Hydro-Stream Engine [RE-wrenches]

Gary Higbee ghigbee at efn.org
Tue May 2 11:58:30 PDT 2000


Hi Wrenches,

I'm getting ready to install another Stream Engine, and this 24-volt system
requires a run of around 450 feet. With a potential about 28 amps and 5%
loss I'm looking at 4/0 copper. As we know 900' of this stuff is a tad on
the pricey side. I've considered a few options, and would appreciate some
feedback:

1) Go with smaller or Al wire (4/0 Al is pretty reasonable at about
$450/1000), and accept a loss of about 8%. This doesn't seem out of line,
and may end up being the simplest and most cost-effective solution.

2) Use a 48-24 converter at the batteries and let the Stream Engine run at a
higher voltage. Anyone done this? With what?

3) Remove the rectifier box from the Stream Engine and run the 3-phase AC up
to the batteries. Bob-O mentioned this possibility in his Oct/Nov '98 HP #67
article. Has anyone done this? What voltage would I use for the AC
calculation?

While I'm on the Stream Engine what sort of output improvement have you seen
in adjusting the rotor, especially in increasing the air gap in a low-head,
high-flow situation?

Thank You!

Gary

P.S. If anyone is interested in a heavily-edited Stream Engine output
adjustment procedure let me know and I'll send it to you. I found the
procedure in the manual inadequate for for a client who wasn't familiar with
the machine, and wrote a more-detailed version.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Gary Higbee  (ghigbee at efn.org)
             (541)607-1818
    Solutions from the Land--solar,
  wind, and hydro site analysis, design,
            and installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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