Feedback on the new Primus AIR Silent X

[BarbW]

Does anyone have experience with this product and would like to share some feedback? I am currently looking at the Silent X or Breeze for my S2 9.2C (30 foot sailboat).

[BlackHeron]

Also interested.

Looking to replace aged 1st gen Rutland Windcharger that only produces 15-30w.

I like the fact that I wouldn't have to rewire to a 3-phase feedline.

[BarbW]

BlackHeron, it sounds like you already know more than I do about such things. Have you compared the Breeze with the Silent X?

[sy_gilana]

I have an OOOLD Air Marine, upgraded to the new blue blades. Love it.


I recently worked on the Silent-X when another cruiser complained it was not putting out enough amps.


It was a simple repair, the problem was it went out during a vicious squall.

A solder joint failed due to high heat. I replaced the bearings at the same time (6203 2RS) Get two spares. I think the Yaw bearing is a 6007 -2RS



I was in touch with the support guys at the manufacturer, they were very attentive and helpful, although they did not find the problem. That proves that this was a first for them too.


Build quality is good. PC board is conformal coated. O ring sealing is good. I would say its a good buy.

I would suggest that you loosen the Yaw Clamp once a year, and rotate it about 15 degrees so that the brushes don't work on the same part of the slip-ring year after year.

[BarbW]

Thanks for the info, sy_gilana!

[BlackHeron]

How much do the blue blades set you back? Do they fit on the breeze too?

[PegasusIX]

I have an Air X with blue blades, previously had air x with normal blades for 12 years, went well and produced lots of power. Kept fridge, autopilot and nav lights going always at sea with no engine charging (helped by solar panels), and same at anchor. Great product. Air breeze starts and produces at lower wind speed. My calc indicated an air breeze would produce more power for my use overall even though less at high wind speeds. We often get seduced by maximum output, but output at lower wind speed and total charging over the most likely wind speeds we will encounter, including at anchor is more important.

[BarbW]

Primus makes blue blades for the Breeze. They sell for around $350-400.

Thank you for your response, PegasusIX.

[BlackHeron]

The Air Breeze is what I am leaning towards. Better than the Air X in most conditions and if we are getting the full 200w that would be fabulous actually.

We have 250w of solar and a very old Rutland Windcharger that produces about an amp at 10 knots and two at 20. 15-30w. The coil is only rated at 50w at gale speeds. The most Ive ever seen it oroduce was a hair under 4A and that was before I shut it down for fear of losing the 30+ year old blades.

That doesn't seem like much but since we don't have refrigeration yet that is more than our total night sleeping usage in the hook so we would be charging at .5 to 1.5 amp all night and when the sun came out in the morning the batteries would already be up to about 13v.

We are designing the refrigeration system with Ozefridge rigjt now and because our ice box is pretty small (74 liter/2.6 cubic feet) and was "built right" less than 10 years ago with modern insulation and techniques they think power consumption at +2C would be 18AH/day or -18C for 32AH/day on our 12v nominal system. Those are phenomenal numbers and I'll be happy if it is 50% more than that.

The icebox is big enough for our use over the past 4 years and that is with half of it filled with ice. I'm just sick of buying ice every 3-4 days and having all that meltwater going down into the wet-bilge sump. It would be a dry-bilge if not for that.

We might be OK on power use even as we are now as long as we didn't get too many rainy/cloudy days in a row, but to help ensure we continue to never ever need to start the engine to charge batteries then a better wind turbine would help a whole lot. Also, it would be nice to be able to run the AP while sailing and not always use the monitor self-steering without running down the batteries at night. That'd be another added benefit of upgrading the wind turbine.

We might be able to shove two 50w flexible panels onto the bimini but one of those would probably always be shaded by the boom and sail and only give a marginal boost to the 250w which we already have that is out in the clear off of the stern rail.