Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
WindGen/D400/Superwind/Kiss
"Geoff Schultz" wrote in message in another
very old thread titled Wind Gen, for those now interested in seeing what was said before, now renamed to bring it to current: Why would I want a D400 vs a SuperWind? To me it looks like the output of the D400 is at least 20% lower than the Superwind at normal wind speeds. Sure I see that at above ~30 kts the D400 is better, but that's an anomoly. heh. I wasn't suggesting you would. Just being the devil's advocate, having a very high level of satisfaction with our KISS, YMMV. For that matter, the KISS does better with relatively higher winds (than, say, 7-15 knots, but not above 25 on a sustained basis, though that's easily managed by cocking a bit with the tether), too, though I noted that most of the reviewed items didn't really start putting out until similar winds (above about 10 knots). I know that one wind gen type, don't know the name, shuts down in even moderate breezes (cycles a lot), and, according to one owner, only can deliver about 4A. If true, then that's a gen for very light wind conditions. These have downturned slotted tails, black 3-blade props. They also have the most godawful howl... As to the superwind, I'm intrigued about the feathering, as it seems the path of a presumed keyway must be snake-ish, cuz it wants near feathering to start up, then much lower pitch to generate rotation, and back to near feathered in very high winds. I'm reminded of the toy helicopters one pulled a string to launch; the blades had a high pitch on high rotation, and then nearly flat to allow slow descent as the blades slowed. Some sort of spring or hydraulic must be involved, but my looking into their material didn't disclose how they did it. Still, it appeals to the engineer side of me, along with my model airplane experiences. However... It seemed like the discussion was about noise, and my contact made reference to a harborwide tour of many different types, saying that this was by far the quietest. Of course, that was subjective, as I don't expect they took a dB meter with them, and, as the review commented, in high winds, you have the inherent wind noise to contend with as well, obfuscating the realities of the gen itself. The PS review was pretty recent. I wonder if the D400 is relatively new? L8R Skip, still on a 5-miles-away site, still able to do VoIP over our WiFi, which we love :{)) -- Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hand (Richard Bach) |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
This is what happens when you try to kiss a shark | General | |||
Kiss it goodbye | Boat Building | |||
Kiss it goodbye | General | |||
Anyone own a Superwind 350 wind genny? | Cruising | |||
SuperWind Wind Generators | Cruising |