Free Power?

[jcx]

I have been thinking about setting up something outdoor this summer, so I started looking into solar power. I started thinking basically all of your power usage is moving water. If had enough places where your water is falling with a water wheel set up to catch you could get a lot of your power back. You may even be able to catch the force of your bubbles from your air stone raising.

I don't know much about solar power, or hydro. Has anyone here gone down this road before? Any insight or experiences would be very helpful to me.

[badflash]

Yes, forget it. You'll never recover your investment. The best efficiency you can hope for with home built small head systems is around 5%. It just doesn't pay. Go for low wattage pumps that meet your needs. Last year I got an intex pool pump for $35. Only 80 watts and it pumps 10 GPM through my system.

[jcx]

I got a better free power idea.... I'm going to build a sick bike jump. Then make the bmxer kids from down the street run a workout bike hooked up to a turbine for a few hours a weak to use it. = ))

[rfeiller]

sounds like a plan!

[urbanfarmer]

Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that operate or produce useful work indefinitely and, more generally, hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not.

There is undisputed scientific consensus that perpetual motion would violate either the first law of thermodynamics, the second law of thermodynamics, or both. Machines which comply with both laws of thermodynamics but access energy from obscure sources are sometimes referred to as perpetual motion machines, although they do not meet the standard criteria for the name.

Despite the fact that successful perpetual motion devices are physically impossible in terms of our current understanding of the laws of physics, the pursuit of perpetual motion remains popular.

Hope that helps...

[reverse]

good day fellow AP enthusiast!

I would like to share my little contribution to this topic

to begin with...I got this from a broken remote control toy of my son...asked if I can have his broken toy and break it even more for a little science project... hehehe



now the next step is making the propeller assembly...

plastic blade from a window blind..



a CD and glue/hot gun



cut the blades & glue it on the CD


then mount the propeller to the motor



we are going to use it here =)



some connecting wires



the whole set up (wires connected from the motor to the portable battery pump)


air stone connected to air pump



testing time to see if it works...since it is done in-door

got an electric fan to blow wind to the propeller



bubbles!! yey! =)


video
View My Video


note:

these are the things I have noticed as I was doing this experiment =(


-it doesn’t work when I try to mount the propeller directly to the motor, it needed hi-rpm to produce electricity..fortunately the little motor that I got had a gearing inside..

-fan is @ # 3 so wind outside should be more or less that strong...

-its more applicable for our ponds/tubs/aquarium placed outdoor.. specially if you have strong winds outside..

-sad to say wind outside our house is not that strong… =(

this is still a trial and error stage...

thought that maybe it can be of use in our AP hobby

cheers!


fritz

[keith_r]

you can find general wind averages for the states here:
http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/maps.html#2-1

[swamp creek farms]

I think the quickest thing i have seen get beat down in these forums is hydro power. I say go for it. Just duck when they come swinging

[rfeiller]

when I think of limitations, I think of the first man to run the four minute mile and then there was Don garletts in his dragster they didn't know about the limitations.

[psymonkey]

You could run a vacuum setup similar to those in chem labs to use the flow of the running water to suck air into a bubbler system. but then again I'd rather pay the 50 cents a year it cost to run the bubbler.