Like I said in previous posts, I knew the potential for making electricity was flowing past my back door, but I just didn’t know how to make it happen. After cobbling a bunch of junk together, it was time to test it out. A fire hose stuck into the crick in a milk crate, running around 50 ft, over and under the forest floor, down about a 15 ft drop, aimed at my home made pelton wheel that was attached to the exercise bike pedal sprocket, with a big ol Delco alternator running directly off of the solid rubber tire.
I dropped the milk crate into the creek, ran down to my contraption and saw the whole thing spinning away. It was a moment of victory, but it was also a moment of defeat. Yup, everything was spinning but there wasn’t any power coming out. And living way out in the toolies with no cell service, or any form of communication with the outside world short of yelling really loudly, I was stumped.
So, on my next trip to town I went to see a bro who repairs starters and alternators and explained my situation. He just smiled and told me that I needed to “excite” my alternator, and to do that I needed a good battery and to connect the field wire. He drew me up a little schematic and wished me luck.
Now at that time I didn’t have a vehicle and I was walking and hitch hiking everywhere (long story), so just picking up a battery wasn’t as easy as just going and buying one. I made a lot of trips to the dump and was constantly on the lookout for a decent battery. After dragging a bunch of dead ones home, I finally found one that had enough juice.
Everything was ready. The wheels were spinning. The battery was connected. All that was left to do was to connect the field wire. Water was spraying everywhere and it was the moment of truth. I connected the field wire.
It was at that point that I discovered the Eddy Brake, as the entire thing came to a slow stop. I was simply trying to extract more power than my little spinning pile of junk could maintain.
And with the disappointment of seeing a years worth of effort producing nothing but frustration, I gave up on it.
But not forever.