1874 Maglev Versus Thrust Bearing 

Another step forward in the evolution of this turbine. Loving it.

I made a high speed tubine mounted onto an arrow for testing purposes, and it was soo good that it started spinning in my hand just carrying it around when it was windy outside. I turned it into a warhead but found very few people who loved the idea, none actually.

Fantastic Robert. You never cease to amaze.

Great video, many thanks Robert.

Wow, just wow!! Of course, this is so obvious once you show us. Thanks!

Absolutely brilliant, thanks much

Awesome video, I've heard of these but it is a game changer to actually see it demonstrated in such an elegant and accessible way.

Awesome as usual.

Brilliant as usual, sir. Thank you.

I'm glad to see you're still plugging away. Keep up the good work brother.😊

Great demonstration!

Big work.thanks

Awesome again, Robert!!

Those are the same ones I got :) glad to see u took the recommendation 🙏

Great to see Robert! Looking forward to a side by side power test.

I once, and only once, watched this old tony spin a metal cube for nearly nine minutes.

Really great review of the magnetic bearing, thank you for making this video. I actually discovered the issue discussed re: Earnshaw's Theorem, when we tried to do passive levitation for a science project, but I never knew what it was called! So, thank you for providing that crucial detail. Interestingly, as you mentioned, if you rotate the magnet, it stabilizes the issue... awesome video.

You know you are watching a nerdy fella when a spinning fan make him laugh with joy

Glad you read my last comment in your last video and did this 😊. I genuinely enjoy your content. Keep up the good work.👍

That laugh always gets me Robert, keep the show always alive…..😂

Can't wait to see it's potential in action!!

Magnetic bearings how very majestic and off the charts for efficiency love this channel

Gosh Rob! This project is really turning out! I've actually got a pair of ring magnets I scavenged from an old physics toy, I might be able to throw something like this together with them =)

It's mesmerizing....

Thanks. I'm inspired!

I used to play with ring magnets as a child, stacking them on a pencil and watching the levitation. Great idea using them for bearings.

You pretty much answered my silent question from yesterday. After your previous. My magnetic babies are on the way :-D This will be great on my roof.

amazing

Hmm...isn't the thrust bearing version also fighting the cogging generated by the coil?

these are the best videos on you tube , never learnt so much. will have to send a pic / video of the one ive built/ building, with the same concept magnet bearing . its similar to the vawt 1kw one you made. but with curved wind deflectors all around it to deflect the wind one way onto the blades and floating on magnet bearing. just making the axial flux motor at the mo so should be ready to test at the weekend , then next project is a water wheel from a exercise bike

I've played with that in the past, it's a fun little gadget. The nice thing with this design is that if you put a balanced ring weight that matches the OD of the flat base on it, the flywheel affect will cause it to spin much much longer.

I can't wait for the end result 😮

Thank you so much again Robert!! I've been toying with this idea myself recently, as I have just got my hands on a few ring magnets!! Definitely a lot of potential here, ~ I think that I'm going to try this one,,, with a serpentine coil for a wind turbine!! I Really liked the Flat -Feathered one that you have been working on!! (Still looking for someone who has a 3D printer, who is keen to make a few quid to make the parts for me!!) Thank you so much, Again, for the Inspiration and for your Enthusiasm,~Its infectious!! Namasté 🙏 Andréa and Critters. ...XxX...

Brilliant. i'm not even slightly versed on anything you have presented , but ive recently reviewed how i may use some of your ideas on wind generated power production for my sail boat. starting with the mechanical muscle. Every week since ,ive been distracted by the next application. Wow !

Awesome!

Hi Rob a video from me is coming out today of something you have inspired me to make. I love your channel and we think alike alot I'm a doer too ! Your linked in the video hope you don't mind but I thought I owe you that much as you have been my inspiration for quite a few ideas mate 👍🏻

Welcome to the grass growing championship finals. It appears the Kentucky blue grass is our champion!!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂 Seriously though, this is actually pretty cool. I always thought maglev was more finicky and complicated than this. Great to see a homemade/diy project like this. Awesome content as usual! We really appreciate you! (And Luke!)

Might be time to revisit the Windwall with all these new 3d printed prototypes. Magnetic bearing, generation on the rim and maybe even contra rotating in the same windwall?

Looks like a good fit for that clapboard vent sided vertical axis set up you had.

Watching the various Voltron pieces slowly form into some mega-project is really satisfying.

I have been working on a similar project, just horizontal. Mags on the axle with mags holding it up. Rotors of coils-magnets-coils, etc so both the magnets and the coils are each acted upon from both sides.

Each one teach one thank you for this vedio

thankyou.

Robert you are just making me more and more excited with every video. When I saw the "vertical" serpentine coil with the radial magnets on the outside rim, I immediately printed the two parts. After watching this video I can see that the magnets will not line-up with my coil if I decide to use the maglev principle. My question now is whether I can "force" the "maglev magnets" closer to each other by any means in order for my "generation parts" to be correctly lined-up? Oh yes, I see that you have used ferrite ring magnets for the "maglev bearing". Any specific reason for that? BTW I just turned 70 years of age. 😮😂😂

So cool!!! I’d like to see how that works with your rotating energy storage device. I would think the low losses should make a material difference in round-trip efficiency.

You could turn the solid disc into a 3D printed propeller, put it inside a tube, and put the modified Darwin tower on top of that to have a marvelous wind turbine. You'd also need holes in the base, of course.

That's really cool, that actually is what I had planned to use, If figured it was the best choice It looks like it was. What I was going to use was a bunch of disc magnets placed on the outer perimeter on bottom of the rotor and the top of the base, I think the ring magnets will be easier ,cheaper and maybe better . Thanks, that is very cool .

Thank you for Earnshaw's theorem and active anti wobble. That it could compensate for a less than ideal rotor was interesting. Always wondered why they are not used for ships thrust bearing. I know the first bearing died due to friction and not induced eddy currents in the serpentine winding. Please keep the education coming sir.

I'm glad you took up the obvious idea of demonstrating a maglev bearing to reduce friction. Perhaps you can reduce it further by using 2 tubular opposing magnets on the spindle too. Look forward to the next iteration lol

Lovely. Waiting for that to quit spinning gave me time to read some comments!😁

What are the payoffs against interferance with the generation when compared to something like using a thrust bearing in similar wind speeds? I definitely be interested in seeing a compairison. Would have to make the maglev turbine base slightly wider to offset this? absolutely love this.

Very good🙃

Wow that's cool, I would love to see the side by side test after their both models are set up for generation.

I've seen videos here on RU-vid where pucks of bismuth have been used to stabilize the magnetic field to allow stable levitation at room temperature without the use of electromagnets or rotation. It's a levitation of just a few millimeters, but interesting all the same. I've ordered and received a couple pounds of bismuth metal, so I think today I'll melt some down, form it into a couple of pucks, and try this for myself.

All I'm saying is if you squeeze 2 magnets together, depending on how much force is applied they will be closer together or farther apart. In an axial flux alternator that would change the gap between the generating magnets and the stator coil. That would also effect the power generated, that's all.

OMG!!! SORCERY!!! All kidding aside, I have to try this. I notice the rotor is sitting fairly high. It will probably come down a bit with the turbine added, but if it is still a bit high, my thoughts would be to extend the shaft below the stator a bit. The bottom magnet could then be slid down to adjust the levitation height, then fixed into place when the optimum height is reached. I have already started 3d printing my first Savonius wind turbine, and I will be printing more in "grass green" PETG (so they blend in and don't attract too much unwanted attention from the HOA). I've seen a lot of cool ideas on this channel, but these little Savonius wind turbines are the first one I have actually started building in earnest.

As I sat mesmerized by the magnetic bearing continuing to spin, I found myself thinking that an active magnetic bearing could be utilized to help avoid the rotor from getting out of control in incredibly high wind speeds, simply by using a simple circuit to slowly reduce the magnetic strength of the bearing, allowing the rotor to "settle" on traditional bearings around the circumference. Or am I nuts for thinking this...

Anti Gravity Earthling Bless Up

2:30 That has been a lot of my years of energy research, actually. Taking painstakingly precise tests and measurements, hundreds of times, back to back, then making some seemingly insignificant change, and running a few hundred more tests. I guess some of us were just born to this kind of thing.

That gives me an idea for horizontal flywheel generator!

Off topic, since I don't have a way to share my rocket stove design to you I'll try to describe it here. You need two tubes of chimney flue that fit over each other. The inner tube sits lower, so it grabs the flame, smoke, etc from the burning fuel. The outer tube is offset height wise to grab air from the surroundings. What happens is, this oxygenated air gets superheated as it passes through the sleeve. Since it sits taller than the inner tube, this heated oxygenated air meets the smoke and licks of flame at the top of the inner tube. Hey presto, it ignites any unburnt fumes. And you get a gas flame at this juncture. If you consider flames in the inner flue travel , say, 30cm, and you offset the outer tube 10cm you've got a brilliant rocket stove. Ive been using my design for 10+ years. It's awesome.

Oh... that solves one of my major hurdles! Just finishing up my re-design and installing of my home heating, and had turned my thoughts to electricity; bearings have been bothering me. A whole new avenue to go down. It seems I'll be starting experimention at a different point. Down side, I suppose, is that a good bit of concept sketches and notes will end up in the box of fire starter...

The greatest magnet is mr. murray himself!.......thx for the vid.

Great discussion Rob! Had you considered oar locks, for when there is little wind?

Rob, I came across an interesting IC yesterday that would really suit this project. It is the LTC3588 which takes a small, fluctuating AC input and produces a regulated, constant voltage output with a small parts count.

I would love to see how the magnetic bearing would spin in a vacuum environment. Good day Sir too.

Have you thought about using additional magnets above on the sides to keep it centered instead of the ceramic bearing? Basically a surrounded magnetic field to keep it from moving sideways

super upgrade! I'll almost bet you are gonna put the free weight on it. (because of the gap looking like it needs more weight to engage the magnets to the coils)

I have been following mainly because I've had this idea for many years that being said I have a few ideas to reduce friction also I believe if we were to use neodymium magnets in a few different ways we may be able to achieve perpetual motion though I have not been able to achieve this myself as I live in a small apartment with children that I cannot afford to expose 2 this amount of electricity my four-year-old is too smart for her own good and is always trying to help me😅 that and other obstacles. Anywho perhaps it would be mutually beneficial for us to bounce some ideas off of each other. PS I think your channel is phenomenal keep up the good work you are creating geniuses

Great

Thank you Robert. Now you have me thinking of the best way to do this with a pair your feather turbines contra-rotating as a wind generator. My main concern is having to deal with schizophrenic Texas weather. Considering your lack of strong wind there in England, have you given thought to funneling what wind you do get. Use the Venturi Effect to increase what wind you can harvest.

Fantastic! What are the downsides of magnetic bearings (i.e. why aren't they more commonly used)?

as long as you dont exceed the repulsive force of the magnets, they should do the job, as the closer you try and press them the stronger the repulsion, so I would think you can load them up pretty well before they actually touch

You can put mag bearings on the shaft as well

Awesome, also could turbine be laid laterally as replacements for ridge tiles, wind flow direction over roof allowing

Add opposing magnets to the shafts as well and eliminate all surface friction.

YOU COULD HAVE AN AIR BEARING ON THE SPINNING DISK. THAT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER

Great job, is it possible to download the 3D drawing of this design?

The only ' issue ' I see is that now you need to update your CAD files to allow for the greatly variable distance the magnetic Bearing will have due to the differences in the magnets potentially used. Having the serpentine coil section as just a wall and not part of the base, sections of the ring, with ' steps ' to hold the next segment from the outside may help. Usually when you connect sections of pipe, it is flared bigger and you stuff the new section into the other and that is the principle behind stepped ' washer ' segments. The base could have the ring that the current serpentine coil gets wound on inner diameter but a slightly larger outer at roughly a few millimeters and the ' extra ' bit outside higher by a few mill to allow for it to add more segments and keep the whole thing round ( any puns in this were unintentional ). With those specific magnets, measuring after getting the rotor and base made would assist in getting the serpentine centered around the rotating magnets and thus how much of a ' washer ' segment to use. Thank you for the video, I forgot how simple it can be to get an equivalent of a thrust Bearing with magnets.

Have you ever tried using the rotor with the vanes (feathers) hanging instead of laying down on top?

Rob, come on. Your making what to buy that 3d printer again 😂😂😂😂 👍👍

Here in west Texas the wind is always blowing. Tomorrow is forecast to have gusts up to 50Mph.

I've used this method for some time in home experiments. But I am interested in the shaft bearings if any. How do you keep the friction down on the shaft?

Could you give more detail about ceramic bearings you have used?

Very interesting stuff but your link is no longer working. Have you still got your online shop?

You could use a center rod that's magnetic with magnets around it for a pure frictionless bearings system. Then if you could even get a rough surface as you was blowing on, it should catch more air. I'm thinking of angled catcher that would work I think. What would happen if you set serpentine coil in between them, but closer to the moving magnets.

Nice, magnetic bearings are a no-brainer for these applications. Would a smaller upper and a larger lower ring magnet combo assist self-catering? The exciting part about magnetic bearings will come when we use them for car suspension & direct-driving the wheel - goodbye pesky CV joints.

I have been looking around to see if there aren't any computer fans that follow the maglev train principles, without the motor in the middle but with electric magnets in the circumferens parts that centers and rotates the thing silently.

Rob, how about putting your "ripplers" on top of the maglev disc and taking it outside?

Could you line the shaft with magnets to replace the bearing? Then the only friction will be on the point of the shaft that the turbine is set on to keep it in place. I hope this makes sense. My brain sees what I want to say but describing it is difficult.

I wonder how well the maglev bearing would perform in the twisted serpent configuration under load. The electromagnetic resistance would reduce its spin time. From the twisted serpent video it would still spin for a long time.

Beyond my knowledge is i have seen small tubular neodymium magnets. Are the poles at the ends or inside and outside. Is there a way to stack them on a shaft that would repell the inside diameter of ring magnets around them to replace the ceramic bearings against the shaft. Or can conical neodymium be cast around 45 degrees. So the maglev effect is both laterial and linear so this could keep the rotor positioned in all directions as long as the outer magnets are putting the squeeze on the inner magnets. That could be your zero drag bearings for your rotor while maintaining the row of magnets to stator distance precisely. Used to me a place in culver city california that could create magnets of any shape.

This is great, but im not sure how it would work out with a large load on it. How much weight can the magnets hold before they start rubbing against eachother?

RMS, If the rotor that spins longer has no magnets interacting with coils, it will spin longer. I didn't see coils to induce drag on the rotor.

Hi Robert - will that magnetic bearing only work for a vertical axis? I've a feeling that in the horizontal axis the load would be transferred to the traditional ball bearings. Any chance of a bit of Twizzy action :)

Can you use ring magnets on either side of the rotor to lock it in place without increasing drag. So the distance between the the magnets around the outside of the rotor and the stator windings can be precisely maintained. If so then the magnet stator gap can be set so only the top of the magnetic field can be adjusted to reduce cogging with the stator laminations. A different thought came across. Small engine flywheel magnet ignition coils. Could the stator have a primary and a secondary winding. With a power transtor much like an ignition coil to induce high voltage from the secondary. So you dont have to ramp the voltage up to get it to go farther thru the wires probably not efficient. Since you mention the ring magnets field can interfere with power generation. Sounds like smaller ring magnets. Bigger diameter rotors. Scrounging some reel to real audio tape cans made out of monel as a magnetic field trap for the ring magnets. Have been thinking of a duck tail fairing that has 4 layers. The inner layers are just fit tight to the rotor. So little air can leak in but the rotor still spins. The outer layers are wider and extend past the front of the rotor. To build up air pressure in front of the rotor. But also funnel the air to either side of the rear opening of the inner panels creating a siphon effect and lowering the air pressure behind the rotor. An interesting addition to this would be a damper blade like in a flue. With a servo one could limit the outflow of the rotor. Allowing speed control and more torque to turn the rotor when its open.

Hey Robert did you make the magnetic bearings or did you purchase it ?

If you put a flotation device which was round and set it over that shaft with the flotation device in water it would act as a nice bearing too

I have a high performance clutch that has weights held back by a spring. As the engine spins more, the weights more out and lock in the clutch as a wedge. I'd like to see a spring loaded, self expanding wind turbine that can expand in order to gain more torque and be able to generate more power. Combine this with variable vein air control like they use on turbos. Imagine a self expanding fan that can be optimized for the conditions in order to generate the most power.

A really useful vid for my project still in the planning stage. Your maglev bearing attached to a short Ugrinsky blade inside a pipe fed from a Darwin wind collector. Would be ideal for keeping the 12V battery topped up on many pieces of equipment but I am thinking boating. I need to think wire diameter and length for 12V, water ingression and drainage and a brake for storm force winds (having already wrecked two purchased Savonious by leaving them installed in severe gales on a swinging mooring. Also the ball bearings were not as stated in the specs.)