Free Power from Water - Using an analog PLC as a powerful Off Grid charge controller.

I've had many requests to show how I use the plc as a charge controller so I'll attempt to explain the wiring and programming process here.
Free hydro power from water series-
Part 1- • Lifetime of Free Power...
Part 2- • Lifetime of Free Power...
Part 3- Washing machine stator rewire vid- • Free Power from Water ...
Part 4- Wiring and programming the plc - • Free Power from Water ...
Array Programmable logic controller (PLC) from MasTec NZ - www.mastec.co.nz/
Array supercad software - www.array.sh/xz...

[@philiponsolent7232]

I'm never likely to build one of these and some bits still appear to be witchcraft, but a very interesting series. Thank you.

[@paulg3336]

It's switchcraft ,actually

[@brentfarvors192]

He forgot to mention needing to be a master electrician to complete this project...

[@MersyyLife]

I never knew about those plc's my mind is in overdrive with ideas!

[@MartyT]

Glad I could spark those ideas

[@andrewpetrie1355]

Sorry Marty but you lost me as soon as you turn your Computer on. So glad there are people like you around that understand that stuff.

[@Gwolfe288]

Like a lot of commenters; I may never have to build something like this; but really enjoy the way that you dive into some of these more technical topics to help all of us understand more. I am also excited that we're going to be seeing a mix of this (out in the bush) sort of content and what you're up to in town as well! Thank you for putting out these videos!

[@bigmouthstrikesagain4056]

We get a lot of blackouts but sadly we don't live near a stream of anything like that so this probably wouldn't be doable

[@oscarmckee2553]

Watching these videos has actually been a bonding experience for me and my dad. He was the one who first introduced me to Angry Ram years ago and I loved it as a child and now I’ve started watching these videos so I introduced him to these! A bit of a full circle moment :) Really really interesting stuff man!

[@nashali425]

That's sounds good

[@mjallenuk]

Way beyond me but fascinating non the less! The idea of free energy tickles places I didn't know I had!

[@DanKoning777]

You've helped many people via these videos I'm sure. I don't have your level of skill(s) regarding *any* of this, but nonetheless; I've enjoyed watching you demonstrate how this is to be done. Well done-God bless.

[@swaldoski]

Who ever said living off the Grid wasn't hard.This is awesome.

[@CriticoolHit]

I love how in the software it says "HELP?" -- Disconcerting when the place your going to for help poses it as a question!

[@addisme7561]

Thanks Marty, this part is probably the most intimidating and a mystery to most and you have now given me at least the confidence to one day tackle such an endeavour if the need and situation presents itself to go off grid.

[@GeneShort-g1i]

yep it makes sense. you're a pretty smart dude. not often do i find someone who can show me something new and interesting but you challenge my mind and that is refreshing.

[@KmanAust]

That's an interesting way to use a PLC. I use a Home Automation system here but that requires a lot of power running a computer continuously. A PLC like that requires bugger all power to achieve the same result. So in effect, as long as hot water is up to temp and batteries are full, you're heating your home, unless you need power to boil a kettle. Smart !!!

[@MartyT]

Thats it in a nutshell

[@rogerbird6151]

Hi Marty, really enjoy your postings and the amount of work involved. I have been in electronics since 1964 but now have aged to the point of not being able to keep up and the desire has wilted. Great work, and keep up the great work!

[@timfolgers2759]

This was a great series

[@Paulman50]

That's a real good way of doing it. I was dumping up to 90 amps through a 6 stage breaker. If I had more knowledge with PCLs it would have been a lot better to switch the 240 instead. Thanks for that, was very interesting. I did use a PCL on my water pump so I could eliminate the pressure cylinder and only pump low pressure to the tank. When the float valve at the tank started to close, the PCL would cut the current before the water pressure rose.

[@chetmyers7041]

What happens to the water tank if the float valve malfunctions and the pump does not shut off? Steel or plastic tank? Can tank sustain 200 PSI safely? Need a pressure relief valve?

[@chantalrubino337]

Very interesting video, well explained. A larger battery bank at the house that would supply all the accessories, an electro shut off valve in the water supply pipe to control the generator when the battery bank is full. This would increase the life of the generator.

[@chetmyers7041]

Starting and stopping the hydro would add a lot of complexity. Would have to smoothly ramp the water flow up and down to avoid "water hammer effect" which could rupture the water pipe. Yes, he is consuming bearings faster by running it all the time. He is harnessing the power from the falling water, but the water is not consumed. Imagine this, if he had not extracted the 800 watts from the falling water, where would that energy go? The 800 watts would have been converted to friction/heat and warmed the water slightly.

[@inothome]

Agreed, regulating the battery voltage / turbine output with loads is a waste. I understand there is a distance issue, but there are better was to regulate the turbine output.

[@digitalacid]

Been a long time since I played with PLC's nice to have a refresher with interesting context to back it up. Loving this series, keep them coming !

[@dimitri877]

This explanation of the logic flow driving a PLC was very educational, thank you! ..this is like KiwiCo for adults, but from a real Kiwi 😉👍

[@giovannip.1433]

Wow. Thank you for going through clearly and simply. Sometimes when introducing new tech - even if it is 'straight forward' in purpose - people have an aversion to it. Keeping tech out of the 'oh, too hard' basket.

[@joetkeshub]

Pretty instructive, helpful and pedagogically perfect series. Thank you very much Marty and buddies! PLC is really way "smarter" than those basic controllers

[@TheAndjelika]

It is really a miracle these days what you can do with the PCL boards, or any other board with the CPU on it, like Arduino, ESP8266, Pi and so and so... Great work!

[@noyesclt2]

Just fantastic. Well done on the motor rewiring.. my only thought is to add one more controller for emergency bypass valve on water into the generator.. Not only as fail safe but could also be used to control power generation based upon load.

[@kiweekeith]

Brilliant, thanks for sharing .... As a Retired Engineer I find this 'Type of Stuff' fascinating ... Keep well, Stay safe and Cheers from ChCh

[@billjenkins687]

This procedure is way above my skill level, but I plan to study it and look for some applications in my life...

[@ricksutcliffe584]

thanks for posting this video, after watching your other videos i wondered how this controller worked. its a brilliant little unit and having visual schematics makes things alot easier

[@bishopkinlyside8477]

Hi Marty , Wow that is fantastic the way you set that up I am not a technology guru but I really admire what you were doing love the videos keep up the hard work Cliff from Logan City Queensland Australia

[@stephenheaps7978]

Marty you could make a flux capacitor out of an old toaster! You certainly have some serious knowledge about anything. Love your video content Keep up the good work . Thanks Steve

[@EdwardTilley]

This series really showcases the benefit of solar panels too. What would the equivalent number of solar panels be, to create a similar 800W water turbine rig? Some of the solar panels are 300W per panel ; so 1) double this for cloudy days - so six? 300W panels would be equivalent. 2) Double this number of panels again to factor in 12 hrs of generation per day during daytime sun only of course (while the water turbine is 7/24). So twelve 300W panels with sufficient overnight battery storage, would be equivalent to one hydro generator - give or take. It also looks like a second generator could probably work beside this first hydro generator - if needed.

[@MartyT]

The beauty of hydro power, it is generating 24/7 so you don't need a huge (expensive) battery bank to get you through the night and cloudy days

[@matthewsheeran]

Rather than clip some voltage off with a zener I would use a resistive divider to get a full scale instead. Say tap a 10k with 20k the other side turning 0-30V into the whole 0-10V range. Multiply the A2D measurement internally x 3 and use the actual values in the code.

[@MartyT]

Yes that's another way to do it

[@warrenmichael918]

NERD !! LOL i love watching this stuff then watching comments to see the people that are well educated on the subject. Your comment made no sense to me but i liked the fact that Marty read and understood it! JK about the nerd comment but it wasnt meant as an insult either lol

[@fartsquirel880]

a wise chinese once said 没有什么.

[@johnwarwick4105]

@@warrenmichael918 not nerdy at all just an easier way of doing it and gives a proportional scaled output rather than a conversion chart. There is always another way of going things, if you had acted 100 engineers how to do this not many would suggest a zener diode.

[@louisr5208]

Agreed.

[@tafsirnahian669]

You live in such a beautiful place. It's like a tiny heaven. I wish I could also.

[@PedroFonseca]

Thank you Sir for this explanation. This are some great skills you have and thank you for having the time and will to share it with the world! Loved every single part of this. I'm secretly wanting that some other friend of yours needs something like this so we can all witness the MacGyver of our time doing some of wizardry.

[@bobfotoples6950]

A simple plan to use water to power a friend's house has turned into a pretty sophisticated project. I bet it didn't turn out the way you thought it would. Hope it all works out.....

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

Marty basically has duplicated his own home setup...because it has worked for 17 years..... marty stated that instead of the air heater as a secondary dump he has a battery bank (like a giant UPS) at the house which feeds a deep freeze.......

[@craigwadey2122]

Hopefully you and family are ok , weather looks right nasty

[@MartyT]

It is very nasty, lots of flooding

[@solarfunction1847]

Fantastic thanks for this, I'm going to use something similar on a houseboat with a combined solar & Vertical Axis Wind Turbine & DIY solar hot water heater with copper pipe, reservoir & pump with timer & 2.4kw water heater that is thermally controlled for all the off grid power needs for living on the houseboat on weekends on the river. At first when doing a project like this its very daunting for the novice but if you take it all in separate parts then a complex outcome becomes a simple process.

[@MartyT]

Nice, sounds like a cool project

[@solarfunction1847]

@@MartyT Yeah it's been an ongoing project for a coupe of years since I'm trying to do it all as cheaply as possible

[@Jeff034]

Renaissance Man!!! Diesel refurbs and computer logic circuits. Awesome…

[@Zendukai]

Its so interesting Marty, thanks matey. most of our switch rooms have all this gear running VFI's and so forth.... Though us mere operators are now not allowed in them... been going in the switch rooms for 30 years and they decide in the last 6 months, oh we should not be in there. The sparkys now are hating it as this gives them more work. Our plant lockouts required us to go into the switch rooms and isolate equipment.... Now they have to come and do it. I know its safety and all, but when a piece of equipment cuts out, we would normally just go and reset it ourselves, we are not changing fuses lol... just to hit the reset, now we annoy the sparky in the middle of the night (usually only 2 shiftys for our operation) have to call the sparky, write up a safe permit (I mean us to write them a safe permit to enter their room..) and put a job in SAP and we get the plant going. We are making copper, its only a small shed 100 tonne a week, thats bugger all, 20,000 amps running through the circuit, fun stuff.

[@MartyT]

Thats the way NZ is going as well, will need a special permit to wipe our bums soon, splinter risk😂

[@dh-_1011]

Fun bags? Is that what you said?!? Awesome!

[@MartyT]

Fun blocks lol

[@williamkn621]

Great that you explain details, expose us to off-grid options and uses of available resources and devices.

[@Gustav4]

I know a guy in Kimberley AU, who is doing good work out on a ranch off grid. He has a stable water source in terms of a river and could really use a power source like this.

[@derekadams9856]

Hell of a video Marty. I’m not an electrician but I understood what you were doing. Hope it all works for your mate. Hope your mate bought you a few cartons. Derek fro Philippines

[@MartyT]

Haha he owes me a few hours on a panel beating job

[@flir67man84]

you got serious skill.. why dont you have a place in paradise.. oh you do.. .. 😉 congrats.. keep teaching us .. learning alot..

[@billiardsandsnookervideosn8319]

Your skill set is impressive.

[@pgprentice]

What an amazing video. I have learned so much from it. I have never used a plc but have a pretty good idea what I can use it for. Thank you!

[@beansgas6821]

That's the nuts mate. Those PLC's really are a handy piece of kit. Well done thanks for the vid.

[@garrydonnelly6433]

You are a bloody genius Marty. Cheers mate.

[@davetaylor4741]

Fascinating. Totally amazing you actually understand this stuff. I get the idea and understand the logic that is as far as I go. Very enjoyable series and I have learnt a lot. Mostly I would need a lot of help to build one. Good work.

[@sleeker165]

Superb work and a good series of videos showing the various stages - well done !

[@matt1544zxc3]

Great video. Maybe a couple of light bulbs to represent the two dumps would have been visually easier to understand as you raised or lowered the volts to show what happens.

[@rehmanabdullah4873]

Great job sir.

[@davidryder2761]

No idea what your doing but it looks great thank you 🙏

[@bluegrallis]

I understood what you were doing while programing the PLC. I doubt I could write all that though, because I can't even use 'Paint' on my computer to add text to an image and save it ;)

[@bogged9820]

That'll be a lot of Speights for you then Marty!

[@tvctorj]

I have loved this series. Amazing!

[@BOARDMAN16456]

very interesting stuff marty,,, scotland

[@tony66au]

Nice work Marty, you made it look nice and straight forward mate.

[@johnloken1445]

Incredible, outstanding knowledge and gifts for practical application.

[@SteveInQLD007]

Marty McGyver - love your content mate!

[@mikep95133]

I almost kept up Marty !! Thank you for the tutorial !!

[@tomanycooks]

so interesting, I'll never have a need for this information but it's amazing. are you an electrician? great work mate. love the channel

[@mrdbooks7285]

ex telecom employee I reckon?

[@Wairoakid]

I think Marty is an ex forestry worker if I recall what he said and he picked up all his electrical skills etc from reading and doing along with advice from a mate who was an electrical engineer.

[@mrdbooks7285]

@@Wairoakid - We could run a book about what was Martys previous employment, Like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan - his troops ran a book on him about what he was before the war - Nobody had that he was a School Teacher.

[@brunomckay1875]

@@mrdbooks7285 McIver with a buzz cut.

[@yeagerxp]

Marty is a Jack of all trades

[@PaulRansonArt]

I'm never likely to need any of this information but it shows just how things can be done without calling in a pro.

[@brentfarvors192]

Probably more likely than you realize...

[@evil17]

Except, this guy really is a pro, he made nearly all this work from mostly recycled junk. Any other ‘real pro’ would do the same job for lots of thousands of dollars to get the same result. Great job, I would love to see more follow ups, maintenance issues , longevity , etc, thanks for these really inspiring and informative videos.

[@kerrygleeson4409]

Amazing video Marty thanks for sharing your knowledge 🦘🇦🇺👍

[@uramalakia]

This is brilliant. I assume You're an electrical engineer?

[@joshbrucksch]

Great series, really enjoyed it. Thanks again for sharing!

[@horatiohornblower868]

One needs a degree in electronics to master this installation.

[@perunut4656]

Good video! I’ve seen micro controllers but to get it in one sealed unit with lcd and adjustment of parameters is worth buying. I like how your improving your design and fixing what could be a maintenance issue in the future. Have you got surge protection in place? E.g. induced by lightening? please keep us updated on any issues you find and improvements

[@stevemoxley9129]

Marty I have a Question for how did you get so Dang Smart God Bless You and your Family

[@maxnex7676]

I was just wondering why no solenoid activated valve to close or divert the water driving the turbine when energy requirements / battery charge is nominal instead of programing for various appliances coming on. Other than that, what Marty has put together on a low budget and using recycled parts that otherwise would have been scrapped is a definite thumbs up from me.

[@MartyT]

More things to go wrong at the hard to reach end of the system, and you would miss out on all that free hot water

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

If a constantly opening and closing water valve were to fail down at the stream, on a dark and stormy night..... Better to have electronic controls able to be manipulated/controlled/replaced at home in the warm and dry With the emergency water shutoff drill/driver activated valve at the generator as a last resort (average 5 years between activations) On a normal electrical grid, this regulation has to be done on a massive scale.... the water heaters may be ripple controlled (by a frequency signal sent down the electricity lines over the whole city/area) When demand falls, the water heaters switch on (say 11pm to 7am) but then during the day all water heaters may be switched off to allow heat pumps, kettles, ovens, microwaves etc. to be used.... Ditto Marty's system... when the house uses power in appliances...the water heater shuts off when no appliances use power...the water heater switches on. When the water heater (45 Imperial gallons) reaches full temperature then the air heater switches on... There is always a possibility to increase the heated water storage...one house in Scotland has a 1500 litre tank (400 US gallon) which is used as a heat store and there are coils supplying heat to the hydronic floor heating throughout the house... this is an off grid system with hydro, solar, wind and back-up generator plus huge batteries......

[@maxnex7676]

@@MartyT I figured it may have been the reason you went for the use of various appliances, thanks for the update.

[@maxnex7676]

@@JohnSmith-pl2bk Thanks John for the reply.

[@nosaltiesandrooshere7488]

👍 Danke fürs Hochladen! 👍 Thanks for uploading! 👍 Very good and beautiful, thank you! 👍 Sehr gut und schön, danke!

[@yeagerxp]

Excellent work👍👍👍 . Thanks for sharing

[@thedoorider]

Go team!!

[@Finom1]

Amazing detail, thank you. I need a turnkey system.

[@idrisddraig2]

Lots of turnkey system. This briliant system is only cost efective DIY and preferably made from (free) recycled stuff.

[@avrel820]

Enjoyed watching you as usual ... Amazing all the knowledge you have :-)

[@Worldslayer85]

Nice explanation on how the plc works m8 (Y)

[@opera5714]

That Array SR-12MRDC looked like it might be a neat controller. Close, but no cigar.

[@gregbrechelt2295]

Hi Marty I have to ask this question as I’ve been in awe of your mechanical knowledge then you blow me away with electrical and then you program a plc “what” what is your background? You don’t just program a plc without some history in electrical or electronics

[@dougwilson1769]

Another great video.

[@samr2550]

wow this was epic! where is it? fancy doing this at my place?

[@EthanSkinner-vb9ww]

Another excellent 'hands on' video. What's the system like 2 years on? Would you make any changes looking back? Cheers.

[@MartyT]

He has added an mppt controller at the house and a solenoid dump valve before the turbine

[@robc3056]

Interesting Marty.. Thanks again

[@Zaraqkhan1]

Please answer me this question, it is very important.. what is your education?? have been watching ur videos when u were fixing old tractor n other heavy vehicles, then one day all of sudden u start generating electricity from old washing machine, watched whole series when u were rewiring complex copper wires and now u r programming PLC. one thing comes in my mind that it is ur country education system which produces multi talented people like u. or there is other explanation

[@MartyT]

Haha I left school at 15, I just like tinkering and learning new things

[@stanfarler2271]

Hell I had no idea it was so easy.

[@gmannz1981]

Awesome! Appreciate the knowledge sharing!

[@lorenzo42p]

well done, but not sure about that zener diode. your performance may vary with temperature, which is affected by air temperature and current flow across the diode. what you probably should do is what's called a voltage divider. it's simple to make, just 2 resistors in series. one end goes to battery positive and the other end to ground, output is between the resistors. this will give you a more accurate scaled down voltage to read. a zener diode can then be used between the center of those resistors and ground as a protection just in case voltage does go above 10, but in normal operation the diode doesn't do much. this is good because resistors are much more temperature stable than the diode.

[@MartyT]

Good idea Pete, Yes I'm familiar with voltage dividers. The only time I've had a zener fail on my system was from a very close lightening strike 10 years ago, maybe the divider would have survived, although it might have allowed something to fry in the plc. After the strike, I thought of the the zener as my lightening fuse

[@opera5714]

You can use a TL431, an adjustable precision zener. Subtracting voltage is a good way to expand your scale to make it more accurate. You are correct that a pulse could easily destroy the input and the zener. Always include some resistance to absorb spikes. Use several resistors in series to increase peak breakdown voltage. Then last add a zener to the input to shunt any over voltage. A capacitor would also help. I've heated water for years, but off panel array voltage with efficient power point diversion. No need for large batteries or charge controller. Batteries are always kept at peak charge. Battery heating is electron inappropriate.

[@mgb961]

genius!

[@mrstratau6513]

Great tutorial, thanks.

[@johnp-e9963]

That micro PLC isn't far off the Siemens LOGO! units. The Siemens units can host web pages so you could have a user interface for the system that you can access from a mobile phone (when on the same wireless network) If anyonje else is looking at doin gthis the logo units might be better for Ease of use. PLC code looks good, simple is always better, i write PLC code for a living and the only thing i would change would be the scaling for the voltage for ease of use in the future. If you use a voltage divider to reduce the signal into the 0-10V input on the PLC you could then scale it in the plc to be accurate tot the voltage coming in. If you went with 30VDC input max you could use a 2.2K ohm resistor and 1K ohm resistor in series to get 10VDC at the point between the 2.2 and 1k resistors and ground. You'd have to size the resistors correctly for wattage but that would mean you would then be able to scale the 0-10 input to 0-30v in the PLC, far more accurate and you could then accurately display the voltage on the PLC display.

[@dougterry7034]

Legend ! Cheers Marty 👍

[@tOxIc_TrEaSuRe]

could you program that PLC to kick on a generator if you need more power for peak demand?

[@1969elder]

Are you monitoring the amp hours of the battery remaining? If so could you or should you allow them to drop down then charge so you cycle your battery? Or did I miss something in the videos? Just curious as I have seen sooo many batteries die from keeping a constant charge and not really much usage or much. Just curious and interested in your input. Thank you/y’all for sharing!

[@MartyT]

The batts are kept above 24v (2x12) most of their life by the plc controller dumping to hot water cylinder, when a high load is used like microwave, toaster etc is used they may go slightly lower. When the hot water cylinder is up to temp, the batts are allowed to rise to around 29v so the cells are equalized occasionally. As John said, the 2nd hand batteries will usually last 5 years at the turbine

[@Plons0Nard]

Nice and very practical approach 👍🤝🇳🇱 Not sure if it will be an issue in this application, but zener diodes are very temperature sensitive. Cheers 🙌

[@MartyT]

I have noticed a tiny temperature related variation but not enough to be an issue

[@Plons0Nard]

@@MartyT Good 😊 Thanks Marty 🤝👍🇳🇱

[@sammyd7857]

Batteries will last longer charged to 14 volts

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

But the batteries are in series so 12 + 12 = 24... and to charge 24VDC nominal you need up to 28.2 volts. This is why the overvoltage that triggers the drill dump valve is 29 VDC..

[@samvalentine3206]

Fantastic episode, Marty! Thank you. Very clever use of the PLC. You explained it in a way that made sense. One troubling factor is that the PLC you used, the Array SR-12MRDC is a rare bird now, apparently. Do you recall how much you paid for this unit? From my research, it looks like it might have cost around $18 American when new and also when it was plentiful - now I see it (if it's available) for around $65 American. For those who wish to follow in your footsteps, one might need to find some other sort of PLC and/or use an Arduino-type solution? Thanks again, Sir. Respect.

[@MartyT]

I had no trouble getting this one from mastec nz, Any decent analog plc should do the job

[@BrianSmith-ow9gy]

I'm assuming poor old Marty is in therapy after being forced to buy new stuff. :)

[@MartyT]

Haha the good folks at MasTek NZ gave me a good deal on the plc

[@BobSmith-iu3hx]

Maybe Marty can get a package deal on Kijiji, therapy and used irrigation pipe all in the same deal.

[@timworsell9871]

Mind blowing stuff your a cleaver bugger cheers

[@AllAroundTube50]

Why now use a battery management system (BMS) on the battery instead of the more complicated PLC?

[@metric4710]

So, some people do what they can and some people do what they want.

[@siunhiemvietnams2110]

Chia sẻ rất hiểu quả kính nghiệm học theo

[@sammyd7857]

You can just use multiple solar charge controllers

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

@MartyT 3 months ago He has added an mppt controller at the house and a solenoid dump valve before the turbine

[@megangosbee2863]

Where did you get your pelton wheel spoons from?

[@poelmeister]

This may be a dumb question, but what if your heater is on but the hot water is in demand? It seems that if somehow your genny produces enough, your cycle will keep on the heater but will refuse power to the hot water. It may never occur in real life, but wouldn’t you want the hot water to be dominant? So, if it wants power, it will turn off the heater?