Hydro Power 6

Looks like my predictions about the longevity of this project were based on sound reasoning. I had to take the hydro plant off line a day or two ago due to wear and breakage in the Pelton assembly. The plant had been getting noisy very fast, making kind of a rattling/clattering racket when it was running. It was still making full power, but it sounded like a hollow gourd filled with beans being rolled around.

Inspection of the Pelton revealed that the attachments for little buckets had become badly worn due to the motion of the buckets while running. This Pelton wheel is assembled with the small buckets held in place by a locking tab attached to the stem of each bucket. The buckets stems sit in a groove in the top wheel and are secured by a mating bottom wheel cover. There was a tiny amount of motion in each bucket when I put the plant into service, but after 1,200 hours of running, the mating parts of the buckets and wheels are showing some wear. Two of the buckets had broken part of their retainers on the wheel and were kind of flopping around when the water jet hit them.

I removed the Pelton runner and after removing the bottom wheel cover, I had a handful of worn parts laying in a pile.

I wanted to get started on this project today, but guess what, without the hydro plant keeping the water lines cleared, I had to go up to the spring and do the cleaning and draining thing on the head end of the system.

After I figure out what kind of plastic the wheels and buckets are made of, I'll either cement or solvent weld the buckets back into place on the wheel and probably pot the whole mess with more cement to make it a solid block of plastic. No going back after that step, the next time it needs repair, it's into the trash can with the whole thing.

As for the power I'm not making with the plant down, I miss it already!