Sunforce 44444 12Volt 400Watt Wind Generator Reviews

• It looks Nice,but....

  
  By A3Q2K6KMTRMPLE on 2008-02-01
  Purchased My first wind generator a month or so ago,and found that the shaft was turning inside the front bearing as unit would not start up in less than a 25mph wind,rma'd back to amazon (there the best) and no thanks goes to southwest,8 days for a reply....slow to say the least...anyhow I have my replacement unit,and it does spin up easier,however the output is nowhere near the rated 27amps,I am seeing 2-3 amps barely @ 30mph winds,so to close,I'm gonna keep this one,just for the fact that its here and it looks cool up on the pole,but in the future I think I will just keep expanding my PV array,seeing 5+ amps from 7 sunforce 15watt panels in winter sun....
  
  

• Probably a misprint

  
  By A20V70N4GOALDI on 2008-04-24
  The rated amps is probably a misprint. A little math will show that since volts x amps = watts the 400 watt generator at 12 volts will produce about 3.3 amps maximum. A realistic average would be somewhat lower. The 27 amp rating is probably 2.7 amps which is much more realistic.
  
  

• 2nd correction

  
  By A30IQUWYD5481U on 2008-05-06
  I am writing to help people understand about voltage(V), current(I) and power(W). First off, the max voltage and the current that the wind generator is rated at is probably in the form of Voc and Isc which stands for voltage(V)open circuit and current(I)short circuit. Voc is measured in parallel but Isc or current can ONLY be measured in series or in-line with the the source, NEVER in parallel. To get an accurate Isc reading you must "short" or close the circuit with the measuring device as the load of the Generator. Unless you have an AMP clamp, current transformer(CT) or some other way to measure higher current, you can't get an accurate measurement. Most multimeters can measure current BUT most CAN'T measure more than say 10 Amps. Anything more then that will usually result in a burnt fuse or worst, a burnt meter. This also describes how they got their figures(Watts and Amps). Under Voc and Isc the voltage can be about 21V and the current could be about 20-25 amps. Only under a load will the voltage go down to aprox. 13-14V and the amperage will also drop accordingly. The way they got their voltage, amperage, and wattage figures are in of course perfect wind conditions and typically will be much less on average. Therefore the figures are correct but they will never be seen unless you measure them in the perfect wind conditions under zero load as stated above. As for the Amperage, unless you have all the necessary charging equipment you dont want to see more then say 6-10 amps going to a wet cell battery anyway because you can overcharge or damage your battery or batteries, maybe even explode. I hope this makes scence and helps some people. I dont own this Generator but I would buy it if i had more wind where i live.
  
  

• Clarification

  
  By A3RTPTMCR77UC4 on 2008-04-24
  I do not own one of these.
  I wanted to clarify that 400 watts is the point at which the unit goes up in a puff of smoke. It is 400 watts maximum output. 400w is not what anyone should exxpect to get. 100w would be great, and even that sounds optimistic. 50w is probably "nominal".
  
  

• Watts=Volts X Amps

  
  By AK6463ICXM96C on 2008-05-02
  27 Amps X 14 Volts = 378 Watts therefore 2-3 amps is unacceptable if batterys are low, unit is either defective or way over rated.... unless batteries were almost full then 2-3 amps is normal since regulator is tappering down voltage,
  
  

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