Carpentry and Woodworking - water wheel

Not sure which forum this best fits!! My husband made a beautiful water wheel out of cypress for a friend. We set it up today and it ran for several hours then kept stopping in the same place. The water is dispensed from a trough that hits the top of the wheel, a little to the side. The wheel rotates freely on ballbearings. Does anyone have any hints about the best location for where water should hit the wheel? It may be that the new wood just got more waterlogged in one place and time will even things out.
Thanks

Liz,
It sounds as though the wheel may be unbalanced. If you can't increase the water volume(weight) to turn the wheel, you may have to add some weight to a few of the paddles.

The water should hit the wheel from the bottom. If it hits from the top everything is getting wet and swelling. There will always be water dripping to other parts, even when the wateer is at the bottom. But not to the extent you are now experiencing.

I don't believe there is a should way; old grist and sawmills I've seen have the water hitting near the top or in a channel hitting the bottom of the wheel. Either way works. The wheel is slightly bound somehow, unbalanced, or there is not enough water weight to turn the wheel continously.

When the water hits the wheel at the top it does not exactly hit just the desired spot causing the force to work against itself. Gravity pulls the water down. The water hitting the wheel at the bottom is easier to control.
I've seen wheels with the water at the top but the flow must be directed properly in accordance with the flow.