LET'S TALK ABOUT EBAY AIRX CLONES!!!!

[makenzie71]

I just bought one and I AM EXCITED!  $92 delivered and guaranteed 500 watts!  500 chinese watts, that is, but 50 watts 500 watts whats the differences?

Truth is i needed a slip ring, hub, and blades it was cheaper to just buy the turbine.  I am going to see what i can get out of it, though.  I really am excited to get my hands on one to screw around with.  Youtube reviews of this thing range from “doesn't work” to “only makes 8w in hurricane winds”.  I'm going to stick it up in the air and if it produces 100w in a 15mph wind i'll keep it up there.  Average wind speed here is 14.3mph...if it can kick out 20% of the claim it'll be worth $18/mo.  I'm skeptical lol

I hope it's here by Friday

[Bruce S]

We can talk about them, but , just know that most of the people posting their responses are pretty much correct.
When it arrives, just know that you're getting what you're paying for.

50w to 500w? there's a ton of difference.

Do a little searching here about Air-X and Missouri Solar & Wind (pretty much the same thing) ; read through them. Those will give you a good background of what to expect.
In my early days of being a MOD, we allowed MS&W to have a voice here. All they ever did was try to make excuses. Eventually they dropped off and just kept selling .

IF you're buying one to get experience with 'mills , then those are a perfect way to go.

Above all else, give it a good going over before you put it up on a tower (mainly for safety reasons!!)

Cheers
Bruce S

[makenzie71]

Damn I thought I'd already be getting flak about buying an ebay turbine!

This is the turbine I bought.  Rated for 48v/500w in a 11.5m/s wind.  So roughly a touch over 25mph.  We see that often enough here, but average wind speed is 14mph.  1.8m/s cut is is roughly 4mph...which the only time the wind is really that low here is when it's changing direction.  I'm going to put the thing in my drill press first and actually test output and see what I'm pulling off.

I fully expect this thing to not do a tenth of the claim...or, if it does, it's going to require me to run the thing at like 1500rpm...I got to find a way to estimate rom in a 25mph wind.  Since I bought the thing for the blades and hub and slip ring if the generator doesn't come up to snuff I got what I paid for...BUT something I've learned about buying cheap chinese gear is that they don't want it back and they don't want that negative feedback on their account.  If it performs close to their claim then I'll be surprised...but if I'm not surprised I'll probably get a little discount.

I need to have a plan for load testing, though.  I hadn't put a lot of thought into it when I hit the buy button or I would have tried to hunt down a 12v or 24v model.  I don't have a 48v battery bank...I might go get a couple more batteries but not sure if I want to invest in that at this time.  I'm thinking I'll probably just use four 12v 100w lamps for load testing...would that work?

[makenzie71]

We can talk about them, but , just know that most of the people posting their responses are pretty much correct.
When it arrives, just know that you're getting what you're paying for.

50w to 500w? there's a ton of difference.

Do a little searching here about Air-X and Missouri Solar & Wind (pretty much the same thing) ; read through them. Those will give you a good background of what to expect.
In my early days of being a MOD, we allowed MS&W to have a voice here. All they ever did was try to make excuses. Eventually they dropped off and just kept selling .

IF you're buying one to get experience with 'mills , then those are a perfect way to go.

Above all else, give it a good going over before you put it up on a tower (mainly for safety reasons!!)

Cheers
Bruce S

ha you got in there while I was writing...I expected more hits.  The 50/500 watts thing was a joke.  If I wasn't clear in my original post I expect the generator capabilities to be optimistic.

I bought it for the blades, hub, and slip ring.  If the generator works I'll be surprised and delighted.  If it doesn't, I'll get a good discount on a set of blades, hub, and a slip ring

[Bruce S]

For load testing you'd be better off getting a couple 12V used trolling motor batteries.
Using lamps (incandescent bulbs) can be fickle. As they heat up the resistance changes so a 100W bulb might  draw a full 100W at startup then drop or go higher.
IF you go the used battery route, getting a few used hybrid batteries can be cheap . I got 4 65A boat batteries for less than 100$ total a few years back and they're doing just great on my older mixed  panels.

Cheers
Bruce S

[makenzie71]

Im going to fish around the facebook marketplace and see if i can conjure up some batteries.  I like that idea a lot better, and i'll be able to use them later.

[kitestrings]

I usually find this is a pretty good sanity check a(credits to Michael Klemen):

https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~klemen/Perfect_Turbine.htm

So, using this logic, you might expect about ~68 watts at 15 mph (at least until something falls apart, hopefully not).

[makenzie71]

I usually find this is a pretty good sanity check a(credits to Michael Klemen):

https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~klemen/Perfect_Turbine.htm

So, using this logic, you might expect about ~68 watts at 15 mph (at least until something falls apart, hopefully not).

I don't think it'll fall (fly) apart but i do think that 70w is probably optimistic.  I'm going to run the thing up on the press to whatever rom is required to hit their claimed wattage and i'm certain it'll be unobtainable.  I'm really eager to see what it does.  Everyone who reviews them puts them inthe wind and posts their disappointing results.  I want to see how hard i have to push it to get the claimed results.

[DanG]

We'll likely hear more after all the chatting is done, its up & tastes real wind... yup, them blades in flutter will be heard for miles. Okay, fine, the extra drag from six vs. three blades will keep the tip speed sonic boom action down but it'll be the harmonica of doom when them flexy blades go wobbly

[makenzie71]

We'll likely hear more after all the chatting is done, its up & tastes real wind... yup, them blades in flutter will be heard for miles. Okay, fine, the extra drag from six vs. three blades will keep the tip speed sonic boom action down but it'll be the harmonica of doom when them flexy blades go wobbly

I want to try to run with six and three.  I picked this one, though, because it gave me three extra blades .  It's been ten years since i really played with any of this stuff and a lot thoughts and theories seem to have changed, but at THAT time three blades was considered the prime (pun) number of blades.  More blades gave more torque, but cost the rpm that was really needed.

[Adriaan Kragten]

Not all Chinese PM-generators are hopeless designs. I have bought and tested an axial flux generator of Hefei Topgrand. They claim an output of 150 W at 500 rpm and I have measured a little more than 100 W at 500 rpm if the generator winding was rectified and used for 12 V battery charging. The measuring results are given in my public report KD 595. Technically the generator is well designed and it is now used on a small wind turbine for about four years without any problems. As the generator has no iron in the coils, the starting behaviour is very good. The only problem is that a rather high rotational speed is required to reach the battery voltage.

[Bruce S]

Before you get too far into the testing , would it be possible to get a few pics loaded up here?
We've seen a few of these tested but none with good pics.

Those before if possible during and after testing would also be valuable. Blades too?
You seem to have a good grasp of sanity , so talking about safety , isn't necessary.

Thanks in Advance

Bruce S

[makenzie71]

Before you get too far into the testing , would it be possible to get a few pics loaded up here?
We've seen a few of these tested but none with good pics.

Those before if possible during and after testing would also be valuable. Blades too?
You seem to have a good grasp of sanity , so talking about safety , isn't necessary.

Thanks in Advance

Bruce S

Trust me i love pictures

[Mary B]

Hmmm I might grab one to help charge batteries in winter, these gray cloudy days for weeks on end are hard on the batteries. And this is the windiest time of the year here with an average of 18mph.. so 50-75 watts would really help top the batteries off.

[makenzie71]

That's always been my drive toward turbines.  Solar is simpler, less maintenance, less likely to break...and I can get more guaranteed watts per dollar invested (I can get a 325w panel for $300)...but I only get that wattage for 5.8 hours a day (annual avg here).  Our annual average wind speed is just shy of 14mph.  I think if I lived in town and wanted to run off an alternative energy source, solar would be the way to go.  I live a bit out of the city and have a few acres around me...most of which we're going to be using to grow pumpkins, oak trees, and hopefully some produce.  Not a lot of room for panels.  But I can stab a pole in the ground almost anywhere.

Might not have a lot of real information about this thing until after turkey day, but stay tuned.  I'm on the border of wanting it to succeed vs wanting it to fail lol...excited either way.

[makenzie71]

Anyone think it'd be a problem to stick one of these on top of a 21ft 2 3/8" sch40 pipe without any guys?  I'm going to mount a pole next to my shop to test this one (and later my induction conversion).  I might be bale to brace the pole about 10ft up against the side of the shop, but not certain yet.  I do particularly want to avoid guy wires.

[keithturtle]

Anyone think it'd be a problem to stick one of these on top of a 21ft 2 3/8" sch40 pipe without any guys?

Use steel not PVC. Guy it or put a stiffener inside, IMO.  Vibration will cause quick failure of plastic

Turtle

[makenzie71]

steel structural pipe.  I didn't think to specify because I can't picture anyone putting a 40lb turbine on a stick of pvc and thinking that'll fly haha

[keithturtle]

Response based on the kid with PVC bow, sorry for the dis

[makenzie71]

ha I have no doubt a 2 3/8" sch40 PVC pipe could support the turbine...it'd support it all the way back to the ground in that nice arc I like to see in my bows :p