Posted by z on September 26, 2008, 1:27 pm
>
>>...
>> I have an old scrapped out 1000i generator and had
>> a shaft made to run a couple pillow block bearings and a pulley as
>> the power input. Now the plan is to build a water wheel and spin the
>> shaft at whatever RPM is required to create 120V output to transmit
>> the power up the hill. Im a bit shaky on all the math thats required
>> for all this so I thought I would drop you all a line and get some
>> advice.
>
> My advice is to make yourself less shaky. You can slap something easy
> together but you could get 5% of it's potential or overload and break
> something unless you have a better idea of the basics of electrical
> and mechanical engineering.
>
> The comment that you had the shaft made rather than did it yourself
> suggests throwing money at failures.
>
> Also trying to get 3600 rpm out of a water wheel under load is
> impossible. The wheel will not spin that fast and trying to gear the
> speed up will add to the load. You need to rethink it all out again.
>
Like others have said -- get your water wheel turning first and see just
how much power you can make out of that EU1000. Once you have an idea of
the potential energy you've got in that wheel and your basic generation
setup you can then worry about getting the juice to its destination.
You may need to avoid the whole 120 v AC issue and go with a PMA (or
other) wind turbine type generator (rather than the EU) and send wild AC
the 500 feet and then use a rectifier to change to 12v DC and charge the
batteries directly and ditch the 120v charger altogther.
I'm a big fan of hydro so keep us informed on your progress!!
-zachary
Posted by gomango on September 26, 2008, 9:19 pm
Thanks to all that answered. Its nice to have some input on the short
comings on the system design. The generator is now tore down
completely and is simply a PMA as Z suggested. Im working on a way to
divert enough flow from the creek at a high enough volume to spin an
8' water wheel, and Im pretty sure that the 8' wheel would have enough
torque to spin the generator once geared down. Who knows... that
experiment might not pan out. It depends on the amount of water I am
able to trough.
Im going to rethink this taking into consideration everything you all
pointed out to me. The start is where Im at and the entire direction
I go in power generation is based on how feasible it is to transmit
the power over this distance. I needed to know if it was possible to
obtain my goal over this distance and from what you all tell me is
that it is. I will now move towards generating power and testing the
output in multiple configurations. First things first.... need to get
the water wheel built.
One thing that Im confused about is the statement that I am throwing
money at failures.... I have nothing in this except time. The shaft
was owed to me and without it I guess I would have absolutely no
starting point. How do you gather that Im throwing money at
failures? The other comments were quite helpful. Taking a stab at
guessing my personality and experience was a bit out of scope. Im
trying to get input to help me move in a positive direction, not place
my idea on a dart board for you to throw knives at.
With that said..... Wish me luck with the water wheel
Pictures of the PMA components on the workbench.
http://backhomebuilder.com/100_4174.JPG
http://backhomebuilder.com/100_4175.JPG
Posted by Jim Wilkins on September 27, 2008, 11:21 am
> ...
> One thing that Im confused about is the statement that I am throwing
> money at failures.... I have nothing in this except time. ...
> With that said..... Wish me luck with the water wheel
> Pictures of the PMA components on the workbench.http://backhomebuilder.com/100_4174.JPGhttp://backhomebuilder.com/100_4175.JPG
If it was free then no problem. Shafts, bearings and pulleys can be
expensive if you don't have a surplus source. I reluctantly spent at
least $200 on shafts, pulleys, bearings etc for a 5 HP double
reduction for my sawmill. They are all bare steel that would quickly
rust in a damp area.
Then there's the machining if you can't find parts that bolt together.
Shafting with the keyway already milled in it helps but you need
matching pulleys or a keyway broach and bushings.
Posted by BobG on September 27, 2008, 1:03 pm
Dont build a water wheel. Inefficient. Divert flow from the dam to a
pelton wheel. 99% efficient. Search for microhydro. Try looking at
windsun.
Posted by z on September 27, 2008, 2:24 pm
56e5e043f427@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:
> Dont build a water wheel. Inefficient. Divert flow from the dam to a
> pelton wheel. 99% efficient. Search for microhydro. Try looking at
> windsun.
>
from the sounds of it he doesn't have a lot of head, but a lot of flow.
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>>...
>> I have an old scrapped out 1000i generator and had
>> a shaft made to run a couple pillow block bearings and a pulley as
>> the power input. Now the plan is to build a water wheel and spin the
>> shaft at whatever RPM is required to create 120V output to transmit
>> the power up the hill. Im a bit shaky on all the math thats required
>> for all this so I thought I would drop you all a line and get some
>> advice.
>
> My advice is to make yourself less shaky. You can slap something easy
> together but you could get 5% of it's potential or overload and break
> something unless you have a better idea of the basics of electrical
> and mechanical engineering.
>
> The comment that you had the shaft made rather than did it yourself
> suggests throwing money at failures.
>
> Also trying to get 3600 rpm out of a water wheel under load is
> impossible. The wheel will not spin that fast and trying to gear the
> speed up will add to the load. You need to rethink it all out again.
>