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Old 01-14-2009, 03:09 PM   #1
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I was wondering if anyone has had any expereince with the WP200. I bought a factory rebuilt from Hamilton Ferris and towed it from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucus and it never lived up to its specs (6knts 12amps). I talked to the shop but never got any solutions. By the time I got to Cabo it was hardly generating so I opened it up to find a magnet had come loose and there was rust and corrosion.I emailed the shop and they offered to fix it but I would have to pay shiping. I told them this would not work as the price and hassle of reimporting into Mexico would be prohibitive. They then offered me a 1 time $100 credit to have it fixed here and no more warranty which I agreed to. Still waiting (2 weeks). So has anyone seen 12 amps at 6 knts? Thanks Bob
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Old 01-14-2009, 07:59 PM   #2
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I have dealt with Hamilton Ferris in the past and found them both reliable and responsive. I have spoken to Mr. Ferris several times and he was always helpful. Having said this I have not bought any re-conditioned equipment from them. I had at one time bought a new battery monitor which was defective. They immediately send me a replacement in Turkey, free of charge.
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Old 02-20-2010, 04:33 PM   #3
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I looked at a water generator when planning my renewable energy strategy ... I decided to go with a wind generator instead ... for the following reasons :

1 a water generator only works when the boat is moving through the water ... this means you are either motoring or sailing ... if you are motoring then your alternator will provide all the charge you need ... if you are sailing then that means there is enough wind to drive a windgen ...

2 a windgen will provide power when your boat is at anchor or hooked to a mooring ... a watergen will do nothing
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Old 02-20-2010, 08:21 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by svtadpole View Post
I looked at a water generator when planning my renewable energy strategy ... I decided to go with a wind generator instead ... for the following reasons :

1 a water generator only works when the boat is moving through the water ... this means you are either motoring or sailing ... if you are motoring then your alternator will provide all the charge you need ... if you are sailing then that means there is enough wind to drive a windgen ...

2 a windgen will provide power when your boat is at anchor or hooked to a mooring ... a watergen will do nothing
Hummm....yes and no.

We're looking into water generators because our highest electrical loading occurs when we're underway not at anchor. You might look into a unit which is "both" like the Red Barron (no longer made, I'm sure) which is a wind generator that can be configured as a water generator. I know a fellow who owns a Red Barron that he used extensively as a live aboard and during passage making over about a 10 year period. He preferred to use it as a water generator as he got more energy from it towing rather than using it as a wind generator. There are likely other wind generators which work in the same manner. A quick google search shows me that the Hamilton Ferris water generators can be converted to wind generators. So one can have the best of all worlds right there

If you have a transmission which allows you to free wheel the prop without damage to the transmission, you can put a prop shaft generator on your boat as well. How well that will work is entirely dependent upon your particular prop/shaft/tranny set up. It is hard to get the info from your transmission mfr about this matter, btw. We know that our Hurth HSW800 transmission can be freewheeled without damage but we have not yet put a collar on the shaft to obtain charging. We need to pull out our old timing light and figure out what sort of RPM's we're getting at various boat speeds to determine if it is worthwhile to take that one anywhere.

Fair winds,
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Old 02-20-2010, 09:03 PM   #5
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Agree with the Hummmmm.

Much of the time when sailing there isn't a lot of wind over the deck, esp sailing down wind, and it takes quite a bit of wind to get much out of most wind gens.

I have the best of both worlds with an aqua-aerogen 4 http://www.lvm-ltd.com/files/lvm_generator_brochure.pdf

Ocean passages in water mode I get a steady 5 amps at 5 knots 24 hours a day. It stays in wind mode unless we are going to be at sea for more than 48 hours...

In wind mode at anchor it rarely produces much at all as the secret of anchoring is to be out of the wind.... thats why they invented solar. Mind you I did once have it pegged on 20 amps for several hours..
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Old 02-20-2010, 09:32 PM   #6
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Bad link?
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Old 02-20-2010, 09:56 PM   #7
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Worked for me.... just google aqua aerogen 4 and you will find stuff.
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Old 02-21-2010, 06:13 PM   #8
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Quote:
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2 a windgen will provide power when your boat is at anchor or hooked to a mooring ... a watergen will do nothing
Not quite true.

Anchored in a tidal flow or in a river, a watergen will keep providing power provided there is sufficient flow over the impellor.

Of course, in a non-tidal environment or an area with no or little current, you are absolutely right.

Aye // Stephen
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Old 02-22-2010, 02:05 AM   #9
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Not quite true.

Anchored in a tidal flow or in a river, a watergen will keep providing power provided there is sufficient flow over the impellor.

Of course, in a non-tidal environment or an area with no or little current, you are absolutely right.

Aye // Stephen
I know a fellow who lives up in northern California on a big parcel of land...no public utilities there. In addition to a little genset that he keeps for emergency use, most of his power comes from a water generator that he has placed in a stream running through his property

Doesn't use solar (not enough sun) and doesn't use wind (sheltered location).
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Old 12-26-2010, 09:36 PM   #10
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We're still thinking about a water generator. There are so many things to DO on this boat! However, as we sailed down the coast at 10 knots for a couple days, the freewheeling prop spinning away, I was thinking "energy, energy, energy...that's free energy right there!" and of course, had no way to tap into it.
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