The generator ready for testing back in Kalamazoo. This project was inspired by the waterfall at the Sands caused by water draining out of the mine and is basically a little DC motor being driven by a waterwheel. The water from the garden hose spins the wheel and the pulleys increase the rotation speed.

Wheel cover is being removed as Greg looks on. One problem that developed was that using city water pressures the drain hole was much too small and the housing filled with water slowing the wheel. With the cover removed a record 41 volts (no load) were produced and the generator had no problem producing 200 MA at 9V.

Here the generator sits at stream level (about 15 below Sands level). The garden hose is connected to the main manifold near the showers. Our best guess is that we have at least 35' of head. Next year we hope to calculate the actual head and perhaps run a larger hose.

A close-up of the operating generator. Note that the generator bracket is screwed to a board (which was once part of Roxanne’s outhouse) and that the water is just falling back into the stream. While there is room for improvement this arrangement worked and provided uninterrupted power for two days.

Amy poses at the signpost of Via Proni. Believing that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess I built an access road to the "power house" complete with switchbacks. Greg and I also ran 1000' of wire to the port-a-potties which were lit with high-intensity LEDs.

The hydro-generator was moved closer to the tents so that more people could watch it working and it would be easier to pack that evening. Moving it up to tent level cost something like 15' of head which dropped the voltage to 8.5 VDC. Here it is providing power to two LEDs.

The generator at its new location. While this location is much more convenient the loss of head is a real problem. Drainage, however, turned out not to be a problem in that the water disappeared into the sands after only 10' or so.

A polyphase generator. Ours was not the only generator on the Sands this year. Here a PM (permanent magnet) three phase AC generator is shown in action. While the wheel worked great and it did produce voltage it was unable to produce any usable current. This was probably due to Berserker-grade tolerances but I sure that it will be working next year.