I got to say for anybody doing this use your three phase and run it all the way up to where you're going to use it. That higher voltage 3 phase is going to get you less voltage drop and less line loss, better yet step that three phase up in voltage. For even less line loss. I see this quite often in small generators and windmills where they switch to DC right at the base of the windmill or right above the generator.
Very cool. My favorite part was the non-acknowledgment of the presumably healthy wood spider guarding the electronics hut. Also, I have a new respect for the humble golf ball, somehow overlooked by electrical and mechanical engineers since the 1600's.
Yeahhhh was wondering what he meant by a golf ball bearing, should have guessed it was what he actually said :D Wonder if he lives just off a golf course.
Sir, I watched this video with no knowledge of the subject but I was just amazed at the clever approaches you have utilised in this build. You alternate use for golf balls is simply genius. So well done
Lot of infrastructure for 500W but as a fellow maker I fully understand half the fun is in the building of our contraptions and rarely the end result itself! Keep up the good work! I had to chuckle at your use of golf balls throughout!
It's probably as much as or more energy than a house uses at idle. Washing machines aren't 24/7. Who knows if it totals to more than they use in a day though.
I was thinking the same, I use on average 500kwh a month so this'll actually run my house just fine, its getting the required power for cooking id have trouble with, but change mode of cooking and id be sweet
Nice setup. And props for not overstating the power. Thanks for showing the voltage and current too. It bugs me when someone just shows the voltage measurement and says something ridiculous like "Here's my 5KW system". Ohms law calculation shows you running at around 425 watts just then. So totally accurate claims in this vids title. Good job!
Very ingenious layout and use of a gorgeous piece of land! Enjoyed you video tremendously and can't imagine the amount of painstaking work it took to lay out your system. I tip my hat to you sir.
I haven't built hydro power before; but from design perspective the capacity of the stream to generate more with or without diverting the water, the effort seem more than needed for 500W.
@@issadraco532 Many people live in cottages without any electricity, so this is way to have comfort and do not need generator. With LED lights and low consumption it is quite enough for you to have lights, TV etc. Older people do not have households wasting 20kW/h. LED lights in 3 room cottage would take like 50-60W and rest is for other electronics. FX CPU or similar would ofc need 500W+, but does this guy look like he spends a lot of time on PC? No. So most likely he uses laptop with 35-65W consuption and with the lights on still has 300W+ left for other stuff. Yes, it wasn´t hidden. Yes, it isn´t properly painted. But the cost of it was most likely low since he did it himself from scraps and thats what counts. Most parts of this solution were actually very creative and reused scrap nobody wants, so you get it for free. I guess he payed only for turbine, piping, inverters and batteries. So again, cheap option. And about the looks, that´s your point of view. He might have big property and this could be far from it, on the edge, so he doesn´t even notice. And again, it is his creation. Most likely he enjoys the looks, since it took him time and sweat. It must have taken a lot of work... It is easy to be internet judge
@@Grandassets I agree it is way way overkill. However, I can see why water power would be preferred since it's available 24/7. But yea, way too much work, for such a small amount of power. And it just looks like shite.
Your rotating intake screen is a good substitute to a Coanda screen. Sure, it has moving parts, but it's a necessary mechanism to keep the intake clear of large debris without frequent maintenance.
I used ceramic skateboard ball bearings for my rotating screen, running slowly and water lubricated they show no wear after two years and are very free running. I had to put my remote electronics in a completely sealed enclosure as ants and cockroaches loved the warmth, they get into the inverters and cause arcs at 230 volts. Lightning just causing ground currents has induced various odd failures like diodes and digital meters so now there is a heavy aluminium wire earthing everything top to bottom, problems stopped.
I figured it out! He's recording audio through his crappy headphones/mic combo externally, but yelling to the camera to help syncing the audio in post production. I think he underestimated how well the microphone can hear you when it's an inch or two from the mouth. I like the property, I'd recommend cheap micro wind power to get that 500W but it's nice to see people passionate about something and doing something. That alone is admirable.
I don't think it's overengineered. This is how home-made stuff looks like. Realize there's no (mini)dam where the water would get cleaned just by having the gravel, sand and mud simply fall to the bottom. Also, it is all in the open, i.e. things are falling to the whole system. It's not a compact concrete building. That said, I think it's a simple working solutions to individual aspects of the task. Also, he doesn't have a big hill around, and the stream seems to be seasonal. So, 500 W seems legit.
@@r.carter8378 I have no idea what his ROI would be, but a decent amount of this stuff could have been laying around or could also be used for a different project. I do agree that it is a lot of stuff and if he did buy it all it would be quite expensive.
@@r.carter8378 Electricity costs on average 13.5 cents per kWh in the US. Hes producing roughly 500 watts, and for simplicity we'll assume that's constant regardless of conditions (not true but for analysis it will do. He would have to take a 24hr production measurement and get the average). So, every hour his setup is producing roughly 6-7 cents worth of electricity. Assuming it runs flawlessly its around $50 a month. The generator hes using is like $150 new. I can't estimate the other electronics because they're not exactly my field of knowledge and we don't know whats recycled/used. Pipe prices vary depending on what kind hes got going... a decent estimate would be around a year ROI I think.
I would use a tradititional waterweel in this case : plenty of water available and only 2 m high interval needed to generate 5000 W. No problems with dirt in the water when using a top load waterwheel
@@tinosenf6937 Still would prefer an overshot wheel, even if efficency is less then a undershood wheel. Also a lot easyer to construct (for a non professional and for own home use ) then an undershoud wheel with need a closed water path below. Overshoot seems to me also less vulneral to big dirt parts in the water. They will go over the wheel instead of blocking the wheel. PS : using a proven concept is not reinventing the wheel nor staying in the past ... Each one should select / use what seems best for them, after evaluating all or other possibilities. It's not becase I would use it, someone else need to use it ....
Hey Guys, look at this german video (with english subtitels) The wheel has 15 Horsepowers!!! That will be minimum 10.000 W.... ua-cam.com/video/jmSmKZ5kI_Q/v-deo.html
I don't know anything about hydroelectric power or electronics, but the ingenuity and problem-solving on display here is amazing! Good job, sir. I scrolled down a bit and saw many, many comments from people saying, "You should have done X, Y, and Z instead" - for those of you who wrote comments like that, please post videos of systems you've built that are better so that we can all learn from them (as this gentleman has done - thus many of us not familiar with these topics have gained some introductory knowledge or have at least been inspired by his creativity). I also saw many comments complimenting him for this work, so I'll join in that chorus. And you have a beautiful property, to boot!
to the people saying its too much effort for only a small amount of electricity... have you ever just enjoyed being outside and ended up building something cool? obviously not
Very nice to see the OVER KILL on the intake. I think that it is always needed and is over looked many times and causes problems in the long run. Very nice set up. I would like to do something like your set up with some modification here in Chile. Right now I am off grid with solar only. A little bump in my power in put would be a bonus worth having. Jim
Love the engineering going on here. the self cleaning grate is great, seen similar things, but I like this implementation the best. Very well thought out, the use of natural infrastructure is great. Tree suspension bridge system is beautiful, and the rock mount of the turbine is pretty excellent. Im running a solar array here, all salvaged, n the 3-800w I get through the day is more than enough for everything bar the aircon and oven. I have them on grid. The only shortfall is the crappy old batteries I have, but its mostly enough. If the batterys run dry, its probably time to turn the computer and lights off anyway, go to bed. I have a fail-to-grid switch, so I dont loose anything, but its a sting to hear that click and know your paying for power again. Possibly the only upgrade I could recommend, look into a low frequency AC Inverter. Dump those newfangled switch mode units. Sure, they are HUGE and HEAVY, but for a fixed installation, that's no big deal. Not only is it very good quality AC (nice clean sine), but the real take home advantage is standby power usage. On my PowerJack 3000w, no AC load draw is about .11A. On my 600w switcher, its about 1.5A. No load. 36w for doing nothing, sheesh..The efficiency gets really good at about 400w, but either side of that, its pretty rubbish. n it gets HOT. The LF inverter, is very efficient on just about everything. Has a massive surge rating (12000w I think), has no problems starting my air compressor, fridge, mill, etc. doing a full english fryup breakfast on the 2400w electric pan is a breeze to the inverter, batterys dont like it tho. I must warn you, the ‘PowerJack Brand’ isnt rally a brand, more a type designation, there are quite a number of manufactures. I think its based off a 90’s German design. On one hand this is good, there are many spares available. You can build your own from parts. I have seen such things using rewound microwave oven transformers to get away from the heavy shipping costs. You can get very cheap ones, very expensive ones, but from china, get what you pay for. I think my 3000w unit was $380 USD, with $100 shipping. Given a local equivalent was about $1500 im pretty happy. Its run no sweat on 45°c days, for 2 years now. Still have the switcher if I need it, but best upgrade to my system yet.
So over engineer for 500 watts, could be more simple, but if it works for him and his happy, congrats to the builder.. it will qualify for a Mega Projects Discovery channel series...
@@masonlynch1793 It probably needs to move that far to create an increase in pressure to make the hydro work. The bigger the drop, the more potential power.
Mason Lynch. That's right, you need that distance and height drop to bring up water pressure to drive the turbine. Also the sudden reduction in pipe size will greatly bring up the water flow with all that distance of piped water pushing it. It seems the cable or rope up to the tree is to hold up the pipe up while not having the movement of the tree move the pipe around. He must have gone over his vision in his mind over and over again and finally arrived at its Eurika? moment
You should use AC electricity, so you no need to spend on batteries! If it was solar, I support you to use batteries but for hydro-power it has 24-hour working for you!
I’m an EE always looking for a good laugh. Somehow I feel cheated, they didn’t teach me about 2 phase DC at State College, probably should’ve went to Cal Tech.
@@bartdepauw1156 As I understand it, a typical US home averages about 12KWh. If you do a little work to optimize your usage, you can get in below that mark
I built one of these at summer home that I currently own three years ago in produce so much electricity when we were not home we would have to bypass the water from the mechanism so as not to damage the electron a components inside our hunting shed. In the winter before the water froze we would actually heat a 1500 square-foot hunting cabin with electric baseboards and about 10 large truck batteries we would use for storage
That's an admirable set-up, but seems an awful lot of cost, effort and technology for just 500 Watts. I'm sure that with that head of water and flow rate available you should be generating 5 to 10 KW .
What many people don't see is that water flow is temporary, after a big rain. The average flow rate is a better target for design capacity and is much less. The cost of the system is largely in the pipe needed for the 40' of head
His debri catch malfunctions with too much water. I'd rather deal with clean-out of a basic filter, and have flow all the time, than say "Ahh, well it's raining all week. No power.".. Eliminate that entire prefilter system he's running and let the head pressure drive the right turbine for those 10kw rewards.
Be aware that the "white noise" may seem like a nice thing....we have a cabin above a very small stream and the bigger one out in the distance...it is a quiet murmur (perfect) . We have friends down on the larger stream and when we go there for dinner ..... It's DAMN deafening (and they get flooded on occasion) . If you have the means to buy a place with a stream......aim SMALL!
Fun hobby! If I had a creek on my property, I bet you I would tinker with hydro power! :-) Keep posting! Any updates on design, or problems is always interesting. A project like this must never stop ;-) Seems fun :)
On the delivery to the spinner, have you thought of a skimmer plate that would ride over the spinner to divert excess water, yet allow a sufficient amount to tide under it to always maintain a good flow? This seems like regardless of the capacity of water being delivered, you would maintain constant operation
This all looks great but what happens when you have a big rain storm? We have a creek like yours but the water level can go up 4 -5 feet and water is very fast!
I feel like this whole thing is more “I’m bored, how can I use my expertise and knowledge to make an extravagant hydro electro battery charger” It’s pretty impressive, though I do agree it’s a little bit excessive lol
@@thereefaholic There are reasons micro-hydro is done this way. The power you get is proportional to height (pressure) * flow rate. With a water wheel the height is at most the diameter of the wheel. If you do it this way, you have a column of water the entire height from the top of the creek to the bottom, so you can generate much more power. The other stuff is just to keep cruft out of the pipes. The spinning thing is actually a pretty neat idea too, it means he doesn't need to manually clean of the screen when it gets full of twigs and leaves and whatnot. TL;DR This produces much more power than a water wheel would be able to. And the stuff at the beginning is just to keep the pipes clear.
at 5:35 you can see what looks to be a cherokee tree. Cherokee native Americans would tie saplings in certain ways to change their growth to mark something of importance. That is way cool. Also your intake design and systems are so well thought out! thank you sir.
i guess he really ahtes debris,gravel and sand from clogging his system.. either that or he really has alot of time. then again after rewatching the whole video again he could put at least 2 more systems in the whole setup. he can have the vortex turbine system and also the screw type power generator and it would not even effect the downstream power output. and i think he also have hearing trouble,
I wish I could spend a few minutes with determined guys like this fellow, because I admire what they are doing, but I could simplify things so much with just a little bit of engineering advice. This is the second one now that I’ve seen where tremendous resources are wasted and squandered simultaneously, basically doing more and getting less.
0:00 to 0:38 What is that small white cylindrical thing(with diameter smaller than the main pipe), rapidly moving right and left at the beginning of water inlet ??
Would it be possible to build a battery system large enough to cater for any possible needs like air conditioning, desalination or welding? If so could you run multiple, identical versions of this hydro system to keep such an obviously large battery system running? Excellent work! Absolutely fascinating!
I'd like to see a test that compares this spinning screen to a static one with the same surface area. I cannot imagine that gravity alone would dislodge the items (twigs, vines, leaves, etc.) that typically cause clogs. Seems over engineered and expensive.
@@K-Fed I can see how it would work well...as the grid rotates to the bottom position, the weight of the excess water falling through the screen from the back washes any debris out...and it falls back into the stream..... It's a neat concept...but if it was in the direct stream bed, without all the extra gravel trap etc, with a screw type propeller on the squirrel cage end pointing directly upstream, it could achieve the same thing...as the screw rotated the screen any leaves etc would wash out.....and the clean water would go directly into the 1.5 inch holes and into the pipe...
Two questions to better understand: From the video I can't understand, where is the turbine that moves the alternator? Is the power produced by the alternator 500 W or what else?
That spinner Screen is something I said to someone to build about 5 to 6 years ago, they said it wouldn't work but thanks for that, it proves I was right.
Also... its wasteful to convert to DC so early down the line, keeping it 3 phase would mean less losses as AC travels much easier than DC over the same sort of distance. (over simplifying) Ask yourself which is better, 240V @ 1 Amp AC or 24V at 10 Amp DC even though they are the same wattage, the losses between AC and DC are significant as resistance of the wire is more apparent when transmitting DC over any distance. I remember as science experiment where this was demonstrated by the teacher. In a demonstration of how DC does not light all lights evenly, then switched to AC to show how even the lights were with AC. it was apparent to me at least that DC is very in efficient with the long wires, its one reason that 5V USB extenders are not much longer than 5 meters, the wire resistance is too much to deliver a steady reliable 5v dc at the user end
500watts, 24 hours a day is the equivalent of 12KWh of energy per day, you'd need a lot more than 3 solar panels to match that. He'd probably get even more energy in the winter with a higher water flow, solar would be less.
very nice setup thanks for sharing. one question is there a reason why you went with a turgo wheel as they are a reaction turbine meant for hi head and low flow. I think you could be getting a lot more power if you got your self a reaction type turbine say like a Kaplan or a crossflow? I would be happy to do some math for you if you give your GPM flow rate to see what you could make?
Este señor me dio la idea de usar un ariete hidráulico como alternativa a la limpieza de agua y almacenamiento de energía. What a good job man! Thanks for sharing!
That could be a really nice system, 6" would made more power, and the 4x2" is a bit restrictive, I'd go with 3" right to two nozzles, 2 x 2" does not equal tge 4" capacity, but I'd still like to have a system just like it! Ifi dam up my spring, I maybe could get 1kw for about 8-12 hours, then gave to let the pond refill, but it would be well worth it when the sun hasn't been out for a week! Being off grid you need multiple means, and as many backups as possible! Nice system!
I thought it was strange he didn't just have 1 larger pipe for most of the journey. Perhaps he just had that lying around and used what he had. You'll get less friction in a larger pipe. Also to get maximum power you need as much drop as possible but he seems to have the turbine quite a way above the water level. He could have put it lower and got more power.
24V @ 17A can be done with 4 100W panels and an MPPT controller. HELL of a lot less complicated, but yea I guess if you love to build and carry pipes hundreds of feet? wonder what the cost difference between 4 panels and an MPPT controller would be vs the hundreds of feet of pipe and the turbine and what not. I guess the benefit of this is that it does this ALL the time, not just during the day.
seriously. way too much impact on the natural surroundings for a mere 500 watts that could be obtained with a (more)hidden system for 1/10th the price and effort.
Yep, he could also dig in a miniturbine and generate 10s of thousands of watts easily lol. He only needs a simple setup to make enough even for heat/AC.
Every engineer I have met or worked with had the philosophy of "Do the LEAST work to get the MOST reliable results and BEST results" .... Nobody is born with an engineering skill set or degree and that's OK but this is way over complicated.
dieselscience I will play devil’s advocate on this one, it may be overly complicated, but sometimes it’s more fun to do it the complicated way. I’m sure you could buy a waterwheel and set it up for a couple hundred bucks, and maybe a few day’s work. But with this, you have to plan out all the lines, figure out how to get more pressure, how to clean the water, etc., and that’s a whole hell of a lot more fun than setting up a water wheel in a few days. I speak from experience, as I’m a chemist who makes chemicals for the sheer fun of it, even if it’s more expensive to do so that way.
@@dieselscience I wish automobiles engineer would think about the replacement work needed to repair certain items on cars and trucks when designing the engine components. They certainly didn't think about easy and least amount of work. As for this setup why to mush piping to get the power planing would make it let supplies and work.
@@rimc8783 Automotive engineers are doing exactly what they're paid for. NO CAR is meant to last for the long term anymore. The second part... I'm not sure what you're saying there...
My only thought on the power box is doesn't AC cover distance better with less loss vs DC? That in mind would moving the batteries & inverters closer to the house be a better choice?
I get 500 watts out of my 4X8 solar panel. That's dedication. He is just scaling. He will make a huge power plant eventually. Very cool. Hydro is beautiful power.
If you put a direction fin across the end of your spreader you can control high flow situations. Think of it like an register for the a.c loover.. or like the adjustable wing on a race car.
Gravity is gravity. Should hook about 20 of those generators in series, down a long concrete trench. When one generator is done with the water, the next one uses that kinetic energy to generate more power. The problem I see with these portable hydro generator setups is that they use the water once and waste the motion of the water.
I mean, there is such thing as a screw turbine. Basically archimedes' screw in reverse. They use weight more than flow. But your thought isn't practical or most turbines or any peleton wheel because they are high pressure designs. More water weight = more pressure. Short pipe, low pressure. Doesn't work. Also the water has to flow efficiently for the generator to get energy from it. If you just hold all the water then there's no flow, no kinetic energy
I was thinking the water side of it is a bit over engineered but it could be that he just didn't fully express all of the issues he had to over come that caused that.
I got to say for anybody doing this use your three phase and run it all the way up to where you're going to use it.
That higher voltage 3 phase is going to get you less voltage drop and less line loss, better yet step that three phase up in voltage. For even less line loss.
I see this quite often in small generators and windmills where they switch to DC right at the base of the windmill or right above the generator.
The way he was talking I thought for sure we would hear, "and once we reach 1.21 gigawatts the power goes into the flux capacitor."
Great Scott!
This made me LOL
Yes! I was calling him Doc Brown before I scrolled down to see this comment.
😅
Talking? He was yelling with those 1.21gigawatts lol
Very cool. My favorite part was the non-acknowledgment of the presumably healthy wood spider guarding the electronics hut. Also, I have a new respect for the humble golf ball, somehow overlooked by electrical and mechanical engineers since the 1600's.
Yeahhhh was wondering what he meant by a golf ball bearing, should have guessed it was what he actually said :D Wonder if he lives just off a golf course.
Yeah I quickly google searched it wondering if I was living under a rock and it was a common thing
Sir, I watched this video with no knowledge of the subject but I was just amazed at the clever approaches you have utilised in this build. You alternate use for golf balls is simply genius. So well done
Lot of infrastructure for 500W but as a fellow maker I fully understand half the fun is in the building of our contraptions and rarely the end result itself! Keep up the good work! I had to chuckle at your use of golf balls throughout!
Even if it were 300 watts, that would be all day every day I imagine. Not fluctuating as much as wind or solar.
500W 24 hours a day is a lot. 12KW Hours. You might need to have the heating as gas or burn wood in winter.
It's probably as much as or more energy than a house uses at idle. Washing machines aren't 24/7.
Who knows if it totals to more than they use in a day though.
i imagine they have solar too, or they could use 2of these micro hydro setups with not much added pipe at the end, seems they have lots of pressure
I was thinking the same, I use on average 500kwh a month so this'll actually run my house just fine, its getting the required power for cooking id have trouble with, but change mode of cooking and id be sweet
Nice setup. And props for not overstating the power. Thanks for showing the voltage and current too. It bugs me when someone just shows the voltage measurement and says something ridiculous like "Here's my 5KW system". Ohms law calculation shows you running at around 425 watts just then. So totally accurate claims in this vids title. Good job!
Yeah... like his 2 phace DC system 🙂
Disengage spider before servicing
Very ingenious layout and use of a gorgeous piece of land! Enjoyed you video tremendously and can't imagine the amount of painstaking work it took to lay out your system. I tip my hat to you sir.
I haven't built hydro power before; but from design perspective the capacity of the stream to generate more with or without diverting the water, the effort seem more than needed for 500W.
@Fact Checker MartyT - ua-cam.com/users/AngryRamNZvideos
thats a lot of time effort and money you could do with two solar panels for a few hundred bucks
@@issadraco532 He spray painted them and hid the generator in the rocks because its horribly illegal to do this in virginia.
@@issadraco532 Many people live in cottages without any electricity, so this is way to have comfort and do not need generator. With LED lights and low consumption it is quite enough for you to have lights, TV etc. Older people do not have households wasting 20kW/h. LED lights in 3 room cottage would take like 50-60W and rest is for other electronics. FX CPU or similar would ofc need 500W+, but does this guy look like he spends a lot of time on PC? No. So most likely he uses laptop with 35-65W consuption and with the lights on still has 300W+ left for other stuff.
Yes, it wasn´t hidden. Yes, it isn´t properly painted. But the cost of it was most likely low since he did it himself from scraps and thats what counts.
Most parts of this solution were actually very creative and reused scrap nobody wants, so you get it for free. I guess he payed only for turbine, piping, inverters and batteries. So again, cheap option.
And about the looks, that´s your point of view. He might have big property and this could be far from it, on the edge, so he doesn´t even notice. And again, it is his creation. Most likely he enjoys the looks, since it took him time and sweat.
It must have taken a lot of work... It is easy to be internet judge
@@Grandassets I agree it is way way overkill. However, I can see why water power would be preferred since it's available 24/7. But yea, way too much work, for such a small amount of power. And it just looks like shite.
Your rotating intake screen is a good substitute to a Coanda screen. Sure, it has moving parts, but it's a necessary mechanism to keep the intake clear of large debris without frequent maintenance.
I used ceramic skateboard ball bearings for my rotating screen, running slowly and water lubricated they show no wear after two years and are very free running. I had to put my remote electronics in a completely sealed enclosure as ants and cockroaches loved the warmth, they get into the inverters and cause arcs at 230 volts. Lightning just causing ground currents has induced various odd failures like diodes and digital meters so now there is a heavy aluminium wire earthing everything top to bottom, problems stopped.
I figured it out! He's recording audio through his crappy headphones/mic combo externally, but yelling to the camera to help syncing the audio in post production. I think he underestimated how well the microphone can hear you when it's an inch or two from the mouth. I like the property, I'd recommend cheap micro wind power to get that 500W but it's nice to see people passionate about something and doing something. That alone is admirable.
This rotating screen is super cool. So little maintenance required, and intake is always clean from debris.
I don't think it's overengineered. This is how home-made stuff looks like. Realize there's no (mini)dam where the water would get cleaned just by having the gravel, sand and mud simply fall to the bottom. Also, it is all in the open, i.e. things are falling to the whole system. It's not a compact concrete building. That said, I think it's a simple working solutions to individual aspects of the task.
Also, he doesn't have a big hill around, and the stream seems to be seasonal. So, 500 W seems legit.
Still, it looks like there is a large money investment for all of the piping, electronics, etc,. How long for return on investment?
@@r.carter8378 I have no idea what his ROI would be, but a decent amount of this stuff could have been laying around or could also be used for a different project. I do agree that it is a lot of stuff and if he did buy it all it would be quite expensive.
@@r.carter8378 Electricity costs on average 13.5 cents per kWh in the US. Hes producing roughly 500 watts, and for simplicity we'll assume that's constant regardless of conditions (not true but for analysis it will do. He would have to take a 24hr production measurement and get the average). So, every hour his setup is producing roughly 6-7 cents worth of electricity. Assuming it runs flawlessly its around $50 a month.
The generator hes using is like $150 new. I can't estimate the other electronics because they're not exactly my field of knowledge and we don't know whats recycled/used. Pipe prices vary depending on what kind hes got going... a decent estimate would be around a year ROI I think.
I would use a tradititional waterweel in this case : plenty of water available and only 2 m high interval needed to generate 5000 W. No problems with dirt in the water when using a top load waterwheel
Tino Senf Do they have a site in English? My German is a little rusty.
@@tinosenf6937 Still would prefer an overshot wheel, even if efficency is less then a undershood wheel. Also a lot easyer to construct (for a non professional and for own home use ) then an undershoud wheel with need a closed water path below. Overshoot seems to me also less vulneral to big dirt parts in the water. They will go over the wheel instead of blocking the wheel. PS : using a proven concept is not reinventing the wheel nor staying in the past ... Each one should select / use what seems best for them, after evaluating all or other possibilities. It's not becase I would use it, someone else need to use it ....
@@Anonymous-it5jw take google translate! My english is not better! also rusty...lol
Hey Guys, look at this german video (with english subtitels) The wheel has 15 Horsepowers!!! That will be minimum 10.000 W.... ua-cam.com/video/jmSmKZ5kI_Q/v-deo.html
@@tinosenf6937 That's quite interesting, but it must have required an awful lot of work to set up!
I don't know anything about hydroelectric power or electronics, but the ingenuity and problem-solving on display here is amazing! Good job, sir.
I scrolled down a bit and saw many, many comments from people saying, "You should have done X, Y, and Z instead" - for those of you who wrote comments like that, please post videos of systems you've built that are better so that we can all learn from them (as this gentleman has done - thus many of us not familiar with these topics have gained some introductory knowledge or have at least been inspired by his creativity).
I also saw many comments complimenting him for this work, so I'll join in that chorus. And you have a beautiful property, to boot!
to the people saying its too much effort for only a small amount of electricity...
have you ever just enjoyed being outside and ended up building something cool?
obviously not
Very nice to see the OVER KILL on the intake. I think that it is always needed and is over looked many times and causes problems in the long run. Very nice set up.
I would like to do something like your set up with some modification here in Chile.
Right now I am off grid with solar only. A little bump in my power in put would be a bonus worth having. Jim
Love the engineering going on here. the self cleaning grate is great, seen similar things, but I like this implementation the best. Very well thought out, the use of natural infrastructure is great. Tree suspension bridge system is beautiful, and the rock mount of the turbine is pretty excellent. Im running a solar array here, all salvaged, n the 3-800w I get through the day is more than enough for everything bar the aircon and oven. I have them on grid. The only shortfall is the crappy old batteries I have, but its mostly enough. If the batterys run dry, its probably time to turn the computer and lights off anyway, go to bed. I have a fail-to-grid switch, so I dont loose anything, but its a sting to hear that click and know your paying for power again.
Possibly the only upgrade I could recommend, look into a low frequency AC Inverter. Dump those newfangled switch mode units. Sure, they are HUGE and HEAVY, but for a fixed installation, that's no big deal. Not only is it very good quality AC (nice clean sine), but the real take home advantage is standby power usage. On my PowerJack 3000w, no AC load draw is about .11A. On my 600w switcher, its about 1.5A. No load. 36w for doing nothing, sheesh..The efficiency gets really good at about 400w, but either side of that, its pretty rubbish. n it gets HOT. The LF inverter, is very efficient on just about everything. Has a massive surge rating (12000w I think), has no problems starting my air compressor, fridge, mill, etc. doing a full english fryup breakfast on the 2400w electric pan is a breeze to the inverter, batterys dont like it tho.
I must warn you, the ‘PowerJack Brand’ isnt rally a brand, more a type designation, there are quite a number of manufactures. I think its based off a 90’s German design. On one hand this is good, there are many spares available. You can build your own from parts. I have seen such things using rewound microwave oven transformers to get away from the heavy shipping costs. You can get very cheap ones, very expensive ones, but from china, get what you pay for. I think my 3000w unit was $380 USD, with $100 shipping. Given a local equivalent was about $1500 im pretty happy. Its run no sweat on 45°c days, for 2 years now. Still have the switcher if I need it, but best upgrade to my system yet.
Liebe
Liebe
Sehr
8:28 Big ol' spider just chillin
another on the plug at 9:00
That's more than a snack! That thing's a meal!! Just put it on the back of your tongue and it'll crawl down your throat.
Saw that i did
i dont like bugs, i would put antibug stuff in that box for sure lol
Another lil one 9:09 on the wall.
I am so glad to see a small hydropower operation that does not involve blocking fish passage with a dam.
So over engineer for 500 watts, could be more simple, but if it works for him and his happy, congrats to the builder.. it will qualify for a Mega Projects Discovery channel series...
He could win a Rube Goldberg machine competition hands down!
I know, I don’t understand why the water needs to be moved 100 miles away from the house.
@@masonlynch1793 It probably needs to move that far to create an increase in pressure to make the hydro work. The bigger the drop, the more potential power.
Mason Lynch. That's right, you need that distance and height drop to bring up water pressure to drive the turbine. Also the sudden reduction in pipe size will greatly bring up the water flow with all that distance of piped water pushing it. It seems the cable or rope up to the tree is to hold up the pipe up while not having the movement of the tree move the pipe around. He must have gone over his vision in his mind over and over again and finally arrived at its Eurika? moment
You should use AC electricity, so you no need to spend on batteries! If it was solar, I support you to use batteries but for hydro-power it has 24-hour working for you!
7:45 No No No!! . Phase only refers to alternation in AC. DC does not alternate. So this means, 2-phase DC doesn’t make sense nor it is possible.
He's not quite on par with the terms but it works. He probably means 2 phase as in 2 pipes lol
I’m an EE always looking for a good laugh. Somehow I feel cheated, they didn’t teach me about 2 phase DC at State College, probably should’ve went to Cal Tech.
@@steveperreira5850 🤭😉
It's really nice that you added creative parts. Good work. This way your device will last longer.
A most interesting and ingenious set up, particularly the filtering arrangements, however, a huge effort for only 500 Watts, thank you.
500w is 12kw a day. That's a ton of power
@@jimargeropoulos8309 - 500 watt for 24 hours = 12 kWh
@@jimargeropoulos8309 How can 500 W been 12000 W ?
@@bartdepauw1156 500w x 24h = 12000kwh
@@bartdepauw1156 As I understand it, a typical US home averages about 12KWh. If you do a little work to optimize your usage, you can get in below that mark
I built one of these at summer home that I currently own three years ago in produce so much electricity when we were not home we would have to bypass the water from the mechanism so as not to damage the electron a components inside our hunting shed. In the winter before the water froze we would actually heat a 1500 square-foot hunting cabin with electric baseboards and about 10 large truck batteries we would use for storage
the grit guard tank was a cool idea, everything after than makes no sense
This is so inefficient. He is going through all this trouble just to lose power due to all his over thinking
How much power loss from inverter to house? Wouldn’t it be wiser to run the three phase AC to the house and have the inverters in the house?
That's an admirable set-up, but seems an awful lot of cost, effort and technology for just 500 Watts. I'm sure that with that head of water and flow rate available you should be generating 5 to 10 KW .
What many people don't see is that water flow is temporary, after a big rain. The average flow rate is a better target for design capacity and is much less. The cost of the system is largely in the pipe needed for the 40' of head
probably lost a lot of power in those sharp bends
@@jschiller860 that and the miles of cable he has strung up in the trees to support the creek crossings.
It seems like every component in the system is designed to limit the volume of water instead of maximizing it.
His debri catch malfunctions with too much water. I'd rather deal with clean-out of a basic filter, and have flow all the time, than say "Ahh, well it's raining all week. No power.".. Eliminate that entire prefilter system he's running and let the head pressure drive the right turbine for those 10kw rewards.
The spider inside the inverter/charger housing is a nice touch.
Couldn't hear him over the yelling
The spinning screen is absolutely genius!
Damn the location. I would love to stay in a place like that after my retirement.
Be aware that the "white noise" may seem like a nice thing....we have a cabin above a very small stream and the bigger one out in the distance...it is a quiet murmur (perfect) . We have friends down on the larger stream and when we go there for dinner ..... It's DAMN deafening (and they get flooded on occasion) . If you have the means to buy a place with a stream......aim SMALL!
Me to, but staying in Canada....winter
Just waiting for your next video showing the power of a flood wiping out your entire operation.
It wil take a big flood. Wil that make your day?
Fun hobby! If I had a creek on my property, I bet you I would tinker with hydro power! :-) Keep posting! Any updates on design, or problems is always interesting. A project like this must never stop ;-) Seems fun :)
On the delivery to the spinner, have you thought of a skimmer plate that would ride over the spinner to divert excess water, yet allow a sufficient amount to tide under it to always maintain a good flow? This seems like regardless of the capacity of water being delivered, you would maintain constant operation
I feel this was way too much work for a maximum of 1,000w. Probably could have cut out half the stuff and gotten more power with less energy losses.
I felt it was a little over engineered as well. I'm sure there is a more simple design with higher output.
You can think of it that way, or you can think of how easily he coul upgrade to much more power with his existing system.
I would think generating the power closer to the source and running cable rather than pipe would be easier.
This all looks great but what happens when you have a big rain storm? We have a creek like yours but the water level can go up 4 -5 feet and water is very fast!
Damn bro just build a water wheel
thats what i was thinking
Holy crap what a convoluted contraption. Yes a water wheel with a properly designed gear box would get him the same RPM . Less points of failure.
I feel like this whole thing is more “I’m bored, how can I use my expertise and knowledge to make an extravagant hydro electro battery charger”
It’s pretty impressive, though I do agree it’s a little bit excessive lol
@@thereefaholic There are reasons micro-hydro is done this way.
The power you get is proportional to height (pressure) * flow rate.
With a water wheel the height is at most the diameter of the wheel. If you do it this way, you have a column of water the entire height from the top of the creek to the bottom, so you can generate much more power.
The other stuff is just to keep cruft out of the pipes. The spinning thing is actually a pretty neat idea too, it means he doesn't need to manually clean of the screen when it gets full of twigs and leaves and whatnot.
TL;DR This produces much more power than a water wheel would be able to. And the stuff at the beginning is just to keep the pipes clear.
I smell grant money.
at 5:35 you can see what looks to be a cherokee tree. Cherokee native Americans would tie saplings in certain ways to change their growth to mark something of importance. That is way cool. Also your intake design and systems are so well thought out! thank you sir.
YES WE ARE YELLING
What?!
Jñ
HUH? SPEAK UP! I CANT HEAAARRR YYYOOOOUUUU...
I laught so much when I saw this comment (I was still LISTENING TO HIS VOICE)
He is not yelling he is talking loud. Americans use that to play victimhood
Please make an update video. What problems have you encountered? What have you upgraded?
This system seems waaay too over-engineered. Overly complicated.
i guess he really ahtes debris,gravel and sand from clogging his system.. either that or he really has alot of time. then again after rewatching the whole video again he could put at least 2 more systems in the whole setup. he can have the vortex turbine system and also the screw type power generator and it would not even effect the downstream power output.
and i think he also have hearing trouble,
was going to say the same thing
Yup!! I’ve never built one but to me that seems crazy Over engineered
I wish I could spend a few minutes with determined guys like this fellow, because I admire what they are doing, but I could simplify things so much with just a little bit of engineering advice. This is the second one now that I’ve seen where tremendous resources are wasted and squandered simultaneously, basically doing more and getting less.
Does he need all that length of intake. I envisionned like 100ft 4inch pvc with a screen to the turgot. Thats it.
0:00 to 0:38 What is that small white cylindrical thing(with diameter smaller than the main pipe), rapidly moving right and left at the beginning of water inlet ??
It would have been nice to have a map showing the location, distances and height variance of all the components.
I like the trail tree at 5:36. Did you do that? It doesn’t look terribly old
$600-$800 electricity saving per year if operational 24/7/365. Thanks for the post.
Would it be possible to build a battery system large enough to cater for any possible needs like air conditioning, desalination or welding? If so could you run multiple, identical versions of this hydro system to keep such an obviously large battery system running? Excellent work! Absolutely fascinating!
For the first few minutes im like... woah! 12 miles of pvc later... yikes
No one is gonna talk about the spider in the control box? Awesome system!
what is "2 phase dc"?
I said the same thing. I have never heard dc called 2 phase lol
I believe he meant +-12V DC.
@@samuelferguson423 That would not make sense either. +12v - 0v (gnd) - -12v would be 24v
@@somedumbozzie1539 dude what XD
I'm just sayin!!!!! Too much bs for nothing really.... 500 watts is nothing especially from that set up!!!!
Where in Virginia?
This one is also sufficient to power my headphone amplifier and DAC off grid.
If I may ask, how much do you estimate the entire system you installed cost, versus the monthly savings on your electric bill?
Your design for a self cleaning screen is pretty creative.
I'd like to see a test that compares this spinning screen to a static one with the same surface area. I cannot imagine that gravity alone would dislodge the items (twigs, vines, leaves, etc.) that typically cause clogs. Seems over engineered and expensive.
@@K-Fed
I can see how it would work well...as the grid rotates to the bottom position, the weight of the excess water falling through the screen from the back washes any debris out...and it falls back into the stream.....
It's a neat concept...but if it was in the direct stream bed, without all the extra gravel trap etc, with a screw type propeller on the squirrel cage end pointing directly upstream, it could achieve the same thing...as the screw rotated the screen any leaves etc would wash out.....and the clean water would go directly into the 1.5 inch holes and into the pipe...
Its just amazing what you have built. Very ingenious. Very American!
you should take the ac from that and convert only in home, the transport off ac will be better , and componemt more protected.
Forgive my ignorance. If he's generating 3-phase AC right from the stream, why convert to DC at all?
Two questions to better understand:
From the video I can't understand, where is the turbine that moves the alternator?
Is the power produced by the alternator 500 W or what else?
That was a pretty big spider there!
Loved the spider. Was imagining this outtake: "And here's the eight-way distributor... *pat pat* no, sorry, that's a fishing spider."
And he's like almost touching it 💀
That spinner Screen is something I said to someone to build about 5 to 6 years ago, they said it wouldn't work but thanks for that, it proves I was right.
Also... its wasteful to convert to DC so early down the line, keeping it 3 phase would mean less losses as AC travels much easier than DC over the same sort of distance.
(over simplifying) Ask yourself which is better, 240V @ 1 Amp AC or 24V at 10 Amp DC even though they are the same wattage, the losses between AC and DC are significant as resistance of the wire is more apparent when transmitting DC over any distance.
I remember as science experiment where this was demonstrated by the teacher. In a demonstration of how DC does not light all lights evenly, then switched to AC to show how even the lights were with AC. it was apparent to me at least that DC is very in efficient with the long wires, its one reason that 5V USB extenders are not much longer than 5 meters, the wire resistance is too much to deliver a steady reliable 5v dc at the user end
The spider was a nice touch there :) , but you should be aware about critters on electrical components.
The self cleaning screen is genius!
Hell of a lot of work for the equivalent of 2 or 3 solar panels.
Yes but it works at night and cloudy days
500watts, 24 hours a day is the equivalent of 12KWh of energy per day, you'd need a lot more than 3 solar panels to match that. He'd probably get even more energy in the winter with a higher water flow, solar would be less.
Солнечные панели работают ночью ? )) А мини гэс работает и вырабатывает электроэнергию 24/7
Great video ...people don't realize what a mess it could be if you don't get a proper water cleaning setup
well done. I love the intake. it seems to me you have a lot more capacity to expand this system. have you thought about adding a second turbine?
that rotating screen is genius!
I have to hand it to you for that rolling screen. That's some Genius level engineering!
It's an Aquatic Hamster wheel.
nice system you got there, there's even a spider to guard all your electronics
very nice setup thanks for sharing. one question is there a reason why you went with a turgo wheel as they are a reaction turbine meant for hi head and low flow. I think you could be getting a lot more power if you got your self a reaction type turbine say like a Kaplan or a crossflow? I would be happy to do some math for you if you give your GPM flow rate to see what you could make?
I was thinking the exact same thing, reaction turbine would have had less plumbing, but cool design. I like the roll cage as part of a filter.
Este señor me dio la idea de usar un ariete hidráulico como alternativa a la limpieza de agua y almacenamiento de energía. What a good job man! Thanks for sharing!
“NO I CANT STOP YELLING AINT YOU SEEN MY MOVIES” 😂🤣😂
ua-cam.com/video/AxeDWiM65DE/v-deo.html
All of that for 500 watts? Is this just for fun?
8:57, the spider on one of the plugs: "This is my plug now!"
The intake screen is very clever. So are the stream crossings.
That could be a really nice system, 6" would made more power, and the 4x2" is a bit restrictive, I'd go with 3" right to two nozzles, 2 x 2" does not equal tge 4" capacity, but I'd still like to have a system just like it! Ifi dam up my spring, I maybe could get 1kw for about 8-12 hours, then gave to let the pond refill, but it would be well worth it when the sun hasn't been out for a week! Being off grid you need multiple means, and as many backups as possible! Nice system!
I thought it was strange he didn't just have 1 larger pipe for most of the journey. Perhaps he just had that lying around and used what he had. You'll get less friction in a larger pipe.
Also to get maximum power you need as much drop as possible but he seems to have the turbine quite a way above the water level. He could have put it lower and got more power.
24V @ 17A can be done with 4 100W panels and an MPPT controller. HELL of a lot less complicated, but yea I guess if you love to build and carry pipes hundreds of feet? wonder what the cost difference between 4 panels and an MPPT controller would be vs the hundreds of feet of pipe and the turbine and what not. I guess the benefit of this is that it does this ALL the time, not just during the day.
Smart design of the screen
I enjoy that everything involved in hydroelectric power generation basically involves mildly inconveniencing water.
Since it works it's a genius design. Thank you for sharing
i like all the pipes going all over the place...........reminded me off those old pneumatic capsule systems in office buildings.
Beautiful property! Great design on the water intake.
Would it be easier to run this thing like a water mill? Attach 5 car alternators or whatever charging unit instead of spinning the stones for milling?
Seems overly-complicated...
seriously.
way too much impact on the natural surroundings for a mere 500 watts that could be obtained with a (more)hidden system for 1/10th the price and effort.
and i was wondering the whole time if its because i am too high, or it is just too complicated
I think thats the fun of a personal engineering project. Over engineer the shit out of it because you can.
Yep, he could also dig in a miniturbine and generate 10s of thousands of watts easily lol.
He only needs a simple setup to make enough even for heat/AC.
@@TheGuruStud really? Could you please explain how maybe. I’m trying to use a nearby lake to give enough power for maybe a few lights
Question, can you produce the electricity closer to the source and then convert to high voltage to send to house, or is that more expensive/dangerous?
I agree with most of the comments. All that effort for just 500 watt?
Every engineer I have met or worked with had the philosophy of "Do the LEAST work to get the MOST reliable results and BEST results" .... Nobody is born with an engineering skill set or degree and that's OK but this is way over complicated.
dieselscience I will play devil’s advocate on this one, it may be overly complicated, but sometimes it’s more fun to do it the complicated way. I’m sure you could buy a waterwheel and set it up for a couple hundred bucks, and maybe a few day’s work. But with this, you have to plan out all the lines, figure out how to get more pressure, how to clean the water, etc., and that’s a whole hell of a lot more fun than setting up a water wheel in a few days. I speak from experience, as I’m a chemist who makes chemicals for the sheer fun of it, even if it’s more expensive to do so that way.
@@dieselscience I wish automobiles engineer would think about the replacement work needed to repair certain items on cars and trucks when designing the engine components. They certainly didn't think about easy and least amount of work. As for this setup why to mush piping to get the power planing would make it let supplies and work.
@@rimc8783 Automotive engineers are doing exactly what they're paid for. NO CAR is meant to last for the long term anymore. The second part... I'm not sure what you're saying there...
@@autumn2675 Buying might be cheaper than building - what's your time worth?
You should look into building or buying a mechanical battery. I'm in the design phase of building one.
You should make a video of it once you're done.
Rube Goldburg would be proud
😂😂😂
McGyver
My only thought on the power box is doesn't AC cover distance better with less loss vs DC? That in mind would moving the batteries & inverters closer to the house be a better choice?
Great setup. What an awesome property too.
I get 500 watts out of my 4X8 solar panel. That's dedication. He is just scaling. He will make a huge power plant eventually. Very cool. Hydro is beautiful power.
Looks well thought out until you get to the end.
If you put a direction fin across the end of your spreader you can control high flow situations. Think of it like an register for the a.c loover.. or like the adjustable wing on a race car.
Him: "You should make some effort to keep it round...for stability."
Me: Takes notes.
timestamp?
@@ging9944 2:35 I'm not mocking the point. Some concepts just sound funny when translated into words.
Very elaborate, but what happens in the winter?
There shouldn't be a problem as long as the intake doesn't get blocked. Fast-moving water won't freeze as it can't form crystal lattices (ICE ).
This is such beautiful land for kids to grow up on. Almost fairy tale
Gravity is gravity. Should hook about 20 of those generators in series, down a long concrete trench. When one generator is done with the water, the next one uses that kinetic energy to generate more power. The problem I see with these portable hydro generator setups is that they use the water once and waste the motion of the water.
I mean, there is such thing as a screw turbine. Basically archimedes' screw in reverse. They use weight more than flow.
But your thought isn't practical or most turbines or any peleton wheel because they are high pressure designs. More water weight = more pressure. Short pipe, low pressure. Doesn't work.
Also the water has to flow efficiently for the generator to get energy from it. If you just hold all the water then there's no flow, no kinetic energy
That seams like a whole lot of pipe for a little power. I think more thinking needs to be done.
I was thinking the water side of it is a bit over engineered but it could be that he just didn't fully express all of the issues he had to over come that caused that.
Nice job, I dig your engineering. I built a similar system and encountered many of the same design challenges and solutions. Good show, keep it up.
"Two phase dc"... you have phases on AC NOT DC
i guess if you have two half bridge rectifiers, they can be out of phase.. still not quite the right lingo.
@@adamramage7331 can’t have two dc voltages out of phase it’s a direct current lol it doesn’t alternate...
Love it how he didn’t notice the big ass spider in the converting box😂
I prefer to think that he is showing off his spider habitat at 8:17 .