What's your opinion on "Consumption" as it relates to magnet only motors

[hoarybat]

Gwandau, very informative.  Lastly, when you mentioned about that balance between attractive and repulsive forces together not depleting the magnets, I don't have both in my setup.  I have a south Stator and north facing rotor magnets.  When the magnets go by the end of the stator it of course attempts to pull the magnets back and causes drag but it keeps going until the last magnet set hits it at which time it stops of course because I only have 1/4 of the magnets I need to complete the rotor circle so I can't be premature but in your opinion will this attraction only/then pullback force (still attraction) constant action deplete the magnets for I'm suspecting and hoping not.  Will await your feedback and thanks again in advance.

[Liberty]

From wiki.answers.com :

Is there any successful magnetic motor?

"Yes, they are permanent magnet DC motors. They run on DC and have been here for decades. The idea of a motor powered by magnets has been also with us for generations now. These are called perpetual motion devices. Motors will always need energy to run. They can not derive their energy from a magnet unless it consumes that magnet."

Consumes the magnet?  I was under the impression after reading many posts here that if anyone of us were able to get a stator/rotor configuration to turn for hours/days/weeks/longer and that the forces of the colliding NEO mags were about equal (stator magnet power meeting rotor magnet power) that it should run for many years with little loss.  "Consumes" seems to me from above to imply prematurely killing the magnets.  Others have stated that you will only get a fraction of the energy back from what you have invested in the magnets should your motor actually work.  I know I have already invested plenty and 2 yrs. in this ongoing quest and as things are starting to look up design wise for me I am also concerned about this Consumption deal.  Appreciate your opinion on this and thanks in advance.

Neodymium magnets do not get demagnetized or used up, unless the atomic structure of the atom changes.  They can become misaligned due to exposure to extremely strong magnetic fields (much stronger than the magnet) or being struck by a physical force such as a hammer or high velocity of repulsion magnetic fields or applied heat which frees the "pinning" material in the magnet that holds the magnetic particles in magnetic alignment.  When a magnet becomes misaligned, it results in a weakening of the external magnetic field.  The result is some of the magnetic particles favor aligning themselves with other near by particles, which is the nearest magnetic field to align themselves with. 

I have made several magnet motors that are power assisted.  The magnets remain as long as you don't subject them to misuse as stated above.

[FatChance!!!]

"If the A are placed in a state of repulsion only against each other in a magnet motor system, I would agree they will lose their magnetism over time.

Sorry but this statement is not true when it comes to NdFeb magnets.

There are several cases of repelling systems where the magnets are not demagnetized.
E.g sliding doors, where the door float on repelled neo magnets, and they do this fine whitout demagnetizing.
Experimental rails where a train is floated on repelled magnets instead of supercooled electromagnets.
They don't demagnetize, it's just more difficult to control than using supercooled electromagnets.

Why? Well, simply because the Bmax (flux) of two neos is not enough to force any neos into it's Demagnetization area.
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/bhcurves.asp

You need something like 3-4 times the strength of a neomagnet to be in any risk. And most importantly, the applied field
must be aligned and forced through the magnet. This is not the same as forcing two magnets together where the fields
are deflected away and doesn't penetrate the magnet through on the depth.

Heating problems can be handled by using high temp neos. They have extremely high resistance to demagnetization.

[Gwandau]

Liberty and FatChance!!!,

your information seems well founded and is highly encouraging to all those of us who are into the quest of magnetic engines.

Still there are some information on the net telling us differently, like the link below, which emphasizes the rundown effects
on neodymium magnets in opposing configurations.

http://www.nuscam.com/perendev.htm

I would really appreciate your comment on this information, which seems to be quite different to your conclusions.

Gwandau

[FatChance!!!]

As long as there is no public magnet motor to see that runs down, I do no believe that
someone saying they have seen three magnet motors running is really telling the truth.
If the motor run on magnets alone but loose magnetism, that could be addressed by using
200 degree Celsius neos, grade EH, which has tremendous resistance to demagnetization.
And the distance and interaction between the magnets could be increased for less power
and this would decrease the risk of demagnetization due to lower flux levels being in use.