Southwest Wind Power Air X Wind Turbine Marine 400W 12VWrite a review

This turbine is simply an electromechanical engineering marvel --its output is astonishing for its size, weight and cost. At first, when I saw other turbines turning under light wind and the Air-X was not, I thought I might have purchased the wrong turbine. However, its performace under the variety of conditions actually encountered under sail convinced me otherwise. Although the whistling of the blades is noisier than I had imagined it would be, especially under strong winds, this turns out to be a great indication of its operational status as well as the wind conditions. Its controller module automatically keeps both turbine and battery from destructive overages. While the turbine occasionally looses its heading when tacking, it does spend most of its time oriented properly. Due to its high output capacity, the necessary high current connectors for installation were surprisingly difficult to find. It held up well after its first season of use.

I own the Air X two years now; it delivers the power as promised but is slightly more noisy than I expected. I don
t mind it myself, because I know the effect on my batteries, but other people in the harbour are not always pleased. Therefore, the stop-switch is highly recommended!
The service of the Southwest people is really great. I had a problem with the adjustment of the output voltage, and after some e-mail exchange, they just shipped a complete new electronic circuit for free (to the Netherlands; which means Europe).

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.

I hate to rain on everybodys parade, but I have had the Air X for three years and I have had nothing but trouble with it. I have just replaced the circuit board in the AirX for the third time and it still does not work right. If you end up having to change the circuit board it seems to be very touchy and not an easy thing to replace. I just find it to be very bizarre sometimes it would work, sometimes it would not, It would always go into regulation mode even with the internal regulator turned off!, also during humid or wet weather this would make the problem worse and it would get stuck in
regulation mode
. I have just about given up on the Air X, I would not buy another Air X, for something that is stuck on the end of a thirty foot pole you want soemthing reliable not something you have to constantly have to work on.