i dont care about the power rating, it's just awesome to see people's different solutions to a common problem. the self cleaning screen is straight up genius
@@xzavierdeshawn9050 man it's really fun posting pictures on my friends account. What stupid click bait. Here's how to do something illegal and get arrested, 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.
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
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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 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 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!
@@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
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 :)
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
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
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.
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.
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
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!
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...
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.
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
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.
This is like the definition of overkill. You made an entire public works department worth of equipment for 500 watts. Neat setup though! I like the rolling cage debris screen.
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.
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!
Hi there. That camouflage is excellent.!😲! I can hardly see them two pipes.!😎! I wouldn't have known that they were there if you hadn't told and shown us.!😎! GREAT JOB.! ACTUALLY... This is amazing.! I've joked, but, this is about the BEST SYSTEM that is completely home made, that I've seen on UA-cam.!😲! EXCELLENT JOB.! REALLY.. JUST EXCELLENT. You're really an excellent engineer. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE VIDS.🥰🥰.... KEEP'EM COMING.🤞🥰.... RICH(UK).🥰🥰🥰.!.!.
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.
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’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.
I like the idea of the Spinning Screen. makes more sense then the flat ones,, cleans itself a LOT more efficiently. This man has a LOT of good ideas unlike so many that THINK they have it nailed. NOT impressed with his Wiring though, sadly put together, The rest is Golden though. GOOD JOB SIR
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?
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.
@@benlawton5420 They won't take it only on power saving mode:) I have few useless old power supplies 350, 450, 500w and they can't even feed enough old PCs ( assuming they've lost their capacity). It's just personal experience with many cases of PC malfunctions because of lack w in power supplies.
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...
Great video. You could probably simplify that intake with a coander screen intake. Also I think you could put at least one more generator in the system. But I'm just some dude in Australia. Thanks for sharing
Top parabéns mostrando o sistema todo desde a filtração da água até a casa de máquina e as baterias e inversores isso tudo SEM DESMATAR UMA ÁRVORE APROVEITANDO O DECLIVE PARABÉNS AMIGO
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 dont care about the power rating, it's just awesome to see people's different solutions to a common problem. the self cleaning screen is straight up genius
@@xzavierdeshawn9050 man it's really fun posting pictures on my friends account. What stupid click bait. Here's how to do something illegal and get arrested, lol.
@Sciurus Niger Creeks run dry.
Not all the time
@Sciurus Niger exactly , its all about watt hours....
Nice, but your project is costly and classic ❤️👍🙏
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
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
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
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.
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
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 🙂
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
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.
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 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.
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.
Disengage spider before servicing
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!
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
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 :)
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
It's really nice that you added creative parts. Good work. This way your device will last longer.
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
This rotating screen is super cool. So little maintenance required, and intake is always clean from debris.
Since it works it's a genius design. Thank you for sharing
“NO I CANT STOP YELLING AINT YOU SEEN MY MOVIES” 😂🤣😂
ua-cam.com/video/AxeDWiM65DE/v-deo.html
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
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?
I have to hand it to you for that rolling screen. That's some Genius level engineering!
It's an Aquatic Hamster wheel.
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
$600-$800 electricity saving per year if operational 24/7/365. Thanks for the post.
I am so glad to see a small hydropower operation that does not involve blocking fish passage with a dam.
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...
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
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.
You could easily hear this guy standing beside an F15.
Jokes aside tho this is great craftsmanship. Very impressive.
8:57, the spider on one of the plugs: "This is my plug now!"
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
Beautiful property! Great design on the water intake.
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.
For the first few minutes im like... woah! 12 miles of pvc later... yikes
This is like the definition of overkill. You made an entire public works department worth of equipment for 500 watts. Neat setup though! I like the rolling cage debris screen.
Smart design of the screen
I can’t wait to see who finds the golden tickets 🎫 and wins a chance to visit this marvelous factory!
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.
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!
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.
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 .
This one is also sufficient to power my headphone amplifier and DAC off grid.
No one is gonna talk about the spider in the control box? Awesome system!
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
I enjoy that everything involved in hydroelectric power generation basically involves mildly inconveniencing water.
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 💀
Hi there.
That camouflage is excellent.!😲!
I can hardly see them two pipes.!😎! I wouldn't have known that they were there if you hadn't told and shown us.!😎!
GREAT JOB.!
ACTUALLY...
This is amazing.! I've joked, but, this is about the BEST SYSTEM that is completely home made, that I've seen on UA-cam.!😲!
EXCELLENT JOB.!
REALLY..
JUST EXCELLENT.
You're really an excellent engineer.
ABSOLUTELY
LOVE THE VIDS.🥰🥰....
KEEP'EM COMING.🤞🥰....
RICH(UK).🥰🥰🥰.!.!.
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?
Great video and clear comments. I also see the readings very well. Thanks for the information.
The spider was a nice touch there :) , but you should be aware about critters on electrical components.
Great video ...people don't realize what a mess it could be if you don't get a proper water cleaning setup
Great setup. What an awesome property too.
The spider inside the inverter/charger housing is a nice touch.
Couldn't hear him over the yelling
That is cool. I love the hydro water generator because it it can run 24 hours a day you don’t need a big battery plant except for surges.
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.
i like all the pipes going all over the place...........reminded me off those old pneumatic capsule systems in office buildings.
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?
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.
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.
He is having fun , developing systems.
Rube Goldburg would be proud
😂😂😂
McGyver
Absolutely awesome, imagine he can still sell power back to the grid, and he's making power 24x7
Beautiful property and a nice hydro system.
Its just amazing what you have built. Very ingenious. Very American!
This is such beautiful land for kids to grow up on. Almost fairy tale
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 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.
nice system you got there, there's even a spider to guard all your electronics
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 🤭😉
I like the idea of the Spinning Screen. makes more sense then the flat ones,, cleans itself a LOT more efficiently. This man has a LOT of good ideas unlike so many that THINK they have it nailed. NOT impressed with his Wiring though, sadly put together, The rest is Golden though. GOOD JOB SIR
It would have been nice to have a map showing the location, distances and height variance of all the components.
Glad it works, but I've seen way simpler systems for hydro-power...beautiful place you have there!
Looks well thought out until you get to the end.
This was a journey of joy from start to finish. Just fantastic:)
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.
You can definitely see a life of working construction and the value of scrounging in this man's work.
Christ almighty thats alot of work
The spinning screen is absolutely genius!
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
Well thought out, and the yelling is top notch.
Brilliant design. 500W would not be enough without a power storage system.
I’m in Virginia too. Would love to meet this man and pick his brain.
Imagine this river would actually power you computer..
400w for the PC and 100w left over for RGB
@@patty8849 dude, 900 w for rgb and 100 for your computer. It gives you 5000% more gaming skills.
750w at least for up to day PCs
@@stevestefler880 Depends on the pc, a fast pc costing around £1000 won't take more than 400-500w
@@benlawton5420 They won't take it only on power saving mode:) I have few useless old power supplies 350, 450, 500w and they can't even feed enough old PCs ( assuming they've lost their capacity). It's just personal experience with many cases of PC malfunctions because of lack w in power supplies.
It works fine, and nothing is perfect, so ease of maintenance is what counts.
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?
What a smart guy, thanks for the Vlog GH...YOU ARE AMAZING
you know its loud when the mic is like .. yup .. im out..
Great video. You could probably simplify that intake with a coander screen intake. Also I think you could put at least one more generator in the system. But I'm just some dude in Australia. Thanks for sharing
Top parabéns mostrando o sistema todo desde a filtração da água até a casa de máquina e as baterias e inversores isso tudo SEM DESMATAR UMA ÁRVORE APROVEITANDO O DECLIVE PARABÉNS AMIGO
This is really a testament to how much I don't know. LOL. Yep...Don't know jack. haha Well done, Sir!!!!
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.
Beautiful. Golf balls everywhere. Golf ball bearings = genius.