Search articles from thousands of Examiners
Write for us
National Gadgets and Tech Breakthrough Energy Examiner
Breakthrough Energy Examiner

Mylow magnet motor saga

April 22, 5:24 PMBreakthrough Energy ExaminerSterling Allan
6 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe


Get alerts when there is a new article from the Breakthrough Energy Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use

A simple inventor in Chicago is stirring the imagination of many magnet motor enthusiasts around the world with the myriad of videos he's posted, open sourcing the design to bypass suppression and facilitate rapid development.

"This motor [is] for the world to see.  ...I never saw anybody replicate this motor.  ...[I] hope that anybody can build this thing." -- Mylow (Mar. 17, 2009)

Modern Physics would say it is impossible to build an all-magnet motor, in which magnets attracting or repelling other magnets provides are the only motive force.  A century ago, they said it would be impossible for many to fly.  Will they be proven wrong about magnet motors as well?

In the eight years I've been immersed in reporting about various breakthrough clean energy technologies, I've encountered quite a few people who claim to have built or to have seen a working magnet motor.  Many more people have actually attempted to build such a device, being convinced themselves that it could be possible with the right configuration.

A working magnet motor design would transform our energy landscape, providing renewable, portable baseload power from very small scale to very large.  A magnet motor would combine the portability of a genset with the renewableness and constancy of geothermal.  It could replace essentially every now-existing motor or engine application.

I include myself as one who believes it could be possible.  I don't see it as a "perpetual motion" technology at all.  The energy has to be coming from somewhere.  There are several intriguing models to account for the energy source.  Scientists will figure out how it works soon enough.

Meanwhile, the latest player to emerge in the magnet motor arena is a guy who we call "Mylow" from the YouTube username he first used when he began posting videos showing his motor starting from a stand-still, then accelerating until it reaches an equilibrium speed.  His design is based on the patented work of the late Howard Johnson, and Mylow is giving it away to the world in an open source manner, though we encourage a 3% royalty for all commercial applications.

The saga that has been unfolding since he posted a video of his motor making full, continuous rotations on March 17, has been quite astonishing, complete with challenges in replicating what appears to be a very simple design, several appearances of MIB elements, overflowing skepticism, the question of whether the rotation might be a necessary function of the gradual demagnetization of the magnets being observed, the reported observation of the stator magnet getting quite cold during operation, and a dose of inventor idiosyncrasies.

A copy of the video posted by Mylow on March 17, 2009 at YouTube.

Mylow's design, is super simple.  A few channel magnets are glued in a particular arrangement around the perimeter of an aluminum disc on a bearing assembly.  A single stator magnet is brought into position horizontally to the vertically-polarized rotor magnets.  When the "sweet spot", as Mylow calls it, is found along the rotor magnet set, all he has to do is let go, and the disc begins spinning.  Alternatively, he can just give the disc a little push and it begins to accelerate until it reaches its equilibrium speed.  The challenging part in replicating this design is finding the right arrangement of magnets.  Mylow seems to have a knack for this.

 
I've had the privilege of having a front-row seat in this saga, inasmuch as Mylow thus far has chosen to communicate by phone only with me and one other person who goes by "PMMTester" that I recommended to him to help him sort through the voluminous email he was getting.  I've also hosted the open source project page over on our PESWiki site, through the shortcut domain: http://MylowMagnetMotor.com

I've also made a set of concise plans available for a small fee, containing the best information as we presently know it, via http://MylowPlans.com   Proceeds from the sales of these plans are being split three ways between Mylow, Howard Johnson's heirs, and PES Network, so we can help facilitate and promulgate this information and technology.  We've used some of these funds, for example, to ship new sets of magnets to Mylow to try out.

None of the videos Mylow has posted so far are skeptic-proof, but in my opinion, among a long list of reasons to believe that this design is for real, Mylow's lack of interest in money, and his simple humility rule out the possibility that he has merely been running some kind of hoax.  The plans I sell were of my initiative, not his.  The request for all commercial ventures that arise from this project providing a 3% royalty was also my suggestion, not his.

Getting the first working replication of Mylow's design has taken much longer than I had anticipated from what appears to be an easy design. 

The first problem we encountered in trying to replicate his design is that Mylow purchased his magnets through a surplus store in Chicago, and that particular item number is no longer available.  Finding suitable substitute magnets that are in adequate stock has so far been largely an evasive task.  I've sent him several stator magnets that he seems to have gotten to work. 

Another issue we've faced is that when different magnet sizes and shapes are used, the arrangement requirements also change for the gaps between rotor magnets around the disc. 

I've also sent him some alternative rotor magnets to try, the idea being that if he can get those to work, and let us know the configuration, then it will just be a matter of us getting the same magnets in the same configuration, and we should be good to go. 

He received those on April 15, and agreed to let three witnesses come in to see it once he got it going, but also that day he apparently got spooked by a couple of suits who showed up at his place of employment asking for him, this being the second incident in so many days.  The first was on April 2 and 3 when a very intimidating suit showed up at his house along with Mylow's attorney, shooting pictures and video, then actually taking his motor and plans from him, only to return them the next day, telling him that it was "just a toy," and to "keep it that way."  The guy wielding an NSA badge to some police officers that Mylow's wife called in to arrest them, left a government-stamped document alleging something to the effect that it would be in his best interest to do nothing further with this device, in the interest of economic stability.  Mylow said he's never been so scared in his life.

Whereas when he is not running scared he typically posts several videos a day, the last video he posted was on April 15 regarding the various magnets he's been using.  While it doesn't show the motor running (out of fear of repercussions of the MIBs), it provides quite a bit of information and history of the motor thus far, including a description of the most recent working iteration using bar magnets laid flat on the rotor disc, with the stator magnet pointed vertically down.
I added some annotations through this video to provide additional information.

I've been advising Mylow to just ignore those people who are bullying him, because they can't possibly have a solid, moral basis for what they are doing that would stand up to the court of public scrutiny.  I've encouraged him telling him that he's doing the right thing sharing this know-how, and the sooner others are able to replicate what he's done, the safer he'll be.  The bullies lose their power when we don't give in to fear but operate out of love for humanity.

The genie is already out of the bottle.

There are a lot of very talented people now working on this project.  I expect that soon we will have not just one but many replications, followed by characterizing how this works, then optimizing the design, resulting in the ability to engineer the design into practical embodiments the produce useful power, cost-effectively.

One of the largest impediments has been the crass negativity in some of the forums where Mylow expected to get more moral support.  That has been very disappointing to him, and combined with the MIB threats against him personally, presently he is backing away from active and open participation in this project he launched a month ago.  His wife and other family members have likewise urged him to put it away due to the problems it is creating for him.  Nevertheless, he can't seem to pull away from continuing his work on this, and his skills and knowledge are likewise rapidly increasing.

Despite the challenges this project has faced, I remain convinced that once we work through some of the basic principles, the difficulties will fade away, and this technology will emerge as a profound gift to mankind during a very challenging time in our civilization's history.  It could help launch a new era of prosperity and a shifting away from reliance on a central authority.  Think of the millions of jobs that could be created in scaling this to the myriad of applications. 

Think of the many additional applications that will emerge that with other energy technologies were not possible: cheap desalination plants, cheap pumps for moving the water to where it is needed.  Each house could have its own power generator that never has to be refueled.  Each vehicle could drive or fly without ever having to stop for fuel.  Each appliance could have its own build-in power source.

Whether it be from Mylow's motor or from some other design, or many other designs, I am confident that such a world is possible and our destiny.  I invite you to join with us as we track our progress toward such a world.  Check out our daily news at http://FreeEnergyNews.com or subscribe to our free newsletter to bring these items to your email inbox.

# # #

 

See also

Comments

Name:


Comments:
characters left

NOTE: Do Not Alter These Fields:

Recent Articles

Monday, November 23, 2009
Chris Eckman of Idaho State University presents an overview of his theory of how Brown's gas is electrical in nature. This precocious undergrad …
Saturday, November 21, 2009
An update on the company that claims to have an engine that runs on noble gas. The fuel is essentially free, and the simple engine would be cheaper …

Related Slideshows

Things to see and do

Chicago: You Are Here
Chicago Architecture Foundation
Outsider Art In
Rockford Art Museum