DIY Water Wheel

[Pogster]

Hi,

Just finished my 1st revision of a DIY water wheel, the wheel delivers about 2A into my 12V battery pack. It is made entirely out of surplus pallets + an ametek tape drive motor....

Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7A_4VP6V80

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLvsixjlYIo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z900AKfwC5Y

Pete.

[ghurd]

Hey Pete, It looks good!

How big is it?

It will be interesting to me to hear suggestions for improvements.

I am wondering about that 'flap-flap-flap' sound.  If the buckets were sharpened to catch more water a bit sooner and less turbulent, maybe the output would go up a bit?

I don't know.

Welcome!

G-

[dudevato]

Pete, That thing is great!  If it was mine I'd set there with a cup of coffee or a beer (depends what time of day) and watch it for an hour or so. Really Cool!  

[gotwind2]

Great work - and it would be running 24 hours a day I presume?

Nice alternate use for the Ametek motor - shame there aren't more of them about, especially in the U.K. :-(

Ben

[richhagen]

Looks great, nice videos.  Have you had any problems with debris in the stream?  24 Watts, 24/7 that's nice.  I wonder how long the pallet wood will hold up, did you coat them or protect them with anything?  Rich

[Pogster]

Rich,

Quite a lot of leaves but these don't seem to be a problem. We had a great deal of rain last week that raised the stream level above the wheel - this left a lot of debris on the wheel - branches etc.. once cleared it worked fine again.

The wheel slats are made from Indian Hardwood pallets (everyone in the UK seems to be using Indian stone for driveways!) and I have treated them and the plywood with Thompsons water seal.

Pete.

[Pogster]

The wheel is about 2ft diameter and 2.5 feet width. Now the wheel is properly loaded (and spinning slower as a result) the noise output is much less.

I'll try and sharpen the edges to see if that improves things.

[Titantornado]

I think I'd only have one suggestion to offer, since you mention the overflow due to high water.  Why not build a swing-arm for it, with floatation?  This way, it could "ride" the flow height as needed, and not get swamped and packed with debris.

[dennisbuller]

Greetings Pete,

   What is the gear ratio for the wheel to generator?

   What is the normal rotation per minute of the wheel?

Thanks!

Dennis

[Pogster]

Hi,

The gearing is in two parts a 1:2 set of cogs and a 1:10 set of sprockets and chain giving me 1:20. The wheel spins at about 60rpm under no load. I've not measured it with the gears and motor connected but would estimate about 40-50rpm.

Pete.

[GerryS]

That looks great.  I have two treadmill motors I'm trying to do the same thing with.  I want to bring one with me to this mountain stream my family goes camping at.  What does the base of the wheel look like?  I only see one board coming up to the motor?

[Pogster]

Hi,

I made two L shaped brackets out of hardwood with a 45 degree insert to firm everything up. The whole lot is bolted together with M10 bolts.

Marine ply on the base and this is bolted down to bedrock.

Pete.

[GerryS]

ooooo...bolted down to bedrock.  I guess that's not going anywhwere!

[doug1232]

Hi Pete,

I'm a editor at Popular Science magazine in the U.S. and would be interested in hearing more about the water wheel--can you get in touch with me via e-mail?

Thanks a lot,

Doug