So the alternator came in today from Wind Blue Power
(http://www.windbluepower.com/) with the new stater. Been drinking a few
single malts with my buddies so this is some out west type
experimentation late night: CAUTION LOW VOLTATGE!! i'm gonna paint that
on my power shack .. anyway

I reworked the shaft support using my nifty new Frelon sleeve bearing
from www.mcmaster.com (holy crap they have a LOT of cool stuff.. beware
shopping on that site, you'll end up buying a lot of stuff)

ALUMINUM-BACKED FRELON SLEEVE BEARING, FLANGED, FOR 1/2"
SHAFT DIA, 3/4" OD, 3/4" LENGTH

Eventually I got the alternator setup right with the bearing and its all
together.. I slog out through the freaking mud and drop it into the
olive barrel and open up the valves.. she spins.. good.. no vibration

I put the multi-meter on it and its hitting 28 volts!! a bit of
adjustment and I get her up to 31 volts.. now we're cooking with gas

So rather than hooking directly to the battery bank, I disconnected the
solar panels and routed it through the solar voltage controller.. its got
an ammeter and a little LED that lights up when you are charging.

and hit the switch .. Yup! thats the ticket.. The LED is lit so i'm doing
somethjing and the alternator came under serious load -- dropped about
1/2 the free RPM and started charging.

The solar controller shows i'm doing about 4 amps on the hydro alone ..
which isn't like super amazing but the way it's been raining i can run
that bitch 24/7.

the reading via multi-meter on the alternator reads 13.4 volts but I
can't tell if thats what the battery is or if its what the alternator is
making under load

I have a couple of high VDC blocking diodes i'll plumb in tomorrow so the
electricity only goes one way. Should get more accurate readings with
those in play ..

but aye.. its doing the business!!

So kudos to wind blue power from Kansas.. they did by me right

and cheers for all the advice from here

and thanks to hammes beer (land of the sky blue waters) and Laphroaig of
Islay, and the Langlois Locals who helped so much-- gonna run the bitch
all night and see what lives in the morning. The xantrex c35 charge
controller in diversion mode shows my bats at 12.9 at the moment..
they're charging !!! For so long water was my nemisis.. now its my
friend har har har


till then sleep well fellas


-zachary