That all sounds like sound thinking. You've made me consider re-energizing that old mill, but only after a lot of homework. I think probably all wires and components except the generator would need to be updated. We could leave the old panel for show and build a modern and compact one. Also the wheel itself would need alot of work to be able to stand the amount of water it would need to turn those gears. Right now the buckets are a little leaky, OK for show but we only use a trickle to make it turn.
Thanks again for that detailed and well thought out post.Andy[ Parent ]
Of course you'll need to fix it up to pull kilowatts off the genny. But the genny's resistance to turning is just mechanical friction plus the power delivered or lost in internal losses (including powering its own field coils). So if there's no electrical load there's nearly no mechanical load.[ Parent ]
