what about the wimhurst generator?

[nitinnun]

the whole point of free energy, is to power our homes.


the best way to power a home,
is to give each appliance its own power supply.
sepperate from all others.

this would eliminate the need to install wall outlets,
would reduce the amount of danger (lower wattage, and less cords to damage),
would lessen the need for transformers,
and would be far easier to implement.


if someones expensive,
bulky,
unworkable,
undeveloped,
hard-to-implement-pet-peeve,

can power my computer more efficiently,
than a 6 inch long by 6 inch wide stack,
of simple,
cheap,
easily replaced,
HOME MADE wimhurst generators,

than they should tell us all about it.

[scotty1]

Here is a clip of my Wimhurst being powered by one of my magnet motors  ..10 watts input.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OqXtWeAQx60
You can see the static has crept into my magnet motor!
Scotty.

[Pirate88179]

@ Scotty1:

Nice video (5 stars) and very nice build there.  I am confused because my physics professor at college said that static electricity can not be made to do work, it is static and that is why it is so named.  After being here on OU dot com for almost 2 years, I now know better.  Heck, I did my laundry today and just for laughs, I took a cfl and held it by the glass tubes while I was folding my sweaters.  Well, that bulb lit up very brightly quite a few times. (lots of static, I don't use dryer sheets)  I would really like to look up that professor and tell him what I have learned.  Lighting a bulb is work...correct?

That is quite an apparatus you have built there.  I can see you put a lot of work into it.  Very nice job.

Bill

[nitinnun]

i could build a magnet motor driven wimhurst, that takes up several times less space/materials.


i didn't know that wimhurst generators existed, until a short time ago.
and i'm still meditating upon MANY design possibilities.

but once my wimhurst is finished, it will be a masterpiece among hand crafted devices.

[TinselKoala]

Very nice work, scotty!!

I can give you some tips to improve the voltage output of your machine. As a goal, the machine should be able to make sparks of about 2/3 the diameter of the disk.
The first most important thing is to make everything as smooth as possible. Get rid of all sharp edges and projecting points. One thing that will help right away is to trim off about half of the pickup combs, so you will be picking up only from the outer inch or so of the disks. Make the neutral combs cover the same area. Insulate the edges of the sectors on the disks by coating the sectors with varnish or corona dope, except for the area where the pickup combs and brushes will contact. With metal sectors and contact brushes, the pickup brushes and neutral combs can be made quite small. With non-contact corona machines like mine, the brushes need to be larger, but for maximum voltage on either machine, you can eliminate the pickup brushes altogether!! (This does reduce current output, though.) Not the neutral combs, though, these are critical.
The edges of those metal sectors on the disks prevent Wimshurst machines from reaching their full "potential" !! Or you can even get rid of the sectors all together and just use dielectric disks, for even better performance.
Also look to the Leyden jars. The same thing about insulating sharp edges applies here too. Much power can be lost in the jars if you aren't careful. Keep conduction paths dry and spaced well apart.
Dust and moisture on the parts of the machine that are supposed to be insulators can severely lower voltage. But paradoxically, a wipedown of the metal conducting parts with a slightly dampened lintfree cloth can improve performance.
The neutral structures are far more important than many folks realize. They can be a source of leakage, and their positioning is crucial for good performance and maximum voltage and current.

Oh, and, nitinnun, I first studied Kelly's work some time ago. Thanks for bringing it up again. I had forgotten how amusing it was. But if you want to understand electrostatic machines, you really should read some other stuff, and take Kelly with a (considerable) grain of salt.

(edited a speling errror.)