I finally got my shed together and began really messing around with the
pelton wheel turbine gizmo i've been working on.

So far i'm happy enough with the general design. Water management is
certainly not a problem, but i've hit a few more issues.

Successes:

1) the new method for aiming the jets is good. I used flexible copper
tubes right before the jets so I can give them a little bend to get them
aimed right on. These are the same kind of pipe you'd use to hook up a
water heater or similar. Then there are just angle brackets on the
outside to help keep them on line.

2) Plenty of water to use: its been a hell of a winter!

3) Shed lasted through one of the worst wind storms we've had in a few
years! Nothing quite like building on a blue clay steep assed hill in the
middle of winter. I ended up just splitting some white ceder posts and
sinking them deep into the ground to make a basic tin shed. That tin
might blow off, but the shed will never get tipped over. Also invested
in a good pair of muck boots .. it was seriously muddy and nasty out
there! Now I've got a semi-dry area to play with the hydro.

Not so success:

1) Not enough RPM. I think i'm only hitting about 500 rpm rather than
the 1000 i was shooting for. The PMA i bought makes about a volt per 100
rpm and now i'm thinking i should have maybe got another one for lower
RPM.

2) Spin cycle effect -- turns out the shaft coupler isn't centered quite
right so the shaft does a little wobble while its spinning. Enough that
(although it works) i'm paranoid about running it for a long time and
risking screwing up my spendy PMA.

3) Little splashy -- I'm getting a little more water up into the
alternator than I'd like. Its not huge amounts, but enough that i'll
need to probably address it. I mean the whole point of building the shed
was to get the thing out of the rain .. and have a place near it for
batteries and so on.

Solutions:

Here is a pre-full-assembly pic (this is from before I got it wired up
all the way) and some ideas
http://www.jeffersonfreestate.org/hh/hh_v2.jpg

1) RPM? Add a jet. I'm hoping to increase RPM by adding a third jet -- I
have enough water to run another jet so thats something to do. The
difference in speed by running on one jet compared to two is pretty
dramatic so I'm hoping another one will mean even more.

2 & 3) Spin Cycle & splash: Shorten Shaft & move jets. As many of you
pointed out the shaft is a bit long to run without a bearing. A friend
just got a milling machine so we're going to make a few more couplings
till we get it right on the money. Then i'll shorten the shaft up and
move the jets higher on the barrel (as seen in the image) with a greater
downward angle, so the water jet hits the turbine from above.

I think this will reduce the lateral stress on the PMA shaft and also
help keep the water going away from the alternator better.

So i'm off to town today to get some more plumbing supplies -- man i'm a
little tired of gluing that plastic pipe together. Every time you want
to change something you gotta cut and glue and wait. Maybe i'll switch
over to black plastic pipe.

-z