Coleman wind generator

[Water Dragon]

I came across this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Coleman-...8400/204233177

The manual indicates it's made by Sunforce.
400 Watt, 12-Volt Wind Generator - SunForce Products Inc.

Says it's marine grade, has integrated controller, and 3-year warranty. Anyone tried one of these?

[wyb2]

We have one, Sunforce branded, got it from defender. Unfortunately I can't give too much of a review as we just got around to installing it a few days ago and haven't seen more than 12 kts apparent since.

The good so far
- easy to assemble and install (not counting whatever you have to go through to mount a pole and run wiring)
- came with a 3-way switch so you can switch between charge, freewheel, and brake
- has an LED on the bottom that indicates when it is producing power

The bad so far
- isn't perfectly balanced, which means it vibrates a little, which means the pole it's mounted on "sings" a little. This seems to improve as the wind picks up and applies force on the blades. Still, this is my biggest complaint so far.
- the switch it came with was not good quality, the end terminals were mounted so close to the metal body that I was honestly afraid that 12v might be able to jump the gap. Ended up modifying it with a Dremel before installing.

Other notes
- noise - I have nothing to compare it to. It can be heard down below with the companionway closed, but even standing right under it I don't think I would ever consider it loud. I'll have to wait and see what it sounds like In stronger breeze.
- speed - related to noise, it seems to freewheel up to a target speed ( I think I read 500 rpm somewhere), then the controller pulls out power to maintain that rpm as the wind builds. Not sure if this is standard to all wind gens
- amps - like I said, we really haven't seen much wind since it went up, but with 10-12 kts of apparent wind it seems to make 1-3 amps. So it definitely isn't a light air wind gen, if there is such a thing

[sv mintaka]

You can buy the exact same wind generator on aliexpress.com for less than half the price. Shipping usually takes 30 days or so

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, minitaka.

[Boatguy30]

Unless you only sail and anchor in really windy locations, solar ends up being a much better way to go that wind these days. Wheat panels were $5+++ per watt wind made more sense.

[witzgall]

The three blade design is a slight variation on the old Air-x design that has been around for many many years. They are not the best when it comes to power generation, as it need a good breeze to generate a meaningful output.

As to noise, while it does not bother many (I am one of those) there are some that find the noise horrible. They liken it to fingernails on a chaulkboard.

For the Air-x, the solution is special "Quiet" blades. The ones I have used have a line of slightly raise "X"s on the leading edge of each blade. It works by disrupting the airflow, so I am told. They do make a big difference, but I have no idea if you can get them to fit these wind gens.

We put these on our first wind gen, and old original Air-x. When we replaced that unit, we did it with a Silentwind brand wind generator. It came with the silent blades in the kit.

The best built unit out there, is my opinion, are the D400. They are quiet, and produce great output. They are also quite heavy and on the expensive side.


Chris

[wyb2]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Unless you only sail and anchor in really windy locations, solar ends up being a much better way to go that wind these days. Wheat panels were $5+++ per watt wind made more sense.

Depends where you are. For most of our trip down the east coast, which started in mid September, we were getting about 1/2 what we were getting in New England in July. There was also more than one occasion that we were waiting out weather that brought no sun and lots of wind for 2-5 days at a time.

[Bleemus]

After blowing up a cheap Chinese wind turbine we but the bullet and got one of these. No regrets.

www.starboardsun.com

[wyb2]

Just wanted to follow up on this for anyone reading in the future. I installed an ammeter in the circuit so now I have a much better idea of what it is doing.

In light winds (~8-12 kts) it makes little to no power, and the blades make the most noise. I have started turning it off in these conditions just to shut it up. Around 12 kts it starts to work well, the blades quiet down significantly and it starts making 2-3 amps consistently. The output climbs with the windspeed from there, at 20 kts it's awesome, making 15 amps nonstop and you can't hear it over the ambient wind noise. When gusts start hitting around 25 it starts shutting itself down, you can reset it manually or let it reset automatically. It seems to actually wait for lower winds rather than resetting after a set time.

My output is probably a little low because I installed it at anchor and the wire I had on hand was 12 awg, I believe the manual recommended 8 awg for my run length.

BUT, my biggest complaint remains the poor balancing as received. The vibration has developed into a slight chatter at lower wind speeds, and I'm pretty confident it is only going to get worse, and likely break the thing eventually. I'm currently cruising and it just isn't practical to try to make a warranty claim, so I've accepted the situation. For this reason, if it does stop working, I'll be looking into a different wind gen.

[Bleemus]

Thanks for the update.

[zeehag]

this looks like my chinese knockoff of a lovely air x model. it worked well until hurricane patricia screwed up the works and my mizzenmast.
yes i will be replacing both or rebuilding both the air x and knockoff for further usages. i willnot be installing on my mizzen again. i will make locations specifically for these 2 wonders of modern technology. cannot beat em for reliability and persistence..until patricia. they are most convenient for nocturnal winds and charging at night.