Water Wheel Alternator power....

[jelo]

No just for power storage. The alternator charges the battery and you draw 12v from it for lights or whatever your need may be. Because it is constantly being charged like a battery in your car you don't need a deep cycle battery.

yes you do

Fluffy will confirm but if you pull too many volts out of a standard high cycle battery you cause permanent damage. So you'd need a low voltage cutoff.

[Malkoppi]

how about simple windmill running an alternator via a chain reduction?

I've seen a couple here in the NC running V-belts and using pulleys off a Mono windpump and they work pretty well and is simple, which is the main advantage

[jelo]

I've seen a couple here in the NC running V-belts and using pulleys off a Mono windpump and they work pretty well and is simple, which is the main advantage

v-belts and pulleys are easier to adjust and use than chain drives that need tensioners or else they wear prematurely and/or jump off the sprockets.

[Malkoppi]

I was thinking of using a bakkie diff (to switch the output 90 degrees and provide a ratio change) then a belt driven generator, with the correct size sprockets to get the speed I need, once I know what the diff is doing

And I meant a multiplier box, it's a reduction box if you look at it from the other side................

http://landbou.com/bedrywe/meganisas...krag-in-karoo/

Your idea has been used and apparently works in wind speeds from 6kmh.

[Willied]

Alex, I will have a look at the video where it does not get blocked.. But adding to what you are saying about adequate water.. We have a few man made water ways that run for miles.. Thinking about the one at Boegoeberg dam all through the Orange river valley, there is one such a water way from Warrenton to Hartswater and Jan Kemp and some other examples in the country..

We could harness the potential energy and still feed the water down stream to the end users.. Mostly agricultural users.. They could even potentially use this energy to power their pump systems.

[Fluffy]

Alex, I will have a look at the video where it does not get blocked.. But adding to what you are saying about adequate water.. We have a few man made water ways that run for miles.. Thinking about the one at Boegoeberg dam all through the Orange river valley, there is one such a water way from Warrenton to Hartswater and Jan Kemp and some other examples in the country..

We could harness the potential energy and still feed the water down stream to the end users.. Mostly agricultural users.. They could even potentially use this energy to power their pump systems.

As far as I recall electricity was generated commercially in that area long before anywhere else in SA and even before the UK started public electrification

[jelo]

http://landbou.com/bedrywe/meganisas...krag-in-karoo/

Your idea has been used and apparently works in wind speeds from 6kmh.

well there we have it

[JediNAfrica]

instead of just using a wheel and sprocket like this guy did in vid if u used a complete old bike you could change gears and get different power output based on what gear your in.


also the comment about 40v at alternator and 13.5 at batteries, he was measuring the power on the batteries not the power coming into the house. if u notice he has that box from an old motorhome to reduce power from 40v to 12v that car batteries run with. 40v into a car battery would blow them up.

[Pieter B]

instead of just using a wheel and sprocket like this guy did in vid if u used a complete old bike you could change gears and get different power output based on what gear your in.


also the comment about 40v at alternator and 13.5 at batteries, he was measuring the power on the batteries not the power coming into the house. if u notice he has that box from an old motorhome to reduce power from 40v to 12v that car batteries run with. 40v into a car battery would blow them up.

To get a car alternator to charge approx. 50A you would need about 1.5 Kw input and with alternator speed running at least 5000 rpm. You then have to have a power source of 12v close to the alternator to "exite" it .If you lucky it could "exite" itself if you have enough magnetism left in the rotor. Even then you would need a substantial amount of speed to get it to "exite". You could do much better with a permanent magnet D.C.motor with rated voltage of about 120Volt. It gives a output from the moment it starts turning and increases as it speeds up. Gives good output at much lower speed and require much less horses to turn. Distance will not be a problem because you regulate the volts at the receiving end even if it is 100m away.

[JediNAfrica]

To get a car alternator to charge approx. 50A you would need about 1.5 Kw input and with alternator speed running at least 5000 rpm. You then have to have a power source of 12v close to the alternator to "exite" it .If you lucky it could "exite" itself if you have enough magnetism left in the rotor. Even then you would need a substantial amount of speed to get it to "exite". You could do much better with a permanent magnet D.C.motor with rated voltage of about 120Volt. It gives a output from the moment it starts turning and increases as it speeds up. Gives good output at much lower speed and require much less horses to turn. Distance will not be a problem because you regulate the volts at the receiving end even if it is 100m away.

the guy in vid states he has removed the guts of the alternator and fit permanent magnets.

[F.Viljoen]

how about simple windmill running an alternator via a chain reduction?

Municipal bylaws in Welkom don't allow windmills in town

[Pieter B]

instead of just using a wheel and sprocket like this guy did in vid if u used a complete old bike you could change gears and get different power output based on what gear your in.


also the comment about 40v at alternator and 13.5 at batteries, he was measuring the power on the batteries not the power coming into the house. if u notice he has that box from an old motorhome to reduce power from 40v to 12v that car batteries run with. 40v into a car battery would blow them up.

To get a car alternator to charge approx. 50A you would need about 1.5 Kw input and with alternator speed running at least 5000 rpm. You then have to have a power source of 12v close to the alternator to "exite" it .If you lucky it could "exite" itself if you have enough magnetism left in the rotor. Even then you would need a substantial amount of speed to get it to "exite". You could do much better with a permanent magnet D.C.motor with rated voltage of about 120Volt. It gives a output from the moment it starts turning and increases as it speeds up. Gives good output at much lower speed and require much less horses to turn. Distance will not be a problem because you regulate the volts at the receiving end even if it is 100m away.

[Fluffy]

To get a car alternator to charge approx. 50A you would need about 1.5 Kw input and with alternator speed running at least 5000 rpm. You then have to have a power source of 12v close to the alternator to "exite" it .If you lucky it could "exite" itself if you have enough magnetism left in the rotor. Even then you would need a substantial amount of speed to get it to "exite". You could do much better with a permanent magnet D.C.motor with rated voltage of about 120Volt. It gives a output from the moment it starts turning and increases as it speeds up. Gives good output at much lower speed and require much less horses to turn. Distance will not be a problem because you regulate the volts at the receiving end even if it is 100m away.

Well actually not really, in many respects.

A 120 V DC permanent magnet motor/generator may indeed generate sufficient voltage at low RPM, but here will be almost no current delivery.

It can NEVER need much less horses to turn and deliver. Energy in vs energy out.

Yes there is a problem with regulating the receiving end, especially if it is 100m away, the cable losses cant be recovered whatever you do.

Lets see now - 50A at say 12 Volts = 600W. DAMN I didnt know a car alternator was so inefficient that it needs 1500Watts to generate 600Watts.

Obviously I could be wrong.

[Fluffy]

Municipal bylaws in Welkom don't allow windmills in town

Where I live also.

Pity, I am rather partial to finely sliced duck breasts.

[ZuluCowboy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOOrkjClTI

Check this out.

[bfreesani]

Some of the videos I watched many years ago when looking at these system, show it better to pull the alternator's regulator off, and push the 3phase AC direct off the alternator to the house or battery bay.

Way higher volts that can run the distance with very little loss, and on smaller cable. Then you shove that AC back into the valtage regulator at your battery pack.

Maybe someone can help me here, but I think the AC power output was something like 90 volts.

But the issue remains exiting the alternator. Its not a constant excitement either, its a once off pulse, as far as I understand it.

[Fluffy]

Some of the videos I watched many years ago when looking at these system, show it better to pull the alternator's regulator off, and push the 3phase AC direct off the alternator to the house or battery bay.

Way higher volts that can run the distance with very little loss, and on smaller cable. Then you shove that AC back into the valtage regulator at your battery pack.

Maybe someone can help me here, but I think the AC power output was something like 90 volts.

But the issue remains exiting the alternator. Its not a constant excitement either, its a once off pulse, as far as I understand it.

Erm not really.

All you are doing is moving the three phase diode bridge from one place to another.

The losses and applied voltages will be almost identical.

In fact you are moving an energy management problem from one easy to manage place to a MUCH more difficult location.

[Greenandgold]

Alex, I will have a look at the video where it does not get blocked.. But adding to what you are saying about adequate water.. We have a few man made water ways that run for miles.. Thinking about the one at Boegoeberg dam all through the Orange river valley, there is one such a water way from Warrenton to Hartswater and Jan Kemp and some other examples in the country..

We could harness the potential energy and still feed the water down stream to the end users.. Mostly agricultural users.. They could even potentially use this energy to power their pump systems.

Yes Willie, we have been investigating this idea for a while. But to turn a "wheel" in a canal system, to create energy, the water will rise in front of the obstruction. 95% of the canal systems in our area is running at full capacity.

These canal systems were designed to supply water, to farmers, 6 days 12 hours a day. The labor laws has reduced this to 5 days 9.5 hours a day, thus the demand on the canal system has increased dramatically.

There is an algae that grows on the canal walls, just under the water level, this reduces the flow to such an extent that we have to empty the system once a month for 2 days to kill the algae. I can assure you it takes careful planning to start on Friday evening and have have a full canal, 170 km, on Monday morning.

Then there is the PPP process!

[Fluffy]

Yes Willie, we have been investigating this idea for a while. But to turn a "wheel" in a canal system, to create energy, the water will rise in front of the obstruction. 95% of the canal systems in our area is running at full capacity.

These canal systems were designed to supply water, to farmers, 6 days 12 hours a day. The labor laws has reduced this to 5 days 9.5 hours a day, thus the demand on the canal system has increased dramatically.

There is an algae that grows on the canal walls, just under the water level, this reduces the flow to such an extent that we have to empty the system once a month for 2 days to kill the algae. I can assure you it takes careful planning to start on Friday evening and have have a full canal, 170 km, on Monday morning.

Then there is the PPP process!

Interresting

[Flipside]

When I was still knee high to a grass hopper, my dad built a similar water wheel driven generator system in a stream behind our neighbour's property. They had a little permanent mountain stream from a strong fountain in the hill above the house.
Built a little retaining dam with overflow.
The 3" feeding pipe was built into the bottom of the dam, and fed the flow to the wheel about twenty meters downstream.
The generator supplied the power to a bank of 6 truck batteries in a store room.
The oom was a bit of an eccentric chap (and a stingy old fellow), he collected a bunch of old car light fittings and installed them all over the house. A 12v system.
He powered them from the batteries. I know the living room, kitchen, store room, dairy and garage's lamps burned permanently, to keep some load on the system and prevent overcharging the batteries. It was crude, but free.