Selfcharging cap circuit from Larskro fake or real ?

[Farmhand]

I may have found a possible "Tell" in the video below. If you play the video from 1:00 minute when he says "loop on" the camera goes to the meter then we can hear an audible click in the background (like the sound of a switch) the rpm increases. Then at the end why does he say "stop" ? Is he telling the machine to stop or his assistant ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1tvbb_LDTM&list=UUjoIJFCH3ebq24jeqf11mfg

I wouldn't rule out a hidden batter in that thick board or hidden wires or other such mechanisms.

I've got glass reeds ( they look like they come from the 70's going by the packaging)  but no super capacitor.

..

[TinselKoala]

Hmmm.... I'll have to watch that one closely several times.


Meanwhile, I've been playing with the MiniPulse.  I've changed the mosfet for a BC337-25 NPN, switched the 10R to a 1K and removed the 1Meg. Now the MiniPulse runs all the way down to the cutoff voltage of the Hall sensor which turns out to be 2.37 volts!  At 2.7 volts the rotor turns at about 2800 rpm, a very reasonable (and quiet) speed, and the system still makes spike voltages of 6 or 7 volts. Input power draw is right at 100 mW at that speed.

But of course at higher voltages the little bipolar cannot take the strain. I've got a handful of them so I think I'll run one to destruction just for grins.


As far as supercaps go... I am just starting to learn about them. I got three, 10F 2.7 volt units from an Ebay seller for about 4 dollars US, free shipping. I may have to order some more!

I have learned this much: high F capacities take proportionally longer to charge. A 100 F cap might be useful for a lot of things, like very long run times, but if your charging source is low-powered you will be waiting for a long time for the charge to accumulate in the cap. Also, the fact that energy depends linearly on capacitance but quadratically on voltage becomes increasingly important. Double the voltage you get 4 times the energy storage. Double the capacitance, you only double the energy.
I think I got lucky with the 10F value, it is a good compromise between charge time and total energy storage. Stacking 9 in a 3 series-3 parallel arrangement to give an 8-volt stack at 10 F would be a nice setup.

[TinselKoala]

Now wait just a minute. If we have the schematic correct, when the thing has the battery unplugged and the switch in the "loop OFF" position, the reed switch is completely and totally out of the circuit. Right?

So why does the motor run at all? Only the reverse leakage current of the Shottky diode, coming from the caps, should be getting to the coil of the motor, and this should be a tiny tiny DC current.

Why does the motor run at all when the battery is unplugged and the switch in in "Loop OFF" position? Is it just coasting?

[penno64]

Wilby kept a copy of smsat's video -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rySqz7Hgpkk

no battery

[TinselKoala]

Yes, but look at Larskro's schematic. When the battery is disconnected and the switch is in "loop OFF" position the reed switch is disconnected completely. Yet the motor runs slower, but still appears to run. It's not slowing down fast enough to be completely unpowered in that state, I think.

How can this be?