water wheel update

[divebuddy]

Update to the waterwheel project from January. I finally got the wheel to the mountains. We had a lot of fun building a dam and getting the pump to run. After a day and a half of hard work we got water to the lower cabin.

The pump worked better than I figured. I ws hoping for around 240 gallons per day but ended up with close to 500. Unfortunately the aluminum buckets only lasted a couple of days. Since the wheel proved it would do the job I dont feel bad about investing some money into some sheet metal. 16 gauge this time, and lots stronger.



I had a production line going with the torch.

I am also modifying the crank journal and several other parts. I will have more pictures and maybe a video clip of it running

I think he is referring to this story from January since it is the only other story he has posted:
Just to save folks the hassle of locating it.

[Nando]

Good job, re-enforce the buckets by interconnecting them at the end with a strong cable or strips of metal. this way the buckets will not flex as bad when the water fill them.

Nando

[DamonHD]

Now I understand why they're done like that!

Rgds

Damon

[LeissKG]

I think the buckets are wrong for a waterwheel. With the open sides you will live only of the impulse of the water like in a turbine. Most of the water will immediately flow out of the sides of the buckets. In a overshot waterwheel the weight of the water should also do work. This means that the buckets should be closed on the sides. Properly dimensioned buckets should spill no water from the wheel.

Have a look how it is done on a wooden wheel at

http://www.user1.netcarrier.com/~lwreber/waterwheel.htm

Klaus Leiss

 

[behoof]

Great work, I really think this looks like a job that you really spent some time on. The quality shows.

behoof

[Nando]

He does not have the buckets with ope sides, they are closed buckets.

Nando

[LeissKG]

Yes the buckets are closed, but they are not connected. If he lets the water enter at the top of the wheel most of the water will immediately exit at the sides between the buckets. This way only the impulse of the incoming water turns the wheel. I'm not the guru of water wheels, but i have learned that you should not spill more water than you must.

Klaus Leiss

[divebuddy]

I know the buckets are not connected. The main reson the large wheels have solid sides is ease of construction and the re solid. With this design I was looking for the weight of the water in the buckets. I figured I needed about 12 pounds of water to give me the force to pump to the desired height.

    I am getting a good full flow out of a 3" pvc pipe. I really have more water than I can use.

[spinningmagnets]

This is a clever use of off-the-shelf parts that are cheap and easy to find. As you have stated, you are getting almost 500 gal/day (more than you needed) 100 ft above the source. Anyone can research the web and design an expensive and perfectly sized water wheel that has a very high efficiency, but regardless of any perceived inefficiencies, this did the job you wanted!

I don't want to sound as though I am picking at the design, but it is only pumping on the down stroke (actually, perfect for your particular application!), but half of the shafts rotation torque is unused. The other side of the wheel could use an identical pump to double the volume (180 degrees out of phase, of course). Also, because of the bell-shaped curve of feed-back resistance to pumping, I believe you could even put a third pump on the shaft without having to increase the diameter of the wheel or the width of the buckets (all three pumps phased at an even 120 degrees, like a Mercedes hood ornament).

I only point this out because by adding a second pump you can either increase the volume, or, by using smaller diameter pumps, you can keep the same volume but create a higher pressure in order to pump to a higher elevation.

You mention that you're making new buckets with stronger sheetmetal, what problem did you encounter with the thinner aluminum? Thanks for posting the pics.

"How many people here have telekenetic powers? Raise my hand."

-Emo Phillips

[divebuddy]

Thank you for the praise of the machine. As you stated There is room on the other side for a second pump. I may build a second one but already have more water than can be used for now. As for the original buckets they were made of scrap aluminum siding. Very thin stuff, but easy to fabricate, and at the right price (free). So they proved that the design would work, and justify $150. The main problem ws flexing as Nando had pointed out. Aluminum does not like to flex.

[healerenergy]

The foundry I work for uses a lot of elevators with a serious amount of buckets on them. Some of the buckets are plastic of various sizes and stand up for a very long time moving thousands of tons of sand.  If anyone is interested I could find out who is the manufacturer is and if the buckets can stand up to sand they should do well with water.

George