered several boats with wind gens. One brand has a bike in break- Rutland doesn’t. The advantage of the break is that is you are having a “situation” you can flip a switch and the blades stop. Without a built in break the odds are you will let them spin and they WILL get into trouble.

[RaymondR]

Putting a hinge in the mounting pole is the solution to the generator installation and removal problem. This one hinges both forward and aft and the four bolt holes in the corners of the flanges allow them to be clamped together so there is no wobble in the hinges.