DID THEY FAIL? Bearing Update Waterwheel 2020

It's been 2 years since the lignum vitae bearings were installed. Today we take the waterwheel out of the water to inspect their integrity and tighten the belts.
Later this year we will reveal an exciting new upgrade. Stay tuned!
If you haven't done so already, please like and subscribe!

[@Fun4GA]

Nice setup. A spring loaded tensioning pulley would give more wrap, and maintain belt tention.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

yeah.. not to mention allow for more pulley wrap with the belt on the smaller pulley. it IS a nice setup though! edit: at 4:00 he acknowledges the above.

[@jimbanda]

What about chain driven ??

[@kgsalvage6306]

I've been experimenting with water wheels for a few years now. I have pretty much the exact same situation as you. Stream looks identical. Really like that setup. I could get away with a smaller wheel. If I could get a couple hundred watts I'd be happy. That would take me through the night or raining days to supplement solar. I have the same Power One gridtie inverter. Plus batteries also. NICE!

[@bartcalder2791]

Thanks for the update! Very nice to see your hard work still making power. Those wood bearings are amazing.

[@mog5858]

nice work on your wooden bearing. I think part of your ware in the bearing is sentiment in your water when it's lubing the bearings but for the low-speed hi force I don't think you'll find a better material. keep up the good work.

[@Geordo1960]

You make it big, sturdy, and innovative!

[@richardfield7266]

I have wanted to build something like this for years, I have a river in my garden that runs this fast and much faster throughout autumn and winter but almost drys out in the summer here in the UK. I am no engineer hence why I haven't built one yet. I was wondering if a smaller generator geared higher might produce better results? What changes would you make if you were starting from scratch today? Would you still build this knowing what you know now regarding cost to benefit ratio? Really impressed by your achievement, by far the best project of this kind on KZbin in my opinion.😀😀👍👍

[@NeringIndustries]

I would have gone chain drive, as I get belt slippage under high loads

[@sacriptex5870]

amazing place!! everything appears to be giant there... hehe you your dog... the wheel...wonderfull place! thank you for sharing

[@haydenc2742]

I wonder if you could devise a float system that could detect the level of the water and automatically lift/lower the paddle wheel to keep it at the optimum angle in the river so it wouldn't get too deep and bog down it's rotation when the water level gets too high... Very cool design and use!

[@jimmybritt9537]

Very nice set up , especially like the way it raises and swings for maintenance 😉👍👍🇺🇸

[@jordanrelkey]

Ya I think a tensioning idler would solve your belt slipping too.

[@IDLWITB]

Congratulations Sir! I love this idea! Have you tested with chains instead of belts to help mitigate slippage?

[@jimbanda]

@Andrew Crews How about stainless steel chains. Toothed belts yes as well

[@NeringIndustries]

I'm going with a chain drive soon. They don't make toothed belts long enough for this application.

[@WAZZAWAYNE1234]

I thought a wheel that size and with the speed of the water you'd be getting 10kw at least, i don't think the design is using the river to its maximum potential

[@AbdulRehman-fn1mh]

Yeah i thought the same as you think

[@NeringIndustries]

Yeah its not fully optimized. Going to chain drive I can triple the out put as right now I get belt slippage under high load. At some point I'll widen the blades too once I finish my chain drive install later this summer

[@solyanikalexander]

Normally generator must have 1500 rpm. There is no transmission in this device to increase revolts up to 1500.

[@joshjohnson3005]

What a project! It’s quite impressive. Would it make sense remove the belts and use a drive shaft from the axle to a gear box and chain drive? The unit could be mounted away from the wheel and out of the wet area. You would eliminate the belt slip and gearing would give greater control over rpm. No disrespect. It’s quite an accomplishment already.

[@dalepluth8112]

You need to change the v belt to a timing belt and decrease the size of the sprockets to get the same ratio and MUCH less overhung load more effectively too!

[@douglazamar8889]

I thought it will be 5kw-10kw, 0.8 kw not worth the effort... I think u need to update your wheel and use belt with teeth for more traction, less tension

[@hootche1]

This may be of interest to you, with regards to your bearing ware, the wood used is the best you can use, BUT, the design of the bearing is wrong, the easiest way I can describe how it should be made is, The grain of the wood that touches the bearing should be at 90* to the steel shaft, yours is running with the shaft, If you can imagine the stays of a barrel, raped around the shaft and inserted inside a larger hole in the main block, hope this makes sense, the lifespan will be greatly improved. if you look at old steam-driven cruise liners propeller shaft seals, you will get it. keep safe UK.

[@bentboybbz]

A weighted idler with a spring or shock absorber to lessen bounce would be cool.

[@johnhtodd]

You may consider looking at flat belts unless you've already moved forward with your chain plan, though I may be using experience from the wrong RPM range to make this suggestion. The Lister(oid) diesel genset community has had lots of home-brew experience in how to get the most out of big-flywheel mating to gensets. A flat belt has multiple "grooves" in it, and may end up giving better surface area contact when you do the math. However, they are probably difficult to find in the lengths you will need for your kit, so that may disqualify them. Also, your comment about an idler is probably correct - with such a large differential in big/small diameter wheels, the contact area is significantly lessened, leading to slip. A double-idler would also give you quite a bit of boost and reduce slip. I'll be very interested to see what the chain does - it should also make it possible to reduce your bearing loads quite a bit.

[@tomcleverley18]

Build a V funnel for channeling more water to the water wheel. You might get 10× the efficiency for a few hundred dollars that will pay you back for decades.

[@veronicathecow]

Lovely piece of kit, well done

[@james10739]

This is crazy for something personal but cool you are getting some use out of nature for no real downsides

[@jmyers9853]

lignum vitae bearings have been used in ships for years but they need a really large flow of water. i saw one bearing fail because the water flow was cut off by a rope around the shaft despite it being ten feet under water

[@venkataramanaupadhya5277]

no comments. This looks good professional.😊

[@garny3766]

I understand your thinking about “strapping” those bearing blocks. Did you buy these bearings? Or did you saw them out yourself? If you saw them or knew who sawed them, the next set I would just keep the block square, split them just like the dodge bearing housing, or a main journal bearing cap, and run longer bolts with a top plate between the heads of the bolts to sandwich the block. Could “cheat” the tolerance then by shaving off the faces between the two to get more life out of them or flip top to bottom.

[@timm2845]

I worked at a shipyard and they used these bearings on the shaft's for the propellers but the bearings were submerged for better lubrication this wood is very hard but there is not enough water running over it to lube it properly also if you extend your generator out like you did the water wheel you will get more wrapping on your driven wheel because you can then put a tensioner wheel on the arm in the middle between the two arms.

[@Mrcaffinebean]

Impressive stuff, had no idea such a slow mowing wheel could actually generate such power.

[@JodianGaming]

I like the idea of your jacking screws, but would it be better to use some kind of spring tensioner (like they use in cars/trucks) to keep constant pressure on the belt? You could probably get some transport (aka diesel) rated ones relatively easy.

[@alabastardmasterson]

While I don't have knowledge about big diesel v belts, I have experienced failure on smaller engines due to too tight belts. The torque range seems to be huge.

[@ericelam5656]

A direct shaft coupler would solve those problems, encase the generator in a vented housing. install a dc voltage height gauge that would raise and lower automatically to accommodate changing water levels. You could also install a electrical current monitor if the voltage dropped it would automatically raise the water wheel due to debris getting trapped. Nice job and could be duplicated, sell back into the grid to pay for the upkeep and make profit.

[@5sweatingpalm]

that is great work, what i see is there is some sort of force acting against the watermill backward for the previous video during the splashing and seeing how it goes it seems the water wheel shape is not fully optimised and thus creating drag from the water traction and water friction. But it's still a good work nonetheless. How much current generated from this and with that much water drag and it can still last that is great engineering.

[@CP-jt6bw]

Hello have you considered a ball bearing pillow block bearing? They are about 75$ each online Nice build👍👍👍

[@VictorY-mu6zp]

Great to see that the wooden bearings are still working properly. How did you design them?

[@NeringIndustries]

I replicated the original roller bearings with pillow block exactly size wise in a solid block of wood. Then bored a 75mm hole for the shaft.

[@deerhunter7482]

What a great setup a toothed belt or spray bleach on the belts and put sealed bearings with a grease fitting . 👍

[@KyleDunnIt]

Great job with this. Are you considering selling plans?

[@AbdulRehman-fn1mh]

Your health got better too with the wheel , 😀😀

[@skeets6060]

I thought I read some place the water cops were giving you a hard time about it being in the water?

[@NeringIndustries]

My biggest issue was getting permitting prior to putting it in the water. Never had issues with water cops as I jumped through all the right hoops.

[@keystoneatuoelectric]

What a nice design. Were there limitations to the wheel width?

[@NeringIndustries]

No, I'm actually going to extend the blades and go from 3 -to 4 feet wide. Probably going to change from belt drive to chain as well as the belts slip.

[@haldiamond2869]

Greetings from Wales UK. That is a well engineered wheel did you build it yourself love the video kind regards Hal

[@jacek6863]

do you still have only project of whaterweel? are you able to make something similar in poland.

[@anuardelcastillo2627]

nice project! congrats

[@lylestavast7652]

any consideration to using a chain and sprocket drive to eliminate slippage, or are you counting on the slippage as a natural protection mechanism (?) I first read about a poncelet wheel in the late 60's-early 70's... never have seen anyone do one. Nice setup, especially as a DIY

[@TheJagjr4450]

Are those Matched belts? We had a 20HP electric 96" bar hydraulic chainsaw with 3 matched V belts... if the belts were not matched they slipped. FWIW if the block breaks the stainless strap will not hold that wheel in place...

[@dualmode1]

the motor/ generator seems way too big for only peak 2 kw. wouldnt it be better to raise the rpm via gearbox or smt and use a smaller motor. but the whole thing seems awsome😁😁👍👍

[@CBM804]

Very genius, I would like to build the some thing to my farm.

[@CBM804]

Can you please share me your conception and design.

[@ChristisKing7749]

what about chain drive pullies? maybe a shield over them and an oiling system if the water on them would be an issue.

[@arnateri]

Friend why you don,t have safety measures besides the river bank?? it's dangerous for you,. you have to fix the grill for your safety. you're very precious. God bless you. even your dog very beautifull.

[@jindrichtauchman8586]

How much KW this can made ? Your river is pretty fast...

[@GuerreroUrbano100]

Hows the new upgrade coming along?

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Very nice design!

[@astrazenica7783]

So cool

[@jamest.5001]

I think maybe I'd try pressing a piece of nylon on the shaft, and a bit of Teflon or Nylon on the bearing block, with a hole in it for water lubrication, it could provide a slippery surface, and it's replaceable, preventing damage to the larger parts, Yeah, without that SS strap, I'd have dreams if it loosing the wheel, ha-ha!..

[@jamestimmins7305]

A power band (cogged belt) or hydraulic pump to the generator will increase your efficiency.

[@RJ1999x]

Hydraulic pumps are very inefficient

[@angeloc3842]

You need a belt like I’ve got on my Harley

[@lucianorafael77]

Felicidades está muy hermoso ese método de producción eléctrica, quiero copiarlo.

[@bensoncomputers8888]

Please sell a project plan for this. I would be the first to buy the plan.

[@xingoo4435]

Wouldn't chains be more efficient?

[@gammon1183]

Tell me your 6'10 " as that would make you're dog gigantic lol. Awesome wheel 😎

[@TheGrimshaw]

Why not try chain configuration, no slip and less tension on the bearings.

[@hugo-ly8tq]

Exelente trabajo una consulta el motor generador de cuantos rpm es y de cuanto kw

[@chrisdaniel1339]

You may consider swapping out the Lignum Vitae bearings for a set of Closed Linear Plain Bearing made by the Pacific Bearing Company. Pacific Bearing's 4" diameter bearing has a static load capacity of 100,000 lbs! That is seriously heavy duty. These bearing have cylindrical aluminum or stainless housing and the bearing material is inside and no moving parts. All you would need to do is machine 2 aluminum pillow block to mount the bearings in and probably true up the shaft so these bearings wear evenly. PB's are mostly used for linear motion, but as also perfect for slow rotary motion with heavy loads. There are a couple reasons typical roller bearings fail in water wheel applications: the rotation speed is to slow to liquefy the grease thus it gets push out failing to lubricate the rollers, the second is water intrusion. These plain bearing are available with zerk fittings for grease or a threaded port for oil lubrication via a wick... and water actually improves the performance and longevity of these bearings. The reason I know all about this is I plan on using them myself when I find the right hydropower site for my stainless steel overshot wheel. PB pdf catalog has great info about the max rotation speed with and without lubrication and tons of other important info. Best of luck to you

[@NeringIndustries]

I'll check them out. I'm getting ready to do some mods to increase power and power delivery

[@NeringIndustries]

.

[@chrisdaniel1339]

@@NeringIndustries Pacific Bearing has two metric product lines FM (Metric) Closed linear plain bearings goes up to 80 mm ID sizes With capacities of 270 KN or 61,000 pounds. They also have an FJ (JIS) metric closed linear plain bearing With a maximum 150 mm ID size and 740 KN or 166,000 pound static load capacity

[@chrisdaniel1339]

@@NeringIndustries Are you going to make the wheel wider to increase power? Any plans to add a gearbox, gearing, or chain drive? You could always make a generator that is direct drive i.e. no transmission. Some wind turbines are direct drive and have a very large diameter stators and rotors that makes power without the need to speed up a shaft to 1800 RPM's as many generators require. I'm excited to see the improvements

[@NeringIndustries]

@@chrisdaniel1339 I've got a chain drive system waiting to be installed. I can then lower the wheel even further into the river and make more power without the belts slipping. I'll need to fab up a chain guard with an oil sump to keep water off the chain and keep it lubed. I'll be going back to roller bearings and have a plan in place to do that too. At some point I'm going to make the wheel 1 foot wider and bigger in diameter. To go direct drive I would need a huge generator at 10 rpm,

[@magnetmannenbannanen]

please use oil instead of water. it will work much better, i saw a English waterwheel, 5 years old same wooden bearings but they was not worn at all. he was using a thick oil.

[@vNYCblade]

Really cool project... BUT very inefficient compared to how much material you put into this... The speed of the river is actually very good... you can make a LOT more energy, several kWh with a simpler setup, by diverting a bit of river flow and making a downspout torrent... no water wheels necessary...

[@shaynegadsden]

Not really an equivilent solar system would have been much more also yeah not the most efficient and idk where he is but in many places it's illegal to mess the flow of water in a river pumping water out or diverting would atleast require permit and approval etc. Honestly it's a pretty low maintenace setup and 1-2kwh is more than most people would need

[@batubatu6693]

How about Fiberglass wheels? They are lighter to turn. And wont rust.

[@GVChannel]

I love it!

[@RagazzoMafioso]

why don't you use a metal chain instead?

[@NeringIndustries]

I was concerned with corrosion of the chain. However, I'm going to try that next as the belts slip under heavy load.

[@waqaraftab7293]

Nice work. What efficiency you are getting and what are the velocity range in the rive.

[@frankly88]

Should use a Chain instead of V belt, would be more efficient as no belt tension giving you resistance and no slippage

[@tomrock1881]

Sir why not build 3,4 more wheel

[@jamesswain2923]

How many watts does it produce. Thanks

[@MsYou2you]

Nice innovations when to contact for purchase

[@alexadams1836]

You're not using your belts as they're designed to be, they may be rated to 100hp, so why are they slipping at 4hp max??? The reason is that they're designed to run at 6500fpm (ind std) & yours are running a tiny fraction of this speed. I appreciate that your generator is 50rpm max, this needs to be changed for something that runs at much higher rpms, then you're going to have to speed up the output of the wheel to increase the belt speed to suit the higher rpm generator. This will reduce the load on the belts and stop them from slipping. Hope that helps 👍

[@NeringIndustries]

I understand all that which is why I have three large belts. However how exactly do I transition to a higher rpm with a 10 rpm water wheel, meaning what should be the initial driver off the water wheel? There is also the 10% loss of efficiency for each speed increaser added. That's why I have a 50rpm generator to avoid efficiency losses. I could go with a chain, but what about lubrication and rusting.?

[@alexadams1836]

@@NeringIndustries I've sent you an email with some suggestions. I hope [e-mail] is correct?

[@NeringIndustries]

@@alexadams1836 yes

[@jamest.5001]

What kind of power does this wheel normally produce?

[@MrGeroth]

Wow that’s amazing.

[@richardkostolny2978]

i think even with 800Watts getting continuously its super designed, considering long term period

[@conservativenow8120]

Highly doubt it produces 200 watts at such a low RPM.

[@pakistaniallrounder9359]

Very good brother

[@reelectrical4thextn.hpstar591]

can you send the brochures of it and tell total price including installation. i will advertise it in my country and hopeful to get many orders for its installation

[@leanhtv123..9]

Bạn quay cận cảnh dúp mình để mình nhìn rõ để làm theo....và mô tơ này thì quay bao nhiêu vòng một phút và phát điện bao nhiêu vôn vậy bạn ơi...

[@dabsmakemeparanoid]

Would it be possible to use the chain instead of a belt

[@jj-pk2fh]

Can you power a house of that?

[@NeringIndustries]

Sometimes I import power from the grid if I'm running the dryer or other heavy load. Other times I export back into the grid like at night when the power demands in the house are low.

[@jj-pk2fh]

@@NeringIndustries Nice to be making money when your sleeping lol if you don't mind me asking how much did this set up cost?

[@TheKopara1]

Hello, what is cost this machine?

[@johnseabrook1703]

Cool design

[@संजयगोस्वामी-ग6ह]

Huge contraption for just 1000w

[@hokiebama1187]

what about a chain? not a good idea?

[@frozenlake9140]

A little sweeping off to show off how shiny it is would have been lovely. Still a great catchup.

[@harrypalms9491]

Nice setup!! I was thinking dude that bearing and wheel have to be shot… Then minutes later I find out it’s wood… that’s such a great idea seems to be working really.. How much does the height of the river fluctuate?? How is that wood bearing doing now since this video is 2 years old…

[@NeringIndustries]

The river varies about 5 feet from lowest to highest. The bearing now has 1/4 inch of wear on the non drive side, less on the pulley side as the belt tension takes the weight off the bearing.

[@4TheRecord]

It's going a lot slower than it used to.

[@masr1965]

Where are you located Sir?

[@firdauschanel]

Wow 👍🏻 semakin sukses

[@davefroman4700]

Im shocked that with all of that torque you did not use a couple of pulley sets to step the speed up to something that would actually drive that generator properly. There is no reason in the world with a wheel that big you should not be able to pull 2 kwh constant. Even if you went from a 4 inch to a 12 inch pulley on a common shaft and then from the 12 to the motor you would see a 3x improvement.

[@chivan6323]

why do you use belts if you can make one more shoulder next to the counterweight, put a gearbox there with any gear ratio, extend the wheel axle to this gearbox and get much more than 1 kilowatt. Yes, need to cut a little the concrete. The power of the river is simply enormous, it is strange to use only 10 percent of the possible.

[@hwepcnepal3815]

I amvery happy to see. We wouldlike topromote in Nepal

[@dapurlendyyan4293]

Nice...

[@waqarfarooq5114]

Q , then why not solar ?

[@giorgidvali3198]

Could tell me, how many KW does it have?

[@beamngnation9494]

2000 watts peak power before belts start to slip

[@alabastardmasterson]

Did you watch the video?

[@paweldun]

he pulls the wheel like nothing LOL

[@robingoldsbury9556]

Marc is also a world champion weightlifter. 🙂

[@robertfreund7525]

Great sistem. Maybe iner circle of blades should be closed, will reduce hidro drag. Just my opinion. Wish you all best.

[@VictorY-mu6zp]

I don't think that will work. Closing the buckets will create an airlock that prohibits it from filling with water thus reducing power output of the wheel

[@robertfreund7525]

@@VictorY-mu6zp If blades is on to the flow of water will not create air pockets and will increase output of kW.

[@VictorY-mu6zp]

@@robertfreund7525 what do you mean with on the flow of water?

[@alabastardmasterson]

Hydro drag isn't a limiting factor

[@David-yy7lb]

I'm confused how can the belt slip spinning that slow of a rpm on the generator with hardly any load.....1 revolution on the big wheel to maybe 8-10 revolutions on the generator how can the belt slip??

[@the_retag]

Torque. the waterwheel is slow but strong the generator hard to turn and the belts cant transfer the power at such low speed

[@JohnPaul-jg7es]

Need to increase the rpms

[@warung63bakso]

try changing the fan fan ... because I see the rotation speed of the generator is not balanced with the speed of running water ... thank you for inspiring everyone, hopefully ALLAH swt repay your kindness

[@goatash]

I don’t understand how you get 900 W spinning that’s low because it’s a bigger motor and you’re still spinning it slower that’s the part that doesn’t make sense, The RPM seems too low to make any voltage even with it being geared up

[@alabastardmasterson]

Bc it's huge and has massive floe

[@pbysome]

Toothed belts?

[@pbysome]

@MVia why? Surely they could be run slacker?

[@pbysome]

@MVia what isn't how toothed belts work? I run a toothed belt on my motorcycle and it doesn't wear out bearings because it has slack in it, my lathe runs v belts and slips when the load is to great, tensioners will put pressure on the bearings because it pulls them together If you don't know don't comment.

[@pbysome]

@MVia so v belts slip which is what this one is doing so he cranked it up tighter to stop it doing what you purport to be its advantage and other people are advocating a tensioner to stop, toothed belts would stop this and run with less tension so protecting the bearings and the motor isn't doing the turning and the water wheel isn't directly connected to the drive I.e the water, so there is no need for clutches. The only reason I can see for using v belts is on initial immersion of the wheel cos that motor takes some starting maybe they would snap in which case get bigger.

[@donovanlynch7896]

Im not a genius by any means but the wheel looks like your putting it too deep in the water and there is too much friction with the wheel and the water itself slowing it down i thought i could see it in the video but it could be deceiving

[@tanja8907]

Force = mass x acceleration.

[@NeringIndustries]

I know it's weird, but the deeper it is in the water the more power it makes. I'd go deeper still but the water makes the belts slip when the pulley is submersed.

[@Perspari]

@@NeringIndustries could you use like a timing chain?

[@NeringIndustries]

@@Perspari I looked into that. They don't make one long enough for my application.