I was looking at some pictures that Maverick Solar had posted on their site of the Classic. From what I can see in the pictures, there are 2 small cooling fans that blow up underneath the top circuit board. Also, it appears the case of the Classic is die cast (aluminum, I'm assuming). Based on a few pictures, I'm not sure on how the thermal cooling is designed for the Classic, but I'd guess that the die cast body is also part of the heat sink.
If that's the case, I wonder if mounting the Classic on a large metal surface or large heat sink surface would further improve the cooling ability and keep the internal electronics cooler under higher power situations?
A mad scientist type (like me) could even imagine using some heat sink grease along the back to improve heat transfer. I know, it'd be messy and might seem nutty to some, but I suspect that my particular wind turbine might work with 1 Classic, but it might be at the limits of it's power handling capabilities. So, my warped engineering brain (mixed with some redneck tendencies) starts to drift off into thinking about ways to make it work. :)
Edward
The case is die cast and on the hot side there are a bunch of fingers protruding out there is also a turbo fan on the exterior of the Classic that blows over these fingers. I do not suspect mounting on a metal heat sink would make any significant gain basically because the hottest part would still not touch but then again i have not tried either.
Just to show you what I was thinking... perhaps a large heat sink extrusion like this could be used on the back side of the full length of the Classic. This can be bought in custom lengths up to 73.5", so it could be cut to the length of the Classic.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Heatsink-Aluminum-Extrusion-10-080-Wide-x-12-Long_W0QQitemZ170586197124QQcategoryZ29402QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Heatsink-Aluminum-Extrusion-10-080-Wide-x-12-Long_W0QQitemZ170586197124QQcategoryZ29402QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340)
Edward
Adding an additional heatsink will not help increase power output. You cannot get enough surface area attached. We already put pin fins on the hottest part. That severely limits what area is left. It just won't make enough difference to make it worth trying. The best way to increase power if needed is to add another Classic. Your turbine has not yet shown it needs more than one Classic. We also do not know which Classic you need.
Thanks for the feedback Robin.
- Edward