Harry Hungate & Chief Nelson, turning on the switch from the new hydroelectric power system.
Chief Nelson Inspects the Freezer powered by renewable hydroelectric power.
Asanvari Village Power
Asanvari Village, South Maewo Island, Vanuatu
updated 24 Aug. 08
The name "Asanvari Village Power" says it
all. It's all about power; in this case, not only people power but hydro-electric
power.
Harry Hungate & Chief Nelson, turning on the switch from the new
hydroelectric power system.
Chief Nelson Inspects the Freezer powered by renewable hydroelectric power.
Hydroelectric Generator (immersion heater to dump excess load is in the round,
white thing). The photo above shows 2 inlets and two outlets but the final
version has 1 inlet and 1 outlet.
Installation Work burying the cable from the hydro to the village.
Asanvari Village at the bottom end of Maewo Island
The Anchorage
Jane Lothrop & Harry Hungate with Chief Nelson Sarai
Asanvari Village
First it was a bit of generator repair (being an engineer, Harry couldn't help himself).
Then it was a bit of boat repair (Jane and Harry are sailors after all)
Eileen & Flag on boat launch day
Child in Waterfall
From time to time, villagers put on a show and food for visiting
yachts. These events are the only source of hard currency for Asanvari Village.
Gathering together enough fresh food without refrigeration in a tropical
climate is always a problem but refrigerators require power and Asanvari has no roads or
electricity. Was it the malaria induced hallucinations that got Harry hooked on the
idea of hydroelectric power? Powering a freezer usually means a diesel generator and
its continuing cost and noise and pollution.. 44 gallon drums of diesel fuel are the
scourge of the Pacific and a byproduct of the worst kind of development. Just
around the corner from the village is a lovely waterfall. Micro-hydroelectric power
generation can be the source of clean, renewable energy for Asanvari and other similar
villages in the Pacific.
With a grant from the New Zealand Government's
Pacific Development and Conservation Trust, the Asanvari Village Power project is now
under way. The project has developed a momentum of its own. The plan is
to start with a 1 kw generator. Later the scheme will be expanded 15 kw.
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links:
Asanvari
Village accommodation
The
Voyage of Comorant (follow the travels of Harry and Jane)
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Project Blog by John Caldwell
Feb. 2006 - After a great deal of anguish, we have
finalized our design. We abandoned our idea of using a low head generator
located in the river as it is too likely to be damaged by floods. Instead,
we are using a high head generator and running 150 meters of 78mm i.d. pipe to
the generator site. We will run a 500 meter underground electrical cable
from the generator to the freezer. A self cleaning, coanda filter will be
used at the water inlet. (We didn't use a coanda filter but
rather used the filter shown in the drawing that came with the generator)
We also had a design problem regarding the starting current of the freezer. It turns our that a standard freezer has a starting current of something like 9.4 amps if it is running from 220 vac. A small hydro. generator can't supply this much current. We initially planned to use batteries and an inverter but this is all very complicated and expensive. We now plan to use a freezer with a soft start compressor that only draws about 1 amp starting current. We have found it difficult to get people to commit to things like starting current of a freezer. Danfoss has a new compressor which claims to have low starting current. Someone has agreed to install the compressor in a freezer for us. If it works we will publish all the details. (see entry for 18 Nov. below) With the new design, we will use no batteries or inverter but rather run the freezer directly from a 200 watt generator. The freezer only requires 80 watts when it is running. (we used a 500 watt generator)
March
2006 - We have ordered the PowerPal MHG 500-watt, high head hydroelectric generator and a spare. We decided to get the 500
watt generator rather than the 200 watt unit as we think we may have enough
water to run it. The generator is designed and manufactured in
Vietnam. The generator comes complete with a load controller.
It controls its output by dumping load to a heater. The load controller is
an SCR that has a 10k ohm pot to adjust the firing point. The dump load is
an immersion type water heater (made in Russia). The load controller is
all discrete components (no surface mount components), and neatly made.
The load controller has a small voltmeter on it. It all depends on what diameter pipe we end up being able
to afford. The hydro. generator units are being sent directly to Port Vila.
Will they get there?
Power Pal 500 watt high head turbine
We planned to install a Danfoss DC
compressor and electronic control unit in a Fisher and Paykel freezer made in
New Zealand but were told by Fisher and Paykel that the compressor was not large
enough. We have ordered a DCF225 high efficiency freezer with a Danfoss
compressor and a Danfoss, 101N0500
electronic controller from SunDanzer of the US.
SunDanzer claim their freezer has insulation that is 110 mm thick. This is
considerably more insulation than the average freezer. Sure hope it works! It is being sent directly to Port Vila in
Vanuatu. I wonder if it will arrive.
SunDanzer 225
liter freezer
We can only afford pipe with an ID of 75mm. Even though we are using a 500 watt Power Pal generator, we expect around 200 watts from it. At 200 watts, the turbine requires 6.4 liters per second with a head of 6 meters. Because of physical constraints, we must locate our turbine 150 meters from the river. We plan to have a head of at least 11 meters. According to our flow simulation software, a 75mm pipe, 150 meters long, flowing at 6.4 liters per second will have a pressure drop of, 20 psi (1.3 bar) due to friction losses. 11 meters of head gives you only 16.5 psi. of pressure. This tells me that if the pipe really is 150 meters long, we will not get 6.4 literes per second and will not get 200 watts.
When Harry installs the system, he is going to try to make the pipe as short as possible and the head as high as possible. The SunDanzer freezer requires 40 watts typical and 80 watts maximum. Running the freezer is our priority. Even with our 75mm pipe, we will have enough power to run the freezer. Whatever is left over will be used to run high efficiency lights in the Yacht Club and to drive rechargeable lights and tools for the village. Perhaps in the future, we will be able to run a second pipe and boost the power to 500 watts. We are using the intake filter system suggested in the Power Pal installation manual rather than the coanda filter that I wanted to use (darn Harry being practical again).
April 2006 - The pipe has been ordered from Vanuatu Agricultural Supplies. It is 3 rolls of 90mm OD class PN8 PE100 pipe. Each roll is 70 meters long Too bad it isn't a bit larger in diameter.
Billy Amos of SunDanzer says our freezer (DCF225) with AC/DC electronic control unit is on its way. Billy has tested the unit on AC and DC and claims it works. It is the low starting current (less than 1 amp at 240v) and the low power consumption (40 to 80 watts while running) that make this freezer so special. There really doesn't seem to be anything else like it in the world.
General
Cable 17101016
The cable is designed for direct burial. It has a woven shield
around the two insulated conductors that doubles as the earth
conductor. I still have to figure out how to ship the
500 m roll of 2.5 sq. mm underground cable to Port Vila. Of course, Harry has the really
difficult job of figuring out how to get everything from Port Vila to Asanvari
Village. Hopefully we will have enough money!
I have written a booklet for Asanvari with the title "Where Does Electricity Come From". The booklet is written around the Asanvari hydro system. The idea is to teach villagers a bit about hydro power. As with all projects of this type, success depends entirely upon the degree to which the Asanvari people take ownership of their hydro system. The worst possible outcome would be for the system to fall into disrepair after a year and never run again. The best possible outcome would be for locals to maintain and expand the system or perhaps even help other villages build their own hydro systems. One way or the other, the outcome will be reported here.
Harry and Jane are getting their boat ready for the trip from New Zealand to Port Vila then on to Asanvari Village.
11 April 06 - The freezer is in Sydney, the cable is still sitting in my workshop, and I don't know where the hydro. generator is and we are running out of money!
18 April 06 - DHL say the freezer is probably just temporarily waiting in Sydney before it goes on to Vanuatu. The cable is off this afternoon via ship. David Seymour of Power Pal says the generator will be shipped this week. Harry and Jane are checking out their life raft today. We still have to put together the circuit breaker boxes. Below is a diagram of what the system will look like electrically (I think).
29 April 06 - As far as I know, nothing has turned up in Port Vila yet. DHL have lost our freezer! They say it is with Danzas which is part of DHL but apparently they don't talk to each other. Stacie of DHL says she is going to try to find it. I sure hope it turns up.
Noel Wordsworth is
working on the circuit breaker boxes. We had a bit of trouble sourcing
breakers that have the low current rating we require. I didn't want to use
fuses because of the difficulty of maintenance in such a remove location. I eventually found
some from RS Electronics.
RS Electronics 333-259
& 333-221
They are 333-259 for a 3 amp and 333-221 for 0.5 amp. I couldn't find a
suitable 2.5 amp unit and 3 amp is probably better anyway. We are
trying to figure out what type of plugs go into the Power Pal load controller.
8 May 06 - The freezer is in Port Vila thanks to Billy Amos of SunDanzer. It is languishing in customs but I am pretty sure Harry will figure a way to get his hands on it. Harry and Jane are in the process of painting the bottom of Cormorant and will probably head north to Russell New Zealand by the end of the month. From there they will look at the weather before deciding to make the trip to Vanuatu. Noel Wordsworth delivered the breaker boxes to Harry. Thanks for the contribution Noel and Sue. Things are starting to come together. I wonder if this thing is going to work?!
9 June 06 - Harry and Jane headed out on Comorant on 6 June. You can follow their track and see how they are progressing. Hopefully they will be able to find the freezer, cable and generators when they arrive in Port Vila because I sure don't know where they are!
14 June 06 - Harry and Jane arrived at Anatom Island, the southernmost island of Vanuatu. Next stop Port Vila.
21 June 06 - Harry and Jane are due in Port Vila today. Maybe they can find our stuff.
23 June 06 - Harry is trying to figure out where everything is. Will we have enough money to pay off the Customs people and still be able to ship everything to Asanvari Village?
25 June 06 - Harry hopes to get his hands of some of the equipment by Thursday, 29 June.
27 June 06 - Chief Nelson is in Port Vila and will try to arrange shipping of the equipment to Asanvari Village. That assumes that Harry will actually be able to get his hands on the equipment. It all has to do with Customs and duty and all that sort of thing.
Harry uses his ham radio to connect to the internet and that is how we stay in contact via e-mail. Harry and I are going to try to get in direct contact on our Ham radio systems. My problem is that I have a very small antenna so I mostly talk only to other hams in New Zealand.
28 June 06 - Harry has the hydroelectric turbine and spare turbine in his hot little hands after paying the Customs man. Everything is in good shape despite the absence of packing material around the turbines. The control units don't look like anything in the literature seen so far but Harry will figure it out.
4 July 06 - Now this from Harry: Today was a great day in Port Vila: we actually got our hands on the reel of cable and the freezer, both of which were received in perfect shape, thank goodness. The inter-island freighter is due in port at the end of this week, which gives us time to shop for the remaining items that we need to complete the project. The next couple of days will be quite busy rounding up all of the various items. The weather continues to be absolutely spectacular, and the list of cruising boats promising to arrive to help increases each day. We hope to depart Port Vila to Asanvari on Thursday, an over-night run of about 120 nautical miles to the north. Will keep you posted. Love to all, Harry and Jane
14 July 06 - Harry and Jane are in Asanvari awaiting delivery of the equipment. All should arrive by the end of this week. Harry is surveying a route for the pipe.
19 July 06 - From Jane: Last night, at 2 am, the island freighter came in and off-loaded the turbines, the freezer, the pipe, the electrical wire, plywood, cement (1 ton) and more. We got up to watch the activity, but let the villagers take care of that part. Now it seems like it is all really happening. The chief and several sons and daughters even dug the first 100 feet or so of trench for the electrical wire. Hopefully some others will step up to the plate and complete the job. There is still lots and lots to do but we are having fun.
2 August 06- From Harry: Hi, the cable was pulled from the yacht club to the waterfall yesterday, and the cable trenching is on-going. We are waiting on pipe fittings for the head box, which should arrive late this week. Maybe we will get some power by mid-next week
10 August 06 - Today was the first day in seven days without non-stop rain. We finished the head box today--complete with flanges, hinges for the top, etc. and will carry it up to the waterfall tomorrow (Friday) and hook up the pipes. Time permitting will also carry the turbine out there and hook it up temporarily. All going well so far. All the best, Harry and Jane
11 August 06 - From Jane: Ken and Janet on Aquila arrived day before yesterday from Port Vila, loaded with all kinds of stuff for us and for the villagers, and the past two days have been a whirlwind of activity. Our Canadian friends on the boat Niege d'ete, who arrived here the same day we did, are still here and have been wonderful. Michel has done all the fiberglass work, and it is excellent. Vicki is putting together a video of the whole project. Today the head box was carried, on the shoulders of four strong young men from the village, up to its site at the waterfall. Of course, it took lots of cutting and chiseling and shoving, etc. to get it into the crevice in the rocks. Then it was time for sandbags, concrete, etc.
12 August 06 - Today,
12 August 2006 at approximately 11:00am electricity was generated by hydro power
at Asanvari village. Test run of turbine of approximately 15 minutes to
check out electronic voltage control and dump load was successful. Next
step is to pour permanent turbine base, anchor penstock pipes, and connect power
cable. We had a good day indeed. All the best, Harry and Jane
11
August 06 - We made good progress again today. Today was the first day
with sun, just a light shower or two. We now have four sides of the
turbine base poured (concrete), the drain pipe anchor set in concrete, and the
turbine base form leveled in place. Tomorrow sans rain we will pour the
turbine base and set the four precast walls in place in the wet concrete.
Then the concrete will be allowed to harden and on Saturday we will install the
turbine. If the power cable is buried by then we will turn on the power
and have one hell of a party. Many ifs and a lot of work yet to be done,
but the end is in sight.
17 August 06 - Hi, today was a wonderful day. We completed the turbine foundation and the power cable is now buried. This is the first day without rain in over two weeks and we made the best of it. Tomorrow the electrical work will be completed and on Saturday the turbine will be installed and the pipes connected. We hope to have power by Saturday afternoon, assuming that the concrete has cured enough to withstand the stresses. The villagers completed the cable trenching late this afternoon and sent up a big cheer from the shore. All the boats in the anchorage replied with their horns. It was quite a happy sound. All the best, Harry and Jane
18 August 06 - Hi, Saturday is the big day: startup. Everything is in place and the cable is buried as of yesterday late afternoon. Just have to connect the load controller and the feed pipes and let 'er rip. All the best, Harry and Jane
19 August 06 - Hi, the hydrogenerator
started up without hitch mid-morning. Aside from tripping the circuit
breakers a few times as we chased out shonky wiring from the yacht club and
nakamal, everything went very well. Have just returned to Cormorant
(8:40pm) and the village is a three ring circus: string band playing in
yacht club, TV/DVD playing in the garden in front of the gift shop and lights on
in the nakamal and the men doing traditional dances in front and
everything powered by the hydro system. People from all of the surrounding
villages started arriving this morning, and they are still going strong.
Goddy, the school headmaster had me show him how to turn out the lights as he
announced that they planned to carry on until midnight. Oh, what have we
done to this once peaceful quiet anchorage? Everyone is absolutely
ecstatic, to say the least.
Answers: the immersion heater (dump load) is suspended in a four inch
diameter PVC pipe that is irrigated with discharge water from the turbine.
Two feed pipes lead from the head box down to the turbine. I am going to
block off one pipe perhaps on Monday and measure the generator output. It
might produce full rated power with one feed pipe, as the shear valve is perhaps
half open. Will get some hard data on current and voltage over the next
few days. The alternator is warm but not hot, and almost no noise or
vibration. The head box runs almost full with no aeration of the feed
water. The electronic voltage control works perfectly, and I have it
mounted at the turbine for the time being.
Will give you an update tomorrow. Many, many thanks for all of your
untiring help. Just wish you could be here tonight to collect your share
of the praise and well wishes, etc. It was quite a celebration., Harry and Jane
20 August 06 - Hi, it's been over 24 hours since we went on line and the plant is still working fine. I checked on the turbine this morning and it was purring like a big fat cat, and the alternator was barely warm. The villagers kept the lights on and the TV/DVD going until midnight, and were up and at it again by early this morning. (I guess they were late for Sunday school!) The load controller is working very well at the turbine, so I don't think that I will move it. Harry and Jane
Harry plans to try running the freezer on Monday. The villagers have been having such a good time with the lights and the DVD that he didn't have the heart to risk shutting down the system just yet. Good luck Harry. I sure hope the freezer works. We are going to look a bit silly if it doesn't!
22
August 06 - From Harry: Hi, wired up the freezer this morning and it
started up on mains power with a two volt dip. It ran continuously
until mid afternoon. When I noticed that the compressor had shut down, I
got the chief to unlock the freezer to check on the temperature. He has
been storing his beer inventory in the freezer as it is the only way to keep the
beer under lock and key. The thermometer read five C. The compressor
started up again a few minutes after we opened the freezer. I told the
chief to check on the temperature before he went to sleep as I didn't want to be
a party to freezing his beer! I had the battery charger plugged in and
charging the battery, but the battery is not connected to the freezer. It
appears that it will not be necessary to connect the battery, but a few more
days of operating experience will confirm this.
Chief Frank who owns the land on which the turbine sits is a fine young man that
you would instantly like. He and I spent the day dismantling the spare
turbine and putting it back together again three times, so he could learn how to
change the bearings and seals. He is a quick learner and is quite keen to
look after the system after we leave
--------------------
Harry's message above, is exactly the news we have been waiting for.
The most important object of this project is to power up a freezer (not for
beer) so that the food can be stored for the Yacht Club. The Yacht Club is
where visiting boaties are fed and entertained. It is the only source of
hard currency for Asanvari and feeding the yachties is a serious problem in a
tropical climate without refrigeration. It is little wonder that there is a
good deal of partying and cheering going on at Asanvari right now.
Designing a hydroelectric system with very limited grant money is a challenge. Designing it to power a freezer, has been even more of a challenge. Key to our success was finding the SunDanzer freezer with its low starting current and high efficiency. Just as important, was finding the Power Pal generator which is low cost and simple to install. The Power Pal appears to perform exactly as the manufacturer claims and early results are that the SunDanzer freezer does the same. Of course it helps to have people like Harry and Jane who spent untold time and money of their own, to make this project a success. I am not forgetting the work done by other yachties and I am certainly not forgetting the work done by Chief Nelson and the people of Asanvari Village. Thanks to everyone involved and thanks to thePacific Development and Conservation Trust for the grant that made this project possible.
The
Pacific Development and Conservation Trust was set up by the New Zealand government with money given as reparation
by the French government for their bombing of the Rainbow
Warrior which resulted in the tragic death of photographer Fernando
Pereira.
----------------------------------
4 September 06 - It turns out that only one of the two, 90 mm feed pipes
were required. I slipped up somewhere in my calculations. Sorry
about that Harry! Aside from that, everything went more or less according
to plan.
Here is what is actually installed:
feed pipe diameter - 90 mm
feed pipe length - 65 meters
head - 13 meters
generator - Power Pal 500 watt
actual available output - 2.25 amps at 226 volts
freezer - Sundanzer DCF225, 225 liter capacity
what is being run as of 22 Aug. 06 (around 400 watts):
1 - freezer
2 - 8 x number of lights in Yacht
Club, toilet and kitchen
(some 23 watt and some 20 watt high
efficiency fluorescent lamps)
3 - 3 x lights in nakamal/meeting
house (23 watt high efficiency fluorescent lamps)
4 - 6.3 amp output battery charger (I
ran the freezer on the battery during the power outage.)
5 - TV/DVD player (not sure of load)
The spare pipe (already installed) and the spare generator can be used for
future expansion of the system.
5 September 06 - A letter from Harry & Jane to us that we would like to share:
Dear
John and Gallagher, We arrived back in Port Vila at 2:00pm Tuesday, a direct
sail from Asanvari. We had originally planned to do some island hopping,
but it's late in the season, the weather conditions were very favorable for a
short time so we went.
Chief Nelson gave a big "thank you" party for us last Saturday night,
attended by the villagers and all the cruisers in the anchorage. He made a
tearful thank you speech and presented us with a magnificent woven mat and two
baskets. The baskets are very nice, but the mat is an absolute heirloom.
Will send a photo when we have internet access. We delayed our departure
until Monday morning due to high winds, so we came ashore on Sunday afternoon to
bid our good-byes. A receiving line starting with Headmaster Goddy and
ending with Chief Nelson and everyone else in between shook our hands, kissed
and hugged us amid tears and wails of grief. (Or maybe they were happy to
see us go!) I asked the Anglican priest, Father John Richard to say a
special prayer for the soul of Fernando Pereira, the Portuguese photographer who
died aboard the Rainbow Warrior. Perhaps the lights represent a spark of
his life.
We are quite satisfied with the project's outcome: it's working as
intended and we finished the project just under budget and all parties are still
talking to each other. Can't ask for much more than that.
Harry thinks it's time to go into retirement for a while. Jane doesn't
think he can--we'll see.
We will be here for a few days preparing Cormorant for the voyage to New
Caledonia and on to Australia. Love to all, Harry and Jane
6 September 06 - I asked Jane about the 46 page booklet "Where Does Electricity Come From" we provided to teach villagers about their new hydro. system. We supplied 25 copies I think. Here is Jane's response:
Hi, you should have seen Headmaster Goddy and year six students with their instruction books! He is teaching the book to year six and then year five. Nixon and Frankswel have their own copies (along with copies of all of the instruction manuals for the turbines, freezer, electronic load controller, system diagram, etc.) It was very encouraging to see their collective enthusiasm. They are aware of partaking in an historical event on their island: the introduction of hydroelectric power. It's fascinating to hear the villagers walking along and talking to each other in their local language and hearing the word "hydro" mentioned over and over. All of them have hiked over to the river to admire the turbine. They are very careful not to touch anything, however, which is quite reassuring. Your excellent work on the instruction book has paid off in great dividends, you can be assured.
22 September 06 - Paid out the last of the funds into Harry and Jane's account. They are about $150 short but that is nothing compared to all the things they did for free to make this project happen.
25 September 06 - from Harry and Jane in Noumea: We just received emails from Ken and Janet Slagle on SY Aquila, who were at Asanvari last week. The hydro project is still performing flawlessly, which is good news indeed. Also heard from Michel and Vicki on SY Neige d'Ete, who are now in Port Moresby, PNG on their way to Bali. Without these able and generous folks, we would have had a much harder time completing the project.
27 September 06 - Final report sent to Pacific Development and Conservation Trust.
19 October 06 - System running well.
18 November 06 - As far as I know the system is still working fine. I have not had any reports in the last month so I can't be certain. I promised to report on the technical details regarding the freezer. Here is what I know: Most freezers draw considerable starting current because they use an induction motor. Typical starting current might be 9 amps at 240 volts AC. Often, people use a system with batteries and an inverter that is large enough to supply the starting current. Because of the complexity of a battery and inverter system, we searched the world for a freezer with low starting current. Fortunately, Danfoss have produced a freezer compressor that uses a DC motor and an electronic controller. The Danfoss electronic controller is a bit of magic as it allows the freezer to run on 115 vac, 240 vac, or 12 vdc or 24 vdc. Everything is built into the controller so you don't need any external rectifiers or anything at all. DC motors draw much less starting current than induction motors which is why our freezer draws only 1 amp at 240 vac. to start. I haven't measured it, but the system is supposed to draw only around 80 watts when it is running which would be only 0.33 amps.. We purchased the DCF225 high efficiency freezer with its Danfoss compressor and Danfos 101N0500 control unit from Sundanzer. The combination gives a starting current of around 1 amp at 240 volts so we can easily run the system from our 500 watt Power Pal hydro. generator. We could, in fact, run the system off a generator that is rated at only 240 watts. Because we have no batteries or inverter, our hydroelectric power system is as simple as it can possibly be. Remember that this system has to be maintained by the villagers of Asanvari. Our system has only the Power Pal generator and its electronic controller with some fuses in a distribution panel. You could leave off the fuses and simply use the system directly as it comes from Power Pal if you wanted an even more simple system. Even so, our system is very simple indeed as you can see from the circuit diagram below.
2
July 07 - I received two updates in the same day. One from Chief
Nelson and the other from Harry & Jane on their way to Darwin. Chief
Nelson says that the dump load heater failed and they had to use their spare so
they need another spare. This from Harry and Jane's cruising friends via
e-mail: "The hydro power is up and running, they are thrilled with
it. However, they are having problems with the refrigerator, it seems to
work on 12V, but not with 220. Roger is going to take a look at it today
and we will let you know what we find out. "
p.s. - The dump load heater is an immersion heater that plugs into the load
control and serves to keep the voltage constant. The dump load
heater is the kind of thing you use to heat a cup of water. It is made is Russia.
It sits under the hydro. generator. The drawing below is a bit misleading
in that the load controller is actually in the little room next to the hydro.
generator. We had planned to have the load controller on the
"downstream" end of the underground cable but for practical reasons,
Harry decided to put it right next to the hydro generator. My guess is
that when the dump load heater failed, the voltage regulation was lost and the
freezer received an over-voltage which caused a failure in the 220 volt portion
of the controller. I am hoping that there is a separate fuse on the 220
volt circuit and that the fuse has blown and protected the freezer
electronics. Remember that our freezer uses a Danfoss compressor
with a Danfoss 101N0500 electronic controller. This magic electronic
controller allows the compressor to run on 12v dc, 24v dc, 110v ac, or 220v
ac. The main advantage of this compressor/controller combination is that
the inrush current is very small compared to the inrush of a conventional
freezer. Our inrush current is about 1 amp compared to 9.4 amp on a
normal 240v freezer. Our little hydro generator would not have been
able to supply 9.4 amps inrush and we would have had to use batteries and an
inverter making the system complex, expensive and inefficient.
1 August 07 - Generator bearings have been replaced by locals Nixon and Frankswell. Harry's cruising friends have diagnosed a faulty capacitor on the control board of the freezer. The freezer is still working on its 12v supply. We are trying to source a replacement capacitor.
6
December 07 - Email from the Island Cruising
Association:
Hi Harry & Jane,
Thanks for the email, Brian forwarded it on to us. Lyn and I took over from
Brian & Joan, running ICA at the stat of this year. We have had a very
successful season cruising Vanuatu and New Cal setting up the rally circuit for
next year. Assanvari is a gem. The hydro system is still working though
some of the cruisers this year did some running repairs. Next year we have
a rally from Fiji directly to Asanvari and are hoping to put down three moorings
to start with in the coral area to help protect the reef.
We are on passage back to NZ at the moment so will keep this short, if you have
a land based email i can send you some info on next year.
Kind regards
John & Lyn Martin
14 Jan. 08 - The latest information is that the freezer is being used for fish mainly but during the season for food for the Yacht Club and for beer to sell to the yachties.
19 May 08 - The system has failed. There are lots of people working on the problem. A new load controller has been ordered. I don't know exactly what the situation is yet.
6 July 08 - The system is up and running but at only 218 volts rather than 240v as it should. Harry suspects that one of the magnets that fell off the generator was installed backwards when it was reattached with epoxy. Moves are underway to make a more permanent repair.
24 Aug. 08 -
My name is David Giles
and I live in western Canada. My wife, son and I joined a fellow Canadian for
the passage from Fiji to Vanuatu as part of the 2008 Island Cruising Association
circuit (NZ to Tonga to Fiji to Vanuatu to New Caledonia to NZ). Upon
arriving at Asanvari, a team of three Engineers and several assistants (all
Yachties) worked to replace the existing Power Pal water turbine with a new one.
According to the information provided to us, the previous turbine was
experiencing bearing problems (which was re-confirmed after I read your web
log).
Don't be frightened by the complicated looking diagram above. Remember that if you want to, all you need is the generator and the load control box. The load control comes with the generator and has standard, 3 pin plugs for plugging your lights or freezer. The load control unit also has its own circuit breaker. We could have simply plugged the freezer and lights into the load control box and that would have been the complete system.
We added the circuit breaker box so that if someone plugged too large a load into the system, it would simply trip one of the 2.5 A circuit breakers. We also wanted to retain the option of easily switching to the petrol generator for backup.
Note that there is also a "dump load" which is just a resistance heater, that is not shown in the above diagram. The dump load connects to the load control box.
I am happy to help
anyone who wants to build a system like this. John Caldwell
I would like to hear reports from visiting yachties on how the system is
running. You have to type the e-mail address below, into your
e-mail program.
Sponsored by Polar Instruments Ltd.