Free power- How to convert an old washing machine into a water powered generator

See my latest hydro generator build / Full installation here - • Free power from water
I've been living off the grid for a few years now, using a converted water powered F&P washing machine motor to generate more than enough power to run all the appliances & hot water I use in my house, as well as powering all the tools I use in my workshop. In that time I've saved many thousands of dollars from not having to pay power bills. In this detailed video I'll show you how it's done.
Follow this link to see how to rewire the stator to lower the voltage to a level suitable for charging a battery bank • How to rewire an old w...
I'm told Whirpool Cabrio and Maytag Bravos use the same type of stator motor for those who can't find this model.

[@Barnacules]

This video is amazing! I think it's fantastic how you can recycle something like this into a power generator.

[@---rm2gw]

Hey barn

[@virus464]

Barnacules Nerdgasm yobarn,youareintogreenengergy?myspacestoppedworkiongicantypefasternow.i.would.like.to.see.videos.of.yours.dealingwithsmthnlikethat.i.advise.u.a.normal.car.lightmachine.u.can.have.one.for.five.or.ten.bucks.wow.thisissucky

[@bassassn1]

virus464

[@gordonkistler8975]

Barnacules Nerdgasm that's nothing, i keep myself warm in the winter by lighting my farts on fire!

[@cuddles6938]

gordon kistler Don't give Jerry aka Barnacules any ideas, he might make a video about it.

[@adriangabba]

This guy is a legend! Great to see people putting skills to practical use.

[@goldbunny1973]

Im giving THIS video a Thumbs Up after watching just 2mins of it. It's brilliant! : ) I LOVE seeing anyone recycling stuff like this that would otherwise end up rotting to bits on landfill. There are so many re-useable parts inside domestic appliances...and that's so creative of you to use the available water flow to power your home. Well done and thanks for posting.

[@stevendeitrich6933]

All I can say is Wow ! That's a smart man . I can understand so many things .But not electricity ! I will stay on grid forever .

[@londonnight937]

I just LOVE the sound of the Pelton wheel spinning up.

[@LoganT547]

I suggest finding some videos of these machines during the spin cycle, I also love the sound

[@5226-p1e]

Pelton wheel ASMR...

[@LoganT547]

@@5226-p1e nope, BLDC motor ASMR

[@thvtsydneylyf3th077]

makes my peepee buck

[@TheComputec]

Genius. Of course it helps that your water source has such "current" to be tapped. Nevertheless the power you have harnessed from it should make you self sufficient for as long as you have a supply of bearings !! Great video sir !! Now THAT is free energy !!!

[@borivojetravica569]

Where can I find, buy payton wheel?

[@lazyh-online4839]

@@borivojetravica569 like he said in the video, eBay.

[@borivojetravica569]

@Roger Rarebit 😁 tnx, that make difrents...

[@chartphred1]

I wish I was an electrician! The mechanical stuff I get, but wires and electronic stuff? Does my head in.

[@crazymarkmc]

You don't need to be an electrician to figure out electronics there's enough info about the subject on the internet for anyone to freely explore

[@phoenixrisingharley]

lol im not an electrician, i bought a multi meter today, i dont know how to use it, i pick up a washing machine saturday, im just gonna have a crack anyway, trial and error, just have a go at it and learn as you go, just keep coming back to youtube,

[@taboost537]

im currently studying too become an electrician, its exciting

[@dapper_gent]

+phoenixrisingharley that adds to the shock value

[@Bizorke]

Funny. I'm the total opposite. Doing drive trains, crank shafts blows my mind and has held me back from many projects, but I could design a basic CPU with transistor logic.

[@hoth3875]

As a jack of all trades, every part of this video makes me happy

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

See Marty's latest hydro using this technology and fully explained kzbin.info/www/bejne/gofSlpSBeKqXaNE

[@davidmorgan6939]

Essentially, you made a miniature hydroelectric dam generator for home use?! You are truly a fine example of no nonsense ingenuity. Thank you for this great idea!

[@acetech9237]

All I need now is a broken washer, an endless stream, and a genius brain such as yours, besides that this looks easy :). Great Video!

[@kebman]

If you buy a finished micro hydro system, you'll have to pay anything from 2000 to 5000 for it new. The more expensive ones can give you over 500-1000 W.

[@Max-oc6go]

Simply, you are bloody genius mate! This is one of my favourite video.

[@destroybilderbergeendillum3558]

inventors like this will make it to heaven...

[@WXSTANG]

If you are full charge you can use the PLC to drive a solinoid which switches off the incoming water. it would save wear and tear on your bearings. btw, slick setup!

[@johng5295]

Thanks in a million. Great content. Awesome. Very well explained. I couldn't find this explanation--simply put anywhere else. Great teachers are hard to find. Grade: A++💥

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/boS6omiGqNCjq8k Marty's new series of 4 vids detailing a recent install for a mate's place of the hydro turbine....

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gofSlpSBeKqXaNE 4 vids detailing a recent new installation...and the Pelton wheel came off ebay years back...

[@trayrichards3156]

This guys was paying attention in every single one of his classes hats off to him

[@A.Man..]

Not mainstream school. Prob grew up on a farm where you need to do everything yourself.we call it Kiwi ingenuity

[@HellFire178]

this is unreal! so amazing. wish i had that water pressure, 900 watts could keep my off grid easy

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

I am putting 800 to 1,200 watts of solar on my camper but I am unsure on all the math when it comes to what is needed. You mentioned 900 will do you. I guess 900 is a good number if it can keep you off the grid. I just don't want alot of batteries. I have a live well for fishing that works on a panel and no battery so I am thinking 800 to 1200 in watts of solar and just 2 or 3 batteries to use at night. Do you think that is possible?

[@HellFire178]

@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 if you were to make sure you had at least 150-200Ah in your battery system you should do fine. But ask yourself what kind of things will you be using, does anything run 24/7? How much energy does it use.

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

@@HellFire178 ...... I just bought a 14 k btu portable Honeywell air conditioner for my camper. I am not sure how many solar panel in watts I would need to operate it strictly off solar but have the batteries operate it at night. I know there is math involved , do you know what I need to look at to determine the watts needed in the panels?

[@HellFire178]

@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 what is the BTU of the unit

[@Lightesword]

Hmmmm..... going to keep this in mind if I ever have to live off the grid.. sometimes I miss being on a farm.

[@gk10002000]

the idea of dumping excess power into hot water heater is good. I majored in thermo and heat transfer back in the 70s. Wind generators or any other type of generator seemed to me could easily be used to dump excess power into water heaters or tanks, opened with no need for venting or over pressure safety issues. Get "free" hot water.

[@bobdobalina838]

Where was the link to make that rectifier?

[@peterwilson5528]

Very clever. Do what you can with what you have where you are.

[@thesire7553]

This is exactly what I was looking. You are brilliant!

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Now thats a cool video, thank you for sharing

[@nottoosureeeee]

You’re the man!

[@marcushoward6560]

It absolutely amazes me that people are this smart.

[@revxbonda6913]

thank you for posting this video , i need this idea

[@pimppappi702]

Imagine solar panel starting off your DC stream of water which then converts it into AC power where it powers itself in a circle

[@garrettmitchell5657]

Sorry for commenting a little late, but are you suggesting that he powers a DC pump to move water to make electricity with this generator? Would it not be a little more efficient to just use the solar panels directly for charging the batteries, in addition to the generator he has here?

[@pimppappi702]

Garrett Mitchell ment powering you air conditioner

[@ronaldreed7698]

Garrett Mitchell No such thing as preputial motion...

[@user-ze7tl2dw4i]

Violates thermodynamics. Will lose energy as heat

[@lowkeylowkey1000]

Pro Tip- For the door with the window: If you live in the USA. Go to the bank and get a few dollars in pennies. Using silicone. Glue a layer of pennies to each side of the door. Now every time you have to remove the door it won't be to messed up with muck. Because copper and zinc is anti-microbial. I didn't say spotless. Just not as messed up as if it were left as is. Cheap solution to avoid a little nastyness.

[@freesk8]

The new pennies in the US (since 1982) are 95% zinc. They corrode when left in the environment very quickly, and turn to crap. If you find pre-1982 pennies, they are 95% copper, and tend to last a lot longer. I find pennies in the dirt a lot. I save the coppers. About 5% of the pennies in circulation today are copper. The rest are zinc. :)

[@lowkeylowkey1000]

@@freesk8 Always can use wheaties ;)

[@thomasd1513]

Keep up the great work. Different strokes for different folks.

[@Menelau69]

Watch'n learn guys! Knowledge equals power! And money saving.

[@varietyhub498]

all i need is ...land :(

[@shakesmarley4754]

Have a large tank with a high pressure hose connected from a height and have the water drop down to spin the wheel, connect a coil pump to the wheel either by chain or added to the axel. This coil pump using the spin of the wheel will pump the water back up to your tank without the need for electricity, or use a series of small pumps that use the generator charge, if you do that step up a voltage and then step down but a buck converter to each pump you need. But yea coil pump will get the water back up to the main tank. Ram pumps are good if you have an abundance of water but I’m guessing not in your case mate you want it all in one place like i do.

[@sammacdonald9204]

Go deep enough into the bush and you have your own land

[@fishrod6298]

Hey man, you are awesome! Thanks heaps for this, I'm going to try build one . Im guessing you have no objections to me downloading your clips to watch off a hard drive while I'm building? Anyway, grea stuff - I'm inspired.

[@high1voltage1rules]

Hey, instead of using 3 rectifiers due to 3 phase you could just use 1, 3 phase rectifier. With a single phase out!! I think it would be better this way, and cheaper to purchase just 1 rectifier. Hope this helps

[@AngryRambro]

Yes your'e right, I started using 3 phase blocks around 5 years ago when they became more affordable.

[@miketalbot6974]

Fabulous If only our world thought n used discarded products instead of land fills. Thanks truely 👌

[@sterlingprice5963]

I'm gonna try building one of these. I got a creek that runs really good in springtime and rainy weather, but kinda drys up in middle of summer. I also have a wooded hillside that goes down for about a quarter mile, and it has a lil spring that oozes all year and runs down. I've thought about damming it up and creating a lil resevoir that would make water pressure.

[@Overt_Erre]

Would like to see a video on the routine maintenance on this and part replacements

[@juliebarnes6208]

Wow! I am impressed! This is ingenious! Thanks for sharing.

[@kshea9049]

Hey Ram, great video. I was wondering if you had any idea roughly how many RPM the rotor on the stator motor would be travelling at?

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

Around 1000rpm....

[@corgraveland4874]

Amazing video and design! Fantastic how to use some base from a washing machine and convert it into a solid and sound power generator 💧⚡🔌💡🍀👌

[@adamshove6734]

Sooo. I've been trying to follow your video and build one of these up here in the states. What are the chance you could build/wire they stator and motor and sell it up this way?

[@AngryRambro]

No time for that but there is a place selling them ready to go www.powerspout.com/

[@adamshove6734]

@@AngryRambro thank you very much

[@joerosburns5639]

Fantastic! Teaching the guys who sleep through science class to make this would keep them awake!

[@timothyhays1817]

Cool vid. When I first saw the thumbnail I thought Rambo was going to help in the disassembly.

[@Orchardcommonceramics]

Could this power a ceramic kiln?

[@AngryRambro]

Depends how many watts, this will make 1000w max constant output

[@cinzafenix08]

Amazing video cheers from Portugal 🇵🇹

[@werusdn]

Have got loads of power now but my clothes are very dirty...

[@steven-qk1sg]

i felt bad for you so i posted this because this comment has been up for 4 years

[@shimarlie1]

His cannibalised washing machine is powering his actual washing machine

[@boltonky]

Awesome build, seen similar things done. Would love good explanation of power bank + price.

[@8546Ken]

That's nice if you have a free source of running water and a sufficient drop. How many people can do this?

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

Those that have a stream, a drop...and no regulations stopping them????

[@johncrow2222]

Finally a generator that i can actually use

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

See Marty's latest hydro using this technology and fully explained kzbin.info/www/bejne/gofSlpSBeKqXaNE

[@blackspider-man8106]

Kiwi ingenuity at its finest!

[@AbdiPianoChannel]

Just like it's bigger brother, it fucks up the natural flow of water and the animals living in and around

[@AngryRambro]

Incorrect, Only a fraction of the flow is used and it is directed back to the stream after going through the turbine. I just borrow some energy

[@woodyTM]

KZbin algorithm sent me here. I'm sort of a jack of all trades, and sometimes I find purpose built equipment for scenarios just like this and it's quite fascinating to see the very same principle being achieved in a entirely different way. My first question would be the efficiency curve, e.g. how long do these components last before significant enough wear decommissions the unit? Most purpose built fluid turbines have an oil system that actively lubricates the bearings/shaft to sort of ease wear and lengthen life span of the shaft components. Regardless excellent and concise video, explanation was thorough enough and was truly a good watch in general. When I finally move out of the cities I will definitely attempt to put an actual one into service along with experimenting with all sorts of other electricity generators just for fun!

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

All those questions were answered in the videos Marty has put out...replacement bearings every 2 to three year; clean out the intake in the stream whenever power production drops, replace truck batteries with other second hand ones when they die....

[@samuelhaynes4877]

You use the metal housing from the washer to make a cover for it. to keep it out of the sunlight.

[@ambroseabellair5306]

I'm already a subscriber, just goes to show I knew a good thing when I saw it, must have been another one of your video's, carry on brother, keep up the good work, lots to learn from, that actually amounts to something of true value, thanks again.

[@yourejustintim]

Thank you for taking the time to post this.

[@locostse7en]

thats really nifty ...love it x

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

See Marty's complete new system install at a friend's place.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/gofSlpSBeKqXaNE

[@stewartdegner260]

Very clever. Thank you.

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

See Marty's latest hydro using this technology and fully explained kzbin.info/www/bejne/gofSlpSBeKqXaNE

[@brianrosin3219]

OH COOL!!!! It's just too bad that I live in a fucking desert ... with a FUCKING DROUGHT XD HAHAHA SO FUCKING HILARIOUS!!! kill me...

[@marshalkinandrey]

There are solar panels for that

[@brianrosin3219]

Andrey Marshalkin Yeah I know... I have solarr panels . at least the gods above came and save us , and then it rained for two days straight

[@UltraNyan]

Allahu akbar

[@solarpanel8195]

I wish I could move to the desert lol get a wind turbine and hook to this

[@eltonsteadham1707]

Brian Rosin desert has wind and sun try utilizing them to your advantage

[@yggdrasil9039]

Amazing! I was wondering now that home batteries are cheaper, you could store excess energy in larger amounts rather than having to dump it, which seems a waste. For instance I think 10kWh storage is about $10 grand brand new, but you could get them second hand for less than this. Then just make your own electric car and electric quad and you're set!

[@mr.pineapple7620]

Use 2 wheels and injectors so you can throttle on both when water level is high and only use one when water level is low. Since this kind of turbine like to lose allot of power when running under to high pressures especially when at high load

[@greatdane3343]

Awesome mate. Thanks for sharing.

[@mikaylamoreau6090]

You should power a washer motor, inside a steel barrel powering a turbine pulling in water one end and pushing out x amount of hoses at good force. Also put hoses downhill so gravity aids. But you’d in theory baby your own high powered, multiple generator capable water pump? Then power x generators to make up for power used, and you could up scale it??

[@billvinnette4535]

Good ole kiwi ingenuity...great stuff and thanks for sharing!

[@woolysamoan]

2:36 PRETTY BRIGHT COPPER!

[@bouyant8659]

brilliant.. connect charge controller to servo to shut a gate/ball valve on H20 when fully charged.. can it not be switched to open at specific voltage drop also to restart gen.. saving bearings & noise

[@TheTrumanZoo]

brilliant.

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

Pretty smart idea

[@BlackDeltaOne]

i kinda want to call him out for building it so careless and willy nilly but the damn thing worked for so long, it cant be that bad XD

[@WombatHide]

The metal housing make good frames for compost heaps

[@frankandmacie5200]

Brilliant I think people like you are the ones that will survive the mess that is being created by our governments. The link for making the rectifier is not showing up on video what is it?

[@felixthehandyman201]

Cool !! Kinda like a turbin generator :)

[@WrokBindsor]

Plexiglass is the product. Trade names Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, Astariglas, Lucite, Perclax, and Perspex, among several others. 'Perspex' is a brand whereas an acrylic sheet is an item.

[@mikegleasonjr]

That's clean energy...

[@evofnk]

Hi, love the vid and setup you have. I’m here in the Waikato and have made the same setup as you but I’m only getting 100watt from 45psi.

[@AngryRambro]

Thanks mate. You should be getting at least 500w if you have good flow. What diameter and length of pipe are you using? Is the pipe on an even gradient down hill or does it go up and down over the terrain?- any air locks? diameter of pelton wheel? What is your flow rate, how many litres per second going through the jet? is your intake filter restricting flow?

[@evofnk]

Angry Ram thanks for the reply. That’s what I thought. I have tried different stay or rewind configurations to see the difference. 50mm pipe with no air locks. 250mtrs long through a 1/2 in hose tail. 8inch 32cup pelton wheel filter is not an issue. I am running the power differently to you thou. Transmissions of the power is at 215VAC @650rpm 200mtrs away. Then through a MPPT charger to charge 48v battery bank.

[@AngryRambro]

Ok I think your pipe diameter may be too small for that length of pipe, I would need to know your flow rate to be sure, just hold a 10 litre bucket under the outlet and time how many seconds it takes to fill. assuming your flow rate is 3l per second through a 250m length of 50mm pipe you will lose 11.5 metres of head, though a 100mm pipe you will only lose .4 of a metre head. You could try putting a smaller jet on the pipe to reduce pipe wall frictional losses and wind out the rotor about 1cm to reduce magnetic resistance on the stator, that should give you a bit more power but if I were you I would get a 75-100mm pipe, keep an eye out for old second hand irrigation pipes, much cheaper than buying new. Let me know how you get on.

[@evofnk]

Angry Ram yea was about $800-900 for the pipe.... 😓 I think the flow rate is more than 3Lpm the jet of water out of the 1/2inch hose tail is about 15mtrs long. If I held a bucket in front of it I’m the bucket would disappear..... with the tap open I get on the pressure gauge 45psi. I have already wound out the rotor to assist with the magnet flux. I’m up to 157watts now. Better but not where I want to be 500watt Mark. I think I might charge the stator config to see if I get any differences. I would think they would be only small ones thou. Check my page as I have a vid of my set up. Thanks for your time on this. 👍

[@AngryRambro]

Ouch! I paid around $300 for 200m of second hand 100mm poly pipe and I saw 1/2 a km of 4in alloy irrigation pipe come up on fb marketplace the other day for $500, keep an eye out there, I think your small pipe is your weakness. What hz are you pushing through your transmission line ( high hz doesn't travel well over long distance) and what loss are you seeing at the end of the line? measure the volts/amps at generator and at the end of your power line, should be able to calculate cable loss.

[@feetnincheees]

Exquisit video... so many thanks.

[@lachlanford2402]

8:13 45 psi water pressure is equivalent to 32 m of water head. Either this bloke lives next to a 10 story waterfall or that water is pumped, and therefore not "free" power. But a very impressive way to reuse a washing machine

[@treytonguilbeau2112]

Not hard to get 35m of water head on the mountains.... 🤷‍♂️

[@sicks6six]

Not telling you how to suck eggs, but have a think about using a cars' alternator as the power producer, modern ones can produce 2500 watts @300 amps and give a steady curve of power increase, no surges, it has to be kept dry, so out of the water, connect to water wheel with drive shaft, just an idea . . .

[@AngryRambro]

Nice idea but car alternators don't produce much power under 2000rpm, my turbine max speed is about 1000rpm so I'd have to gear it up which would mean heavy frictional losses

[@peteharrison9816]

On the bearings have you tried replacing the bearings instead of using the old ones so you could get more time

[@AngryRambro]

I replace them if they have signs of wear. My motto is - if it aint broke don't fix it ;)

[@tewodrosnigatu12]

That is just great

[@robertjolliffe2612]

Thanks man. I will give this a go! Cheers

[@ottowellwood2099]

Where do you get the water supply that puts out 45 psi? As I recall, 27 inches of water = 1 psi, which means you have a stream that falls 100 feet.

[@AngryRambro]

Yes I have a stream with a long pipe from intake to turbine

[@rbt7771]

Great video. Ingenious. What if I can’t source a fisher & packet smart drive? I’m in Uk and these all seem to be in Australia. Is there an alternative? Any top loading washer? Thanks

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

Find a brushless motor of any kind...perhaps ask at a repair shop for washing machines?

[@joyfullyenjoy]

nice video so informative and so innovative...

[@maxhewitt4381]

Im having trouble finding a fisher and paykel smart drive machine anywhere near me. If i were to order the parts individually to make this what would all the parts i need be called? Advice would be much appreciated. Cheers.

[@AngryRambro]

You'd need the stator, rotor, hub and shaft. There are similar permanent magnet motors on ebay, might be the cheaper way to go

[@darko6697]

wow ive only just stumbled across this amazing bud 👍

[@Ponlets]

you should add cards to the points in the video where you reference other videos :)

[@jackdedert2945]

I wonder if it might have been more efficient to run the power to the dwelling as Alternating Current, and convert to DC at the end-user site...reduce the amount of transmission loss.

[@jackdedert2945]

@petnzme01 Why? Conductors don't have to be as big. The voltages concerned are not excessive...and could be stepped down for transmission with a transformer if that was an issue.

[@jackdedert2945]

@petnzme01 Really? What's the AC voltage coming out of the generator, before the bridge rectifier?? You can start a fire with DC as well. In any case, I've run AC power to remote locations...outbuildings, stages etc. It's not that hard, or dangerous. I think there's a lot in this setup that an inspector would cringe at. Was it inspected by anyone?

[@jackdedert2945]

@petnzme01 If it put out DC, you wouldn't need a rectifier. There's no telling what the output voltage is before the rectifier. It was a 240 volt motor before he mod'd it. I didn't see any AC measurement after the mods.

[@jackdedert2945]

@petnzme01 Ok, I believe I did. I never saw an AC input value. You did?

[@jackdedert2945]

@petnzme01 So what's the voltage?

[@achmadrifai8539]

why does it look so easy for him hahahah, great job!

[@zadokmotorfreight2423]

Fantastic video!!

[@1davspec]

hey this is a great vid, If making a windmill would you connect the shaft directly to a prop or gear it up in some way to spin the generator faster...thanks for any help

[@billthompson9595]

very smart

[@ronnieharty9094]

Stainless tub would make a good filter

[@bobdobalina838]

At the beginning, you mentioned a certain brand of washing machine. Any reason for that particular brand? Does it have to be?

[@HarrisIrfaan]

time for me to go off road and off grid!!

[@johnw6648]

please put up the rectifier info link you mentioned. looks like you are using a delta connected winding and one input on each bridge rectifier and not using half of each bridge? if so, why not use all of one and half the second and omit the third? also why not use the diode plate out of an old car alternator? anyone who needs a diagram: google automotive diode alternator diagram. i think anyone who has lots of pressure/drive and isn't worried about friction efficiency due to the losses on the slip rings could use a car alternator for this and mount a shaft bearing and seal on some thick nylon like a couple of laminated 10mm cutting boards. looks like the main advantage of the shown method is getting the bearing rotor and housing etc.

[@AngryRambro]

I use ready made 3 phase rectifiers these days, they're cheap and less issues with corrosion on the terminals. Car alternators start producing useful current at around 2000 rpm, too high for most low head turbines, could gear it up with belts or chains but you introduce more frictional losses

[@celtic1song]

Great video mate! Thanks for sharing🤗OneLove 🙏💚🌎🌈🕊

[@josephj4273]

Why should you cut the bearings out if you plan to use turbines for the mechanical power (motion)?

[@deaftodd]

If an urban area have a blackout then you can attach a garden hose to that machine!

[@TravisTellsTruths]

Incredible!

[@keithklassen5320]

Wouldn't you gain more power if you built a simple housing around the wheel, keeping the water in contact with the wheel for a longer time? Sort of like a pump in reverse? Ideally one might make a complex and efficient housing, but I suspect you'd gain a lot from even a simple tube of slightly larger inside diameter than the wheel, two sides on it, and an outlet for the water.

[@keithklassen5320]

Also, if at any point you have no use for the incoming energy, say when the batteries are full and the water is hot, etc, perhaps you could rig up a valve that stops the water flow. This would reduce the wear on your generator bearings, which I imagine are working well outside their intended RPM and duty cycle.

[@keithklassen5320]

Btw, if this sounds like criticism, don't worry, I'm just always looking for ways to improve things. What you've done is amazing and if I had a stream, I'd love to do something similar.

[@marcusm663]

Thank you.

[@nickmagrick7702]

this is the type of stuff we SHOULD be learning in schools EDIT: Because of the truly absurd number of people getting upset over this comment or making the asinine statement of "they already teach this in engineering classes", the subtext of this is that it should be taught in primary and grade schools, not just colleges. Its the type of thing that nearly everyone can benefit from learning.

[@jond438]

If they did that we would all be free thinking people. They would have no mindless sheeples..

[@chris432t6]

Thank you! I would rather live in an educated world than an uneducated one?

[@nickmagrick7702]

@@chris432t6 whats the question mark for

[@J.brashear122]

You go to school to learn to be an employee. Nothing else

[@nickmagrick7702]

@@J.brashear122 you know, this didn't really hit me until like a year or two ago. But I think your totally fucking right. And its so well hidden that most people don't even notice it, which makes all the insane things we do seem normal. And ofc, our learned helplessness.