Whisper / Luminous vs ? - winch

[Robert Marsh]

I put up a Whisper 1000, in 1999, when it was still made by World Power. I have replaced the tail twice, and 2 diodes in the control box over the last 16 years. Blades are starting to get a bit rough. It just quit working... short at the top of the tower (100' + 6' of 2.5" pipe on top). I did not design the junction box at the top well, and will have to tilt it down to work on it. I am planning to grade my "tilt down" process, and re-do the box.

Issues / Questions:

1. Parts, is there any access to parts, any cross over with the Luminous Whisper 200, or will I be fabricating all from scratch ?

2. This is a 2 blade unit: There used to be an upgrade to a 3-blade many years ago.... this IS a 16 year old wind plant.... it is the last year of tax credits.....

a. When I look at the Home Power chart from June 2015, there are two small plants I would consider. Bergley Excel 1, and the Luminous Whisper 200... at my wind (8 mph average I have estimated from recording amp meter, nothing in the summer bar the occasional storm, decent the other half of the year) = I have storms, a few months with a number of days of 12-20 MPH. Looking at this chart, I see double the output from the Luminous, at half the cost, and it mounts on my existing 2.5" mast. What am I missing ? Is the new Luminous as well built as the World Power Tech. (before it was sold to SW Wind before it was sold to Luminous) ?

b. Looking at a winch to replace the tractor... any suggestions ? 12" lattice (I think it was an old 10k Windcharger tower), 40' gin pole with 2 set's of cables (3 on all 3 legs, just have 2 on the 4th leg / gin pole guys that are redundant except for raising and lowering).

Thanks for any advice / assistance,

Robert

[Ralph Day]

Hi Robert
Welcome to the forum. I have a Bergey XL1 and am very pleased with it. It replaced a Southwest windpower H80 that lasted 10 years. 2 sets of bearings, a nose cone and blades were the maintenance done on the H80 over it's lifetime. A really big windstorm on Dec 24 2014 blew the turbine apart. The rotor broke apart (metal fatigue i guess) sending blades flying. Insurance replaced with a much better unit.

If you're going with a Bergey and Midnite solar Classic controller, I'd suggest you get the Clipper as well (instead of just the breaker box/brake circuit breakers). I spent a couple of weeks without the clipper (just the breakers and dump loads) and was not happy. The Bergey is noisier than the H80 was, but at a lower frequency roar. With the Classic and the clipper I can just about avoid all noises. I might lose a bit of power in the gusts because I have the input voltage clipping (heating the resistors in the Clipper) at a much lower voltage than the Classic controller can handle. The turbine is put into heat dumping mode before it gets wound up really fast.

Bergey's appear to be built tough. LIke a tractor as opposed to a sports car. I like that.

Ral[ph