Do you secure wind gen on the hard?

[Canibul]

We just put the catamaran in the yard for the remainder of hurricane season. Spent this morning taking sails down, securing loose stuff, etc. Looking at the AirX, I wasn't sure whether or not I needed to run a little line to one of the props to stop it. It's got a brake that slows it down when the wind picks up. I like the idea of it keeping the batts topped up while the boat is off shore power. The solar panels setup isn't working at the moment. MPPTs are all blank display. SO the only source of charge at the moment, not plugged into AC, is this wind genny. Do you guys secure the blades, or let it run when you leave it in the yard?

[hpeer]

Our boat came with an Aerogen 6. It was on the hard for two years prior to our purchase, not tied off. Batteries were fresh.

This unit has a resistor bank to dump excess charge. It is rate to 40 knots.

I suspect the answer is specific to your unit and installation.

[Canibul]

Ours has already been in more than 40 knots a number of times. I guess my biggest worry is how it would do in 100 knots.

[Vasco]

I always take the blades off. And this year I even put the whole unit down below because I re-wired it so that it's easily unplugged. You won't need it on the hard so why leave it up, especially in hurricane season in a hurricane prone area.

I charge my batteries up before laying the boat up and the batteries have always been fine six months later.

[Canibul]

my batteries wouldn't be fine. I have some other electrical issues going on. However, I noticed today that the drain on them seems to have gone away once we hauled the boat. Tells me something is shorting to the ground using seawater. not sure what that could be. One of the pump switches, maybe...

[djmarchand]

Canibul:

I doubt that any wind generator would survive 100 kts if the blades are free to rotate, so I would definitely secure the blades. Whether the secured wind generator would survive is another question.

Disconnect your batteries at their terminals. That is the only sure way to make sure that small parasitic loads don't run them down.

David

[S/V Alchemy]

A second consideration is if you have neighbours. People working under canvas or inside on a windy day might not like the noise of your wind gen considerably closer than would be the case at anchor, and if it's REALLY windy, they might not like what a snapped off blade moving with the impetus of several thousand RPM could do to their decks or to them.

A better choice is a firmly lashed down 10W solar panel to keep the batteries topped off. Little else is needed if the boat is otherwise shut down. I don't know if cats come with garboard plugs to let the rainwater out, should rainwater get in.