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Mammoth
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2014 11:20pm
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Hello everyone
I'm new to the forum and didn't even know there was such a group like this until a minute ago, and I think its pretty cool.
I bought 20 acres up in the mountains of northern California a year ago and have been making plans and coming up with ideas.
One idea about PMA's has raised a question that I haven't been able to answer.
Maybe someone here can tell me if this will work or not.
I want to build a 480v 3 Phase generator to run some water pumps on demand with no batteries.
Looking into PMA's I saw they didn't really have the voltage and current I'm looking for, but they do have the right parts I think.
Here is my idea. Take this Louisville Quad Core Alternator and put 4 of these SC120 coils in there which are rated at 600v at 5000 rpm.
I'm thinking with four of these coils in there It should be able to produce 480v at a much lower rpm, and produce enough amperage to run the water pumps.
The main plan is to test it with a gas engine and then build it into micro hydro generator.
Does anybody know if this would work or is there another way to go about it?
Robert
Louisville_1.5kw_PMA.jpeg
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sc120_coil.jpg
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Mammoth
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# Posted: 10 Oct 2014 07:22pm
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I think these Permanent Magnet Alternators have a lot of potential. They offer several different types of coils each wound with different sizes of wire and turns ratio for whatever output you need.
I did the math on four SC120 coils hooked in parallel and realized the frequency would be way to low so I started looking at the other coils they offer.
It looks like the SC12 coils are what I need. One coil puts out 230 volts at 8000 rpm and has 71 amps.
So according to my math four coils hooked in parallel running at 4173.6 rpm will put out 480 volts, 148.16 amps and have a frequency of 69 hertz.
To me it looks like this would run the electric water pump motors on demand.
I wish I knew enough about this to be able to say definitively that this would work.
The reason I'm looking at these PMA's for a micro hydro set up is because they are way more efficient than the hydro electric generators offered in stores.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? I'm a little out of my zone on this one.
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groingo
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# Posted: 11 Oct 2014 10:28am
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My knowledge of these is based on the wind generators they use on Jay Leno's Garage but their principal is simple enough yet it reqires one key element to make it work and that is mechanical motion and since I recently have gone solar which removed all mechanical motion from the equation and my power requirements are very low, solar is my answer, but if more power is required and you have a viable constant source of motion that can provide the torque required to do the job I'd say run with it, don't let anyone tell you it can't be done and do it, throw the books away and just do it!
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Mammoth
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# Posted: 12 Oct 2014 08:20pm
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I haven't see any reason why it won't work so I think I will just have to make the investment and see what it will do.
I havent calculated how much water is in my pond just yet, but there is at least 50 gpm of in flow.
The drop is going to be 70 feet.
It will cost a bit to set up, but I really like the idea of not burning any fuel to make electricity.
The PMA's have a lifespan of 20 years or more if simple maintenance is performed.
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groingo
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2014 10:26am
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Seems to be plenty of information on this use of the PMA for hydro and videos, looks like it all hinges on your head (potential water pressure and supply).
You mentioned you have a 70 foot drop... .over how many feet?
How far between the generator and the cabin?
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Mammoth
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2014 08:08pm
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The distance is in the neighborhood of 300 feet and the water will be pumped about 300 feet to a water tank. No cabin built yet.
I have to take some measurements and find out how many gallons are there.
Tried to drain it with a 100 gpm pump but after 20 minutes it didn't even make a dent.
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