the "magnet sandwich" isnt necessary, as the magnetic field from one magnet (either top or bottom) already encompasses the disk.

the "sandwich" is used out of convienence to hold the disk. but a second mag. actually increases your input energy, as a function of mass having to be spun up to speed.

Hi all,
Have any of you looked at Trombly's homopolar generator?
It seems relativly easy to build except for the wet brushes.
I would love to build one with some help from you all. Maybe down size it with multiple disks?
I have some machine tools and time and some money.
Thanks, Scot

very many different designs, like this one - Voltage homopolar machine - Patent 5451825
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5451825.pdf
or´
George D. Hathaway´s machine United States Patent 5587618
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5587618.pdf
cheers,
khabe

@scotwhite: you might like to look into the metal called "Gal-In-Stan", which is the alloy of gallium, indium, and tin, and is liquid, and non-toxic, and has very low vapor pressure.
You can avoid the complications of molten solder, mercury, sodium, or Trombley's top-secret liquid metal.
Or you can use conductive bands or belts, like Hathaway, and even Tesla.

The homopolar motor produces lots and lots of amps but very little voltage. Since voltage is the ability to overcome resistance, it doesn't take much resistance to kill even a very powerful homopolar motor. Reduce resistance wherever you can in your design. If your HPM produces one volt on a high-impedance meter, and a thousand amps into a dead short (a one-kilowatt machine, not unusual for the home experimenter) a resistance of even a single ohm will kill it completely.

Hi,
Thanks for the advice, i checked out the other patents very interesting.
Bryan Strohm who has one patent lived in Indianapolis but i can't find him listed in the phone book.
Maybe i should look into an Adams motor I really want to build something that has the potential to produce enough electricity to run a house.The homopolar generator with high current seems to be problematic, especially converting the hi current to 120v.
Open for sugestions Thanks, scot
Tinsel Koala have you looked at Bryan Strohm's generator? What do you think?