A Small Electrical Substation - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2021, 04:34:14 am
content: Worrying that his test equipment includes a hand-thermometer.

author: Ground_Loop
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2021, 05:03:10 pm
content: Is it implied that the anemically turning fan is the power source?

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2021, 10:22:52 pm
content: Nowthat'swhat I call a microgrid!Quite a creative project, but it's not clear to me just what its purpose is, and the reporter obviously didn't have the technical background to understand and explain it. It looks like a scale model to demonstrate operation of a power distribution system. It's hard to tell if those miniature transformers and other components actually work or if they're just replicas.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2021, 07:23:25 pm
content: Quote from: Ground_Loop on July 14, 2021, 05:03:10 pmNo, they said it is fed by an oil burner (I assume a steam or thermoelectric plant or something somewhere). I assume this was not on at the time and batteries were used (or it only ignites when the batteries are low, but that wouldn't be practical for a steam plant).

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2021, 07:27:41 am
content: Whatever the purpose of that build is, he is obviously very enterprising. I wish him every success.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2021, 05:22:42 pm
content: There is obviously some mains power in the area as there is a large transmitter mast of some type in the background at one point. Also there is no way that fan is turning that fast from the wind without everything else blowing away. Whatever the story it is just bad reporting as for the kid with his model grid kudos to him for creating it from next to nothing other than scrap.

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2021, 10:55:43 pm
content: Please, I plead with you, I IMPLORE YOU...Whatever you do, please do not EVER waste precious time watching the film"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind"- it truly IS the most idiotic, hyperbolic, ridiculous film ever made - it attempts to demonstrate electricity generation, as in the OP's topic - but whoever wrote/directed the film IS CLUELESS, plus it's a load of old HOOOEY!

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2021, 01:01:42 am
content: You did this on purpose. Now we are all sadistically curious and want to see how laughably baseless this movie is. I looked it up, apparently it has a decent IMDB rating, but then again...so does Apollo 13, and that's terrible as a historical drama (which this movie supposedly is too, it says based on a true story). But, like Apollo 13, it's still probably a good movie...just with terrible science and twisted facts hyped up for the drama.The real story was probably like: Boy creates small windmill to power some LEDs for the town at night. The Movie: Boy powers whole town, bringing them out of the dark ages, with nothing but a radiator fan and a washing machine motor! Just like "We only have 15 minutes of oxygen left!" when in reality it lasted almost 2 hours.EDIT:Oh yeah...it's rife with FAF science, just a quarter of the way through. Finding a lead acid battery buried in the dirt (assuming he's gonna use it), collecting dead batteries everywhere and stringing them together to make something work, exc. The props all have spaghetti wiring and look like one of those fake restoration channels (which would be fine in a sci-fi post-apocalyptic flick, but not for something meant to be realistic). I assume it only gets worse...

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2021, 05:19:23 am
content: Looking into the backstory, the way they explained and showed technical stuff in the movie was FAF, that's Hollywood for you. HOWEVER, the actual machine he builds in the end is real...sort of. He built a turbine to power the house first, then he made a water pump and whatnot. But it really did use nothing but a bicycle lamp generator (typically 12V 6W) and an old lead acid cell (which was significantly less destroyed than the one in the film). If you used the lights only at night, you would probably gain enough power throughout the day.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_KamkwambaSo yeah, just like Apollo 13 as I suspected. Real story of technical heroism, Hollywood "science"The image they used as a prop in the movie and in a photo in the credits was a later built windmill, NOT the first machine. He also later built a SOLAR pumping station.This is the actual first machine.These machines are still running and new ones are being constructed in the village.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2021, 01:23:18 pm
content: Might be worth your while (or not) checking out the other similar videos from Channels Television.Nigerian Invents Generator That Runs On WaterYoung Nigerian Fabricates Machine That Converts Wastes To EnergyThat last was almost intriguing until the chap stuffed water into the tank and removed the battery powering it all, whereupon the test light stayed lit. Uh-huh. They are all like that, and I suspect the OP video is similar.