Southwest Wind Power Air X Wind Turbine Marine 400W 12V review

This turbine has an internal regulator which simplifies the use in space limited sailboats. Balanced design improves performance when the boat is underway over but you can still expect the turbine to swing in and out of the air while sailing. It is noiser then other wind generators used by sailboats but not excessively loud. Automatic shutdown for various battery and wind conditions means sticking it on a pole and forgetting about it. Shorting the output is the brake for the turbine. No tie down is necessary to stop operation.

The marine version has a few features to harden the basic land turbine to the marine environment. Unfortunately older units had an unsealed steel main bearing, exposed to salt spray. This caused the bearing to rust and fail, possibly siezing permanently on the shaft. New models seem to have an improved bearing seal. Other corrosion issues are the adjustment for voltage regulation is stainless steel through the aluminum body, corrosion of the rotor hub and the oxidation caused by the stainless steel screws threaded into the aluminum housing.

The carbon blades are unforgiving. A line into the blades will result in purchasing new blades, and possibly a bearing. It is best to mount the unit on the side of the boat at the rear where topping lifts and reef lines won't get into the blades when sailing. Mast mounting on the mizzen for ketches seems to work better then using a tower on a sloop. Mounting within a few feet of a bimini will result in low performance due to "station wagon" effect.

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