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| X-TREMELY
EFFICIENT |
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| From
Catamaran "Pearler" |
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| When
considering a wind generator to supplement
our single solar panel, the usual concerns
arose. It would all be very nice to
utilise wind power when the sun refused
to shine but what about vibration through
the boat and the all important NOISE
factor and would the amount of noise
we endured justify the things output?
Besides experiencing the whirring cacophony
from nearby boats sporting an array
of designs, the only other wind - gen
we’d been acquainted with was
a second hand Rutland we’d once
owned. This relic, although endearing
in both price and appearance, was hardly
worth the effort of installation as
it admirably struggled in 20 knots
to trickle feed a mere 2 or 3 amps
into our starving battery bank. A trickle
was admittedly better than nothing
but … this time we wanted MORE!
Cruising around anchorages on our ‘research’ mission,
we looked and listened to every ‘windmill’ we
saw. We knew the Air
X 403s’ had
a great reputation for output but their
noise level was similarly renowned!
We were |
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almost
prepared to tolerate this inconvenience,
after all, we’d learnt to live
with our ever - rattling in mast wiring
hadn’t we? Efficiency had to be
our main aim and the Air - X simply
headed the list. For once, our timing
proved fortuitous as while we were
dilly dallying around in our usual
indecisive mode, a new Air X was
launched and quickly began appearing
on an ever growing number of vessels
around us. At first glance not unlike
its’ predecessor in appearance,
the All New Air X was definitely
different in the noise stakes, “Were
these things actually working?” we
wondered in line with the old mind
set that LOUD = GOOD. Our friendly
marine electrician soon assured us
that these units demolished that myth
and were actually 80% quieter
than the 403 and
easily matched wind speed in output,
one of his staff actually sighting
25 amps on the meter in similar wind.
Oh - and he was later able to work
directly beneath it without the aid
of earmuffs and shock absorbers! A
further brief period of indecision
ensued as we found a relatively new,
second hand 403 for
sale at a lesser price but … we
knew we’d later regret our penny
pinching and logically deduced that
the guy was probably selling it to
upgrade to the new,quieter model anyway…
So after deciding on the optimum mounting position, we had a stainless
(same in cost as thicker gauge alum) pole constructed and built a small
wedge as a deck base. (A layer of close cell foam was utilised over the
core cell interior to absorb any vibration, then finished in ply and glassed.)
The unit was wired up easily and we immediately relaxed about the future
condition of our brand new batteries as the Air X came alive, delivering
constant amperage and even braking when the batteries yelled ENUF! We’ve
often seen the volt meter hit 30amps - and STILL get gleeful watching it… yeah
I guess we’re easily excited but having such a state of the art power
driver aboard is definitely a satisfying experience and when it’s
almost quieter than the wind itself, who wouldn’t be more than “X-cited”about
it…? |
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