Kids Science Project

[eagle4life69]

Okay I was wondering if anyone had any blueprints or ideas on how I can make a very small hydro electric motor and give me enough electricity to light a LED light. I plan on using a sump Pump to supply enough water to get it going looking. Please let me know of any ideas.

[picmacmillan]

go to http://www.internetfred.com and look at the science fair project...that may give you an idea of what needs to be done...it may be close to what you want....pickster

[tinker]

http://www.re-energy.ca/t-i_waterbuild-1.shtml

This is a good site for the basic mechanics, maybe jr. high level, most projects are graded on the research involved. Google searchs for micro-hydro, pico-hydro, water turbine, ect.. will give a good research reference.

[nothing to lose]

Might be able to use something simple like the rear axle and motor from a slot car.

Mount a water wheel on the the axle, the gear ratio will turn the motor faster than the axle turns. Not sure if you could just use the motor directly on a water wheel though, maybe not fast enough. Cheap motor might be $1.50-$3.00 at Radio Shack, might work, I've used them for similar things but not sure the needed rotation speed for your project. They do work if turned fast enough. Some small plastic pullies and a rubber band is something I have used to gear them up cheap and easy.

Pullies can often be made easily. Think I once used a soda cap and another time something like a thick milk cap. Drill a hole in the center just a little smaller that the shaft for a force fit and use some hot glue or super glue also. 2 small plastic disks can be glued together and a shallow grove cut for the belt (rubber band) to ride in. Or if using like a brocoli wide flat rubber band and wanting an old time farm tractor type look, make a wide flat surface pully by just glueing up disks and smoothing flat acrossed.

As for the water wheel, I think of old time paddle boats mostly and those large flat blade wheels. You could make fancier type like buckets that catch the water and hold it till the near the bottom and dump it as they go round the bottom. I see both types around here in places like old mills.

If you actually want to build the generator from scratch and not use an existing motor, otherpower.com had a nice hamster powered night light, I geuss it's still there, should give an idea of building the gennie maybe.

Couple winds of magnet wire for coils and a few good magnets should do it.

[tecker]

 

  Take one of these drill pumps that couple up to a garden hose fill a 55 gal drum up with water and pipe out of the barrel's 2" outlet and down to 3/4 for your garden hose pump let the water fill another 55 gal drum lower level thru the 2"inlet the same way then sesaw the barrels back and forth  With a stepper motor coupled to the hose pump I think the head will be good enough to make good power for a demo.

[nothing to lose]

Barrel and pump is a good idea.

Just need one barrel, fill about 1/2-3/4 full, pump the water up hill, let it run down a nice mountain looking landscape like a stream, over a small water fall and the wheel making the power, back into the stream and funnel it back to the same barrel under the table. You can turn it on and forget it, it will run as long as your pump has power and it looks nice also.

I had forgot about that, but years ago a friend that was really into model trains and landscape scenery had a real system going!! This would win a science fair most likely but alot of work and some money. What he had was a mountain landscape and HO train sets and buildings bridges ect.. He made a real river running down the mountain. Used rain gutter for the river bed and some pee gravel and pretty rocks. On that river he made a grist mill I think, some type of building with a water wheel anyway. Inside that building was a motor connected to the wheel. His train was permanantly set to one speed. When he turned on the water pump the water flowed down the river and drove the wheel, the motor made the electric to run the train. Stop the wheel the train stopped.

I remember the train setup he had but not sure exactly how it was built. He had a 55gal barrel under the table and a submersable pump in the barrel and used something like 1" black utility tubbing for the water line (flexable pipe) PCV pipe should work for a straight run. I have no idea the volume of water he moved, it was alot for his setup.

In scale it kinda looked like lake Erie sitting on top a mountain and Niagra Falls at the water wheel compared to the HO train running around it I geuss. It did look great, but maybe the wheel was a bit large. He also had a carnival setup in the town scenery and his water wheel was about the same size as the HO scaled Ferris wheel.

I think for the lake on the mountain top he used a 5gal bucket or maybe cut it half hieght for 2 1/2 gal.

The first time he started it up it made like a small fountain in the center of the lake the water came in to hard straight up, so he had to make changes there. I forget if he simply put in a baffle to spread the water to the sides or if he changed the inlet to the side of the bucket.

Hmm, keeping the idea of the train. Maybe do a Water wheel above the grand canyon for power to a motorcycle race track and do a replica of Evil Knevil jumping snake river

.

[Nando]

This is one that was built to produce about one watt of energy.

Get s small squirrel cage blower, there are some that run with 12 volts.

There are two paths: one is to remove the motor if possible and replace it with a small DC permanent magnet motor, the higher the voltage the better, I used a 24 volts.

Other is to carefully open the motor if it is a DC brushless motor and take the 3 phases ( some are 2 phases) out with the negative lead as well.

Place small diodes ( 1N4148, 1N4454, or even 1N4004 ) any diode greater than 20 Volts PIV will suffice.( cathodes together and anodes to the leads, so the voltage will be from negative to the diode cathodes.

Make sure that you can water proof the motor, other wise you may have troubles.

Furnish some water power at good pressure and there you are ( make sure the the nozzle is at least not more that 60 % of the hose internal diameter.

If you need more assistance direct : nando37 at comcast dot net

Regards

Nando