Airbird Wind Turbines

26 Posts
Dec 9, 2008 03:35 pm
Airbird Wind Turbines

I got a call from a guy who bought one of these turbines (see http://www.airbird.org/Products.html) and wondered how to hook it up. I am puzzled by the info I see on the web site, including the controller they suggest (which does not look like it would handle even the smaller ones) and the extremely low price (which may be a clue to other issues...). Anyway, if ahyone out there has direct expereince with them I would be interested. BTW, it apparently comes with little documentation and customer service is less than stellar.
 
11 Posts
Dec 10, 2008 09:56 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

he is selling these on ebay. I bought one and the rated output is about half of what he is claiming. Very shoddy work on the wind generators. poor customer service took a week to hear from him. steer clear.
 
1 Posts
Jan 6, 2009 07:43 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

Thanks for the info ! Im looking to buy and Airbird wont be spining in my back yard !
 
351 Posts
Jan 6, 2009 08:15 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

Here is the Calif. CEC List of approved small wind turbines.
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/cgi-bin/eligible_smallwind.cgi
If the Mfg isn't on this list, I would suggest you steer clear of them.

If your state has a rebate program on wind, you should look for a similar listing.

« Last Edit: Jan 6, 2009 08:28 pm by ken hall »
 
4 Posts
Apr 3, 2009 01:30 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

My opinion:
Where to start? Pivot system was inadequate (this means it sucked). Blades were not balanced and proved virtually impossible to balance(hollow fiberglass, any suggestions for future projects welcome). Hub did not include lock washer. Mounting system (hole drilled in two inch plumbing cap for a two inch pipe, With a bolt stuck through it) allowed enough play for the blades to hit the tower and explode into confetti. The mount felt tight until the wind hit it. No braking or furling system. The slip ring was inadequate also, it was not designed to carry enough power(had two bare wires coming out about 1/32 of an inch thick. At ten to twenty mph winds the alternator loses contact through the slip ring and spins freely. Nylon bolts left long enough to catch the slip ring wires. After correcting the problems I initially noticed. We put it up for a test. We noticed it was having charge problems(not plug and play) as advertised. Still have not verified it's ability to charge. Oh I almost forgot, no instructions, no support, it took over a month to receive the generator that doesn't work and informing Rick Pierce that I was filing mail fraud charges against him. Ebay booted the guy, but not before he took a lot of people for a lot of money. He's still pushing his wares on alibaba(not my model though).
In conclusion I would say an airbird "won't be spinning in" anyone's yard for very long. Thanks for taking the time to read this before blowing away $400.00 in the wind.
 
4 Posts
Apr 3, 2009 09:01 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

Here's an update. After pulling the turbine head down, the "sturdy" steel frame was compromised by the hole drilled through it into the 2 inch cap. It bent, being that it was not strong enough to support its own weight. This was after less than 12 hours running. His star style lock washers worked their way loose inside his mounting cap. I really can't believe the complete lack of quality, materials, and thought that went into this.
 
220 Posts
Apr 7, 2009 03:10 am
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

 dan,

 thanks for sharing your review of the "airbird" product you got stuck with. sounds like you got the bird alright, but you may have saved someone else that same fate and that may make you feel a little better.

 all may not be lost. if that pma is useable in any way, you may be able to do a complete tear down and rebuild it from the ground up. did you see any power production at all? have you spun that alternator up and taken any readings?

 we have learned a whole bunch of things of what not to do when building a wind turbine here already and this may turn into a great learning opportunity for you while you redesign your machine out of anything that may be of use from that one.

good luck, dave
 
351 Posts
Apr 7, 2009 12:32 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

Dan:
David is correct about spinning the alternator up to see what it might do.  The guys at my local NAPA store have been quite good to me, spinning alternators on their test bench. You can also use a good varible speed drill press or lathe for the same purpose.

However, I am a little more pessimistic about the outcome. While I haven't physically run into an airbird yet, I have dealt with similar "rip off" designs in the past. My experiance has been that alternator quality is as bad (or worse) as the rest of the machine. Power production at much higher rpms than claimed, not meeting claimed output, poor windings, etc. In the worst cases, no usable output.

If someone is really doing a "rip off", why would they even consider putting a decent, usable alternator into a POS ?

However, if you do spin it up, I would be interested in hearing the results, good or bad.

Ken
 
4 Posts
Apr 8, 2009 04:41 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

The spin results are interesting at low rpms about 200 I seem to get some charge, then as I increase rpms it stops. So I found where one bare wire(+) coming out of the slip ring is almost touching the (-) side of the slip ring. So when it starts to charge it arcs across. The whole thing is junk.(I'm going to try to work out his flaws and make it serviceable)
 I'm in the middle of building my own belt drive system now. I just wanted something running until mine is up . Where I live it's almost always windy, even on days with no wind at ground level there's still usually wind at 35 ft. on the tower. Mine is the poor boy set up, with 120 amp chrysler alternators (found on almost any 80's v8 dodge, even though 60 amps would have worked on the trucks) ran on a 4:1 ratio using air conditioner parts with 10' diameter blades. Should give pretty good power and I made the alternators very easy to change. Since it's belt drive, I'm not really to worried about turbulence or bearings. I'm down to manufacturing a furling tail now.
On another note the experience with the airbird wasn't that upsetting because: I'm currently concerned with my 13 yr. old niece who's going through chemo right now. So if you could please keep her in your prayers. Thanks and God bless!
 
4 Posts
Apr 25, 2009 08:48 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

Spin test results 0-500 rpms just drains the battery bank. No output just varying degrees of drain. In my opinion the airbird wind generator is a total turd.
 
351 Posts
Apr 25, 2009 11:45 pm
Re: Airbird Wind Turbines

Dan:

Thanks for posting your results.  I do appreciate you taking the time to do so. 

I hope things are fairing well for your niece.

Take care,
Ken
 

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