(247) Sat 12 Feb 94 12:42 By: Don Kulha To: All Re: Otto 1 of 3 St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ @MSGID: 1:125/7.0 2d5d150a (From Issue #13, 1989) Lil Otto a hard worker who doesn't drink very much+ Richard Perez Lil Otto opens new vistas in microHydro power. Or rather nanoHydro, for this water powered turbine delivers more electricity from less water than any we've ever seen. Many of us have seasonal streams that run like mad dogs in the winter and dry up in the summer. It's not worth sticking thousands of dollars into a hydro system that only operates ocassionally. Lil Otto is the answer. At a price less than half of most microHydro turbines, little Otto produces on flows as low as 3.5 gallons per minute or heads as low as 25 feet. Lil Otto is a perfect power supplement for PV systems that also have a small or seasonal hydro source. Meet Lil Otto Lil Otto is the brain child of Bob-O Schultze (KG6MM) and Otto Eichenhofer (KB6EJR) of the Lil Otto Hydro Works in California. Lil Otto is a self contained hydroelectric power generator, complete with output current (Amps) meter. Lil Otto uses a permanent magnet alternator shaft connected to Powerhouse Paul's high tech impulse water wheel. He works on either 12 or 24 VDC systems, and produces up to 4 Amperes of current (that's 24 hours a day, mind you) depending on flow and head. And at a price that's around what a PV panel costs, Lil Otto is very frugal. So what's nanoHydro anyway? Hydro systems succeed or fail on two site dependent factors- head and flow. Head is the number of vertical feet of fall in the system expressed in feet. Flow is the quantity of water that the system uses expressed in gallons per minute. Basically in any hydro system we want to see hundreds of feet of fall and thousands of gallons per minute flow. So much for dreaming+ Actually most hydro sites have a limited amount of fall and limited quantities of water available for power production via the turbine. MicroHydro means that the site has either very little fall or very small flow, but probably not both. NanoHydro means that the site has either small fall or miniscule water flow, and probably both. The case of nanoHydro is very similar to: "After having done so much with so little, we are now attempting the impossible with nothing." And it works. Lil Otto's Performance under Pressure I'm not going to waste space with text about how Lil Otto works, I'm going to give you the straight data and let you make up your own mind. This data was complied by Lil Otto's makers in an actual working system. This chart shows both flow and electrical output against the head of the system for five different diameter nozzles. The vertical axis on the left and the black curves on the chart indicate the amount of water Lil Otto consumes versus the head of the system. The vertical axis on the right and the gray curves indicate Lil Otto's electrical output in Ampere-hours per day versus the head. The horizontal axis at the bottom of the graph indicates the dynamic head of the system. Dynamic head differs slightly from static head (actual physical fall). Dynamic head is always less than the actual physical head because the flow of the water through a pipe involves liquid friction and turbulence that produces some loss. --- Squish v1.01 * Origin: Sonoma Online, HOMEPOWR Echo (707)545-0746-HST\V32b (1:125/7) @PATH: 125/7 203/23 1 396/1 3615/50 3641/1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (248) Sat 12 Feb 94 12:45 By: Don Kulha To: All Re: Otto 2 of 3 St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ @MSGID: 1:125/7.0 2d5d15ac To put your particular hydro situation into Lil Otto's shoes, use this process. First locate the amount of head you have on the horizontal chart axis. Next locate the amount of flow you have available on the chart's left hand vertical axis. The black curve below the intersection of these lines is the nozzle size for you. Find the gray curve for that nozzle size and follow it to where it intersects the head you have. Read Lil Otto's output in Amp-hrs. per day on the right hand vertical axis. Seems complicated (and it is), but any hydro power situation is determined by two independent factors: head and flow. And as such, the choices are myriad+ Lil Otto isn't very thirsty+ The really amazing feature is not power output in terms of head, but how little water the turbine consumes to produce this power. This turbine will effectively produce power while consuming as little as 3.3 gallons per minute at dynamic heads as low as 25 feet. Lil Otto really gets to be fun if you feed him about 5 gallons per minute. At 4.4 GPM and a dynamic head of 41 feet (that's with a 3/16" dia. nozzle), the turbine will produce about 19 Ampere-hours per day and that's as much as a PV panel in an all day sun location. With higher heads and flows, Lil Otto can produce up to 80 Ampere-hours per day. Lil Otto's Physical & Electrical Construction Lil Otto's outer skin is made from off-the-shelf PVC pipe (7.5" in diameter). He stands 13 inches high. His nozzles are Rain-Bird+ sprinkler nozzles and easily changed in the field in a less than a minute. His permanent magnet alternator is made by Bosch+, and his high-tech water wheel by Powerhouse Paul+. Lil Otto contains a built in blocking diode and an Ampere output meter. This meter is very handy in detecting when leaves or other trash are preventing Lil Otto's from getting the water he needs. He has built-in filtration to keep him from getting loud and obnoxious on your radios or TV. The turbine contains reverse polarity protection, while Lil Otto refuses work if you hook him up backwards, he won't die on you. Lil Otto requires no regulation and has only two wires to connect to your system. Lil Otto's People Perhaps one of the most incredible things about Lil Otto is his family. His Pop, Bob-o Schultze, has been living on microHydro for over ten years beside the Salmon River in northern California. Lil Otto turbines are made from electricity produced by Hydro machines. Sort of a clone yourself situation+ Lil Otto's Cost and Warranty This turbine costs $395. complete with nozzle of your choice and installation /operation manual. Replacement alternators, which are easily user installed, are $45. Lil Otto has a one year warranty against manufacturing and/or electrical defects. Bob-O will help you select the correct nozzle for your site and provide tech support via phone and mail. --- Squish v1.01 * Origin: Sonoma Online, HOMEPOWR Echo (707)545-0746-HST\V32b (1:125/7) @PATH: 125/7 203/23 1 396/1 3615/50 3641/1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (249) Sat 12 Feb 94 12:46 By: Don Kulha To: All Re: Otto 3 of 3 St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ @MSGID: 1:125/7.0 2d5d1600 Lil Otto's Electric Future Many of us are now using PVs as our primary power source. The main problem we have are those cloudy, rainy Winter days when the PV array isn't producing. Many of us also have marginal hydro sites, especially during the wet Winter. Up to now, the cost of a microHydro system couldn't be justified against the amount of power it would produce yearly. Lil Otto consumes so little water that marginal hydro sites can now be cost-effec tively developed. Not only is the initial cost of the turbine itself low, but since Lil Otto doesn't drink much, the diameter (and cost) of the water pipe feeding him is also small. Lil Otto is a very effective, secondary power source for folks without a lot of water to run through a hydro turbine. He will become a wonderful helper on those cloudy wet days. Access Lil Otto Hydro Works!, POB 8, Forks of Salmon, CA 96031, or call 916-462-4740 Article courtesy of and Copyrighted by Home Power Magazine Published bi-monthly/$15 year/POB 520 Ashland OR 97520 --- Squish v1.01 * Origin: Sonoma Online, HOMEPOWR Echo (707)545-0746-HST\V32b (1:125/7) @PATH: 125/7 203/23 1 396/1 3615/50 3641/1