Sorry I haven’t been updating the blog, but there hasn’t been much to say. I was out of town for training and now I’m studying for a technical certification in my “spare” time. Parker was here from Redriven last week and tried to upload the code back into the Nacell card, but with no luck. Just has he suspect, The card would not load in the field. What we have been waiting for all this time is a new card that can be swapped out for the one we have. They don’t know yet why these cards loose their code.
Parker finally came today but late, so my husband and I lowered the tower before he got here. We’ve never done this with a large amount of snow before. My daughter cut a path with snow shoes, so it wasn’t as hard to walk in the snow to the turbine. Next time we know bring a bucket for the bolts so they don’t get lost in the snow. You also need to clear out the path for the piston. Neopreen gloves are handy too. The tower is so cold your bear hands stick to it and normal gloves make it hard to handle the washers.
The snow and ice packed in the space between the base sides. The ice blocked the piston so it couldn’t line up with the hole for the bolt to go through the base. It sure is a lot easier in the summer.
While we had the turbine down some snow piled on blades and the tower. We used a heat gun to melt some of the ice off of the blades so it wouldn’t be unbalanced when the wind got going. I also worried that when the tower went up that the ice might come down from the tower on us but it held for the time we were out there putting the bolts back in.
Now we wait for wind . . .
I've been following your blog for a while now and I feel bad for all the issues you've had with your windmill. I hope they can solve these problems eventually, but if they can't, can you get your money back? Have other Redriven customers had similar problems?
ReplyDeleteI'm not ready to ask for my money back yet. The tower works like a champ and tower was the most expensive part. This new control system works more efficiently, but still needs to get the bugs worked out of it. I still believe Redriven will be able to get these working reliably, with my luck that will be August when there is no wind. It really kills me on those windy days to see it just sit there.
ReplyDeleteAre you aware NYSERDA (The state of New York) has delisted ReDriven from their rebate program due to so many defective turbines?
ReplyDeleteThe State of California is investigating a number of defective ReDriven units (to include mine) and will likely delist them from their rebate program as well.
We purchased our turbine from them almost 3 years ago. It has yet to function as it should and has not produced ANY meaningful power.
We have filed a claim against them with the BBB. ReDriven chose not to respond. The BBB closed the case as "unresolved" and gave them a D+ rating. ReDriven does not seem to care.
I would like contact information from any ReDriven customers with defective Turbines. We are considering filing a class action suit against them.
Jerry Papenheim
530 472 1780
jtp1@frontiernet.net