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Thread: Calling all alternative energy gurus!!

  1. #51
    LHBA Member BoFuller's Avatar
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    In theory it sounds good, but you will have to have a pretty strong stream of water falling a considerable distance just to turn those wheels. IMHO.
    If it doesn't cost much, go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It'll be cool for the grandkids to climb on if it doesn't work.

  2. #52
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    The suggested micro hydro packaged unit would probably be a way smaller foot print and easier to set up an maintain. Especially if it is only going to power a fridge, got a small year round stream through my property, its on the edge of flow to set up the micro, the limits seem to be about 10 foot to elevation(head) an 5 to 10 gpm, it was easier to purchase a small propane generator as a backup, but a constant hydo power would sure be ideal.

  3. #53
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    This would only be a secondary system if it did work at all. I know it would take some managing that is why the numerous speeds would be necessary. Also we're looking at ways to manage the water flow via pipe ect and set it for low water and funnel the amount of water you need into a supply tank by the size of pipe feeding the tank then the wheel. We are talking about maybe a 3'-4' water wheel not a big 12' one or anything big. We are planing the main system to be a pelton wheel type of hydro power with back up batteries inverter and all that entails but since he wanted to do something like this we were looking into it as a system that would be separate from everything else so we don't run the batteries down and interfere with the refrig and especially the freezer and would not have batteries to go bad just when you didn't have the money to buy new ones or whatever.
    At this point we are just listening to him and trying to check it out. He is also in the process of building a perm. mag. generator.

  4. #54
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Try this first. Raise one rear wheel of a tractor off the ground. Put the tranny in any gear. Have someone push on the clutch and then see how fast you can get the wheel turning by hand. Before you can generate a watt of power, you have to have enough energy to turn all those gears.

    If you have enough fall in the water supply to run a microhydro, it'll do wonders. All that energy that would have been trying to turn those tractor gears would be charging batteries. An inverter is all it'd take to run your home. Modern electronics has solved the problem already.

    The tractor is still a great tool, just not much of a power supply to run your lights and computers off of.

  5. #55
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    Ok, Thanks guys,
    I had that question in my mind from the time he started talking about all this, how you get enough to start the waterwheel turning with all that attached to it. Thanks for saving us a lot of time and wasted energy.

  6. #56
    LHBA Member jrdavis's Avatar
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    You might look into a 'tesla wheel' in a stand alone platform.

    He created his first water wheel at age 5, I believe.
    less friction, more water flow with less gpm needed.
    I don't have a site, but tesla wheel is ALWAYS a good google search on a rainy day.

  7. #57
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    I once had a neighbor with a procession of flawed hydro systems on her property. There was a beautiful, old 12' diameter overshot wheel, with chain drive gearing that spun an alternator for the original 12v DC system. Built in the 1960's and never did put out much power, so they'd lived on generators.

    Then her Mother died and left her a little money so she'd contracted for the $40,000 option that ran a 4" pipe way up the creek to get enough water and fall to run a 24" pelton wheel producing 240v AC. Life was perfect for her all winter, and she had power to for electric stove, dryer, conventional refrigerator, and left over juice to burn off in her hot tub... until mid spring when there wasn't enough water to turn the big wheel so she was back on generator power and propane for her hot tub.

    I was remodeling her house and replacing all her old, small, corroded galvanized pipe with big PVC to gain water pressure from her spring. I walked the hydro line and noticed that there was a pretty good flow, even in late August, but not enough to turn the big pelton wheel. I took 100 yards of 2" PVC, that was slated to run from her house to her spring, and temporarily ran it from a cleanout valve in the 4" hydro line, to a spot near the house. Then I hooked my own 6" pelton microhydro to it and she was putting out more power than we were living on. She spent $2,000 on a Harris hydro, batteries, and an inverter and suddenly she was running all the 110v AC loads in her house that didn't produce heat. Lights, radios, TV/VCR, washer, gas dryer, swamp cooler, and everything but a refrigerator (she'd already gone back to a gas refer). I buried the water line and made it permanent and it is still her son's power system 25 years later.

    She ran a dual system for a year or two but vandals kept shooting the 4" water line (below the micro hydro tap), so she finally capped the pipe and sold the big hydro for a pittance. That inverter that cost her $1,200 back then would be $200 now. Batteries are still expensive but a bargain nonetheless. The real boon these days is cheap solar that can be ganged to the microhydro system to account for summer loss that some folks have to contend with.

    This all started out as a testament to my limited experience with overshot wheels and gearing loss. If Peter or Rod had been there at the time, they woulda had figures about water flow, pressure, phase of the moon, and static dynamics, etc, etc. I'm more of a "let's hook 'er up and see what it'll do" kinda guy. Sometimes it works out OK.
    Last edited by loghousenut; 06-23-2013 at 07:33 AM.

  8. #58
    LHBA Member jrdavis's Avatar
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    here's a rainy day time sucker site....
    Lots of stuff I'd like to incorporate!!!
    http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Hydro/hydro.htm

  9. #59
    LHBA Member rreidnauer's Avatar
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    Again, using automotive alternator/generator is never a good idea.

    And forget trying to get 120v / 60hz direct from a water wheel. As soon as you change the load, it would vary both volts and hertz, since you have no governer in place. It'd be like an engine with a fixed in place throttle.
    All my bad forum habits I learned from LHN

    Rod Reidnauer
    Class of Apr. 9-10, 2005
    Thinking outside the vinyl sided box

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