[freedomlover]

I'm a patent attorney, and we run into this one ALL THE TIME. I have several great stories. One is about a guy who had hooked up an electric drill to drive one wheel of a go-cart with an alternator hooked up to another wheel to charge the batteries driving the drill. The go cart would go about 100 feet and then the batteries would die. But he had it figured out - he just needed a "bigger pulley on the alternator" (of course!). This guy had obtained $5000 from ten of his friends as investors, and they did not want to hear me question whether or not it would really work. However, it got real quiet when I disconnected the alternator belt and the thing went 50% further.

Another good one was the guy who had found a way to get "free energy" by using AC out of the wall to separate water from his well (it HAD to be from his well or "it wouldn't work") via electrolysis. When we got into his basement and saw two HUGE tanks, one each of pure hydrogen and oxygen, we promptly got the f*&k out of there not wanting to "get blowed up real good". We never got around to asking him how he got that free energy.

[lelio]

Will the patent office redirect all claims involving perpetual motion machines to the trashbin?

[TheDeacon]

However, it got real quiet when I disconnected the alternator belt and the thing went 50% further.

Eureka!!! The belt was 180 out-of-phase! Quick...turn the belt around.

[Right_Wing_Mole_In_Seattle]

When we got into his basement and saw two HUGE tanks, one each of pure hydrogen and oxygen, we promptly got the f*&k out of there not wanting to "get blowed up real good".

ROTFLMBO!!!!!!!
That just made my day!

[Come get it]

However, it got real quiet when I disconnected the alternator belt and the thing went 50% further.

I can see the logic behind his idea, but he didn't account for friction or the rate of power use and replenishment. Tell me, did his alternator do anything at all other than cause more friction? Did he have it wired right?

the guy who had found a way to get "free energy" by using AC out of the wall

Somehow this doesn't seem to qualify for "free energy".

Any more stories of crazy inventors? Those were good.