9:46 you opened your valve pretty quickly! You have about half of your barrel flowing down your penstock all at once and more water flowing in. That means about a hundred litres of water rushing down your penstock to your powerhouse. I don't know what is the height difference, but you basically have a 100 kg battering ram of water going downhill. It might cause a significant pressure spike and some serious damage!
Good call - I actually filmed the pressure gauge in the powerhouse once while I turned the water on at the barrel to see what it did. I didn't see any spike in the pressure when I watched the video but I think the penstock is so long (900m/3000ft) there is pretty significant friction as it flows down. Thanks for the concern though, I certainly don't think of them all! Cheers
I would add a sediment filter back in the turbine house for the water going towards the cabin just to collect any small particles that make it all the way into the system to avoid clogging up the fine screens that are in the aerators untaps and your hot water heater and shower head along with the toilet fill nozzle
Yes, I sure do! I was thinking if I put in a 'T' right after the ball valve in the wooden box with a piece of pipe coming to the top of the box it would allow air to escape while the pipe filled. I don't think the suction of the micro hydro would be strong enough to pull any air down into the pipe...
9:46 you opened your valve pretty quickly! You have about half of your barrel flowing down your penstock all at once and more water flowing in. That means about a hundred litres of water rushing down your penstock to your powerhouse. I don't know what is the height difference, but you basically have a 100 kg battering ram of water going downhill. It might cause a significant pressure spike and some serious damage!
Good call - I actually filmed the pressure gauge in the powerhouse once while I turned the water on at the barrel to see what it did. I didn't see any spike in the pressure when I watched the video but I think the penstock is so long (900m/3000ft) there is pretty significant friction as it flows down. Thanks for the concern though, I certainly don't think of them all! Cheers
I would add a sediment filter back in the turbine house for the water going towards the cabin just to collect any small particles that make it all the way into the system to avoid clogging up the fine screens that are in the aerators untaps and your hot water heater and shower head along with the toilet fill nozzle
Great idea. There is a filter on the pressure reducing valve but I'm not sure it's small enough to catch the tiny particles... thanks!
You need air vent for air lock in top of penstock 😊 that will help remove air from pipe
Yes, I sure do! I was thinking if I put in a 'T' right after the ball valve in the wooden box with a piece of pipe coming to the top of the box it would allow air to escape while the pipe filled. I don't think the suction of the micro hydro would be strong enough to pull any air down into the pipe...
I just realised, that you have quite a time lag with your videos ;-)
Hahaha I didn't have any power or internet until the system was built! I had quite the backup of filming :)