Air Breeze wind generator working! - 2012



We did some testing to be sure the Air Breeze wind generator (WG) was actually working.

June 2012 - Currently at Marina Kona Kai  Shelter Island San Diego, CA 

 When we were out sailing in 12 knots of wind on average we turned on the WG and it spun up and ran nicely for less than a minute then shut down. OK then what’s the problem? I had thought that the BlueSky Energy inc Solar Boost 3024iL DUO was conflicting with the WG built in controller as that was what would happen if it was. The WG would spin up then shut down or be erratic.

 After thinking about this for a while we realized that the batteries were fully charged. They sit at about 13.70 on the Link 2000 controller. 

 The Air Breeze wind generator charging at 13.6 volts. There is a LED light on the bottom of the Air Breeze to indicate charging etc.

 It also shuts down at wind speeds of 35 MPH or more for safety. It starts up again at 32 MPH.

 At wind speeds of 50 MPH it completely shuts down for 5 minuets.

If I remember right 12.7 is 100% charged so they are probably on float most of the time. We just do not use enough 12v electricity to discharge them enough. Our solar bank is large and our battery band now is only 440 amp hours.

 To test the WG we waited for a breezy day and disconnected the Blue Sky solar controller and turned all the electrics we have on.

 After a while the batteries were down to 12.5 or so.

 When the breeze picked up to 8-12 knots (on top of the mast where the wind sensor is) the WG spun up and ran for a little bit till the breeze went away.  We are blocked by a lot of big power boats from most of the wind at our slip.

 We then hooked back up the blue Seas solar controller and the same thing happened. This means that the WG is working properly. It could be we could re-install it at the shunt so the Link2000 could see the amps coming in. First we need another 400 AMP buss for the neg side.

We tried making some videos but there just was not enough wind. When there is we will try again.

 This can be done another time because it is not a big deal and as long as it works we are happy. It is time to move on to another project, tic, tock on project time.

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