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Marty's note:
When you look at a wind generator for your boat there are many
considerations and what you choose depends a lot on what kind
of sailing you do - and how far off shore you go - because this
determines exactly what you are looking for in a wind generator.
Here are a couple of accurate statistics for Air compared to Rutland
for you to think about.
Over the past 10 years I have sold only two individual
blades for Rutland and a single blade for an Aerogen 6.
Over the past 10 years, I have sold no less than 950 sets of three
blades for Air - that's 2850 individual blades - that's more than
1 blade per working day.
Over the past 3 years there have been around 10 legitimate warranty
claims for Rutland.
Over that same period of time I have performed more than 150 warranties
on Air - that's one each week. That's around 12.5% of turbines
sold have come back for warranty service.
To be fair, there are some Air out there that
have been absolutely trouble free for years - but, and it's a
big but - there is a lack of consistency and I have had turbines
back two or three times, especially when they are in a windy location
such as Tasmania. There are definately less failures in the more
temperate zones. Okay for the Barrier Reef cruiser but not a lot
of good for the more adventurous offshore types - or people living
in Tassie using Air for home power.
Another thing worthy of consideration is the
regulator. If something is going to go wrong with a mechanical
devise that has electronics involved, it will be the electronics
that fail - almost every time. The regulator for Rutland is external
to the turbine. What this means is that if you have the most vulnerable
part of the set up go bung on you - the electronics - you can
fix or replace the reg but leave the turbine up in the air and
still giving power. Nice and simple. With Air, the reg is built
in, so if you have a problem with the electronics, you have to
take the whole shebang down. This is a particularly accute pain
in the rear end for people who have mast head mounted their turbine
as they need a cherry picker to get it down, or land based people
who have the turbine on a 50' tower.
A snippet for owners of the lastest Air Breeze
wind generator, if it has been in the air for more than 5 months,
Check your blades, there is a good chance
they have been significantly degraded by the sun. See pic below
Air Marine: This is a set of Air Breeze blades from a turbine
I installed on a yacht in Tasmania last February. And this is
only one example. With Rutland you can buy a single replacement
blade in the event of a problem, whereas Air will sell as a "matched"
set. I guess Rutland have more confidence in their consistency
of quality control.
"Made in the USA"
it is claimed on the Air Breeze box. I reckon it would be worth
popping the question to the manufacturer as to exactly what is
"made" in the USA and what is made elsewhere - and where.
For my money, being an offshore cruiser myself,
I would put reliability over style and "claimed" output
any day. The new boat I am building is named KISS, just in case
you don't know what that stands for, it is - Keep
It Simple Stupid.
A good motto for the offshore cruiser and remote land dweller
alike.
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