Aquair 100
TM
Manual
© Ampair
®
, 2007
www.ampair.com
Page 5 of 23
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Introduction
The Aquair 100 is a dual capability generator, which can be either water or wind driven. It is
capable of supplying up to 100 watts of electrical power at either 12 or 24 volts for charging
batteries.
The generator
This unit consists of a two-part cast aluminium body, the two parts sealed by an “O" ring. Two
six-pole magnetic rotors run with their poles in line on a stainless steel shaft. The shaft runs in
two sealed and grease packed ball bearings, with the front bearing protected by a shaft seal.
Two six-pole stators are arranged with their poles staggered at 30 degrees to minimise
“cogging” or break out torque and so allow easy starting. The unit is assembled with one stator
in the main body casting and the other in the nose casting. During assembly these are precisely
aligned on the test bench to give optimum performance. A small timing mark is made at the
junction of the case halves to allow accurate re-assembly. The AC output from each stator is
full-wave rectified by bridge rectifiers, one per stator. The DC output of the two rectifiers is
paralleled and passes to the output cable. The output is isolated from the case.
Water mode
In water mode the generator body is mounted in a stainless steel gimbal ring. The body pivots
on two stainless steel pins running in acetal (delrin) bushes. The pivot pins are retained in the
ring by two clevis pins.
Figure 1. Water Mode.
Gimbal Ring:
The gimbal ring is attached to the boats stern pulpit, or other convenient
horizontal structure, by two lanyards, one at the top, one at the bottom. These lanyards must be
located by the fixings provided on the gimbal ring, at 90 degrees to the pivot axis. This
arrangement gives freedom to move about the horizontal axis due to the gimbal ring pivots and
about the vertical axis due to the lanyards. A permanent deck mount option is available (see
Figure 6).
Towed Turbine:
This consists of an aluminium propeller mounted on a stainless steel shaft with
a “D” loop for rope attachment. This is attached to the generator by 30 metres (100 ft.) of 12mm
braid on braid polyester rope via a bow shackle and acetyl shaft connector. The shackle and
shaft connector are attached to the generator shaft by an M6 x 30mm stainless steel cap screw
with shake-proof washer. The shaft connector is made to break at a load of approx. 300kg
(700lb) to safeguard the generator in the event of the towed turbine being caught on rocks, coral
etc. For boats consistently exceeding 8 knots, a coarse pitch, towed turbine is available.
