Fourwinds II unattended -- how much wind?

Bene505 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

I have a sailboat that we use on weekends and 1-week vacations. I keep it moored in a place where the average wind speed is 11 knots, so using a wind generator makes sense. (Also it has a 6x1.5 foot solar panel on the davits that charges 2 large house batteries.)

I like the Fourwinds II -- have seen it on other boats at anchorages and it seems to spin quietly, and it has enough of a blade radius (blade-swept area) to be effective.

I work quite a distance from where it is kept, so I worry about any high winds damaging it, and maybe breaking a blade and shaking my boat apart with vibration after that. (I have a friend living nearby, but I don't want to call on him too many times to tie it up.)

Question: How much wind can the Fourwinds II (with speed limiter) really stand? Can I leave it spinning in anything but the well-advertised hurricane?

camaraderie · #2 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

If you have the brake system...yes...I would not worry about anything less than a full storm...should be just fine in the occasional gale. I would still tie it off is a TS or hurricane were forecast.

I did not have the brake on mine and would tie it off when the wind got over 25....but the ones with brakes just stopped themselves.

Since you will be away from the boat...suggest you get a "dump" regulator to prevent boiling off your batteries in extended higher winds. We shunted ours to the water heater.

Bene505 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

That's a great idea. What happens when the water gets too hot? Do you need another place to dump the current?

Bene505 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

So if the storm has a name, then I call my buddy and ask him to tie it off. That's if I don't go out to the boat myself.

camaraderie · #5 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

Water never gets that hot...just warm!
Yep...there is a loop that comes with it that goes from the pole to a Blade and you slip that on the blade in high winds to keep it from spinning...but any well secured piece of line will work. Process is:
1. Use tail line to swing unit blades 180 degrees from wind direction.
2. Slip line onto the now stopped blades.
3, Walk away!

Faster · #6 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaraderie

...1. Use tail line to swing unit blades 180 degrees from wind direction.
.

Any chance you meant 90 degrees, Cam?

Bene505 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaraderie

If you have the brake system...yes...I would not worry about anything less than a full storm...should be just fine in the occasional gale. I would still tie it off is a TS or hurricane were forecast.

I did not have the brake on mine and would tie it off when the wind got over 25....but the ones with brakes just stopped themselves......

Just to be clear, the brake slows it down in high winds. It doesn't stop it, right?

camaraderie · #8 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

Faster...no...180 degrees backwinds the blades and stops them.

Bene...kind of...if the wind is high enough...it will stop...but then start up again once the centrifugal force used for the braking is gone...but essentially it keeps moving a bit.