Anybody have a Rutland 913 Wind Generator?

[sailingcamelot]

Greetings to all:

I bought a Rutland 913 wind generator (used) and have mounted it on a pole starboard/stern of my 9 meter Catalac catamaran. No instructions included with the unit (of course!). I have found much information online (including owners manual and wiring diagrams) and proceeded to order a Marlec Hrsi controller for the unit since it did not come with one and hooked it all up per manufacturers instructions. There are only 2 wires coming out of the windgen--1 red and 1 black. The unit spins freely in the wind until I hook up the wires to the controller. But after that the unit stops spinning freely and acts like a brake has been applied. I thought that perhaps the controller (new) was defective so I bypassed it temporarily and wired direct to the battery. NO change, same result. The Marlec HRSI instructions are clear and straight forward. I have followed them exactly and reread them several times. Anyone got any ideas? Thnks in advance.

[jacob30]

Yes I have this setup. Mine does not brake the generator though. What are the controller lights indicating?

[sailingcamelot]

Thanks for your reply. At the moment, the HRSI is not connected. When it was, the red light stayed on all the time. I also have 280 watts of solar routed thru a Morningstar 45 to 4 group 29 deep cycle 12 volt batteries. I tried hooking the Rutland to the Morningstar and the effect was the same...the unit braked to idle speed. Since the 913 was bought used (and cheap) it may be defective. I assume that The red and black wires are all that it came with when new? Online, I saw a 913 controller that had 3 wires--red, black and brown.

[Opie91]

Found this manual online, hopefully it helps.

Good luck...

[sailingcamelot]

Thanks. Pages 18-19 look helpful. Various multimeter tests I can run.

[pbiJim]

I don't know that specific unit, but here's some general information that you might find helpful:

A generator with no electrical load will spin easily, but a generator with an electrical load applied will consume mechanical energy (torque) in proportion to the current that is drawn from it.

Draw lots of amps = need lots of torque.

[RaymondR]

I have had a Rutland 913 for about 12 years now and whilst it gave useful power when I lived in the temperate zone it is pretty useless now that I live in the tropics.

pbijim is right, without load it will freewheel with fairly high RPM's but the moment you put it onto load it will stall immediately and this is fairly normal for these units. I have never measured it but estimate that these units need about 15 - 18 knots of wind before they start even bucking the battery voltage to put any current into the battery.

The up side of them is they are very robust and about the only electricals you may have a problem with are the diode bridges which can be replaced for a few dollars from an electronics part store. The other potential problem is the slip rings which connect the rotating generator to the mount which goes onto the pole. These may need a cleaning occasionally but I have not had to do it so far.

[sailingcamelot]

Thanks to all.....sorry for my slow reply. Major computer crash here. Replsced hard drive and now it works okay. !5-18 KNOTS needed to make any useful power? Wow....no wonder I bought it cheap! Okay--I guess there is nothing wrong with the unit. I am really glad I have 2 solar panels.

[RaymondR]

It's a devil and deep blue sea situation. The ones with the high tech aerodynamic blades spin faster and cut in earlier but their electronics is more complex and they are much more prone to failure. Since the electronics are encapsulated you cannot replace components and the complete rectification/regulation unit is expensive. They are also horribly noisy at times. All round, panels are better, just stay out of the high latitudes.