Mount a wind generator on mizzen mast or on davits?

[DarwinHolmstrom]

What are the pros and cons of mounting a wind generator on a mizzen mast versus mounting it on the rear davits?

[psk125]

Cons: Being able to get to it when it needs maintenance or fixing. Weight aloft. Possible interference with radio transmissions (don't know; is this possible??). Longer wiring could provide more opportunities for damage to it & shorts.
Pros: Unlikely to hit people. Noise is further away. Possibly better wind up there.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Being able to maintain and repair the generator without having to hoist myself up on a bosun chair would be my main reason for mounting on the davits. I've heard people complaining about the noise of wind generators in the marina where I'll be living until I head out to the Atlantic later this summer, and it seems like it will be easier to turn it off while in the slip if it's above the davits.

[BillKny]

A downside of a generator mounting on the mizzen mast is that it makes flying a mizzen staysail very risky. A backwinded mizzen staysail will certainly destroy itself in the blades of a wind generator, and might do significant damage to the generator.

If you are talking about mounting on the very top of the mizzen (I have seen it.) that's a really, really tough place to maintain it, and about the worst possible for weight.

As far as I am concerned, one of the best reasons for having a mizzen mast in the first place is to have a mizzen staysail so for me, this is a big deal.

[Bill O]

We have ours mounted on the mizzen and it gets much better air than our previous boat where it was mounted on top of the stern arch.

Where ever you mount it, make certain its quiet and doesn't vibrate/use dampeners to min. vibration. We only hear a whoosh in the aft cabin alerting us when the wind pipes up during the night. . The lighter gen unit vs. heavy (e.g. D400) are easier to get up/down and less weight aloft.

Downside of placing on mizzen is going aloft to mount it/work on it. Not super difficult, but more effort compared to mounting on the arch. We made a harness to lift the gen up/down the mast.

The mizzen mounting may take relatively more wire to reach the controller.
If you mount it high on the mizzen mast, you usually can't manually feather it easily as compared to the arch/davit mount.
A plus to mounting high on the mizzen mast is people will less likely to be accidentally hit by spinning blades. Never had any issue w/it mounted on the arch, but can be unnerving to have the blades spinning very fast a few feet away.
Since power production is the main goal of the wind gen, IMO the mizzen mast is the place to mount it to get better air/power production.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by BillKny

A downside of a generator mounting on the mizzen mast is that it makes flying a mizzen staysail very risky. A backwinded mizzen staysail will certainly destroy itself in the blades of a wind generator, and might do significant damage to the generator.

Good point. Both my spinnaker and my mizzen staysail are brand new--they've never been used. I'll chalk this up to one more reason to mount above the davits.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by BillKny

A downside of a generator mounting on the mizzen mast is that it makes flying a mizzen staysail very risky. A backwinded mizzen staysail will certainly destroy itself in the blades of a wind generator, and might do significant damage to the generator.

As far as I am concerned, one of the best reasons for having a mizzen mast in the first place is to have a mizzen staysail so for me, this is a big deal.

Can't disagree w/the above and why we don't have a mizzen staysail (yet). When we do get one, we will remove the wind gen from the mizzen mast.


If you haven't purchased the wind gen yet, would max out the solar before getting the wind gen.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by Bill O

We have ours mounted on the mizzen and it gets much better air than our previous boat where it was mounted on top of the stern arch...
Since power production is the main goal of the wind gen, IMO the mizzen mast is the place to mount it to get better air/power production.

And this is a big point in favor of mounting on the mizzen. Also, I have a cat who likes to climb. I could see that curious little beast fascinated by the spinning blades.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by Bill O

If you haven't purchased the wind gen yet, would max out the solar before getting the wind gen.

My main project before heading out from the Great Lakes to the Caribbean is to mount solar. The reason why I'm mounting davits and an arch (besides dinghy storage) is to mount more solar power. The ketch setup limits space on board for mounting solar. I'll mount as much solar as I can, but for full-time live aboard use, it seems like both solar and wind will be needed.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by DarwinHolmstrom

My main project before heading out from the Great Lakes to the Caribbean is to mount solar. The reason why I'm mounting davits and an arch (besides dinghy storage) is to mount more solar power. The ketch setup limits space on board for mounting solar. I'll mount as much solar as I can, but for full-time live aboard use, it seems like both solar and wind will be needed.

W/our CC ketch, we have solar on the bimini top and will be mounting more. Would think a bimini (covered w/panels) on your boat would work similarly.

The Caribbean (due to relatively light air) is generally rated poor for wind gen production, while the solar will do >90% of you power input. Max out you solar.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by Bill O

W/our CC ketch, we have solar on the bimini top and will be mounting more. Would think a bimini (covered w/panels) on your boat would work similarly.

My other main project before I leave is to raise my mizzen boom and shorten my mizzensail so I can mount a Bimini with solar panels atop. As it is now, I wouldn't be able to stand up in my cockpit with a Bimini, and I'm only 5'10". I spoke with Bill at Shannon as well as one of their engineers and both of them said that this wouldn't have any noticeable affect on mizzen performance. I'm planning for solar to be my main source and the wind generator will be a backup.

[Bill O]

Another possible place to add more solar is to add flip up panels off the sides of the stern or side rails.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Another possible place to add more solar is to add flip up panels off the sides of the stern or side rails.

That was my original plan, and if I need more power I'll do that, but I needed to raise the mizzen boom for a Bimini--that will be a necessity in the tropics--so I thought I'd start with panels atop my Bimini. Since I'm going to mount dinghy davits and an arch once the mizzen boom is raised I'll mount panels there, too.

[Bill O]

One other thing I thought about with the combination wind gen and solar, the two usually don't play that well w/each other.
When the solar is doing its job during the day, it will typically over ride the wind gen controller and either totally cut it off or reduce the output significantly (even if there is wind). The wind gen then only allowed to "turn on" during the night when the wind generally reduces in velocity and less power output.
If you do get a wind gen ask/look for the battery voltages for the controller that it cuts it off/reduces output. It would be nice if the controller had adjustable set points on the controller.
Haven't looked in awhile, but previously never saw a combination wind gen/solar controller that functioned exceptionally well in handling both charge sources at the same time. Maybe they make it now.
They do make cheaper wind gens, but if you buy a more expensive one, it is hard to justify the cost/watt input relative to solar. Invest in more solar (hard panels) for the best bang to keep your batteries happy. YMMV

[sailingunity]

When we had our boat it was on the mizzen. The bearings were a little worn out, and so it transmitted noise directly into the aft ("master") cabin. Kind of annoying, but we got used to it. it was noisier at low speeds than high speeds. But the wind up there was nice and helped us get through cloudy periods without a generator (it would run 24/7 so the batteries caught up at night). We could fit 3 oversized solar panels on the davits. Didn't have any sails onboard we could fly from the mizzen, so can't comment there.