calling Maxwell's Daemon

[nul-points]

hi ex nihilo est

thanks for your comments

A Maxwell's Daemon is one of the most credible possibility for free energy.

i agree

the universe is a dynamic collection of energy from micro to macro levels - there are many opportunities to apply a manmade (or to benefit from natural) asymmetry to the 'random' nature of 'raw' universal energy with the result of usable power

Nevertheless self-charging capacitors are not a proof when electrochimical capacitors are used, because there are chimical reactions at the surface of the electrodes which can increase the voltage for conventional reasons.

i agree that electrochemical activity must be a factor in self-charge of electrolytic capacitors and it shouldn't be discounted

Self-charging capacitors are not observed when the capacitors are not polarized and are of low capacity. It is a specificity of electrochemical capacitors.

not so - results from non-polarised capacitors with ferroelectric dielectrics (eg. Rochelle Salt crystal) disprove this statement

Therefore the origin of the capacitors self-charge can't be explained by a common phenomenon due to the environment.

not so - my experiments with capacitor self-charge clearly demonstrate a strong thermal relationship between heat and anomalous voltage

also, electron tunneling between capacitor plates is a quantum phenomenon, with a temperature relationship and no electrochemical contribution

i agree that electrochemical activity can also be involved when there is an ionic-transport mechanism present


however, in the system i'm testing, only a small proportion of the operation contains any input from capacitor self-charge

i suspect that a large part of the (greater-than) self-sustaining operation is due to the thermodynamic characteristics of the DIY cell-stack


i've been running other tests with similar circuits but using conventional NiCd & NiMH batteries for most of 2010

although in my other experiments i was able to achieve a reasonably constant on-load terminal voltage for a similar length of time to the experiment described here, i haven't seen any evidence of a sustained and significant increase of on-load voltage for a similar duration, as i have with these tests

my earlier tests used commercial batteries with 150 & 180mAh capacities and the on-load terminal voltage had always shown a decrease over this duration

however, in this experiment, the capacity of my simple DIY cell-stack is probably smaller by a few orders of magnitude and yet it is operating an equivalent load circuit AND experiencing a storage of excess energy


at this stage of the experiment, the point is that this stand-alone electronic system, inside a darkened Faraday cage, is giving clear evidence of increasing on-load charge, over an extended period, with only ambient heat as the most likely additional source of energy

all the best
sandy

[nul-points]

this stand-alone solid-state system has been operating for one month, driving the load (an LED flasher circuit) WHILST ALSO charging it's own supply battery to over 1.9V now, from it's starting on-load voltage of 1.6V


the battery is a simple DIY construction: a pair of galvanic-like cells which are recharging themselves merely from room heat

[Omnibus]

So, you're claiming violation of the second law of thermodynamics, that is, you're claiming that useful work can be done only at the expense of one thermal reservoir, right?

How do you prove that? By just observing the near coincidence of the shape of temperature-time and the voltage-time curves, is that it? It would have been interesting to measure the temperature dependence of the emf of an unattached battery and see if that regression curve you're showing of the voltage-time is non-trivial. If it is, as I suspect it is, then the ambient temperature differences as a source of the effect will be eliminated.

Why do you exclude, for instance, the possibility that the excess energy you observe is at the expense of saving from the input? I have observed such phenomenon when studying an RC circuit. Producing excess energy by saving energy from the input (thus, violating the first thermodynamic law) can also take place during the electrolysis of water in an undivided cell.

[nul-points]

i'm reporting what i observe, Omni

the trend of the on-load terminal voltage of this solid-state system is gradually increasing whilst the trend of the ambient temperature is relatively constant

yes, there is also an obvious temperature relationship (hence the correlation between the two graphs)

but the important point is that the battery is gaining excess charge over and above the temperature variation

this is a fact - this is what the data shows

i can also report that the behaviour of this system is NOT the behaviour of other systems which i've been testing throughout this year (NiCd, NiMH & a variety of DIY galvanic cells) driving similar load circuits

none of the others have shown the same extent of thermal relationship and sustained self-charge over this duration

[edited to remove mistaken ref. to chemical action]

[Omnibus]

No, I don't at all say it's chemical. What I suspect is violation of the first principle rather than the second. As far as I understand, your statement that "... the important point is that the battery is gaining excess charge over and above the temperature variation" seems to go along with such conclusion.