A Wind Generator Review

[monte]

Im using an Airbreeze with silent blades. At first it ran like crap, would build up speed then wobble and shake. Fortunately someone on here advised me to check the blade distances point to point to make sure they were equal. They were out by up to 20mm. After I adjusted them it works great, very quiet, currently putting out 8-10A in 15k wind.

[tamicatana]

Aerogen make good generators. Until the bearing went out on mine (over 10 yr old) it was very quiet.

[John Galt]

Count me as a third vote for Superwind.

[Timd_chapman]

Originally Posted by sailinglegend

I agree, but there are too many people wasting time on these sometimes very technical forums. This is a Cruisers Forum, not a weekend - playing about in boats - I haven't got a clue and "can't be bothered to read the manual" - forum. Maybe that's what we need a Newbies Forum.

I've learn't a lot here and am happy to contribute my thoughts, based on my experiences as a full-time liveaboard for 8 years.

Too many people just offer opinions, which are often rubbish and then everybody has to read it! That can spoil a good thread and it's usual the same serial offenders who accept no point of view other than their own; I'm sorry but I have become rather bored with that "Forum" culture and may stop posting soon.

I read the number of posts the person has made, the more posts, the more rubbish they are likely to be talking and the less they are likely to be sailing. Definitely an issue with people who feel they have to voice an opinion on everything under the sun!

[SV Demeter]

Can anyone help me with the differences between:

Air Breeze
Air Marine
Air X

From what I can tell they are all the same just newer versions?

[s/vPainkiller]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Can anyone help me with the differences between:

Air Breeze
Air Marine
Air X

I don't know specifically what Air Marine is but Air-X is the earlier version of what is now sold as Air Breeze. The current version has new electronics. They cut the speed in half, which reduces the output but also reduces the noise and improves life of the electronics. The product was owned by Southwest Windpower, but in Jan of this year they sold the line to Primus Windpower.

Scott

[macbeth]

Originally Posted by Bambolera

Most people don't understand the contribution that a wind generator makes. They read the stats and are completely misled. On its own, a wind generator doesn't make much power, but it will double the output of your solar panels.

What! How can that be?

Well, I had one of those really noisy wind generators and, like so many cruisers, finally chucked it in the water. The next day, the boat was covered in bird **** and the electrical current from my solar panels was cut in half.

Love it !!

I have a Rutland 913. It's quiet, it has low output power, it's useful for keeping the batteries up while I'm away from the boat for a week or two, I find I don't have to run the engine so much while at anchor. It looks nice. It's size doesn't overwhelm my 31' boat. Would I buy another ? Don't think so - I'd investigate solar more.

[monte]

some good info here in the yachting monthly wind gen test
http://www.windenergy.com/sites/www....ng-Monthly.pdf

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by monte

Im using an Airbreeze with silent blades. At first it ran like crap, would build up speed then wobble and shake. Fortunately someone on here advised me to check the blade distances point to point to make sure they were equal. They were out by up to 20mm. After I adjusted them it works great, very quiet, currently putting out 8-10A in 15k wind.

Great info, and thanks for the tip! I'll try this with my Air Breeze.

Our new Air Breeze needed a 20 Amp circuit breaker vs the 40 Amp breaker that I had for the Air X - which tells me something about max power. Still and all it's much quieter except for that "wobbling" noise at certain speeds that drives me nuts. Checking the blade balance/length seems like a no-brainer... Now that somebody pointed it out! Kicking self in butt....

The wind turbine compliments our solar array. Between the two systems we've no need to run the main motor or our built-in GenSet. Which is good, since the GenSet also died - hired mechanics shake their heads and recommend replacement.

In my experience and opinion, t'was worth the time/money/hassle to install a rear arch and tower for installing a solar/wind system.

Now about the Air X .... BLAH! I bought one in San Diego - died half way to the Marquesas. Got it repaired in New Zealand. Died going to Tonga. Returned it to NZ for repairs. Died again. Back and forth emails with SouthWest Wind Power in USA. They sent a "rebuilt" Air X to me. It died. Eventually they sent an Air Breeze as a free replacement for the Air X. Been over a year now and the Air Breeze keeps on keeping on.

(Maybe one day when I've naught else to do I'll take the parts/pieces from the two old Air X units and possibly create one functioning unit. Or just go fishing....

[Craggles]

Hi all, I have hated wind generators for ever (15 years) since the early ones appeared to have had a bit of a habit of throwing blades through decks. After moving to living aboard April 2013 to go cruising I decided I needed to enhance my power input so.......I bought a chinese 440 watt wind generator off ebay. (mxlinda) After buying the regulator/controller, switches etc it wasn't cheap, but ended up nasty! After not having any success in getting it to spin in over 20 knots, being in engineering, I pulled it apart. Bearings were fine and the only thing I could find was misaligned machining in the bearing housings which put excessive pressure on the bearings which reduced the free spinning it should have had. I contacted the said ebayer and the answer was, "remember where you bought it and how much it cost!" NOT HAPPY as I expected it to work. In the bin it went. In the end as departure time was nearing (1 week) I bought an air X breeze from Whitworths. Manufacturer claimed to started running at 6 mph of wind. What they didn't say was what wind speeds it required to put out ? AMPS of power. It is a bit noisy at less than 10knots of breeze but over that it goes acceptably quiet. 11 knots of breeze only puts in 2.5 amps with gusts putting in around 10 amps at 15+ knots.

Overview: When we anchor we usually try to anchor out of the wind (don't we all?) so I have found the wind generator pretty useless. I also have upgraded my solar panel with a 180 diffused panel which gives me around 16 amps/hr in sunny conditions and have a 1kva Honda generator which can run the hot water and the 45 amp smart charger if needed as I don't like running my 40 hp diesel to charge the batteries if needed. I don't think the wind generator was the answer for us and I lock it off in the marina and at anchor in close quarters so it doesn't annoy others.

Now living the dream in Far North Queensland.

[Mike OReilly]

I've written on this already, but my early results with my new Spreco SilentWind are quite positive. I am quite noise-sensitive, and I was looking for a big improvement over our previous generator, an old Air-X.

I found the SilentWind's noise levels to be quite tolerable at all wind speeds. It is not silent, but I was easily able to carry on conversations in the cockpit right below the generator while it was whirring away at ~15-20knots. It produced no ugly vibrations, and was almost inaudible ~3 boat lengths away. I asked a number of fellow boaters who shared our anchorage, and none had anything negative to say about the noise (some were surprised to hear we had a wind generator).

Power-wise, it seemed to be more or less on-spec. Well, perhaps a little less than advertised, but it performs as expected. We would start seeing ~1-2 amp at around 10-12 knots, and ~3-4 amps around 15 knots. After that it really took off. In 20 knots we were getting over 8-10 sustained amps, and I'm sure I saw 17 amps at 25 knots.

We had a few windy days where we kept turning up the freezer just to use all the power. Of course, on no-wind days we were power-starved. I'm installing solar now to compliment our system, but I'm pleased with the Silentwind so far.

[Cotemar]

Their is no such thing as a Silent Wind Generator.
They do make Silent Solar Panels though

I wonder if this lady thinks anyone will actually buy one of these wind generators after listening to this video.
I had to put sound protection on to listen to it.

On Site with Air X Marine Wind Turbine - YouTube

Nothing worst than a mechanical piece of spinning carbon fiber over your head.

[Mike OReilly]

OK, since we're posting videos, here's one I did of our Silentwind running at around 12 knots. I meant to be more systematic about videoing ... but I was busy living. Anyway, for anyone interested, here it is.

BTW, I don't have any connection with the company. I just know the angst I went through trying to get real info on wind generators. Just trying to help lower the global angst level, one wind generator user at a time .

Not sure if the video attachments is going to work. It is a 12 meg file...

[Tellie]

I've just become a dealer for Super Wind. I'm really not trying to drum up business as it is against board rules and if the Mods think I'm stepping out of line let me know, I understand. So in fairness, and really just trying to get a feel for this new addition, if anyone is thinking about buying one I'll get it for you at my cost for the next month or so. Just say so here or shoot me a PM.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Craggles

Hi all, I have hated wind generators for ever (15 years) since the early ones appeared to have had a bit of a habit of throwing blades through decks. After moving to living aboard April 2013 to go cruising I decided I needed to enhance my power input so.......I bought a chinese 440 watt wind generator off ebay. (mxlinda) After buying the regulator/controller, switches etc it wasn't cheap, but ended up nasty! After not having any success in getting it to spin in over 20 knots, being in engineering, I pulled it apart. Bearings were fine and the only thing I could find was misaligned machining in the bearing housings which put excessive pressure on the bearings which reduced the free spinning it should have had. I contacted the said ebayer and the answer was, "remember where you bought it and how much it cost!" NOT HAPPY as I expected it to work. In the bin it went. In the end as departure time was nearing (1 week) I bought an air X breeze from Whitworths. Manufacturer claimed to started running at 6 mph of wind. What they didn't say was what wind speeds it required to put out ? AMPS of power. It is a bit noisy at less than 10knots of breeze but over that it goes acceptably quiet. 11 knots of breeze only puts in 2.5 amps with gusts putting in around 10 amps at 15+ knots.

Overview: When we anchor we usually try to anchor out of the wind (don't we all?) so I have found the wind generator pretty useless. I also have upgraded my solar panel with a 180 diffused panel which gives me around 16 amps/hr in sunny conditions and have a 1kva Honda generator which can run the hot water and the 45 amp smart charger if needed as I don't like running my 40 hp diesel to charge the batteries if needed. I don't think the wind generator was the answer for us and I lock it off in the marina and at anchor in close quarters so it doesn't annoy others.

Now living the dream in Far North Queensland.

Well I had an Aerogen in 91... great machines which have supplied all my needs and contrary to the above it was quiet at all speeds.. Have had them since and would again..