Self Starting is is not a requirement of OU (IMHO)

[CuriousChris]

I am writing this because I read some of the posts from this thread.
http://www.overunity.com/index.php?topic=5759.0

I won't comment on whether the motor runs or not. as others have pointed out far too little information is available. At least in that thread anyway.

But I wanted to point out the belief that a overunity device must be self starting (and accelerate to breaking point) is not a valid argument.

First question is why? I can't see a good logical reason why that must be so.

Think of it this way.

To be self starting it must be putting out more energy than is input into it BEFORE it is running. How can that be?

All so called self starting systems must be primed before they will 'self start'.

What I mean by that is, if say its a magnetic motor it must either be spun up OR moved to a point where it is unbalanced and then released. The act of moving it to the starting position is priming it.

The method to start the rotation or move it to the unbalanced position may be by hand or an electromagnetic actuator or any other means, whatever the means, all systems I have seen and those I have devised myself need this to start.

With respect to the accelerate to breaking point argument. that is also an argument that doesn't stack up. Take the simple example of a ball rolling down a very long hill.

First it needs to be primed. i.e. moved to the top of the hill. then it must be released. Clearly that is not self starting. Then it accelerates down the hill until it reaches terminal velocity (drop the ball from a height if you don't like the hill). Terminal velocity is reached when the resistance to its movement balances the force providing the movement. for the ball it is mostly air resistance. Air resistance increases with speed. therefore terminal velocity must be reached.

Terminal velocity is not only a factor of friction and resistance but it is a factor of the force providing the acceleration. In most systems (gravity excluded) there is a point where the force pushing/pulling the object can no longer keep up with the object.

To keep a car accelerating you need to keep increasing the input power. With a fixed amount of input power the motor is only physically capable of reaching a distinct speed. Even in a frictionless environment! Eventually the pistons would be moving at a rate that is faster than the expanding gasses and therefore the motor can no longer increase in speed. Of course a real motor could probably never reach that speed. or can they?

I know I have belaboured the point a bit. but overunity does not mean we throw out all common sense. it just means perhaps there's more than meets the eye. and how can we take advantage of it.