We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

We also went to a working water mill. Incredibly efficient,

Err, no. I had charge of a watermill a few years back and basically it
would have been simpler and cheaper to hoik a genset in than try to
harvest usable power from the bloody thing.
For some applications, in some circumstances, the generated mill power
is usable - for heating, etc. Not really much good for proper mains, not
without a deal of expensive engineering.


much better
that those windmills. Wonder why we don't use more local hydro electric
schemes?

Hydro schemes need a big setup to work properly.

In article ,
Nightjar \cpb\@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
'''
Only drawback was negotiating Porlock Hill in SWMBO's Corsa - 998cc, 3
cylinder - 65 bhp! 1st gear at one stage!...

I recall some cars not making it at all, before such high power vehicles
were common.

I can just remember as a toddler going over the Devil's Elbow in a pre-war
Morris 8. It wouldn't make it in 1st, so my father reversed up it. The
road layout was changed not long afterwards so the worst part was not so
steep. The old one got very close to 1 in 1.

--
*I took an IQ test and the results were negative.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:22:51 +0100, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

We also went to a working water mill. Incredibly efficient,

Err, no. I had charge of a watermill a few years back and basically it
would have been simpler and cheaper to hoik a genset in than try to
harvest usable power from the bloody thing. For some applications, in
some circumstances, the generated mill power is usable - for heating,
etc. Not really much good for proper mains, not without a deal of
expensive engineering.


much better
that those windmills. Wonder why we don't use more local hydro electric
schemes?

Hydro schemes need a big setup to work properly.

Not that I'm saying it's efficient, but Rudyard Kipling put in a genset
in a tiny water mill in about 1903 or so. It was either the wheel or the
genset - not enough water for both. The wheel still runs and the genset
has been restored.

http://www.solarnavigator.net/histor...mill_house.htm

He got advice from a mate of his who was apparently involved with the old
Aswan dam!

--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
news:zRZ8o.152884$hz1.26557@hurricane...
Just back from a very refreshing 5 day break in Somerset & Devon.

Highlight for me was the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Built in 1888,
its a simply incredible piece of engineering - using no power at all!

Someone has to ask, so I'll do it. How does 700 gallons get into both tanks
using no power at all?

I'll get me coat.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Bob Eager
saying something like:

Not that I'm saying it's efficient, but Rudyard Kipling put in a genset
in a tiny water mill in about 1903 or so. It was either the wheel or the
genset - not enough water for both. The wheel still runs and the genset
has been restored.

http://www.solarnavigator.net/histor...mill_house.htm

It's speed regulation that's the problem with taking an alternator drive
from a mill wheel. Kipling's, I'll bet, had a feeder pipe from further
up the river and providing decent head to turn his turban. I stayed at
an estate in the Borders that had the first home electrics in the area -
circa 1900 or so. The old pipery was still there and turban house down
the bottom, but the high end of the intake pipe was several hundred
yards up the hill, having its own mini reservoir. There was a mill too,
but that had been ignored - quite possibly because it was in use at the
time and needed.

On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:14:02 +0100, brass monkey wrote:

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message news:zRZ8o.152884$hz1.26557@hurricane...
Just back from a very refreshing 5 day break in Somerset & Devon.

Highlight for me was the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Built in
1888, its a simply incredible piece of engineering - using no power at
all!

Someone has to ask, so I'll do it. How does 700 gallons get into both
tanks using no power at all?

A nearby stream or similar....




--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

It's speed regulation that's the problem with taking an alternator drive
from a mill wheel. Kipling's, I'll bet, had a feeder pipe from further
up the river and providing decent head to turn his turban.

Blimey!, So most every one in India then could become a power station !!!...


Must be a bit wearing on the neck muscles;!..

I stayed at
an estate in the Borders that had the first home electrics in the area -
circa 1900 or so. The old pipery was still there and turban house down
the bottom, but the high end of the intake pipe was several hundred
yards up the hill, having its own mini reservoir. There was a mill too,
but that had been ignored - quite possibly because it was in use at the
time and needed.

--
Tony Sayer

brass monkey wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message news:zRZ8o.152884$hz1.26557@hurricane...
Just back from a very refreshing 5 day break in Somerset & Devon.

Highlight for me was the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Built in
1888, its a simply incredible piece of engineering - using no power
at all!

Someone has to ask, so I'll do it. How does 700 gallons get into both
tanks using no power at all?

I'll get me coat.

It doesn't go into both tanks - only the one at the top - which pulls the
(empty) one up as it decends. The (empty) one now at the top is filled by a
river, the one at the bottom dumps the water into the oggin.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:09:06 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:

Mark Spice wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-10758519
It isn't the same - the one TMH mentions is the only one that is
literally 'no external power'.
Other than that obtained by reducing the gravitational potential
energy of thousands of gallons of water ..
OK, but it'd be going down there anyway...and there is no monetary
cost at all.

Indeed. Just diverting the water that was going downhill anyway.

We also went to a working water mill. Incredibly efficient,

Yep 5% is incredible. Really.

much better that those windmills. Wonder why we don't use more local
hydro electric schemes?


Because they are as crap as windmills?

You may only get 5% efficiency, but that water is returned to the river
and will continue to flow, surely regaining its kinetic energy very
quickly, allowing it to be used again further down? There are of course
far more efficient systems than old-fashioned water wheels.

SteveW

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Steve Walker wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:09:06 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:

Mark Spice wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-10758519
It isn't the same - the one TMH mentions is the only one that is
literally 'no external power'.
Other than that obtained by reducing the gravitational potential
energy of thousands of gallons of water ..
OK, but it'd be going down there anyway...and there is no monetary
cost at all.

Indeed. Just diverting the water that was going downhill anyway.

We also went to a working water mill. Incredibly efficient,

Yep 5% is incredible. Really.

much better that those windmills. Wonder why we don't use more local
hydro electric schemes?


Because they are as crap as windmills?

You may only get 5% efficiency, but that water is returned to the river
and will continue to flow, surely regaining its kinetic energy very
quickly, allowing it to be used again further down? There are of course
far more efficient systems than old-fashioned water wheels.


even a peltier (sp) is abysmal really ..you need a good head to be
efficient.


SteveW

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
news:r2zao.40890$GQ5.22954@hurricane...
brass monkey wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message news:zRZ8o.152884$hz1.26557@hurricane...
Just back from a very refreshing 5 day break in Somerset & Devon.

Highlight for me was the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Built in
1888, its a simply incredible piece of engineering - using no power
at all!

Someone has to ask, so I'll do it. How does 700 gallons get into both
tanks using no power at all?

I'll get me coat.

It doesn't go into both tanks - only the one at the top - which pulls the
(empty) one up as it decends. The (empty) one now at the top is filled by
a river, the one at the bottom dumps the water into the oggin.

Neat.