Snake oil - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2012, 02:57:09 pm
content: Seeing that there are lot of snake oil like topics popping up everywhere on this forum, might as well start a dedicated thread on them for a good laugh.... yet another video about pissing all over the laws of thermodynamics.

author: Balaur
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 16, 2012, 03:24:23 pm
content: I like this one:

author: Jad.z
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2012, 05:03:45 pm
content: Quote from: Balaur on February 16, 2012, 03:24:23 pmI think I should get this guy, shove a motor's shaft up his ass, put a magnet in his hand and crank up the motor.Now I connect a coil to a multimeter and hold the coil against him, while the motor is spinning the bullshit out of him.Now thats what i call free electricity AT WORK.

author: PStevenson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2012, 09:31:02 pm
content: Quote from: AntiProtonBoy on February 16, 2012, 02:57:09 pmthat guy has the most boring voice ever. some of his "unique" designs reminded me of the barbeque that Bubbles made in Trailer Park Boys... 20 seconds in

author: damo
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2012, 12:59:16 am
content: Good grief. Don't get me started on snake oilI for one believe that most, if not all of these don't have a chance at working (leaning heavily towards the all). For any of them to work they would need to fulfill one of two criteria.1. Be an open system where energy is entering the system from an external source. E.g. PV, Wind, etc.2. Break the laws of thermodynamics. E.g. ... ... I have no examples of thisIf these systems really work, they would need to fit into the first criteria as it is accepted that the second one is a load of garbage (read BS). Therefore an inventor would need to explain where the external source of the energy comes from and I've heard it all folks. Everything from heat through to zipons (lol @ zipons). This external energy would need to be measurable is some way and a common excuse is that the energy is unmeasurable by conventional equipment (see cold electricity lol)An invention that, IMO, has promise is currently being "marketed" by a convicted scammer by the name of Dennis Lee (surely everyone has heard of him). This one is probably the most well known of the snake oil, Google his name if you want a bit of a laugh. Some other unfortunates share his name, but you'll get the gist of it.More food for thought... I read somewhere that Zero Point energy has been confirmed by NASA (or some other institute) as being real. Problem is that it is random and uniform in nature so extremely difficult, if not impossible to leverage.Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll get flamed, corrected and persecuted for this so go for it guys.

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2012, 01:36:57 am
content: Yeah, the Casimir Effect has been known for over half a century. But to measure the effect just above the noise floor, you will need to separate capacitor like plates with nanometre precision.

author: gregariz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2012, 01:57:07 am
content: Quote from: damo on February 17, 2012, 12:59:16 amRene Rivkin once said that 9/10 companies are formed with the sole purpose of conning investors out of their money... so you probably are pretty close to the truth.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 18, 2012, 07:13:44 pm
content: Quote from: damo on February 17, 2012, 12:59:16 amThis would go against your second point, it would violate the second law of thermodynamics.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2012, 08:37:09 pm
content: Is it even possible to measure zero energy surely the act of measurement itself would put energy into the system. You also need to extract a finite amount of energy in order to measure the energy level.

author: RCMR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2012, 01:42:34 am
content: But wait... there's more... Look what you can do with a jar of a suitably excitable gas in a microwave oven -- you can call it ball-lightning and get over-unity "quantum energy" out of it.Honest

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2012, 09:41:37 am
content: Bloody KGB! I did that twenty years ago. I put a six inch florescent tube in my micro wave and turned it on at full power and watched the tube glow super bright.Looks like Gorbachev brother as well.

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2012, 10:03:09 am
content: Quote from: damo on February 17, 2012, 12:59:16 amZero point energy is real, has been measured in many types of systems, and is not a source of free energy. The simple reason is that 'zero point' means that the lowest possible energy of a system is not zero. Since there is no lower energy state, you can't extract the energy.

author: damo
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2012, 12:30:25 am
content: Quote from: ejeffrey on February 19, 2012, 10:03:09 amYes, but the snake oil sales people would have us believe you can

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2012, 01:32:13 am
content: Quote from: Balaur on February 16, 2012, 03:24:23 pmHey, this guy has credibility. He is using Fluke meters! How can you disbelieve?

author: PeterG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 06:16:09 am
content: Yet another 'Secret', 'Free Energy' scam.http://www.hojomotor.com/Regards

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 07:03:05 am
content: Wow, they don't even shy away from the term "perpetual motion".

author: MarkS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 24, 2012, 12:26:00 am
content: A word of caution for anyone that likes the recommended videos on your YouTube page...DON'T click on the videos in this thread! I am now inundated with free energy crap! YouTube doesn't provide a way to tell it that you are not interested in the recommended video, so it can take months to clear up. I once clicked on a greeting card making video because the thumbnail deceptively looked rather technical and interesting and the title was ambiguous. YouTube thought making greeting cards was a hobby of mine for over a year!It didn't help that the greeting card hobbyists cannot adequately title a video. Must have clicked on a dozen more after that one by mistake.

author: RCMR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2012, 03:58:01 am
content: Quote from: MarkS on February 24, 2012, 12:26:00 amCome on -- you do know you can ignore YouTube's recommendations don't you?It's not compulsory to watch a video just because YouTube (erroneously) thinks it's something you might be interested in.

author: MarkS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 24, 2012, 04:55:35 am
content: Quote from: RCMR on February 24, 2012, 03:58:01 amOh I know. I use YouTube to find videos that fit my interests. As such, the recommended videos typically line up with things that I want to watch. I can ignore the crap, but it is still annoying.

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2012, 08:33:18 am
content: After inexplicably getting flooded with girly make-up and shopping recommendation videos, I practically stopped paying attention to them.

author: electrode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2012, 09:46:50 pm
content: I just stumbled upon thewww.hojomotor.comsite that PeterG mentioned; got there from a sidebar ad. Amazing:Quote from: Fake ShillQuote from: MarkS on February 24, 2012, 04:55:35 amGo to your video history in youtube and delete the rubbish you've been watching. Maybe that will remove the relevant video suggestions too?

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 24, 2012, 10:18:50 pm
content: Quote from: PeterG on February 22, 2012, 06:16:09 amI watched one similar that went on and on about making panels, swear it was made by the same lot, I just got well fed up as much as I wanted to whatch it all.

author: Tube_Dude
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2012, 01:36:21 am
content: Anyone talk about "snake oil"...

author: SgtRock
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 25, 2012, 02:32:24 am
content: Greetings EEVBees:--I think Rodrigues is one of the funniest men who ever lived. He was lampooning electronic snake oil and audiophoolery from the beginning. As I find more good ones on the subject, I will post them here."Three weeks in the lab will save you a day in the library every time"R. Stanley Williams 1951 -Best RegardsClear Ether

author: RJSC
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2012, 02:46:11 pm
content: Quote from: IanB on February 20, 2012, 01:32:13 am+1Yeah...He's using Flukes, he means business! If he was using a cheap meter, nah... its just some cheap scammer...