Maintenance

PowerSpouts are really durable.  We have several versions in the field that have gone 3 years with nothing more than a squirt of grease.  But there are some things that everyone should know about keeping a PowerSpout humming along at its best.

We have a stream with good water flow and feet of head but the water carries some sand with it. what is the "dirt limit" of your generator and how can I tell if there is too much sand in our water?
Thanks
Pete
Silt in the water in not an issue at lower heads (<50m). In our 15 years of working in hydro we have seen 2 rotors badly damaged from silt. One was made of bronze that lasted 2 years on a site. It was then replaced with MDPE plastic that also lasted 1.5 years. This site had a 130m running head and a silt burden.
Silt will cause more wear on all materials, the issue is what is the cost to replace the Pelton spoons? Our tests on GF30 Nylon at the Massey University hydro test site at 130m head shows little wear. On lower head sites we do not expect to see a problem. The PowerSpout has a 3 year warrantee and replacement costs on Pelton rotor is low and easy to do.

Can't find your answer?

Use the form below to submit a question. If your question has multiple parts, please submit a separate question for each part, so that we can mantain a searchable FAQ section.