"just me" wrote in message
...
I'm going to buy a wind generator at the Annapolis boat show. Leaning
hard towards an Air-X

Any thoughts? pros/cons? Who's using what?


I have an AirX, connected to 4 x 12v 135amp house batteries and 2 x 12v
90amp engine batteries (linked via a VSR). I've owned it for nearly 3 years
now. It hasn't been a resounding success but that isn't all the fault of the
AirX. I spent a year wondering why it wasn't charging as well as I thought
it should, checked and re checked my wiring, before finally taking it back
to my supplier. I'm base in the UK and my supplier tested it, decided all
wasn't well, and shipping it back to the US (I think) for repair. It came
back again several weeks later and now seems to work a lot better. The real
problem is that I really don't know what I should expect. When the wind
blows it charges very well, it quite noisey, although I don't know that it's
any louder than any other make of similiar output. My biggest complaint is
that it seems to run all the time, it seems to be determined that it will
keep the batteries 100% full, turn on a cabin light, the batttery voltage
drops a microvolt below it's cut in voltage, and off it goes again. The
voltage is adjustable and I'm planning on turning it down. As set from the
factory, it cuts out at 28.2v and back in at 25.4. I thought a 12v battery
was fully charged at 12.7v so I guess 25.4 is fully charged for a pair of
12v batteries. When all said and done. my boat is on kept on mooring piles
and has no shore supply. I sail mostly weekends and my batteries are fully
charged when I get there Friday evening, so I guess I shouldn't grumble to
much. Would I buy another one.? maybe