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Forum Index : Other Stuff : waterwheel or pelton wheel?
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| vindictivemob Newbie  Joined: 23/02/2014 Location: New ZealandPosts: 5 |
Hi. Which is the right item to buy ? I already have a smart drive 42 pole stator that I could re wire for 12 - 24V, but I would then still need to make or buy a pelton wheel and box to put it in etc. I'm wondering if I'm just better off to buy a complete pelton wheel set up or do I build a water wheel at the water fall that is only around 60 m from my camp? I don't have a lot of money at the moment, but I have no power set up and would like to get something happening on my land. At present, I have about a hundered metres of 25mm alkathine going non stop at around 20 letres/min. Could I use this or is it not enough? If I need to buy more pipe, am I better to buy another 1 or 2 hundered metres of 25mm or replace the whole pipe with a shorter larger diameter alkathine? I have my last property for sale, so when that sells I can have both and run a hundered light bulbs. Any help with working out what to buy now on a budget would be much apreciated. Cheers. What happens when all of the people have all of the power all of the time? The powerhungry become powerless by the overpowering tower of powerful people. |
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| VK4AYQ Guru  Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi it depends on the pressure Head you have available, a water wheel is a low head device whereas a pelton wheel is a high head device. A water wheel can be made cheaply from salvaged bits and pieces with a belt drive step up for higher rpm, your 25 mm pipe is not suitable for a pelton wheel ad the flow is to little to get useful power. It would be better to mount the pelton wheel close to the water if not much fall is lost and run wire to your battery, really need more details of your site to get a good idea of power potential. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
If the 20 liters/minute is correct, than there is little point in trying to go further. That works out to about 300 ml/second, its a bit more than i can pee, but not greatly more. More information is needed to give a better answer. Sometimes it just works |
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| vindictivemob Newbie Joined: 23/02/2014 Location: New ZealandPosts: 5 |
Thanks Bob and Downwind. Sounds like my 25mm pipe is too ineffitient to do much with. I have a head of about 20m at the moment wich is great for irrigating my garden, but the river goes a long way up, so perhaps in the future I can buy a long larger diameter pipe. The waterwheel seems like my best option then. At the waterfall there is around 20letres / sec constantly flowing in the summer and almoat twice that in winter with a 3 metre drop. Does anyone have any good plans for building an economical waterwheel? I am building a swing bridge at the moment that will look over the waterfall, so a waterwheel could be a nice feature. What happens when all of the people have all of the power all of the time? The powerhungry become powerless by the overpowering tower of powerful people. |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
For every 1 meter of head, you get about 1.4 psi ( I think ), so for 20 meter head, you have about 28 PSI of water pressure. That's pretty good. If it can flow 20 liters per minute, then that's similar to a typical garden hose on full. I think its a good candidate for a small pelton wheel and F&P. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| vindictivemob Newbie Joined: 23/02/2014 Location: New ZealandPosts: 5 |
ok mate, thank you. The garden hose at the end IS going HARD OUT! I have got it refreshing the ducks water and they dont seem to be able to muddy it up. When irrigating, I can reach a plant in the garden a good twenty metres away with my fingers over the end of the 25mm pipe. That impressed me enough to ask you for advice. Maybe a high amp car alternator is better to keep a battery bank topped up? What do you think? I am about to rewire my first f&p stator. Do I need to do anything with the little circuit board where the control wires used to go? or do I leave it alone / take it off? I would also like to build a waterwheel and I have one good huge bearing to start me off. Does anyone have any diagrams of a good effective way to build a waterwheel out of timber? Thanks again. What happens when all of the people have all of the power all of the time? The powerhungry become powerless by the overpowering tower of powerful people. |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Has anyone got a link to water flow v power calculations? I've lost my favourites. A Pelton wheel is very efficient compared to a water wheel in this sort of application, so if its power you want, a Pelton is the way to go. At a guess, I would expect around 50 watts power for the 1 inch pipe, but I cant find the formula to use to work it all out. 50 watts isn't much, but its constant 24 hours a day, and adds up. 1.2kwh for the day. If you went to 2 inch pipe, you could expect 4 times the power. 4.8kwh Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| vindictivemob Newbie Joined: 23/02/2014 Location: New ZealandPosts: 5 |
Would't say no to 50W  What happens when all of the people have all of the power all of the time? The powerhungry become powerless by the overpowering tower of powerful people. |
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Greenbelt Guru Joined: 11/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 566 |
vindictivemob; The information below was found at This web Site There are several examples here in Metric formula, The "Q" is number of units per minute or seconds. Lots of good information on head loss, wiring requirements. Power in watts = (net head in feet x flow in USGM) / 10 (again, at an overall efficiency of 55 %) ----------------Cheers, Roe Time has proven that I am blind to the Obvious, some of the above may be True? |
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| vindictivemob Newbie Joined: 23/02/2014 Location: New ZealandPosts: 5 |
Thanks Greenbelt  What happens when all of the people have all of the power all of the time? The powerhungry become powerless by the overpowering tower of powerful people. |
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