Cheapest Sunforce 44444 12-Volt 400-Watt Wind Generator

We have been involved with this product from the mid 90's. Initially the manufacturer (Southwest Windpower) had potted regulators inside the nifty cast aluminum housing on their 303 wind-machines. After installation the machine ran great (except for the unbelievable noise from the blades) for about 2 weeks until the uncooled regulator overheated and self destructed. We were living off the grid in a very remote part of Samoa at the time and literally depended on the output from our wind turbines and solar panels. We had a lot of experience with older types of permanent magnet wind generators and spruce (wood) blades. Our older Redwing generators never gave us any trouble except for the necessity to periodically replace the brushes. Southwest Windpower was contacted after our early debacle and this was the beginning of many overseas phone calls and 99 email correspondence over 4 years, fighting with them to stand behind their product and do some actual real world testing of their product. These people had a great idea but the bugs were not worked out and we were their unwitting test subjects. Jay Yaeger, Dave Snowberg, Sean Hickey: all Southwest Windpower muckety mucks get a big thumbs down for their lack of followup and support.
Initially Southwest Windpower was coerced into sending us replacement parts. Later after much wrangling we did mange to have the company send us updated versions/replacement machines. Many, many hours of troubleshooting for them, pulling wires, dismantling our installation, re-installation...etc. We installed these and guess what : more overheating and failures. In one long distance telephone conversation with Jay Yaeger at Southwest Windpower I asked him if they did any wind tunnel testing to be certain these machines would stand up to hours and hours of use. I asked if they did wind tunnel testing to check for vibration and blade noise. The response was NO!!! He told me they were not set up to do this. My interpretation over the years: this company, as well intentioned as they may be, are using us (the consumer) to test their product for them. Whilst they are using their consumers to this end, they offer very poor support and excuses.
This is all, of course, historical review of the product. It could very well be that this company has evolved (thanks to its early failures) and is now acting more responsibly.
My advise to anyone purchasing this product is to be certain you have the warranty parameters with your vendor clearly delineated.Get more detail about Sunforce 44444 12-Volt 400-Watt Wind Generator.