Awesome Low Head High Flow Grid Tie Micro Hydro 530 watts!

[@LandtoHouse]

The SethCraft Channel !!! www.youtube.com/@sethcraftworkshop

[@Sewel7]

Nice Video👍🏻 Where can i buy this types of generators? Thx

[@ARLGD]

Thank you for sharing your channel, SethCraft! By the way, if you're into outdoor activities like camping or RVing, I highly recommend checking out the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series. It's an amazing power backup solution with a massive capacity of up to 5kWh, fast recharging, and a waterproof design. Perfect for powering all your devices during your outdoor adventures! 😊

[@andreaskampmiller7756]

anti-vortex-airsuction-device: one old tennisball... Genius!

[@LandtoHouse]

It's funny there's all this crazy hydro power stuff going on and tossing a Tennis ball into the mix makes everything that much cooler

[@quentindavis501]

My favorite part

[@davisemergency]

I’ve used balls, coffee cups, anything that will float. When you’re drafting up to 1500 gpm with a fire engine, you get creative. Buckets even work.

[@MrLaTEchno]

@@davisemergency Precise....there is no limit to our imagination when we start using our head and heart this combo makes Magic ! every time again. And I love that,......freethinking makes the world go around with no borders at ALL......

[@mr.nobody5251]

We need 2 thousand dollar vortex stopper. Him : tennis’s ball

[@Wayne_Robinson]

The tennis ball vortex destroyer is the most unique aspect of this. That's a pretty elegant fix!

[@bobbobertson69]

I'm glad you are friends with John Locke, he's done a lot on the island

[@LandtoHouse]

Yes. Yes he has. haha

[@justinball2250]

@@kickseek the numbers. The numbers are bad!

[@marcobuchmann]

Island to house.

[@LandtoHouse]

Hahaha island to house.

[@a.j.hinton4534]

so much anger just resurfaced that i completely forgot about.

[@michaeldavidhenson]

As an electrician, my only issue with this system is the male plug from the inverter plugged into a general outlet underneath the distribution board. If you trip over that and expose the plug or a child pulls it out, those plug ends are a potential death trap.

[@LandtoHouse]

When the grid is removed from the inverter it actually turns off.

[@ZenNaster]

I came here looking for this comment

[@LandtoHouse]

Its the primary concern with this install. I personally keep my two grid tie limiter inverters locked up so nobody can get to them.

[@ehoffman2006]

@@LandtoHouse If the sense wire is still energized but the cord is pulled does the inverter turn off the output anyway? If so then it is ok. If not it is a code violation of 406.7(B) Attachment plugs shall be installed so that their prongs, blades, or pins are not energized unless inserted into an energized receptacle or cord connectors.

[@Themachinewon]

you know he could put a regular switching panel in and have power when the grid goes out... The Plug thing is so wrong in so many ways ~!

[@BitKing_Ross]

Lets admire what a gorgeous backyard this guy has, freaking awesome.

[@LandtoHouse]

YES! It is really great.

[@bigbt.v8707]

With a lot of bugs and snakes.

[@DogMan077]

@@bigbt.v8707 even better

[@IndianaDundee]

One word, Mosquitoes.

[@BitKing_Ross]

Drake Docson water that flows especially at that rate doesnt provide much breeding ground for larva. They are ever present anyhow given his location.

[@MARTINREN1231]

Not only did they produce electricity, they helped reduce the erosion rate of the dam itself. Now that's productive.

[@donovangolemon4200]

I was just about to say that, you can tell just from how much quieter the water got how much strain its taking off the dam.

[@joemama.556]

never thought about it that way, but certainly a great point if we take in mind that the dam maintenance is also your responsability. great combo, lol I wish i had a pond

[@pablofrancogarcia1617]

No, they didnt produce energy 😜👊🏼⚡, they transformed it

[@VanBourner]

@@pablofrancogarcia1617 lmao you so pedantic so cool bruh 👊pedantic assholes rule

[@MARTINREN1231]

@@pablofrancogarcia1617 well, that's true.

[@elephantsong7782]

Ive got no clue why this was in my recommendation but I enjoyed it

[@LandtoHouse]

Thank for watching! This video is popular right now haha.

[@Wolf-xu1fj]

So how much power does it produce? Enough to run a fridge or two?

[@darkjester47able]

I work in the pumping industry and right before he pulled out the tennis ball I was going to mention that he needed to get one! Smart man!

[@LandtoHouse]

Thats cool! Yes the vortex destroyer is an important addition.

[@tannerhadra803]

As a power lineman I love the fact that he has protection for us workers in a emergency situation, back feed from generators is our worst enemy

[@LandtoHouse]

I have used these inverters and they turn off immediately when the grid goes down. Its really nice.

[@alabastardmasterson]

Backfeed is bullshit. No lineman has ever been injured or killed from it

[@Cotronixco]

@@alabastardmasterson You are correct. That little invertor would blow its breaker or fuse immediately when trying to power up miles of loads.

[@gorillaau]

@@Cotronixco That depends on where the break is, say a tree has come down onto the power line. If it a rural area, you and your neighbour might be the only customers affected. Could a 5kVA generator power two houses? Probably. Especially if the major electrical appliances are switched off. Edit: This comment is more addressing @w.w was saying. Sorry, wrong person.

[@yesplease6407]

@@alabastardmasterson lol. that's a bold statement that everyone knows is false. why are there 3 likes on this? wtf

[@maifeeulasad]

Respect for bill... Wish him health... Really nice and happy guy..

[@ayeshamerrydeath7501]

When I seen him bust out the vaccuum I thought.... he should call it Hoover dam.

[@lumberjackdreamer6267]

That’s a good one!

[@Machria23]

Lol

[@breakfast7595]

Amazing

[@hpchua2486]

Lol

[@charlespierce2804]

😂😂😂

[@JCJC650]

Could have a float sensor that detects the lake level and controls a 6" valve near the intake. That would prevent the level of the lake dropping too much and loosing the siphon.

[@JCJC650]

Actually it's probably easier to regulate it with a device on the priming side. You could T off to an automated valve to allow air in and on the other side of the t an automated shut off valve connected to suction (also automated). You could control it with some relays and a pii / arduino. When the float detects the level lowering it would start to let some air in, more and more as the level drops untill the system stops, then when the level returns to the max the air valve would close and the valve to suction and suction would activate for a set amount of time before shutting off to restart the system. That was there are no valves reducing peak efficiency

[@richardschofield2201]

I'd be careful restricting the inlet. With all that vacuum it could cause cavitation which would knacker the turbine. Better to let a bit of air in downstream to partially disrupt the siphon. I would bother with an Arduino. Too temperamental and fiddly. You basically need an old toilet. Use the ballcock and valve as an air bleeder. You may need a larger valve, or use several ballcocks at different levels so the system ramps up and down. It's a tune and forget system.

[@wormfighter1]

@@JCJC650 a piece of PVC mounted vertically with holes drilled in it. As the water drops more and more holes are exposed, allowing more and more air.

[@itslegit7362]

Daisy chain two or three turbines. Gain enough restrictions to slow it down and totally not have an electric bill. Connect the system to a nice set of supper caps, could possibly power two homes.

[@richardschofield2201]

@@itslegit7362 you can't daisy chain them. Well you can, but the headloss across each turbine would be reduced so each one would produce less power. You would have to run them in parallel but then you would likely drain down the dam.

[@michaellowe3665]

It needs to have a floating needle and seat in the intake pipe to reduce the flow automatically if the water in the pond drops. That way he can avoid draining the pond and sucking air into the intake.

[@kletusbobby7029]

Surprising how many watts he is getting from such a low head. Goes to show the high power potential from a low head hydro.

[@LandtoHouse]

I think the formula still holds true for low head power. (Gpm x head)/10 = watts So (350gpm x 15 feet)/10=500 ish watts

[@911life5]

I’m guessing the fact that he has the outflow under water creating suction is a big contributing factor. If you think about it it’s kinda like the entire creek is pulling the water through not only relying on the fall of the water to the turbine itself. It’s genius!

[@rhom5180]

a turbine that big with that good of plumbing should be able to power your entire house, maybe if you gut the alternator out of high amp gas generator and built a plate to belt ot in, cool setup

[@raymondj8768]

Yea but look at the supply of water volume you need that is unsustainable almost every were !

[@someguyinsantaclara]

@@rhom5180 the load would bring the turbine to a standstill with a high power generator head.

[@caseylandis3561]

I love the clean organized simplicity in the basic turbine and plumbing set up.

[@DwayneShaw1]

This is brilliant. With the vacuum pressure you're creating you could probably stair-step a couple more turbines into the system - cover all your needs. Might also create enough drag to slow the drain some - so you have less worry with draining the pond. - Would a smaller pipe configuration slow the flow while still producing sufficient pressure to spin the turbine at optimum efficiency? - 3" or 4" to 6" pipe, instead of 6" to 8" ?

[@troywood5463]

Some Ram Pumps could be used at the outlet to reclaim some of the water as well. Maybe? Thoughts?

[@TMFXLLC]

Neat, everything is so much easier when nothing freezes annually.

[@Pink_Noodle]

One option is to put together a woodgas setup for the time when it is too cold to have water flow; electricity would be more scarce but still accessible

[@SickWheyfu]

@@Pink_Noodle would a steam turbine be easier? Just boil some water to spin a thing that has the power transferred via an axel to the generator? You get distilled water and potash as byproduct.

[@Pink_Noodle]

@@SickWheyfu that sounds like a worthwhile idea to me. Water based power seems to be the best

[@instalacionesvaldes]

@@SickWheyfu Pero al calentar el agua necesitarás combustible para calentar y eso es lo que se busca evitar hoy en dia, usar combustibles para producir energía eléctrica.

[@instalacionesvaldes]

@@SickWheyfu ejejejeje Yo tampoco hablo ingles, pero hoy no es un problemas con el traductor Google. Pensaba que iba a usar una caldera de manera exclusiva para generar electricidad, lo cual no seria distinto al principio de las termoeléctricas, que tanto contaminan los paises hoy en día. Va a usar su estufa que siempre usa y ahora la utilizará como intercambiador de calor, eso es buenísimo asi aprovecha toda la energía de la combustión. kzbin.info/door/ILyV80Rnb4BTKg0CslCarA Le recomiendo ver los videos de este hombre que implementa tecnología a la combustión, saludos y compartamos todos por un planeta mejor, me aburrieron los abusos de los grupos que manejan las naciones, espero que paguen esos infames que sólo se preocupan de las ganancias y no por el hábitat de todos los seres que habitamos este planeta. Espero tenga una excelente resto de semana.

[@streaky81]

Obvious upgrade projects: meter the water level, add an automatic valve in there, make it self-prime - all fairly trivial and then you could just leave it running, then fix your meter.

[@chriselliott12]

Screaming for a Tesla powerwall battery system!

[@MacroAggressor]

I was thinking the same thing. Could be a simple as a float actuated potentiometer controlling a gate on the inlet. Heck, if you really wanted to, you could use a float on a lever to mechanically control the gate if you didn't want to mess with switches and motors near the water.

[@SimplyStuart94]

Also switching the 90s for two 45s to reduce the loss of velocity thus increasing the energy generation, better yet, move the drop to the other side of the stairs

[@dukeman7595]

@@MacroAggressor An old toilet float would do nicely.

[@MacroAggressor]

@@dukeman7595 Sure, that would be the simplest solution. My only concern would be with the on/off operation of it, you may induce unnecessary wear and reduce efficiency to boot. But, as far as a simple off switch, that would be a great way to go.

[@sween187]

If you put a valve (ball or butterfly) in that 8 inch pipe, you could turn it off, this would store water in the upper pipe (potential energy), so when you open it again it would start up the genny again with out the need of a shop vac.

[@tylersingleton9284]

Do you know how much an 8" valve costs?

[@mk-jf1ux]

i made a knife gate valve from scrap for free, knife box below waterline in lower pool. so there you go

[@tommybronze3451]

I know that there are limitations on location and practicality, but the turbine would last longer if it was placed down the flow path (low water pressure will cause cavitation on turbine blades and increase wear & tear) but all in all great job for making something green out of household materials !

[@tommybronze3451]

@Artificial Hobos hmmm, don’t know if there are of the shelf self contained (with generator) solutions for that around. My only point was that if they are running it through submerged turbine, I would place the turbine assembly at bottom end and slightly restrict the exit nozzle (5% maybe) which would increase internal pressure and eliminate cavitation. But if the use something (like pelton wheel) which is built for air in the housing than my point is very much DOA :) but to your point pelton wheel might be more robust if stones get captured in the pipe. But going back to the placement - it better to extract energy from positive pressure which can come in many BAR than negative pressure that can only get to -1 (well 0 for vacuum but I’m referring to pressure expressed on working part).

[@tommybronze3451]

@Artificial Hobos I love the ghetto style with washing machine motor :) Old engineering paradigm: "if it works, it works". In regards of Australia - I'm not sure how anybody could build any hydro there, one it's pretty flat, second water is a bit of luxury. But if one is so lucky to have both (river and decent elevation change) go for it. Thou in Australia, I would think solar would be better solution since sun exposure is a greater and land prices cheaper, but again all depends on what's ones circumstances. Going back to turbines, alto I think Fransic would be better than Pelton, I like the idea of aerator for a small pond and having some fish as well. Mist from Pelton could also provide nice cooling effect on hot days, so three birds with one stone :)

[@tommybronze3451]

@Artificial Hobos Do you remember the name of that series ? I would watch it and maybe drop him some info on bearings if I found something obvious ?

[@r0cketplumber]

The tail tube allows the turbine to be mounted up high where it is easier to work on, and still use the entire drop from the dam to the tailwater. The pressure at the turbine's exit is below atmospheric, elegant!

[@danalex2991]

Exactly. It reminded me of the draft tubes fitted after turbines from my old engineering days..I never fully understood what was the exact reason for them until this video and your comment. Thank you

[@r0cketplumber]

@@danalex2991 Glad to help. Many moons ago in high school, I was put into the national honor society (much to my surprise) because I did a good job of translating several teachers' garbled explanations into something my classmates could understand. Nice to know I haven't lost my touch.

[@Bill_N_ATX]

The pull is as good as the push.

[@smartcookie11]

Why is the turbine at top. Wouldn't it be better, if it uses the entire drop of the water from the bottom.

[@r0cketplumber]

@@smartcookie11 The tail tube pulls suction on the back side of the turbine so that the full head of the dam IS used. If you punch a hole in the tail tube right below the turbine, it will suck in air!

[@kennethakin6322]

Everybody should have a hydroelectric system, it’s really efficient and cool.

[@daddyyddad1]

How? A lot of us live in a big city with no rivers close

[@kennethakin6322]

@@daddyyddad1 I’m talking about when you have to leave the big city because of the nuclear war that will happen on November 11 2020.

[@daddyyddad1]

@@kennethakin6322 we have a date here on November 12th

[@hirohunter2314]

@@kennethakin6322 how did you know? Did John titor tell you?

[@SMGJohn]

@@kennethakin6322 Well Holy Goly you expect everyone of us to just move into the woods, build house and a hydrodam in what like 2 and a half week???

[@gallomimia7780]

The tennis ball vortex destroyer! Patent Pending... That's so awesome.

[@fluorescentblack4336]

Great little setup and looks like a beautiful property. Bill seems like a really genuine guy who is interested in doing it for the right reasons and with the right expectations. Offestting small amounts adds up. Good video

[@seppukun208]

Great! Now I just need to find a waterfall

[@LandtoHouse]

Or a creek with lots of head pressure as in my 10 part hydro power series. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIGslpZvi6ilhbs

[@Itismeonhere]

Upper and lower water tanks with multiple check valve pumps to keep the flow rate into the upper tank to keep up with the flow out of the upper tank. Using the vacuum principles creating the siphoning effect and proper math skills helps a lot. A lot of mathematical rules going on here with scientific principles done on paper and then tested out in real life.

[@natekurtz429]

This is probably one of the coolest thing I’ve ever seen

[@masonborden5594]

The vacuum you pull with that flow is insane. The venturi effect usually leaves a lot to be desired in denser fluids (water rather than air) but on a scale like this with a 30% increase in volume at the tailwater you are getting a massive vacuum. Its actually beautiful. You could increase the flow but that could lead to several issues in other areas, and fixing those might require some shotgun science. Patch it all and hope for the best. Guess the issue. You have a beautiful setup, sure it could be improved but why do it.

[@timhallas4275]

He doesn't need a vacuum on that pipe. He has a downhill drop of 15 feet. Once that water begins flowing, gravity alone will "pull" water from the pond. But here is the real point. He could easily have drawn his water from below the water line at the damn face. No siphon needed. Also I am certain that this flow rate could easily produce over 2,000 watts, ending his need for any power from the grid until winter.

[@jap13777]

I’ve been wanting to make one, we have a cabin near sa stream, this would help to illuminate our small and poor community. I just do not know where to start and who to ask

[@simeonsimeonov5205]

Brilliant ideas! I believe that there is a small voltage drop on the line that can be reduced by doubling the size of the conductors of the line. Greetings

[@Geoduct123]

Maybe put the inverter closer to the dam. 24volts 500watts is 20 amps going 100ft is about 20% voltage drop. If he switches it to 120v at the dam that 10 gauge wire offers a 0.5% voltage drop.

[@Homsangpradit]

I love his honesty about the rectifier. "I don't know how that happens, but that's what its doing."

[@Cotronixco]

Three diode bridges with a common output.

[@josepheasey1114]

@@Cotronixco They would have to be high power diodes. But then again, 500 watts ain't all that much.

[@Cotronixco]

@@josepheasey1114 Off-the-shelf diodes. Bridge 3 phases to DC. Nothing to it.

[@josepheasey1114]

@@Cotronixco yup you already said that; you could drop a capacitor (to ground) in there too to smooth out the voltage levels

[@Cotronixco]

@@josepheasey1114 Depends on the load.

[@johngacusan2777]

This is one of my dreams. A house near a peaceful river or creek and has unlimited renewable energy attached to it. I wish I have knowledge to reproduce this kind of tech and assembly with respect to the owner of the video. More power to you both, sirs

[@jeffburnham6611]

Ideal for stream or creek, not so ideal for a run off pond. Much depends on rainfall.

[@Mick_A_Knuckle]

You're not going to power a whole lot of things with only 500 watts.

[@MrJthf9]

@@Mick_A_Knuckle you wont power shit with 500 watts. maybe a big fan or something

[@M70ACARRY]

@@Mick_A_Knuckle it's better than nothing.

[@cypresspuz]

@@Mick_A_Knuckle 500 is not zero

[@Chris-lh7wj]

One of the best dam videos I’ve seen. You answered every dam question i had.

[@LandtoHouse]

Haha that's funny

[@larrybolhuis1049]

A fish is swimming down the stream and bonks into a set of vertical boards. What does it say? "Dam!" :-)

[@LandtoHouse]

Yes that is exactly right.

[@jiri4023]

Lol, my first dam video but it not only answered a few dam questions, it also planted this dam idea in my head, although our solar set-up has been able to cover our needs.

[@Ratboy2004]

The utilities do not like these. The establishment does not like this. AWESOME WORK DUDES!! We need to begin to build communities around these dams and rivers, far enough from flood plains but close enough to mitigate line loss. Good job guys. Hydro electric is my favourite.

[@faithful451]

The biggest problem I see with hydro is it is very limited, unlike wind. Only one, maybe two people can harness the flow from this guy's river.

[@IHateThisHandleSystem]

@@faithful451 What? What prevents the installation of another such damn anywhere along the river? There is just as much water flowing downstream of the damn as there is upstream. You could have a chain of these set-up all down the river.

[@gregwarner3753]

This is one of the most effective micro hydro setups I have seen. If 500 W is all you need or want this works. Good work.

[@paulmaydaynight9925]

exactly, the point is making a bit more than you want to use,not mainstream thinking,gota make it big to make rich people richer.

[@LandtoHouse]

Bill put a lot of thought into this setup. Turned out well for a hobby.

[@LandtoHouse]

Bill is happy with 500 watts. Working well for him.

[@ratheonhudson3311]

I've bought an array of second hand solar panels and I spent 500$ for the set of 10x 190w 44v panels and I picked up 2x 250w 48v panels for free. Overall I have an off grid set up for around AUD$750 producing 1.57kw 21amps 57volts. Your video inspired me to tinker with it some more.

[@LandtoHouse]

Very nice! I have a solar panel installed series coming up soon!

[@fajoopsa]

The water still flows at night though.

[@daneduttry8957]

Take the water falling over the edge and fill the line up with a valve close to the end. When you open it it will suck the water up and over thus it will self prime without anything. I built mine to be automatic with check valves.

[@peterboil4064]

awesome comment

[@texasfossilguy]

itd be better to design the dam this way to begin with with a channel on a ledge to prime the pump.

[@lorditsprobingtime6668]

@Dane Duttry Not knocking your suggestion at all and have never built a hydro setup at all so this is only a suggestion that may be useless for reasons I don't know of but: I was thinking after reading your suggestion of an idea. How do you think it would go if he had something like a large ball valve at the bottom to hold the water till you're ready to run it, up above but just below the dam runover he had a funnel mounted in a section of the water ran into normally over beside his pipe and it fed into it. The ball valve closed the water would soon fill up to that point just below the edge and if you had a floating ball that fairly cleanly sealed off the funnel when you opened the ball valve and things started sucking (in the best way) then you'd have only the ball valve to open to get the system running. I know it wouldn't make a huge difference but, every little bit easier it is to operate and control has got to be a help. Anyhow, like I said, I have no experience, you do so I'm just throwing an idea at someone who has experience with this sort of thing to see what you think, useful or just a dumb idea that may even cause more problems than it's worth?

[@malcolmrayner1613]

I pumped water a long way to a tank i would trap all the water in the pipe to prime the pump

[@mrgoldendeel]

Another thought, could you install another gate valve before the turbine to control the rate of intake so the suction doesn't drain the pond below the dam and ultimately the intake? I realize this would potentially slow the turbine but then he wouldn't have to worry about draining the pond down too quickly.

[@jasonrichter497]

The sound created by a minor waterfall is also a benefit for animals, plants, and people. White noise helps me sleep in extreme pain. This is a type of medicine with no downsides. I wish I had that in my backyard for sure!

[@spacefreeman]

Would be interesting to hear how the system works in winter. I suppose water intake should be placed deeper to prevent pieces of ice sucked into pipeline and damaging turbine's rotor.

[@Cromafia132]

It rarely if ever gets that cold in North Carolina, maybe once in 50 years.

[@brothertyler]

Great work, you can increase your efficiency by installing transformers by the turbine to raise your maximum open circuit voltage to near the limit of your rectifier input.

[@researcher4good]

Exactly. It's not efficient because it's AC. It can easily be made efficient because it's AC.

[@dwbogardus]

One hundred feet is a very long run with high loss for 24 Volts. Put a step-up transformer to 48 V or maybe 120 V near where the turbine now is, and move the diodes (which need to be on finned aluminum heat sinks with convective heat flow) to near the inverter. If you pick 48 Volt step up, you'll need an inverter that expects 48 Volts, and there are some. If you pick a higher voltage, there will be lower line losses, but you may need another step-down transformer just before the diode rectifiers that feed the inverter, and losses from the second transformer may negate the higher 120V (or what ever you choose). 48V probably ends up being the most efficient. You also might consider Silicon Carbide rectifier diodes, since they are more efficient than ordinary silicon diodes, but more expensive. Since you've only got about 500 Watts to work with, it is silly to give up a significant fraction to avoidable line losses and diode losses. There is a very good reason power companies use high voltages . You can also use heavier cable for your long run, but heavy copper cable is expensive, and raising the voltage is the cheaper and more efficient way to achieve the same thing.

[@holysirsalad]

@@dwbogardus If he moved the rectifier beside the generator, another benefit would be using the cable properly: +, -, and a safety ground. At such low current this setup technically works but, if I was his electrician friend, I wouldn't want anybody talking about that! (For that matter, I'd probably insist on a dedicated breaker and ditch the suicide plug) PV inverters work with higher DC inputs, an MPPT would be a decent fit for an asynchronous generator. One drawback would be cost, however: If he's pulling about 530W on 3-phase ~24V over 100', the drop over the ground wire - which is 12 AWG in a 10/2 cable - is over 20%. That's relatively quite high but at this scale it doesn't seem like much power, I'm not sure the ~100W or so would be worth the expense.

[@djblackarrow]

I think instead of using the shop-vac you can put a Ball Valve near to the Outlet and move your Shop-Vac Hose connection to a higher point under the turbine to use it as a filler pipe. To start the Syphon for the first time, you have to close the lower valve, open the upper one and fill the Pipe with Water until it overflows from the filler pipe. Then close the upper valve and open the lower one. At this point you can turn the Syphon off and on whenever you want, only by turning the lower valve.

[@propellerhead2000]

I think that lower valve could be fitted with an actuator controlled by a simple Arduino device which could be used to monitor pond level and throttle water flow to ensure the pond stays full to the brink of spillover. Or at least not vacuuming the pond dry.

[@The2x4]

He mentioned that idea as the "regular way" which is inconvenient. The shop vac was a great way to very quickly start it up without getting yourself wet.

[@kkarllwt]

Price out a 6 inch ball valve.

[@propellerhead2000]

@@kkarllwt Where I'm sitting a 6 inch PVC ball valve costs $113.

[@mattf3761]

One of the coolest things I've ever seen! Reminded me of my dad when he said "I've been thinking about it for months"

[@LandtoHouse]

Bill is a smart guy. Thanks for watching.

[@edenfromafrica4725]

Well done Bill, even just a hobby, but its great to see your technical aptitude.

[@ncooty]

As I write this, KZbin says you're at 99.9k subscribers. Congratulations on hitting 100k any minute now! You've put a lot into it, so I hope you celebrate this milestone. :)

[@LandtoHouse]

Yes! Looks like 73 people away from 100k. Today is the day. The channel has been a slow growing but well worth it adventure.

[@inachu]

3:06 or at the end of the green pipe cover it up and then fill by hand some water until the green pipe is filled with water then once filled cover the hole then open the end of the green pipe then suction will start and there ya go!

[@AJH8713]

They did say the only other way to get it going would be to fill the pipe with water before he got out his handy dandy shop-vac lol

[@gaycha6589]

Priming a siphon basically

[@rhiantaylor3446]

That is the tidiest installation I have seen. All you need now is a used Nissan Leaf battery and you can make full use of the 24hr power being generated.

[@erickleinwolterink3524]

I mean, the hydro part of it is pretty cool... But the electrical side is a bit wonky.

[@peto22]

Yep. He is losing ~100W in cabling at full power. He should move the rectifier next to inverter and use three core 10mm2/ 8 awg for three phase run from generator to rectifier. Then serious health hazard! He is using plug to feed power to socket!!!

[@deadclan7796]

@@peto22 don't use a rectifier at all.. he's requiring ac for grid and has ac.. hes probably loosing like 200W for that conversion stuff

[@TheCanadaman1]

@@deadclan7796 in order to grid tie direct he would have to generate at 60 Hz and 120 v - doubtful he is

[@dl5244]

@@TheCanadaman1 watch the video... he's rectifying to 24VDC and has an inverter with grid sync and disconnect kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGmVhImbi71-maM

[@dl5244]

@@deadclan7796 His 3phase generator is is not sync'd to grid phase and frequency (it's rotational frequency and output voltage are flow and load dependent). rectifier electronics for only 528W are trivial to produce his 24VDC for battery storage.

[@MrJockoDundee]

Would love to see a fully integrated deployment of this hydro-turbine configuration feeding large battery array coupled with a similarly manageable size solar array that would then resolve the low water periods. If not a completely self-sustained, efficient system; it would be "dam" close. Good work! I like that you did it as part of a hobby/curiosity exercise and not a zealot attempt at "green" veganomics.

[@MrJockoDundee]

@@jerryrobinson7856 Agreed. There is no, practical, abandonment of the electrical grid. I don't see storage and load dampening solutions in my lifetime. And I REALLY don't see how I could be running a 240v Mig welder from the voltages discussed in any of these solutions. They're nice hobbies for "domestic living" but I enjoy metal and woodwork hobbies too. :)

[@radudorurus]

@@jerryrobinson7856 No offence. 500watt is... 500watt no matter the voltage is. Probably it is the effiency of the inverter but this is ~0.95 so that it would be 500w input and 475w output. Maybe this seems to be not signifiant but having 500w permanently, you can draw 12kwh in 24h. All you need is to accumulate the energy somewhere (battery, capacitor) if you wish to have available bursts of power over 500W without consuming from the grid. My house is drawing 200-350W during daytime and only during nightime it goes below 150W. Of course I have other home appliances 1500-3000W power running for short times not permanently. All of these consumptions brings me to a 6-10kwh daily energy usage.

[@Licantropus]

Very good this alternative! A fish ladder would be interesting, allowing migratory fish to pass over or around an obstacle in a river!

[@donraptor6156]

Screw the fish!

[@NewArchipelago]

@@donraptor6156 Haha, yeah dude!!!!

[@themajormagers]

shop vac is such a cool idea

[@freddycarraway]

Here's a thought. Install a gate valve on the down stream side. You would no longer need the vacuum, plus you could adjust your flow to get the optimum power and reduce the risk of draining your lake.

[@Ratboy2004]

Ya. That's what I think too.

[@leoncryp8182]

Beautiful pond, he should put some trout there. Wonder how much did it cost him to actually built the dam and huge regaining wall next to it, actual dam is probably reinforced concrete, probably at least $10k ? $2.5K inverter + motor, $500 for plumbing, 1 day assembly. Pond / Dam pre existing?

[@imraff]

Dam looks older than the gentleman presenting the system, gonna go out on a limb and say it was already there

[@kinto4135]

There are a lot of forgotten low head dams all over the country, so I think he just bought it with the land. Still pretty cool, I don't know much of those who are for sale.

[@slycordinator]

@@kinto4135 And since he's in North Carolina, even if he didn't own the damn (but merely owned the land adjacent to the stream), the law there is that you can make reasonable use of the water. So, he'd be in the clear. Although in other states, that wouldn't necessarily be the case.

[@kinto4135]

@@slycordinator Oh ok, didn't knew that. That's really cool! Finally a useful law haha

[@slycordinator]

@@kinto4135 Yeah, there are states where seemingly meaningless things dealing with water are illegal. Like, in some places it's illegal to even collect rain water, since water is taken to default to belong to the state at large.

[@drunklunchbox619]

The amount of suction that thing creates is insane. He could add at least 3 more turbines to that setup. I believe that might even make the flow slow enough to keep more flow over the wall. Even hook a float up to a clutch of some sort so when the level in the reservoir drops to a certain point it engages another turbine. I would do everything with arduinos, but it would be possible to do it completely mechanical.

[@-2u2]

I must say, it is very cool - I've always been fascinated by Hydro power.

[@atinoteintunovas9969]

Not only is fun to see all that invention you guys have sparking there but it's also a wonderful and beautiful pawn-damn there that is just incredible that is not only a great idea but also something that nobody else have it elsewhere. That's amazing Guys, you have something that everybody would like to see. Congratulations!

[@CATownsend777]

Get a battery system hooked up and store that energy already created. Would be a good backup system for a short time if the system were to go down.

[@bruceweight7319]

Nice setup. If I am seeing correctly you have a male plug end from the inverter feeding electricity to the single phase part of the home. That should be hard wired. If a toddler un plugged that cord the plug blades will be hot and could cause an injury or death.

[@video99couk]

That "shocked" me too!

[@LandtoHouse]

Thank you. These inverters are grid activated. Once the plug is pulled from the wall it is dead. (Auto islanding)

[@bruceweight7319]

I figured that might be the case as most solar systems work that way.

[@LandtoHouse]

It's pretty quick too. whenever I pull mine from the wall i hear it click immediately

[@Acecool]

@@LandtoHouse What if it is partially plugged in. American plugs allow a bit of metal to be exposed before the connection is terminated - meaning your fingers, or implements, can make it to the contacts.

[@MultilingualKdog]

That is very awesome and renewable energy

[@jllaine]

Low head High flow - you could take the discharge from your existing microhydro and run that through a low head high flow turbine for more generation capability.

[@tyrehester5550]

Essentially the turbine spins using suction instead of the head (weight of the water). I’m sure there is a loss of efficiency but it is very small. It a good setup for a DIYer to offset the cost of electricity ⚡️ which will only increase in price over the years. Much better plan than solar or wind which are intermittent.👍

[@liberty-matrix]

Love the ingenuity! A safety tip, the N.E.C. (National Electrical Code) requires all wet and exterior connectors to be WT (water-tight). Starting with that Romex connector you've got on your generator's junction-box. Plus you should shield your home-run with electrical conduit since it's ungrounded and never allowed to be surface run.

[@TheNewFaceOfHSP]

While we are talking electrical safety, I couldn't quite make it out: Is he backfeeding his home through an electrical outlet, from the bottom of the inverter? I would hope that was the feed-in for grid assistance, but it was a bit confusing around when he says "from the grid into the grid", and then proceeds to talk about a metering clamp preventing backfeeding and killing a line worker. I really think this entire setup is extremely sketchy. I would have powered an MCB or two, with separate lines, feeding from the inverter, and then having the inverter take grid power to supplement it, when it can't do it using the generated hydro power. That could never backfeed. The inverter would have to be rated for the entire electrical group it would be supporting, but I think it would be safer. Relying on an external metering clamp for "island detection" seems weird. It looks so janky. Maybe it's just me, considering all the safety things we have to do in my country, and basically use a changeover switch for anything that could backfeed (like a generator) and being required to use not just an electrician, but an "authorized electrical installer" to come and wire in systems like solar, if we want full grid-tie.

[@tjwatts100]

The NEC might have something to say about the Jesus cord he has feeding power into the house circuits.

[@paulharrison2325]

@@tjwatts100 in the U.K. we call them “widow maker cables” - when you make a make plug live. Very dangerous

[@LandtoHouse]

When the grid is down these inverters are off. They always pull 4w to 6w from the grid.

[@LandtoHouse]

These inverters feed the house only if the grid is detected. The moment the grid is removed the inverter is off.

[@VTwin4Christ]

paint PVC to prevent UV break down. and fix wires on outlet box. add a rain loop to prevent water from getting in there. nice build!

[@sailingsolar]

Without being painted 6" will last far longer (decades) than the Alternator.

[@MountainGuerrilla]

Hope Bills doing well after Helene

[@paulbaker9687]

I wonder if he could use some sort of ballcock system that slows the intake down using some sort of 'cover/mesh' that slides over the intake if the level of the pond drops too much.

[@kletusbobby7029]

Yes I have a valve set like you describe, it works well.

[@paulmaydaynight9925]

thats one way to do it after the fact oc, but if you are going to the trouble of "making a lake"/storage of potential energy then its probably wise to give some time and effort to re/move some extra dirt to make simple upstream canal gates in a reduced width of the lake you make to simply limit water flow as you wish later, and a simple super deep slopping trench in the direction of flow your trying to make, and put a few different sized plugged up pipes in there to use later (laminar flow surface flow vortex drain to pull in your inital tromp air. (a few long range gigabit fibre optic cables because you know you will eventually want better than wireless lan (remote cams etc) at both ends sometime lol etc) ,before you fill the lake.

[@LevAgency]

Or HE could just leave the "VACUUM" valve open - that would reduce the draw on the intake...

[@TheXanUser]

If he replaced each of those 90 elbows with two 45's he would get significantly more velocity.

[@LandtoHouse]

That is likely true!

[@786fakhari]

Positive 👍

[@navrajjohal9053]

but would that not put extra load on the turbine ? does that matter ?

[@benholzwarth2235]

The creek might not have enough flow to allow more velocity to pass through turbine

[@captainboggles]

a 90° eblow can restrict flow up to 12% always use swept bends may be possible to do this with 4" pipe . running the syphon tube to a larger dia destroys the syphon.

[@ericdelevinquiere9902]

You could easily calculate the efficiency of your system by figuring out the water output vs watts/hrs. Your dam is easily figured out as to surface and hight. Would be interesting to know... Nice project.

[@LandtoHouse]

This was the first time I had met Bill. Perhaps I can do an update with him in the future. Include more data.

[@BullCheatFR]

At 350gpm over 15ft of head, raw hydro power is ~990W

[@LandtoHouse]

The basic power formula is (head pressure x gpm) /10 = power. That is 525w.

[@BullCheatFR]

That’s right, this is how you get electrical power for this kind of setup. For “raw” mechanical power, formula is : Power (W) = Flow (kg/s) x height (m) x 9.8 (gravity, in m/s/s) 1kg of water is precisely 1L (at 4 degrees centigrade / ~39F) So for 1gpm @ 1ft head: ~3.8/60 L/s * .305m * 9.8 ≈ .19W Or a simpler approximation : flow (gpm) * head (ft) / 5.3 ≈ mechanical power (W) 350*15 / 5.3 ≈ 990W

[@vitriew]

@@BullCheatFR how about the efficiency of the turbine and generator is usually between 40-80%. So Watts = Flow, gpm x Head, ft x 0.19 W x 0.80 (efficiency max) = 798 watts for 80% 50% efficiency = 498.75 watts

[@kr3wjones45]

I think you should add a guard to prevent birds from landing on it and getting injured. Very cool system!

[@rizfany]

i like how he explain the payback time information, so detail 👍

[@Borminator]

Oh my God, this is John Locke!

[@fabiangualacovargas445]

Jajajaj lo mismo iba a comentar :'v lo siento si no te respondo en ingles saludo

[@Borminator]

@@fabiangualacovargas445 Todo está bien, el traductor de Google te ayudará.

[@alanmunce7824]

He’s not Lost anymore. 😉

[@warrenosborne6044]

In times of reduced streamflow, have you considered a butterfly variable flow valve on the inlet? It would not break the vacuum and would reduce the output, but it may be a way to adjust the flow and enable the operation without shutting down completely.

[@lw7238]

I was thinking the same thing. Keep head pressure all the time. I is easier than attaching and "electric vacuum" to it. The electric vacuum also destroys the purpose of the independence of that unit.

[@TheDemonsHaveMe]

@@lw7238 or @warren osborne Hypothetical from a layman, but would automating a backup vacuum system be too horrible? initial and maintenance costs go up, but an extra (car?) battery with couple extra valves, sensors, etc... enable the system to keep the battery charged to reasonable levels while operating. that way if something does happen, at appropriate water levels you can restart the system automatically.

[@fuzzywzhe]

Eventually dissolved gasses within the water will break the vacuum and stop the siphon I would think. Maybe if the water is flowing fast enough it will take the bubbles with it. I guess they would know if this happens or not.

[@lw7238]

@@fuzzywzhe I think that would take some time for the oxygen to build up. But you are right it would need to be airtight.

[@fuzzywzhe]

@@lw7238 Well, I don't know how well gasses dissolve into water, but there would be gas - could be CO2, Oxygen, or even Nitrogen. Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in our atmosphere. It might not build up at all, if the flow is fast enough. The people would be able to know. I'm only talking as an engineer, and what I would expect, what I expect may not conform to reality. Also, I'm an electrical engineer, my opinion is only based on basic education in fluids and that's early education, and I'm certainly no expert.

[@supercuda1950]

That's a pretty amazing system. Add all these alternative systems up and it adds up to a lot of free energy that normally would be wasted.

[@Dplusithicus]

"I don't know how that happens but that's what it does." -Science in a nutshell. Also when your camera decides to focus on the background instead of your subject, and completely blurs your subject instead.

[@johnwythe1409]

Is there one full bridge for each rectifier and the return for each is the earth? MB Hydro does that with one of their long distance DC HV power transmission lines. I know how a single phase full rectifier works, but how does a three phase work with only three wires.

[@SimoWill75]

@@GeeEmJay 6 diodes

[@josepheasey1114]

It was a smart camera, the background was better looking.

[@edking2132]

@@johnwythe1409 www.electronics-tutorials.ws/power/three-phase-rectification.html

[@emmepiemme]

Neat installation, simple and effective: Simplicity is a good key to get long mtbf and lifetime in mini hydro plant. Are there some kind of ballast resitor to prevent turbine overrun in no-load or low load condition ? (I'm not native english, pls excuse my poor language skill)

[@KevinSmith-ys3mh]

What you are proposing is a "Dump load" control. I used to follow an Electrical Engineer blogger in Chile who built a much higher output dual micro-turbine system in the Andes mountains for his off grid homestead. He used his electric water heater to absorb excess power and control generator speed & voltage to close tolerances, and allow time for the remote valves to close down. He seemed quite happy with it!

[@rikvdmark]

Cool project :) Amazing to see home much water is going through the system instead of over the dam!

[@stevesmith2171]

A valve at the bottom and you'd only have to start the syphon once and you would be able to regulate the flow and prevent the vortex problem.

[@wrekced]

At 9:15 you state that you don't know how a rectifier works: It takes the positive side of each waveform on each phase to one terminal and the negative sides of each phase to the other terminal. Really its just like a bunch of one-way valves that direct the electricity to the correct terminal for each polarity.

[@turboprint3d]

You could have free compressed air and refrigeration with that setup , just need a collecter on the bottom end

[@steveclark6352]

Great video, really impressed with the suction power available on the outlet of the turbine. Instantly made me wonder if it would be possible to harness even more power by having another turbine which is driven by the negative air pressure being pulled through it? Could possibly even connect it to the house and have one of those old school built-in home vacuum systems, help further reduce his need to draw power from the grid.

[@gooseknack]

Interesting! A problem with the idea is reduced efficiency from reduce water flow in the line. Reduced water flow would also reduce vacuum/negative pressure.... with the right sizing of pipe in the system, it could work.

[@shannonp4037]

I was thinking a paddle wheel at the end where the water flows out of the larger pipe.

[@judgejury3230]

Amazing they sale electricity to you, for your home, and this is how simple it is. Electricity will be a luxury soon!

[@milespostlethwaite1154]

This is impressive. I love the vortex destroyer. Actually it would have been better to rectify the generator output to dc down near the turbine. Fewer losses in dc. Also the rectified power will be at a higher voltage than the ac which will reduce losses further. But with such a short run the losses are likely to be minimal anyway. As for people commenting about dangerous use of the ground wire to carry one phase, this is nonsense. Remember it’s only 24volts. Overall it’s a clever well thought out system. Well done from uk.

[@LandtoHouse]

I have heard both sides of the argument on the DC vs AC line run. I would have to agree with you that power over only 100 feet is not going to lose much. Is it easier to run 3 phase long distance because the amps are on 3 wire and not 2?

[@milespostlethwaite1154]

Land to House I am part of a company which designs and installs Microhydro systems full time. We have done a few small systems similar to this and as for the question of whether to rectify at the turbine or the house, I would say that in this case because the distance is so short it makes no difference. I think I would have done the same as you just to give the water less things to corrode. Quite a few people install their own Microhydro systems. What I noticed about your system is that you have not made any mistakes that everybody else does. You have spent time thinking about it. For instance the position of the ball valve on the draft tube is just about right. You can have the valve open while you run the vacuum without water from the river being sucked backwards. The 8 inch pipe at the bottom to optimise the vacuum is a good thing.

[@rupe53]

Miles Postlethwaite ... only 24 volts after it's rectified. Probably 30 volts or so AC but at 500 watts (available) that's enough to blow you on your ass if your fingers are in the way, which is why you should use 3 wire (not 2 with a bare ground) on that system. The outer jacket is not rated as electrical insulation.

[@milespostlethwaite1154]

rupe53 No you are wrong. The rectified volts will be higher than the ac volts. The fact that there is 500 Watts or 5000 Watts will not make it more dangerous.

[@rupe53]

@@milespostlethwaite1154 ... just retired from a job where I worked with this on a regular basis and rectifying AC to DC always results in a lower average voltage. The job here is to bring it to a regulated 24 volts DC, which is what the inverter works with. Obviously the regulated part is in the inverter because we have no clue what the numbers really are using what's provided in the video. The current available is the safety issue, not always the voltage.

[@tommytmt]

With that sort of flow you could generate SOOO much more electricity.

[@shea8830]

Wow please tell

[@JorenMathews]

@Shawn Patricio Unless larger turbines are more efficient I don't think that would help. Bigger turbine would generate more per rotation but spin slower.

[@SpencerLAPower]

Please do a KZbin video and demonstrate .of course there's some in efficiencies in this setup but it works for what he wants to do and as far as the flow rate couldn't make any more power this head unless it was at a much higher voltage.

[@Mitch-BladeCaptain]

Actually, I was thinking that you could run a second suction pipe as needed that would join in down line a bit. If the venturi is already running but you need more power for a short for something in the house, you'd just open the valve. Plus that would give you a back up if you wanted to take one down for maintenance.

[@hrford]

Just running those figures mentioned at 11:30 : 900 kWh per month is about 1250 W constant grid load, down to 300 kWh (416 W load), a drop of 830 W. Assuming this means the "average" load is dropped by 830 W then the turbine would need to generate at least that on occasions. My question is, what's the peak output of the turbine? The video is titled "530 Watts!", so I would assume maximum savings would be 380 kWh per month (not 600 kWh as mentioned). Am I missing something? Hoping for some clarity, cheers.

[@cal1k]

my guess would be more cautious electricity use as a whole after this project.

[@plurplursen7172]

the rectifier, also called DC bridge, is such a simple and logical piece. It gets hot because of the surplus of energy in the process, get transformed into heat

[@Dragonaud]

This is awesome build, it's simple and yet so very much effective. Salute to Bill!

[@LandtoHouse]

He did do a great job!

[@CharlesGriswold]

When I was a kid, we had a generator system that fed power into our house backward through an electrical outlet. Even then I knew that was freakin' janky as hell.

[@Moletrouser]

He had an electrician sign off on a plug-to-plug extension? Prongs at 120V when someone accidentally unplugs it? I think not.

[@CharlesGriswold]

@@Moletrouser What electrician? This was a shack out in the woods powered by a generator. I would be surprised if an electrician had ever set foot in that place.

[@timhawes6245]

@@Moletrouser IKR - also running 3-phase over 2-phase plus ground cable is pretty, err, shonky. Would've expected the flex cable to be run in conduit as well. Love the turbine idea, however.

[@Retrocaus]

I personally would funnel the offset water into a funnel and put a classical water turbine at the bottom ish instead of syphoning the water out.

[@amicloud_yt]

That's exactly what I was thinking... It doesn't sound much more difficult at all and would be more reliable and not have to be started... And you wouldn't have to worry about partially draining the dang lake

[@RealJichealMackson]

I think in the long run you could get problems with wear caused by kavitation. Having the pressure reduced by the long drop after the turbine greatly increases the chance for kavitation to occur.

[@lw7238]

Great video. Ever think of adding a gearbox to increase turbine speed and lower water loss? I didn't do the math for that but I would think a larger diameter pipe would be needed for the gearbox.

[@Yahgiggle]

lol you will get less power output due to loss of energy cause by the gearbox.

[@digimaks]

The gearbox with up ratio- increases speed but looses torque. Higher RPM does not mean more electricity or watts.

[@dk6317]

Seen this done with a washing machine spinner. He had plenty electric

[@someguy5035]

@@digimaks He has excess power in that setup. He could run more turbines easily or run one turbine faster. Faster = more power.

[@alberteinstein9176]

GREAT SET UP It probably wouldn't make much of a difference in his application by having sweeps rather than 90° elbows. In configuring the flow, 90° elbows do cause a certain percentage of restriction. My second thought was since the suction was like a "gorilla" he could of piggybacked another generator inline on the down hill side to get twice the production of electricity. 1 pipe with 2 generators. Maybe even 3 generators. I'd take advantage of that down hill flow. Thomas Dutkiewicz

[@sportbikeguy9875]

if the generator he has is properly sized for the amount of flow hes getting, adding more generators probably wont help, the faster the water speed, the more efficient they usually are, and each successive generator just slows down the water, reducing flow, reducing efficiency.

[@EazyRed]

"A sucking goriila" wierdest way to say "Very strong Vacuum" ive ever heard xD

[@optimusprime699]

I am going to use it, makes me think of super strong sucking power lol

[@henrymorgan3982]

And the option to have a blackout, but still have some power. Super cool!

[@balexan530]

Please don't use the ground wire as a current carrying conductor. Use a 10/3 wire with a ground so as to not confuse the ground and possibly create a shock hazard. Maybe a disconnect breaker too. Other than that, everything looks great. I would love to do something like this on my property if i could.

[@jackprice6599]

Only using that to get to the rectifier, it's just a cheap way to get 3 core wire for the three phase.

[@michaeldavidson9939]

@@jackprice6599 It's also a violation of the NEC. Those rules are there for a reason; mostly safety!

[@netpok]

Actually since the generator output is not referenced to the ground touching any lead alone does not pose a hazard, you need to touch at least two. If the ground lead is the same diameter as the others (where I live we don't have these kind of cables) there should be no problem with it.

[@thomasbonse]

@@netpok It's a bare conductor being used as a current carrying conductor, which is explicitly forbidden in article 250 of NFPA 70.

[@netpok]

​@@thomasbonse That could be the case, I'm from Hungary so I don't have much knowledge about the NFPA also we don't even have these kind of cables (generally protective earth has yellow-green sheathing just like the live has black one). Also does NFPA even cover wiring independent of main supplies? Thinking about this a bare conductor could be a shock hazard since its easy to touch both end if it has a break and the open circuit voltage is way higher than the operating voltage. Long story short: three insulated conductor is the way to go.

[@mojloginjuzzajety4071]

The oldest meters (classic spinning disc will start spinning backwards) and the newer digital ones are bidirectional by technical setup. It depends on the agreement with the grid: meter can be programmed to avoid counting negative usage or simply there may be penalty for putting power into the network. As for suction... it may be more complex, but if turbine would be put closer to the bottom and the diameter would be gradually reduced along the way should give the most efficient setup. You would have, let's say, "compression" of the stream (faster flow, so smaller diameter, still same volume as on on top). Second thing is the wire... it looks quite thin for the 22A. Does it have rubber (not PVC) and weather proof insulation ? If not: risk of fire!!

[@johnstuart3851]

I noticed that Bill's system has a constant amount of air bubbles exiting at the discharge of the pipe in the lower pond. This means there is air being sucked into the system somewhere. It might be below the turbine. However, if there is any air leaking into the piping before the turbine, that will reduce turbine power and efficiency. With air leaking into the piping below the turbine, that decreases the suction at the turbine runner discharge also reducing system power and efficiency. There should be no air evident exiting the discharge pipe in the lower pond, the water flow from the system should not be visible.

[@pyronic120120]

Good eye. I would also add that this would not only reduce turbine efficiency, but turbine lifespan as well. You want a good clean steady flow of water without air whenever running flow through any moving parts to maximize the lifespan of parts. Think of how highway miles on a car engine is better than surface street miles.

[@A2Z1Two3]

If the feed water is completely underwater it is possible that the bubbles are from air getting in post turbine , possibly at the joint where he demonstrated the suction . If so the turbine higher than that joint would not see any air .

[@johnstuart3851]

@@A2Z1Two3 You are right. However, air entering the penstock piping below the turbine will reduce the effective head of the system.

[@martinair329]

@@johnstuart3851 Instead of the tennis ball, he needs to enlarge the intake. This will reduce velocity and eliminate the vortex.

[@fredrelay1052]

I think the air is actually from cavitation. Thats when the water will boil due to high suction pressures. He could solve this by placing the generator at the bottom of the pipe instead of the top

[@Nisarjosh1]

This location is so ideal, i want this kind of setup in my village.

[@velotill]

neat! Are there any rules about providing an auxiliary "staircase" for migrating fish when putting in a dam like this into a creek or river in your state?

[@nobiazcustomsinc5030]

not in this case. I think since its just a pond it wouldnt matter. That damns probably been there since the 1800s

[@JonasMarcinko]

Great video! Can you tell me what inverter and auto disconnect he is using? Thanks!

[@joshramsey1990]

I want to know as well!

[@miodice3]

Second tried to find it and couldn't

[@LandtoHouse]

This is the version Bill is using. amzn.to/3mCgfTI

[@LandtoHouse]

Here is the inverter Bill is using amzn.to/3mCgfTI

[@LandtoHouse]

There are a couple voltage settings. This is the one in the video amzn.to/3mCgfTI

[@patraic5241]

One of those meters that does feed back to the grid should be on you to do list. In Ohio where I live the utilities have to buy the power generated.

[@LandtoHouse]

Same here but this system would require a lot more work to allow that. And a smart bi directional meter would need to be installed.

[@jeffescortlx]

With it only producing 500 watts it would be pretty unlikely he would have any excess power to sell back. The inverter he is using is not UL approved, I would be very suprised if the power company would allow it. Where I'm from you need to pull permits to sell back. He would have to make changes and buy new equipment to sell energy back. Basically the way he's doing it now makes sense.

[@dicktaug4773]

@@jeffescortlx but I bet the serving utility and state and Federal agencies don't know about it...yet.

[@JeepXj-xt1yv]

That's a reason why we should keep green our earth, Yes to keep water still flow and recycle

[@btdarterschannel112]

Seems like a self-starting siphon would be really beneficial to use in this situation. 👍

[@spirituallyinsane]

With that long drop and such a small head requirement to start the siphon, it could probably be started with a second of dam flow diverted down through where the suction port is.

[@TheWizardGamez]

beavers watching this like: ha, 530 watts, how about 40 kilowatts (laughs in maple syrup)

[@viatori5566]

It was the laughs in maple syrup for me 😂

[@chazzdimitriadis9064]

@@viatori5566 it was the 40 kilowatts for me. Imagine, a beaver making electricity but not being able to do anything with it. Stooopid beaver.

[@danalex2991]

Could you please explain the joke? I didn't understand it

[@MmeHyraelle]

Aluminium refineries would like to disagree.

[@ryarbrough1195]

Beavers are underrated.

[@joewyndham9393]

Very cool setup! Love the tennis ball trick! Been a while since I studied fluid mechanics, but I think the Venturi effect actually increases pressure in this case because the diameter increases. The negative pressure I think primarily just occured as a result of the siphon. In an idealised model (i.e. no friction), according to Bernoulli's equation the difference in diameter wouldn't have any effect on pressure or flow, but in the real world friction losses reduce dramatically with diameter increase, so I think that it might contribute to greater suction. I will admit I may be wrong - very rusty on this stuff. Any other engineers here able to confirm or disconfirm?

[@SamPrince]

@Artificial Hobos what consumes 600w in an idle house in the US? I see numbers for US domestic consumption that are 3 times UK consumption. My house uses around 150W when fairly idle, sometimes under 100W; sometimes near to 200W. Is this an aircon thing or what?

[@peteparadis1619]

Fridges are 700w.. I hate to say it but 500w is not much.. You’ll be amazed how little it allows you to do..

[@justinmacks1481]

​@@SamPrince240w laptop I have is 2amp on 110/120V house. So 500 watts is enough to run two 240W gaming laptops without the battery being run down. It's not hardly anything really. It's a supplemental system. But everything helps.

[@SamPrince]

@peteparadis1619 I think efficiency standards in the UK and US must be wildly different. I replaced our fridge-freezer because it was in the "on" cycle the whole time so was wasting too much electricity. It was using about 200W. The newer one is bigger but never draws 200W even when it is in a cooling cycle. Average power is well under 100W and the electricity saving will pay for the new one in less than a year. I've no idea how you could make a fridge use 500W, but I believe that someone has done it! If I was investing in technology like this video shows, I'd definitely get my consumption side down first as it's so much easier.

[@SamPrince]

@justinmacks1481 I run a laptop and two large screens on 200W or less. I can see how thrashing a GPU might use 240W, but I wouldn't call two of them blazing away an idle house. It's really fascinating to me how different the perspectives on usage seem to be in the UK and US.