Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Thane Heins' Perepiteia device

I will be the first to admit that I am not the brainiest person going, however I think I have a basic grasp of physics and conservation of energy as well as a working knowledge of thermodynamics. So when someones asks what happens when you put an electrical load on an engine or generator, I have to say that the load is 180 degrees in opposition so the net effect of the load is to slow the whole system down by a factor dependent on the work being done by the system and the load applied. That being said, take a look at Thane Heins' Perepiteia device. Quite simply it is an induction engine with a magnetic core inserted into it rotor. To this engine's rotor is coupled a ring of magnets and facing these magnets are inductor coils. In other words a generator. Anyone that understands basic electricity knows as you spin the engine the magnets will induce a current in the coils. If you hook up a light to the coils, which is a load, you will slow the system down because your causing resistance in the coils. Now the exercise here is, what happens when you put a maximum load on the coils or "shorting" them? This puts infinite resistance on the system from the motor's perspective so that to maintain the same level of "work" more power must be supplied to the engine.

Enter the Perepiteia and a major headache. Remember the only difference in this machine and a generator is that the Perepiteia has an inductive core in the rotor. When the device is started all the coils report voltage - as you would expect. Then when Heins shorts out the coils, instead of slowing down the system as you would expect - the motor speeds up. Heins explains that the coils load is back emf (electro motive force) which is inducted into the engine by way of the inductive core in the rotor, thus strengthening the motor's existing magnetic field.

Oh I hear the BS! and capacitive inductance! cat calls....but I watched the videos of this piece of
black magic in action, I can not see the trick. Check it out, I need an asprin.

Here is the Boing Boing article and a link to the videos of the device in action.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The answer is simple: P=IE - when a coil is shorted, E=0V(nearly)The magnetic flux expands, attempts to collapse (supported only by the resistance of the windings). The observation that motion is generated by bemf is incorrect. The coil is in a mol freewheeling condition, thus resistance to the motor (I.E. load) is less than that caused by a fluctuating magnetic field.

Beam Me Up said...

I truly wish I had a better grasp of the interaction of wattage being a factor of the current times the voltage. I do understand that if one of the factors change, then to maintain the same level of work, the other factors have to follow. What threw me in this instance (because I really did think that once the coils were in effect removed from the circuit that the engine would ramp up) was the inclusion of the inductive core in the rotor being added. Without the induction, shorting slowed the engine and with it ....well you saw the results. It was exactly opposite of what I had envisioned taking place. Thanks for the input jg. I will make sure that I mention it next week. I think this would be a great subject to expand on.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I saw the video and I know what he said was happening. With so many wires, switches,coils connectors, and other stuff, it was hard to tell what was really going on.
This is a strange motor that has a starting capacitor, but has to be started by hand? Is it custom built or off the shelf?
I would like to see the system run with a real constant load with and without the coils shorted-like some friction or another generator to prove the system is actually performing work. Aldla

fgleich said...

I think I have somewhat of a grasp. The grinder is an induction motor. Induction motors operate because of induced fields from the stator coils. The disc with magnets affixed rotates and generates voltage in the coils next to it. There is no counter magnetic field in those coils until a load is put across the coil terminals. Once current starts flowing in the coils, a counter magnetic field is set up in them. At a certain rotational velocity, they generate a field that somehow travels through the motor shaft and influences the motor rotor. The magnetic field must return through the medium ( air ). A good test would be to check with a gauss meter, before and after, also check with a field strength meter for emf generated. Magnets can influence each other from feet away.

Beam Me Up said...

Really Fred?

hummm You know, its been so long that I can not recall what the current data is on this device. I task you with finding out any current articles on the device and we shall see if we can generate some interest again.

Paul