3 HP AC MOTOR trying to use for hydro. NEED HELP WITH WIRING

[charding81]

OK just got my hands on a 3 hp ac motor from a really old masonry saw and I am trying to convert it into an alternator.

It's 28 amp at 115v and 14 amp at 230v and it goes 3450 rpm.

it has 10 wires coming out labeled 1-6, 2 j's and 2 no names.

can anyone help me get this wired up in the best way possible to get something over 12 volts from the speed and power of a waterwheel or simple turbine? i have lots of  flow and a foot or two of head.

ALSO one thing that worries and confuses me is that it has a startup capacitor and a running capacitor, and supposedly a centrifugal switch to switch it to the run at a certain rpm which i am sure i will never reach. one of the two no name wires goes through both capacitors and the other no name goes through just one of them. maybe these will help me bypass this centrifugal switch.

right now i seem to only be able to get millivolts out of the thing spinning it by hand so i am thinking i am dealing with the starter config? my first kw to anyone that can help me!

[drdongle]

 OK I think that your trying to do to much with out doing the research first. The motor you have is a 2 pole type and less than ideal for a conversion. And speaking of conversions, I highly recommend that you research the archive of posts here with particular attention to those by Zubbly and IFred.

 To convert this unit would take a serious rework, I suggest that after reading up on it, that you choose a 4 or 6 pole unit.

[charding81]

Oh boy that is the saddest thing I have heard in a long time. This thing is a monster, too. So I take it there is now way at all to easily configure this motor to generate anything without winding new coils and all sorts of horrible things that I don't want to do. Should I be looking for a DC motor? What would be a good motor to look for for a small hydro setup without modification? low rpm dc? Thanks for your help.

[RP]

Can you give more information about the site?  How much head and how many gallons/minute?  That'll make it much easier for the experts here to guide you.

[charding81]

not much head at my site but a lot of flow. a 3 inch pipe wouldn't make much of a difference in the river. the head and flow rates actually vary greatly here from 1-2 feet head variance and quite extreme flow variance. there is a beaver dam that the whole river filters through right before a small cement bridge. so i was hoping to just stick a pvc pipe straight through that and have it coming out the other side of the beaver dam under the bridge.

[drdongle]

Sounds like you may be able to use a Mitchal/Banki turbine, which looks like a squirel cage blower, it needs a minimum of 3 feet of drop, and is ideal for large volume, low drop sites.

[drdongle]

Problem is that with a 2 pole you will need two magnet poles or groups of magnets that make up poles, with a 4 pole motor you will need 4 magnets or groups of magnets but you'll get the same output at half the speed of a 2 pole, and a 6 pole will provide the same out put at a third the speed of the 2 pole. So while it may in

fact work you may need to use a belt to speed it up for a 2 pole to provide what you need, where you may be able to drive a 4 or 6 pole directly ( or at a lower ratio). Of course there are still unknowns here as to just how much water were talking about and how far it's dropping, the farther the more power available.

You need to determain the fall ( drop) and GPM available.