Ex- Member

Just spotted this Rutland 913 for £399 Not a bad price! Then I noticed it includes the 2.4m mounting kit. Well well, now that is good. Then notice the e-bay seller is Midland Chandlers. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rutland-913-Wind-Generator-Windcharger-Mounting-Kit-CA-12-02-/271561986914?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item3f3a5b1362 I know the Rutland 914 is now the latest model, but these 913's have a proven track record and used to cost over twice the current price. All I have to do now is talk Lynn in to having a wind turbine, she's not a fan though!

Again no real feedback, although none of the bad feedback seems to relate to the wind turbine but to solar panels. I found it really difficult to get any feedback on these units. £200+ is a bit of a punt I feel I might check out the sellers terms, but if it's crap and you have to pay postage to return it, you're gunna lose dosh somewhere along the line. I took a punt on Led's from China 7 years ago, not a single bulb has blown. They only cost £30 quid though LOL

Further strengthening the assertion in post 141 of how utterly stupid of some of our newer members are...... IMO of course

If you knew it was coming LOL I had our 500 watt array weighing 96 kilos completely removed from the roof by some freak wind 2 weeks after the big storms we had. I thought it was all over, so didn't strap it down when popping into town for an hour. Agreed though i'm not too happy with the quality, the guy selling them claiming to be in Portsmouth is in China not the U.K as well.

Yeah I've looked into these previously and really like the spec and cost. However they have no track record or feedback, and I won't purchase stuff unless I'm pretty sure it does what it says on the tin. I've just spotted that a member has the same or similar so looking forward to his feedback. Good fair price IMO, if it works that is LOL

I've looked at these and previously asked on here for feedback on how well they perform, you're the first person I know who has purchased one. How good are they? 14 amps in one day doesn't seem much, I would have got that in 1/2 hour from our solar earlier today. What amps could you glean on a good day, and what would you consider average.

Well if you look at the fitting instructions it requires a M12 rawl bolt fitted into concrete on each guy, all 4 of them. Maybe a clue. The engineer I consulted suggested a 5mm thick at least 6" square steel plate with suitable loop for guy and bolted or welded to the roof. Personally I wouldn't use any wind generator that requires guy ropes for use on a boat, not even on a wide beam let alone a n/b. Someone has already mentioned boat movement from a standard wind generator. You need to do some proper calculations, the forces in high winds are quite extreme. How ever clever a system for collapsing it and putting it back up, you'll need quite roof length left available to lower it on and the blade width of the 1.6m model will have the tips of the blades overlapping the hand rails. IMO it would look awful and out of proportion and be a right pain in the arse, and I would question its overall safety as there's no way you can replicate the fitting requirements on a boat as required on land without a lot of additional and expensive engineering. Flexi solar panels even fitted to the side panels of a boat would be my preferred option.

The only cable behind insulation on our boat is cable for lighting. I recall 4MMs was used and was rated at that to cope with halogen bulbs. I would imagine your boat builders would have use the same. Like us though I'm guessing you're using LED's so the cable you have behind insulation I would suggest would not be any problem at all with regard to overheating. I've recently accessed some cable in the ceiling, it's in perfect condition having been buried in Rockwool. All other cable is under the gunwale in quite a large cavity, I suspect yours might be similar under the gunwale.

I've often stood near boats with a wind turbine to assess noise, usually Rutlands so to monitor sound levels. I've never felt that they've been that loud even in quite high winds, of course they make a noise, but nowhere as load as I thought. Possibly I've just been lucky enough to come across good installations, I did note rubber type mounts on the few I've assessed so far.

More twaddle, if you wish to accuse people of being wrong, then why not back it up with some evidence. Of course you can't, so gobbing off is about all you seem to manage. Clearly says more about you me thinks

Who's obcessed, surely if you boat is hit and damaged by a hire boat, you would want to claim from them. Claim of the owners of the boat who should be insured. I don't see anywhere where that assumption has been made. Then the hire boat can claim from the owner of the private boat who must be insured.

Well then, If I'm wrong why not try to back this up with some tangible evidence rather than just gobbing off.

I like the Rutlands too, but for that money I can buy lots of solar with no moving parts LOL I would like a turbine as gleaning energy from various sources appeals, it's just the price, and we've hardly had any wind for a couple of months here either Edited to add. I would say the Rutland 914 is probably about right at 90cm. Beyond this the stresses rise quite considerably as the wing span increases. Also it's not as simple as double the wingspan double the stress. You only need to add a few CM's for the stresses to double. Maybe that's why most turbines not requiring guy support are generally under 1.2 metres I recall from the last time I looked into this.

The suitable size turbines are the size offered for use on boats that don't require anchoring like the rutland series. I don't think you appreciate the stresses the anchoring will be under. Speaking to a highly qualified engineer, he questioned that fixing anchors for such a size turbine (the one I was looking at was 1.4m BTW) to a 4mm thick steel boat roof would be asking for trouble even if the guy fixings were placed near ribbing. The guy lines have to be fully tensioned to support the turbine. It would almost need to be a permanent fixture, it can be dismantled of course, but it's designed to be permanently fixed. I really wouldn't fancy having to undo 4 guy lines lower the turbine which is heavy just to get under a bridge or avoid overgrown trees which are plentiful on the canals. You would then have to set it up and correctly re-tension the guys, probably a good hours work. OH sod there'a another bridge LOL

Well I've looked into these size turbines with smaller wingspans, models made in the us. They need guy ropes set up for safe support, the spacings required would overstretch the width of our wide beam if you set the turbine at the correct safe height.

Are you suggesting this model for a boat?

LOL sorry

I see! Depending on your cruising pattern could shape the solar requirement. If you cruise early day you will probably easily complete a bulk charge. In the winter we run the engine in the morning for an hour to bulk charge, sometimes a bit more until the charging amps the batteries will accept reduce to around 20amps. The solar then has the rest of the day to try and complete a full charge as well as supplying daily leccy needs. When it doesn't fully charge we then we just use a small 1kw generator which will run a 20A charger and supply the boats electrics whilst running. Usually an hour possibly 2. I don't know your usage, but do some calculations to maximise solar potential would be wise, it's a fraction of the cost of diesel.

Or there were less people on the forum at the time.

Maybe he has one leg shorter than the other and it stops him limping Well at least when walking one way that is LOL

I have previously regularly topped up our 10L plastic containers and 20l with Kerosene without any issue. For petrol though it seems a different matter. Found this. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17548007 I always use proper 5L containers for petrol though especially if stored on the boat. I have loads of diesel stashed for emergencies, not on the boat though LOL

What Paul and Sir N said I would suggest though getting some solar in, running an engine to just glean a few trickle charge amps is a waste. A solar panel will do this and also contribute to overall energy supply.

All BBC broadcasting is funded from the licence fee. The radio licence was discontinued in favour of the TV licence. Radio only and combined radio & television licences were abolished on1 February 1971. From this date television only licences have been issued.

And a piano shoe can be a piano slipper amongst other things, I'll not be getting upset about it LOL

I've been tempted to get one of these for sometime. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Diesel-Water-Oil-Fuel-Fluid-Transfer-Pump-Submersible-Pump-12V-Golden-CE-AE32-/221215913404?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item33817ef5bc We actually use 10l containers for diesel, much lighter and much easier to handle when filling.