Portable Wind Turbine Review: Cutting Edge Power 15 watt micro wind generator - initial impressions

[@gregepp3082]

Hey Alex, In my humble opinion I wouldn't waste another minute of your time on a product with so many obvious defects. You "can't polish a turd" It seems likely this is a basement business run by a small group of people with a 3D printer. Their aim seems to be only to build an entry-level product to meet a standard only high enough to take your money and not much else. It however sheds some light on how truly difficult it is to build high-quality products at low prices.

[@SD-unlimited]

If nothing else, their Sales Prevention Department is doing a cracking job.

[@mrnips101]

It might be worth trying to find out what temperature resistance the 3d filament they use to print with has. Last thing you want is a snapped blade due to it being extremely fragile when cold.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

PET, so ok in the cold.

[@stefanbrecher364]

Ultem 9085 is a much stronger filament that can we well used for flow surfaces applications. It has very impressive temperature resistance and exhibits low deformation in its tensile strength (meaning blades are less likely to deform at higher rpm). The stratasys website has a good ultem 9085 spec sheet and can print one off and custom parts.

[@jgriff3218]

This why the kit has a two blade setup. When they break just downgrade to the two blades

[@yootoob7048]

Alex, I would not count on the "Salesman of the Year" award at this year's company Christmas party.

[@namesake-mx9nl]

The company who supplied you obviously never expected their product to go through such a rigorous examination as you carried out , especially not to the extent that you were going to weigh each blade . Very impressive . Maybe now they will bend over backwards to do everything possible to replace the product with something similar , but far more superior .

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Probably more likely they block my email address.

[@HMPirates]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals you can easily balance these blades by following the method used by model airplane hobbyists. But, looking at the product I have zero confidence in it.Tthey just slapped some off the shelf components together inside a horribly printed case. Not much thought has gone into the printing orientation/assembly, even if the plastic material survives, the print may delaminate.

[@grosgogtjopie817]

I can only Imagine that retrofitting some model aircraft propeller blades would be worth the effort. They would be much lighter, stronger and balanced a lot better. I would imagine a 3blade design would work like a charm. You can also buy different pitch angels to work more efficiently different wind conditions.

[@pauldalkin2573]

As a hobbyist 3d printer, the standard of print quality is shocking. They've literally had it set at the lowest quality print they can. Those blades are likely just going to snap at one of the layers. Cant believe a "company" would send out a product like that.

[@xeddtech]

Couldn't agree more. They definitely had it on speed mode instead of quality mode. Wouldn't surprise me if they used cheapo bulk PLA from china also

[@freespam9236]

this looks like some University prototype form some workshop class... and even then as part of testing they would make it better...

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I've tried to look beyond the aesthetics (goodness knows I need to with some of my own builds), and was optimistic about the purpose-made motor for the specific RPMs and the adaptable DC output. But yes, a commercial product shouldn't need this much tinkering.

[@ffoska]

I bet you that the housing is ordinary PLA that will melt at 60deg, and get degraded by UV. The other parts seem PETG or just awfully printed ABS. The blade geometry is wrong it looks more like a fan than a turbine. This thing is a startup scam. This kind of stuff wouldn't even fly as a university prototype. Good job. Name and shame the scammers.

[@callumkingunderwood]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals that doesnt even look like a purpose made motor either unfortunately. Looks like whatever brushed DC motor they were able to bulk buy on aliexpress that had a vaguely correct voltage to rpm rating.

[@mikelarin8037]

Coming from rc airplanes and dealing with badly balanced propellers. for balancing theres 2 techniques we use. Quick fix is strips of tape on the light blade and move it around to find the perfect balance. But I would grab some sand paper and go at the heavy blades down to the weight of the light blade Instead of additive balancing. it would also smooth out the horrible surface finish and maybe help it function better in the first place. I've been looking for something similar for my camper van in the winters and find every option unacceptable like you, either barely capable of charging a phone or it costs as much as the van. Oh and honestly their customer service can get bent with that attitude.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Interestingly, they claim the ridged finish on the blades as an intentional feature for airflow. Thanks for the blade editing tips.

[@5Stringslinger]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals Yeah, that's marketing BS. Bad printing, that's all it is. :(

[@glennmagnus854]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals I used to work with military drones, a field expedient way of refinishing and balancing propellers was to coat them in epoxy. Adding more coats to the lighter side until it was balanced then polishing smooth. I don't know if that would work of plastic blades because of the flex.

[@Obvsaninternetexpert]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals i will bet you every penny in my bank account that thing is going to shit itself.... those blades are a disgrace ..... bin it before it at best lets you down when you need it.... or one of those blades becomes lodged in your face when it flys apart just my 2 cents

[@joeldriver381]

I have been 3D printing for years and make mostly functional parts. That did not look like professional work, even if it is a more difficult to print engineering material. Large blades are available in the hobby market and much better brushless motors with way better magnets. You would need a 3 phase rectifier but that is easy. A better unit could be made with minimal engineering. Is there a real market for these? Oh- 10% is a huge difference. I suspect they were printed with completely different configs.

[@5Stringslinger]

No, there's no marked. They make a good noise, have to have VERY low tolerances or they will be even louder or introduce vibration. And they get less effective the smaller they are. Even if someone makes them very light, it's just not worth it to carry around to maybe charge your phone but not much else.

[@dw4956]

I would sent it back to Yankeeland and go for the extra two kilo's (thats two rocks 1/16 gopher) Its better to remove some material from the blades if you keep it, epoxy resin does not stick to plastic.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I'm trying to find out what plastic it is. Some plastics can be bonded with epoxy very well - e.g. already cured resin/gelcoat.

[@yuriykovalov2936]

It depends on the type of epoxy. But I agree, to balance the propeller, material needs to be removed from the blades and not added.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Would you shave consistently from one edge or another, or from the end (doubting this)?

[@yuriykovalov2936]

@Alex Hibbert Originals chech out my other comment about the propeller balancing. If you are willing to take the time, you can suspend one end of the blade by a string (may have to come up with a clever fixture for the tip) and use the scale on the other end. And flip it around and weight the tip and suspend the base. This will give you a good idea where most of your mass is and where to remove material from. Similar process is used when trying to balance out engine connecting rods.

[@dw4956]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals I would measure the length of the blades to check if the inconsistency is in the lenght. if not, you should reduce material at the strongest point, at the base between the mounting holes. Don't thin out the whole surface, just take an 8mm drill bit and start drilling a hole first. like they do in balancing a flywheel You can only take away the static imbalance this way. The dynamic imbalance is somewhat harder to do.

[@landsil_]

I've seen good reviews of WindLily, It's an attachment to their WaterLily water turbine. Whole kit is 2.4kg.

[@nullinterface2077]

The moment I realized that the entirety of the mechanical components were coarsely 3D printed, I despaired

[@ptonpc]

That motor /generator looked like a bargain bin Chinese bit of garbage. If it was a quality brand, they would be happy to say so. I would not trust it even if the casing was nicer.

[@kst357]

Look up videos on blade balancing. The value of balancing your rotating assembly can't be understated. A properly balanced blade will work more efficiently, cause less vibration, and extend the life of the bearings. Whenever I sharpen my lawnmower blade I check its balance. You could rig a lawnmower blade balancing tool to use to balance your windmill blades. They're very inexpensive tools. Anyway, I'm happy to see you adding wind power to Alan. I prefer axial generators over blade driven units but anything is better than nothing. Axial driven windmills don't need a vane, don't need to rotate as wind direction changes, and are safer to be around. Because you'll be in extreme conditions you'll need to have a good braking system so that it doesn't spin itself to pieces during a gale.

[@yuriykovalov2936]

As someone pointed out, check what type of plastic was used to make this........ device. as some plastics may become brittle in the cold temperature or deform under the sun. You could infuse the blades with 60 min laminating epoxy, but that's a lot of work and would make it very heavy. Also, you would have to remove material to match your lightest blade. As for balancing the propeller. For airplane models, we use du-bro true-spin prop balancer. It may or may not work for your application. But at least it will give you some ideas 💡 🙂

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

It's PET apparently, so temperature-safe within my bounds. Thanks for the blade adjustment advice.

[@matthewwakeham2206]

You could make a jig that uses the fixing holes of the blades as as pivot and then measure the weight of the blade via the tip or a measured contact point. The assembled prop can be assessed using a lawnmower blade balancer which is like a stepped cone that balances on a spike.

[@christiangonzaga6750]

Great review! Good to know about the rotten customer support. Definetly changed my mind on purchasing this item. Thanks again.

[@michaelcalise6111]

Thank you for that review.It was very helpful in my search.

[@laupit]

Maybe you could ask a company such as Mejzlik to custom manufacture some properly balanced carbon blades for the thing?

[@pjnealon3476]

Thanks for the video. I am thinking of buying a wind turbine and this video is extremely helpful.

[@whisperzzar3321]

How in the 9 hells do 5 3d printed identical prop blades all have differing weights... thats insane.

[@Jehty_]

Probably printed on 3 different printers do to time constraints 🤷‍♀

[@lancesmit1021]

That company needs to go down!

[@nickg421]

You paid for that thing??? With money???

[@harrismagnum04]

He's a bit special

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Jetski guy, please never leave my channel. I couldn't manage without you.

[@FloridaWinter]

“This completely not suspicious looking scale” 😂 I feel ya.

[@slartythecyclops4643]

I'm sure at this point in this epic journey into making 'the Alan' as brilliant as a Thunderbird, investing in your own 3d printer may be a valid on-board necessity to help with random repairs as well as just making your own shiz to your own spec far easier. yes a bit iffy in high seas, but having something that could replace a broken locking nut on the fly would be a game changer imop, or keep ordering cheap faking tat off the interwebs & pray! Which would be counter to the perfectionist (Anglegrinder) type person you portray 🙂 either way I thank you for a fun, if brief upgrade update & hope it don't catch fire before the end.👍

[@eviemoody]

I use a marine wind turbine to supplement power on my live aboard boat. They’re a good option in general but in my opinion the version you bought has way too many problems to be effective, even with your extensive mods. The roughness of the blades will affect airflow and efficiency. The lack of balance will result in mechanical failure, potentially dangerously. Also, that 15 watt rated power is ambitious at best. Wind turbines produce a rather disappointing amount of power under the best circumstances. Also, that company’s customer service is unforgivable. Thank you for making a video on it. I’ll certainly not be giving them my money. I really do enjoy your videos.

[@teeanahera8949]

Remember the turbine is not for a boat, it needs to be an ultra lightweight method of producing power while ski touring in the extremely high latitudes.

[@ptonpc]

@@teeanahera8949 He might be better going for metal blades, thinner but stronger. But definitely not using that turbine in any event.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Alex, Nice video, thank-you. Definitely a gap in the market though for something like this. I for one would love a super small turbine for my dinghy as the solar panel is just not reliable in the UK sun!! From my experience of 3D printing I can tell you the quality of those items is pretty poor. Even compared to my Ultimaker 3 machine, which is largely for prototyping, these remind me of machine quality we had at the dawn of 3D printing when all 3D printers were made from laser cut plywood panels!!! reason However what many people forget is that there's always a gap in the market for quality and decent service/support!!...to that this is nicely demonstrated!!! Happy boating!

[@lesallison9047]

That looks pretty rough to me, I don't think I would want to rely on it somewhere remote.

[@VanskyAlleria]

It almost seems like taking some of the internals and then creating your own enclosure and even making your own blades would end up with a better made product.

[@Space_Reptile]

for the price i expected it to be injection molded, not 3d printed, and man that print quality does not look great and as others have commented, i do hope they printed in something that can take the low temperatures as it would otherwise delaminate itself and fall to pieces in the cold as it shrinks too much

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

PET apparently

[@Space_Reptile]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals okay PET is safe for both UV and extreme temperature changes, so they though of that

[@ffoska]

@@Space_Reptile The housing does not look like PET though, It's PLA IMH.

[@stevehardyuk]

Alex When are you off to Canada?

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

January!

[@Attoparsec]

That thing wouldn't even survive a Burning Man, much less an arctic expedition!

[@MCallsen]

A slight "not amused" undertone is hard to miss. Understandably. I like the unit you have in storage there. Do you have a link?

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

www.vanguardstorage.co.uk/ (disclosure - they provide my storage free of charge)

[@Jehty_]

I am amazed by his cool. If I would have made this video it probably wouldn't be PG.

[@alttabby3633]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals Haha, I think they were asking for a link to the turbine in storage not the storage unit.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

My bad! (or was it....) www.marlec.co.uk/product/12v-rutland-504-windcharger/

[@MCallsen]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals 🤣

[@keithc904]

Wow, 3d printing is great for rapid development but a god awful manufacturing process, and unforgivable when molding is not hard to do once you have the design locked down, good on them for trying but you cant go to market with such a poor product, once bad reviews get out, you have poisoned the well, and regaining trust is hard.

[@zweiblali3410]

They probably don't have or don't want to spend the money to get proper injection molds made. Or they started creating molds and didn't want to wait for them and started selling early. But I agree 3d printing is a very bad idea for mass manufacturing such a product.

[@5Stringslinger]

The Video and everything else shows: They are bad amateurs. Yes, you can print the housing and even the blades for engineering. But the next step has to be injection molding. Yes, the molds will cost a buck but 1: you gonna need a lot of blades anyways; 2: You get a usable surface finish right away. Just the blades man... you need a few hundred right from the start. And they are printing them...

[@neipamocal]

You can get some fantastic 3d prints if you spend the money but these are absolute trash.

[@5Stringslinger]

@@neipamocal they are printing Warhammer 40k figures, these days. But the blades and housing looking like stuff that was done on 5 year old machines.

[@neipamocal]

@@5Stringslinger Yeah I print a lot of stuff in resin and fdm these prints are absolute trash the company that sold them should be embarrassed.

[@versatec1]

It seems these days a lot of things I buy I end up having to modify, often making it a better product...I think I would have made a good design engineer and shake my.head at how woefully lacking R&D can be. 😨

[@RocinanteGold]

I would suspect that their inconsistent, 3-D printed blades are likely not even close to an optimal airfoil shape.. which means that you could probably fabricate your own blades and hub plate from carbon fiber and achieve equal or better performance for less weight. I'd also mount the unit on a lightweight camera tripod, or carry some paracord and tent stakes to set up guy wires to stabilize the pole. If you plan to pack this with the blades off, then definitely balance the assembly before you go, number each blade and it's spot on the hub so you can reassemble it in the same configuration as needed.

[@ryanpalmer990]

I bought one back in 2018, unfortunately when I installed it, some light weight wire floated up into the blades when it was spinning and the entire thing destroyed itself. It’s one thing to snap a blade, but the entire unit destroyed?

[@martint1151]

I purchased one a few years ago and was very disappointed, could get no juice out of it. Tested with a power drill and reckon you would need to have blades rotating over 4000 rpm to produce less then stated 15 Watts. With delivery and customs charges was an expensive failure.

[@tyskStefan]

Wow, I did not expect there to be so few options in smaller, light wind generators. The quality looks appalling and FDM 3D-Printing has no business in commercially sold products to be quite frank. Imbalances due to weight differences and the manufacturing tolerances are far to great as you noticed. As someone has mentioned already this looks way more than a prototype - and even that is no excuse for some of the other design choices made here.

[@HeathLedgersChemist]

Love the Argument From Ignorance. FDM products are perfectly suitable for a number of applications in 'commercially sold products' - I have sold many FDM printed products, never had a single complaint. Some examples are toothbrush holders, military themed Scotch bottle holders, bolt & nuts covers for domestic lifts. The thing you seem to fail to realise is that there are literally thousands of materials suited to 'commercial use', but they all have specific use cases. For example, concrete is used throughout the world commercially, but you wouldn't build a small wind generator from it. Do you see the point?

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Everything about this tells me its a gimmick. 3D printing does not hold up in the weather. It warps when it gets hot and water can freely flow through the laminate.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Is this the case even with PET plastic? It has good temperature characteristics and isn't much of a moisture absorber.

[@af1023]

The Cutting Edge Power company out of Houston Texas appears to be out of business. I was about to buy one of their systems and found out that they were gone.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I don't believe in karma. Consequences, however...

[@oscodains]

This seems like a prototype rather than a complete product.

[@petesmith13]

Mate you easily have the skills and/or know people (like the guy who built you the sleds) who can make a far better carbon fibre version of this that will be much more suitable given the conditions you're likely to use it in

[@brochman8307]

So How did it work out or did it not work on your expedition? I fixed the blades with marine grade bolts, washers and locknuts and it rotates fine generating power into my portable power station. Thanks

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

We went with solar, as the Rutland was too heavy and these units (even the replacement) not good enough. You may have got lucky with balanced blades.

[@sgtbrown4273]

Good day, yeah late post but.....I work in the Antarctic as a winter over and from my experience on wind turbines this construction and generator design is hilarious at best and possibly criminal. You very much may need to put your life in the hands of your gear buy accordantly.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

The company are no longer in business. Shockingly.

[@Aplumber]

Love all of your content, but would have loved to see A bit more grinding. Maybe you could have ground all of the propeller blades to a uniform size - just an idea Onto my larger concern, the first one is the fact that you may have hurt a 16-year-old kid building this in his garage by your hard review… children are soft here in America 😂 Or you’ve just enraged some doomsday prepper living in a bunker in the middle of Nebraska. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t go to Nebraska for a while😅

[@robdavy4468]

That customer service experience is shocking! Also, why are they making their own blades? They're available for pennies in every size conceivable, injection molded, etc. Madness that they're 3d printing such a commodity item. But then again, they're 3d printing a spanner, so I guess when all you have is a hammer...

[@spency787]

At least with an IP68 rating you know that it will still be generating power after you have chucked it overboard in frustration 👍

[@ptonpc]

Of course there's nothing to say it really is IP68, more likely it's just been someone in the marketing dept who thought the numbers looked pretty.

[@TimoNoko]

Sorry son. That sucks to high heaven. Either you have massive gear-box or massive 50-pole generator, which both are heavy and expensive. You just cannot get enough RPM from some 2 pole motor/generator. They obviously tried to tilt those generator blades for maximum speed. And it does work some but only in very high winds... As it happens, I made 30 years ago a similar wind generator from bicycle dynamo and if the wind was good, it produced 3 watts all night long, which was much better than solar panels in Finnmark. It also had high speed blades connected directly as this design.... If I was to do this again, I would consider those modern bicycle hub generators, they have multipoles or gearboxes because bicycle hubs turn so slowly. They are also sturdy and waterproof.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

To be fair to the company, their website specially states that the motor is built to operate at the RPMs that the blades will deliver. It's not just a random off-the-shelf brushed motor. I was getting a pretty good current even below 10mph wind.

[@joe7004]

😎👀🤔💭 very thorough review thank you👌👍👋✌🏻

[@steveo601]

Wow. What a turdasoraus Rex. That sucker’s gonna burst into flames at 25 rpm😆😆😆😆

[@joemama.556]

my advice would be: make moulds of every plastic part and make it yourself in carbon/glass fiber. that turbine is not ok even for prototyping purposes, too much flex on all that plastic and it will probably loose eficiency and will beat itself to death due to vibrations and unbalance..

[@ffoska]

Just throw it away, and get some reputable people to design something. Lots of makers have plans for this type of stuff. I can tell by the looks of the blades that the geometry is way off... this is a straight up startup scam.

[@joemama.556]

@@ffoska agreed, maybe the electronics are usable for a properly built turbine, even with a gearbox

[@nickframe6743]

There is absolutely NO excuse for such awful responses from their “Customer Service”. I’m outraged and I’m just watching your video - the fact that you are persevering says way more about you than them! Hope you can make it work, because they don’t appear to want to. 🤷‍♂️

[@ThePaulv12]

Alex I'm a mechanic and I can tell you that there is not one hope in hell that I would use this POS. I don't trust it, I don't trust the seller, I don't like it, I hate the mounting. Mechanically speaking the moment of it on the top of even a small mast is going to be substantial. How are those three pitiful screws going to stay tight in that pitiful printed housing pounded by water and wind? The shitty plastic will deform under load and you'll probably never be able to keep the screws tight. I imagine with my over active imagination that some wally is 3D printing this in his bedroom at mum's while she's doing his washing and cooking for him. Even the most simple question is met with passive aggression. Aaaaaargghhhh........

[@wifiguy_nz]

Step in youtubers that can design and build a housing/product prototype using recycled materials, this will get crowdfunding and the world is a slightly better place?

[@theafro]

Looks like hot-garbage to me, taking that thing with you on an expedition (or even a strenuous picnic) would not go well. You'd do much better by simply making your own, or at least replacing the shitty printed parts with something less prone to crumbling away when temperatures drop. I don't know what that heap cost you, but there's about £10 worth of parts there, and most of that is in the electronics. I'd suggest visiting your local RC hobby shop (or just going online) and buying a couple of nice big electric aircraft propellors, they're reasonably cheap, strong, and light. and are also very well balanced from the factory, making (or buying) a simple adaptor to mount them onto the motor with (they're usually 2-bladed, so stacking to make a 4-blader would work to increase power available). of course, for a much greater power to weight, a brushless motor/generator is best, and figuring out your own rectification/regulation is quite do-able and not too taxing, even with limited electronics experience. but that's a bit more of a project, and might best be left for a rainy-day. I've built a few little turbines to play with, and while none were pretty, they were all capable of respectable outputs, and cost nearly nothing, throw a little (and i mean little) budget at the problem, and i'm pretty sure you could come up with a very nice, light-weight solution. EDIT: why not ring around a few people on the UK? I'm sure I've worked with a company that did small lightweight turbines, although I'm blanking on the name. I'm sure that if you could find a small outfit that did something at least CLOSE to what you want, they could work with you to produce a viable unit, especially if you were willing to take it somewhere interesting to test/promote for them.

[@FrankSchuster-bc1pe]

What 15 watts, if I put one finger in the north sea I got one watt

[@chris7015]

Doesn't sound like a company I want to patronize.

[@Jehty_]

I wonder if it wouldn't be better to DIY a turbine instead of trying to fix this crap. I would use the motor (if that´s any good) and scrap the rest. Buying new blades is probably cheaper than trying to fix theirs. Then the huge plastic housing around the motor. Since weight matters for you, do you really need such a bulky (and probably heavy) housing? I would think that with a bit of tinkering you could come up with a much better, sturdier and lighter design. And bonus: You trying to DIY a turbine would make for a few interesting videos :)

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

If only I didn't have a dozen complex builds on the go already 🤣 I wanted something that worked straight off the shelf.

[@tonhaodapadaria4011]

😎

[@LesNewell]

I'm afraid you just bought a box full of red flags. No matter what you do with it, it's still going to be junk. Aside from it's mechanical flaws, it is doomed to failure from the start. A big problem with wind power is that the available power goes up exponentially as wind speed rises. That means you get virtually nothing at low speed. They quote 5mph cut in speed. The blades may turn but you won't get any power out at that speed. Conversely they quote a survival speed of 45MPH. That means even a gust at say 50mph will probably destroy it. 50 MPH gusts are not that rare, especially at sea. Looking at the blades, I think even 45MPH is very optimistic. That cheap brushed motor is not designed to handle thrust loads. That means the bearings won't last long at all, especially in salty air. Unless you are somewhere with a fairly high steady wind, the average output of the wind generator is likely to be only a couple of watts. That's not really any use for anything.

[@Dr.Gunsmith]

They called cutting edge for a reason, you lose ya fingers on the ruff unfinished edges 😂

[@ptonpc]

I have to admit, as soon as I saw this, I thought it is not even a firm turd you can polish. There is absolutely nothing there that speaks of quality. This is a product that's been designed to look good from 10 feet away and pre purchase but I would not trust it.

[@dfgggfg]

I'd suggest that something stronger from China will be better. They offer 300-800 Watt wind turbines, with mppt controller. Together with solar panels you'll have lots of energy.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

On the boat big is fine. I'm aiming for a pair of sub-1kg turbines.

[@0xKruzr]

good Lord, these people are astoundingly awful at the advanced business practice of "doing literally anything at all." even if they were inclined to be nothing but rude, one would think that they would be smart enough to know that you could do an enormous service to their business simply by mentioning that you're using their product aboard Alan and had a great experience. just nothing but a series of one after another own goals.

[@EnergeticAdvantage]

If you're trying to DIY something like that up, I wonder how effectively the props and motors from a large quad copter could be repurposed. You would at least be able to source a properly balanced carbon fibre prop

[@michaelvanallen6400]

*All practical tests of ground-based small wind turbines show: 1) They hardly produce any electricity. 2) They don't last do not last long!* No electricity because there is hardly any wind near the ground - and the electricity yield is proportional to the third power of the wind speed: 100% more wind = 800% more electricity! In addition, the wind near the ground is extremely gusty. 9 out of 10 small wind turbines therefore cease operation after a short time! *With light FLEXIBLE solar panels, you can generate at least 10 times more green electricity with the same investment of time and money! Reliable and virtually maintenance-free for at least 25 years.*

[@LostDeadSoul]

It seems what you have there is a dynamo. Almost since the dawn of electricity dynamos have been used. They are though inherently inefficient and fail quicker. So the verdict of that generator is "Scrap/Junk". Everything is wrong. And if you need a generator which works in all weather and doesn't break, you need one who can turn the blades out of the wind, when the wind is raging(50+ m/s). I have not seen that in small scale generators, but who is the first ;)

[@Aheitchoo]

That thing looks like a toy. I would not trust it for safety, and maybe not even for luxuries. That said, you could probably balance the blades by weighing each side of each blade with the other side on a stand. Then balance by sanding (or adding epoxy as you describe) each side. That stuff sure looks like PLA though, and not suitable for water exposure over time.

[@chiefbloodygrass]

nice review, they will feel the burn...😡

[@nuthenry2]

You may be just be better off to just buy a motor and make your own wind generator, You could probably use a model airplane propeller As wind blades

[@pheffr]

This is amateurish and almost a little frightening. 3D printed wind turbine blades are something you'd expect to see in a middle school science classroom, not in a production model. Aside from the unprofessional looking finish, it has to be the root of their slow lead times. Each of those blades took hours to print. The money they've spent on 3D printers and labor to run them would have easily bought an injection molding setup.

[@FructusSum]

That look like a really badly 3d printed job for the blade and body....

[@Kalledussin]

I'm dubious. Hope it works well but it looks so janky. The 3d prints look like they came from a 10 year old hobby printer.

[@uncledodge9396]

I'm about a hundred miles away from you and I can feel the burn from here! Shoddy quality and a poorly made product, how can they present this?

[@tikunshana784]

Seems weird that they sell raw 3D prints instead of the normal way where you use 3D printed proto components in order to make silicone 4 urethane molds. Must be a bunch of Happy Elementary school students or similar...

[@MRBIG-bw4xc]

i dont know about you but the Tex Energy 5T is a preferable option to what looks like shitty 3D printing

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Alas. I do need 12V. And their 12V unit is no lighter than my Rutland 504.

[@MRBIG-bw4xc]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals fair enough

[@truthwsyf]

Most awful product & customer experience. I would've given up long ago...

[@VinceW187]

Looks DIY at best, not hopeful

[@xeddtech]

I am appauled at the "customer service" of that trash-heap of a company. You honestly could make something better by buying the electronic components from aliexpress, and printing the other bits out yourself. At least then you could get blades that were at least marginally the same weight

[@normanboyes4983]

That micro turbine is an utter scam job.

[@safetyinstructor]

That's a terrible company

[@fluffernaut9905]

chief i wouldn't trust those wind generators to charge my phone on a river let alone in the high stress environments you plan on using it.

[@YellowPinkie]

That wind turbine is a crock of shit.

[@r-urbex1611]

I'd want a refund! I've seen home made printers do a better job than that

[@rik8508]

I understand why you persevere with this project, but my god what a terrible product it is.

[@Dirt-Diggler]

Chinese quality control from a US company 👍

[@petejones1957]

The generator module looks like a cheap dc motor rather than a brushless ac generator as used in everything other than the cheapest "toy" turbines, As virtually all comments state, the build quality is terrible, I certainly wouldn't take it on a camping holiday in the UK let alone an expedition where my life may well be dependent upon it. Best of luck!

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

You're spot on

[@nobs3075]

It amazes me that after watching all your episodes to this point you invest your time in attempting to lecture/educate a two bit company. What amazes me even more is that you are using this equipment, not to grow hemp in an off grid plot of land in Oregon, but potentially stake your and any colleagues lives on this questionable caca. I hope you come to your senses, spend less money on a comfy toilet seat and more on items that frugalness is irrelevant. BTW, I love your show, and of course, Alan.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I'll be using the Rutland.

[@nobs3075]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals Now we're talking. I do appreciate your attempts to promote no-name companies. Hopefully, they take your advice and plug to create something of quality - like A.H. Originals.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Very kind of you. I've received a new unit from Cutting Edge - no fundamental changes, but they have mitigated a few of my concerns. It's not expedition-ready though.

[@Wojtekpl2]

Looks like pretty cheap 3d printing result... Waste of money IMHO.

[@magnuz69]

That product seems a bit shit innit?

[@anonpers0n]

looks like utter crap to me, i'd go about making something else lighter or find another way to get the power before i'd carry such dubious crap into the far north

[@DuudSimon]

that is probably the worst product i've ever seen. those blades will crack in cold temperatures for sure. buy a texenergy turbine instead.

[@-HighTide]

1st ? You can't imagine interruptions from the Russians.

[@dw4956]

Yeah....lets blame the Russians, how mature and intelligent.

[@-HighTide]

@@dw4956 Its true, Putine has totally distracted me from my otherwise enjoyable KZbin routine..

[@-HighTide]

@@dw4956 is a Russian Bot

[@knoxieman]

Great video, terrible product.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

The company is now out of business, as far as I can tell.

[@northwestlife_9]

WHY is providing a decent wind turbine for smaller applications such a challenge? My little drone has more engineering in it than this garbage.

[@MrSummitville]

It is very easy to make a motor spin a propeller. It is very difficult to make alot of energy, from a small amount of wind. If you think it can be done, then do it.

[@northwestlife_9]

@@MrSummitville Hence my question, jack@$$.

[@rossstewart9475]

Yikes - I feel like you could've done a better job yourself with a DC motor, some fibreglass and a grinder, whilst at sea, hungover, and with frostbite in three fingers. Piece of junk, mate: Whilst perhaps not the sole objective of your video, I thank you for highlighting how bad this company is to future potential marks.