Hi.
I'm very inexperienced with anything to do with Hydro so please be gentle!
Some friends (9 families) have inherited a 35kW hydro setup on their land in Wales. It was refurbished and got up and running a year ago and produced them lots of lovely energy which made last winter much more comfortable. Unfortunately about 4 months ago the frequency started playing up (it's all battery-less off-grid) and the system was shut down.
I visited a few weeks ago and the whole system is in bits - apparently a bearing in the mechanical governor was dry which caused several other things to get bent and lead to... lots of things went wrong basically. As far as I can tell it's just the governor system that has problems though.
As winter approaches they're starting to get concerned as a community and would like to get it back online. They're also missing out on their feed in tariff which means there is an economic pressure to get it spinning again. Various bits have been sent off to be re-built by friends of friends but there is a fear it's all taking a bit too long.
My question is: Is it possible to run a system WITHOUT a mechanical governor at all and regulate everything using dump loads? Or would this cause more damage further down the line? It is an attractive option as they get paid the FIT for everything they generate - so regulating the water flow is ultimately going to regulate their income as far as I can tell.
They have one of these
http://www.retraceelectronics.com/Brochures/Brochure%20ELC%2045m.pdfhooked into the 3 phase output and on a load of water heaters (and air heaters if the water gets too hot)
Only other thing I know is that it's a turgo-wheel made of brass and from the 1930's.
I can find out more information if needs be.
Sorry if it's a really silly question - this is the first hydro project I've ever been asked to help on.
Cheers,
Tom