Perpetual motion for sale on Ebay

BrotherBluto

Unregistered
B
Ran across this over on Metafilter . Apparently someone's trying to sell a perpetual motion machine on Ebay. Actually, unless I'm reading it wrong it looks like someone bought 2 of them. Yikes!

Anyway, take a look for yourself: Ebay Item # 3001165002

BrotherB
 
I've developed a theory that belief in the paranormal and the use of paragraphs when writing are mutually exclusive.
 
Someone actually paid $899 each for 2 of these things? This meatball thinks that the alternator in a car is driven by the battery.
The basic concept of the alternator driven and self-powered fueless generator is as follows. For a better photographic understanding of the following please look at Diagram A, titled “Fueless Generator: Basic Set-up.” The standard car alternator is actuated by the battery in the car. Once the alternator is actuated and it begins spinning at about one thousand RPM or so and then begins producing the necessary amperage to run the vehicle’s various electrical mechanisms. There are such alternators in existence that are self actuating which work more like power generators. All these generators need is to be spun in order to produce the average 55 amps needed to run a vehicle. Now picture this. You have a row of 6 self-actuating alternators connected to an electric motor which spins them. All the power needed to run the electric motor comes from one of the spinning alternators. In this set-up your left with five alternators that continue spinning freely producing electricity at will, that you can use for whatever you want. You can attach the remaining alternators to five additional power inverters which can in turn provide enough electrical power to run 10 or more different appliances. Now the only loop whole your left with in this situation is that you have to initial start the system by getting the electric motor to spin fast enough to get the alternators producing power. However once you get this system jump started you end-up with a generator that’s going to produce constant power until the alternators and/or the electric motor gives out. This is the basic running principal behind the process of how the self-powered generator works.
Scroll down to the description and statement at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001165002&r=0&t=0&
For a real laugh, dig this diagram:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001165002&r=0&t=0&indexURL=2#ebayphotohosting
 
Ah, but you miss the fiendish cunning of it! By having 2 machines, the purchaser can use one to run the other, thus halving the total investment.

That works, doesn't it? You what? My brain? Well., it was here a minute ago.;)
 
Apart from thecnicalities, this thing gives itself away by the way it is targeted: They claim to have a device that would change the face of the world, but they target it as a Camp power supply and PC UPS. Obviously this is where they expect the gullible customers to be.

For somebody with even a sketchy knowledge of physics, the idea of one genrator driving five others is, of course, hilarious, but yer average hick might think it sounds great.

My question is: Is this sort of thing legal in the US? It certainly isnt in my neck of the woods.

Hans
 
From last Friday's What's New by Bob Park:
FIRST LAW: SELF-POWERED FUEL-LESS GENERATOR AVAILABLE ON ebay.
Machines that violate the First Law of Thermodynamics are not
new, they are perpetual (WN 5 Apr 02). A sharp-eyed WN reader
spotted a classic on ebay. This fully-portable generator is
described as a 3 cubic foot "black box" (what else?) with three
standard 120-volt electrical outlets to plug home appliances
into. It will generate 700 watts continuously...forever. Or so
it says. This is not some wild claim about zero-point energy or
anti-gravity; the device simply uses an electric motor to spin an
alternator that supplies the power to drive the motor. I know,
you're going to say the alternator can't possibly supply enough
power to run the motor plus a bunch of appliances. But a
schematic shows the inventor thought about that - a bicycle chain
connects the motor to FIVE alternators. That should do it.
 
What is Ebay's liability in all of this? Aren't they providing a vehicle for the perpetration of a fraud?

Seems to me they would go after this kind of thing.
 
LukeT said:
What is Ebay's liability in all of this? Aren't they providing a vehicle for the perpetration of a fraud?

Seems to me they would go after this kind of thing.

I thought the same thing and checked to see if it was being sold under some kind of "misc." or "odd items" category, but it isn't. Looks like it's in a legitimate heading.

Ebay is usually pretty strict about what they allow, such as any firearm related stuff (much to my dismay--you can get a paint gun there but not a precision target air rifle :confused: ). I wonder what the law is on this? Any attorneys out there want to take a crack at it?
 
Who says what you don't know can't hurt you? It looks like what some one didn't know hurt them to the tune of 1800 bucks!
 
And yet Ebay won't permit people to sell the services of their family.

Pfft! Bigots!


...yeah, that's about the best I could do.

And to think, all this time I've been thinking that the alternator is driven by the engine to "produce" the sufficient power to keep the battery charged and everything else running properly.

All this time I almost had a perpetual motion machine right there outside...go figure.
 
-But a schematic shows the inventor thought about that - a bicycle chain connects the motor to FIVE alternators. That should do it.

...and the bicycle chain is connected to...a crank, with....pedals!!
- or possibly just a crank?
 
The poor quality of the grammer is a dead giveaway the guy is an idiot. The seller that is. They buyer is an even bigger idiot.
 
Iconoclast said:
I've developed a theory that belief in the paranormal and the use of paragraphs when writing are mutually exclusive.

lol

on a side note, I went to view the seller's feedback and saw the following:

trumanelectriccorp(0) Jan-14-03 11:47:14 PST 1950449361 S
Praise : got the machine fast, It works extremely well, able to power more that I though.
 
So are you suggesting that the feedback was posted by the seller his own self (identical grammar styles)? And maybe even that the one purchase listed was a sham?
 

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