Rosemary Ainslie circuit demonstration on Saturday March 12th 2011

[neptune]

@Nul-points ,bike is OK .My knee is a bit stiff , but done 10 miles today to free it off , thanks .That's quite an interesting circuit from Marcus .I can see what you are getting at with that .@ Sprocket , I have no idea of the capacity of your cells .Let us assume they are capable of 1 amp .And assume your heater is 30 ohms . So you could try 30 volts worth of cells to start with . I don't know if you have a scope . Once you get it to oscillate , try the caps . hope this helps .Home made resistors are easy to make . see my earlier posts in this thread .

[Rosemary Ainslie]

Rosemary - Forgive me if you have answered this like 100 times already, did you try this with high-wattage wire-wound resistors? As far as I can make out these are all bifilar wound so their inductance would be negligible - is inductance an absolute requirement here?  What I envision doing is piezo-fogging the water, then piping it over the likes of a wire-wound resistor, which is contained in a close-fitting tube of some kind to vapourise the stuff.  Not an option if inductance is a prerequisite though. 

Guys - you are all getting into a level of complexity that I can barely undestand.  Which is a really good thing.  I have always assumed that high levels of inductance was a pre-requisite.  But apparently not.  I suspect it's the casing around the wire that is giving us this greater benefit.  But the precise requirement for that parasitic oscillation?  It's absolutely outside my competence.  I've always assumed that a cap is going to snuff out the benefits - but again.  I'm open to correction.  I can only point at what we've got.  And, out of necessity - the design is kept to its essential simplicity.  My own explanation for that high current flow is that it's from the back EMF that's induced on the load.  And we've never really seen what this is trying to do - precisely because not all that voltage could flow as current.  And that, because there was not enough 'path' given in a single Zener.  I'm also assuming a counter clockwise current flow.  And I know so little of classical thinking here - I'm not sure that even this much is exotic or if it's mainstream.  So.  Bottom line.  I'm afraid you're on your own here.  Which, again, is probably a good thing.

Kindest regards,
Rosemary 

[Rosemary Ainslie]

Nul-points ,bike is OK .My knee is a bit stiff , but done 10 miles today to free it off , thanks .That's quite an interesting circuit from Marcus .I can see what you are getting at with that .@ Sprocket , I have no idea of the capacity of your cells .Let us assume they are capable of 1 amp .And assume your heater is 30 ohms . So you could try 30 volts worth of cells to start with . I don't know if you have a scope . Once you get it to oscillate , try the caps . hope this helps .Home made resistors are easy to make . see my earlier posts in this thread .

Glad there was no major problems here Neptune.  If you're back up and riding then it was not too critical. 

I wonder if it wouldn't be better to simply find those old immersion elements - even second hand - if they haven't shorted.  I also see a similar type element in your average radial 'pancake shaped' element used on stoves.  I'm reasonably certain it would work as well.  And I imagine this could be fairly readily accessed from any kind of junk recycling shop.  I'm assuming that the exact shape is irrelevant.  Just the voltage against that resistive value may be quite important.  We've been using upwards of 24 volts on a resistance of 11 Ohms or thereby.  That may be a 'kick off' guide.  So sorry I can't be of more help. 

Kindest as ever,
Rosemary

BTW - Wilby - I would also love to understand where your thinking is going there. I'ts way over my head.  Are you looking to making a battery?

And another quick note.  I should get my circuit back and up an running by tomorrow.  Here's hoping.

ADDED

[WilbyInebriated]

@WilbyInebriated - ...followed by "Abracadabra" no doubt!!!   Sorry, I have no idea where you are going with this...

  the lithium is useful in the process to convert thorium to Th-233, and that will decay to U-233, which is fissionable...  the abracadabra is optional but it always adds a nice flair. sorry for the off topic comment.

[Sprocket]

@Rosemary - It's surprising that you and your team hasn't tried to pinpoint the source of the extra energy, or at least narrow down the possibilities.  I'm going to order some wire-wound resistors anyway so we'll see what happens.  It's hard to see where the oscillations come from without inductance though.  I was reading up on some of your earlier posts and I see you mention that lower inductance seemed to enhance the effect. You also talked about where you increased the duty-cycle of your function generator to max - which was about 3min, that's a lot! - and during the mosfet-off stage, the parasitic oscillations continue for the duration, with no apparent reductance in heat produced, and for the full 3min, while there is no power being drawn from the battery!  The opposite in fact, the battery is apparently being charged during this time - am I reading this correctly?  If so, WOW!  In fact, is there any need for a periodic waveform at all?  Wouldn't a simple 555 monostable circuit do instead, something to basically just start it off?  Or even a push-switch? Anyway, I've lots to think about, but I can't do much till I order some stuff.

@neptune - yeah, I've got a scope, or half a scope rather - one of its channels went kaput recently. 

@WilbyEnebriated - my doctor said that I wasn't allowed to use my lithium for that.  Bummer..