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AiniA · 27-02-2012, 06:08

We have an Air Breeze and it has worked well and is much quieter than an Air X. I think the company made a mistake by using the same housing since it is not obvious that the innards are quite different. I think that there are more Air X/Air Marine systems than any other, so they are the basis for comparison generally. There are some other systems out that are incredibly good, but also 3X the price - forget the name, made in Germany.

Benjmin · 27-02-2012, 06:19

Superwind is the best I believe

annk · 27-02-2012, 06:22

We have had a KISS for the past twelve years and absolutely love it. It supplies all our power needs, well except for periods of extended winds.

It is very simple, no regulator, little to break or malfunction. Above a certain speed it overheats and goes into free wheel. This means you are not losing 20% via the regulator. It's not suitable for batteries that are sensitive to voltage such as gel batteries but with our bank of lead acid's it works great.

In twelve years we have only replaced the rectifier once, not bad!

LeaseOnLife · 27-02-2012, 07:01

Link to the 2007 Practical Sailor Test: http://www.naviclub.com/Test_compara...nes_marine.pdf

Greg S · 27-02-2012, 07:30

We had a very old Air-X on our boat that was unbelievably loud. It was embarrassing to run if we were anchored close to another boat. (Sometimes this was a GOOD thing as it kept the clueless from anchoring on top of us!

) Anything over 20 knots it would howl so bad that it had to be shut off. Then one of the blades broke and I had to replace all three of them. I used the same style blades, but when I installed them on the hub I balanced them just using a lawnmower blade balancer and a bubble balance. It was a WORLD of difference. 10-15 feet from the boat you couldn't even hear it running and it cranked out plenty of amps for us. Very nice for keeping the batteries topped up at night...as long as the wind is blowing.

Target9000 · 27-02-2012, 07:37

As a caveat... My rant against the wild wailing of our Air-X is probably because it is ancient and I've never bothered to attempt servicing it to quiet its banshee like personality.

Bash · 27-02-2012, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by moggie

Would you folks with noisy wind-gens PLEASE not anchor next to us quiet solar yachts!

The main benefit I expected from installing my Air-breeze was to keep the yahoos of the world from anchoring too close. Unfortunately, it seems a bit too quiet to be up to the task.

Target9000 · 27-02-2012, 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bash

The main benefit I expected from installing my Air-breeze was to keep the yahoos of the world from anchoring too close. Unfortunately, it seems a bit too quiet to be up to the task.

I'll trade you ours. I'm sure it will work a trick. Can't guarantee the DC output though.

Celestialsailor · 27-02-2012, 09:00

Had an Air-X and hated it. First I fried it when I installed it...ok...that was my fault but when it ran, it gave the boat an eery feeling from the noise. For me it took the whole experience of tranquility away while underway, at anchor or in a slip. I would drink warm beer and sit in the dark before I would put another wind generator on the boat.

Ram · 27-02-2012, 09:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjmin

Superwind is the best I believe

That’s what
Practical Sailor ‘said; but you cannot believe everything they say- They did an anchor test about 5 years ago saying the XYZ anchor was rated very high- so dhaaa---I went out and bought it-the next test they did said the XYZ was low rated –Its the worst anchor I have ever had $400 down the drain ! I believe they may be paid by the manufacture in some way to favor their product- that’s not to say This Superwind is not the best, it may be- Anyone know what one costs? And what kind of amps its putting out at different wind speeds?