think this design will work?

[greenkarson]

Just playing with some designs for my remote cabin. Have about 3 feet of head without any damming lots of flow all year. Just wondering if i can just use a normal run of the mill unmodified car alternator with this design to charge my batteries? just running a couple of lights, a 20 inch tv. love to hear any suggestions. http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/12475/scan0001.jpg

[dnix71]

"unmodified" car alternator? Not likely. You'll never get the rpm's, the brushes will wear out quickly and the field windings need current to work.

3 feet of head? Difficult. You need a big wheel and lots of flow. An undershot water wheel with a pma brushless alternator would be a better setup.

[greenkarson]

here is a pic of the in the winter in this pic water is at its lowest level http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/12475/stream.jpg

[greenkarson]

with my very limited electronic knowledge is there any alternators or generators that would not require any modification to work with this set up

[independent]

Without wanting to sound rude but your question has been already answered. Have a look around this site, use the search function. It works.

[kurt]

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_experiments_waterwheel.html

if you want a simple starter project do something like this. belt drive furnace blower and a tape drive motor off of eBay all you need to make the tape drive motor a generator is a diode in series with the + wire to keep it from motoring on battery power.....

[signweld]

greenkarson   Dont let the un-deserved  bad rap on auto alternators expressed here discourage you. The auto alt has so many things going for it that makes it ideal for your situation. I have used them for many years ( my first auto alt was in 1977 on a sailwing mill)  They are not hard on brushes like they say. Last in your car for many many years. They will also say that the field voltage needed wastes too much current. Just not so.  There cheap, easy to get and use, and work very well even with the gearing up they need. I hope you read this before the moderators see this post and delete it. Go for them Auto alternators), and don't listen to a bunch of moderatore that badmouth them just to sell more magnets and promote this site. They are very closed minded when it cones to this subject.

signweld

signweld@yahoo.com

[ghurd]

Quick math, maybe incorrect, I get it needs 100 gallons per minute to supply ~50W for the field current.

Or 200 G/M to get up to the point it is making as much as it is wasting.

G-

[greenkarson]

will any auto alts work or should i be looking for a certain make or model?  Any other info you can give me on running a auto alt?

[spinningmagnets]

Greenkarson, car alternators of all sizes and types are so abundant and cheap, they would be used often if they worked well. Everything that could possibly be tried with them has been done before.

You sound so interested you should probably try it out. It is a cheap and easy experiment.

You will need to choose a voltage. If you choose 12 volts for the charger/inverter, you will have to sell them later if you decide to upgrade to 24 or 48 volts, but many people have done this.

Get two 12-volt deep-cycle batteries. They can be configured for 12V or 24V (which is where I think you will probably end up) so either way, they won't be wasted.

Once you experience what a great resource a steady hydro supply is, you may begin to depend on it (I'm jealous!), at which point you will understand the long-term value of buying low-watt-draw devices as soon as possible.

Best of luck and have fun.

[signweld]

I think the Delco 10si are cheap and easist to find, But I personally prefer the older Dodge / Chrysler ones because of the "open-ness" of the body, lots of air / cooling access. The dodge voltage regulators are also nice to work with, only 2 connections (I know, they have a 3 prong looking connector, but only use 2 wire connections.) The dodge alt's also are easy to remove the diode sets so you can run 3ph a.c. to your battery area, and rectify it there.

[DragonFly III]

I have converted an auto alternator with out having to mill it.  There are projects that use unconverted alts but I love the fact that with the converted one I can spin it with my fingers and get a few volts.  I have a post about this and am waiting for mt auto alts so that I can do a step by step post with pics.  Have fun and keep experimenting.  I can't wait to move into our new house so that I can play with the creek.  Even in winter the water runs really really fast at points in the creek.  I haven't had a good look at the creek bordering the property but am hoping that it is one of these fast flow spots.  I have no intentions of building a damn.  Plus I could pay a huge fine and possibly go to jail depending on how far the law wants to go.  I almost went to fed prison for a school loan so I wouldn't put it past them.

[bj]

Green: by now, you've had both sides of the alt discussion presented to  you.  I do not know where you live, but if you want to try one,
I will give you one that has a big neo ring in it, and is rewound.  It'll just cost you shipping.  I played with them a lot, and you can get power
out of them, but even rewound, it takes some rev's to do it.  (14.7V@400 r.p.m.).  Having said all that, I don't think it is what you want, as it
will require some gearing.
What I found is that they are dependable, but not worth it for wind.
Anyway, either reply here, or send me an E-mail if you want it, and we will arrange it.
Just trying to save you some work.

[A6D9]

BJ if he don't take you up on that offer anyways i coudl get it?

how much would shipping be to E3A 5P6 Fredericton NB Canada?

[bj]

A6D9:  Green has first choice. But having said that, if Green doesn't want it, sure.  Just want to save someone the
work.  Just bear in mind the limitations I mentioned before.
If I am in town today, I will check on shipping cost.

[greenkarson]

BJ Thanks for the offer.  But i have already installed a turbine in the creek last spring its a 100w aquair turbine. Works great.  Since I first posted this question last winter i have read just about ever word that's been typed on line about Renewable energy and hydro and played around with every kind of motor i could get my hands on.  while I'm still not a pro i know a lot more then i did a almost 2 years ago when i stumbled onto this site.

[ghurd]

But i have already ...

A new post about it would be great.
G-