damn the damp + new EU2000 tip - Page 4

 
I found inner plane shorts in new circuit boards that way. With 1 Amp
from a lab supply applied, 1 mV is 1 milliOhm. After finding one we
charged up a big 20V computer cap and zapped it.

When I had trouble with the neutral at the meter box voltage readings
were too erratic to be useful, but an Amprobe found 30 A in the pipe
to an outside faucet screwed to the aluminum siding.

jsw

  We had a linesman find a 120v streetlighter fault with his testicals. He
could feel the fault zone as he walked over it and was right when they dug
it up.


That's a lot of current!


Jim Wilkins wrote:
I found inner plane shorts in new circuit boards that way. With 1 Amp
from a lab supply applied, 1 mV is 1 milliOhm. After finding one we
charged up a big 20V computer cap and zapped it.

When I had trouble with the neutral at the meter box voltage readings
were too erratic to be useful, but an Amprobe found 30 A in the pipe
to an outside faucet screwed to the aluminum siding.

 

  Why not use the dump to heat water?
To locate your poor connections use a voltmeter on a low volt scale.
Put one lead on each side of the connection and note the voltage.
After you check a few connections you will get a feel for what is normal.
I don't know at what voltage you would call out a poor connection, it
depends
on the current you have flowing. My guess is your looking in the 10ths of a
volt range,
but you could find a bad connection have 1 volt + across it.
              MikeK

 

I had done that orginally but the heater element I had wasn't big enough
to handle the load.  My resister is in my greenhouse (which is about a
yard from the hydro) with aluminum housing.  The idea was that it would
give heat to the greenhouse and let me grow tomatoes a bit longer but the
reality is that the dump load isn't used all that much.  It's only
dumping maybe a few hours in the early morning when the battery bank is
fully charged after the turbine runs all night.  So not a lot of spare
energy really.  Not enough heat to do anything with given my near
constant draw.


thanks I tracked down the big loss .. which was the first connection
between the turbine and the first cut off switch.  I think I got it
sorted out now .. things are mostly back to normal judging from the
meter.

cheers

-zachary

 
z wrote:

If you're feeding the turbine from a dammed source, have you considered
automatically throttling the feed during periods of light load in order
to build more volume behind the dam?