Fausto:
This is probably more appropriately called a renewable energy phenomenon.
From Poynt's Wikipedia link:
real capacitors will develop a small voltage, a phenomenon that is also called soakage or battery action. For some dielectrics, such as many polymer films, the resulting voltage may be less than 1-2% of the original voltage, but it can be as much as 15 - 25% for electrolytic capacitors or supercapacitors.
So above and beyond dielectric absorption, there is a "soakage" or "battery action" associated with capacitors, and it is especially noticeable with electrolytic capacitors.
So what can be causing it? I looked into this briefly and haven't done the full research but I think I have pretty good idea.
In a polarized electrolytic capacitor the electrolytic oil sets up some sort of multi-layered chemical membrane, almost like a living biological cell has an outer membrane wall consisting of several layers of molecules. You can also think of a soap bubble where there is a very thin layer of soap next to a very thin layer of water.
This chemical membrane in the electrolytic capacitor has an inherent electropotential because of how the molecules are arranged that make up this thin membrane. Therefore even in a fully discharged capacitor there is an inherent capability or propensity to self-charge because of this electropotential.
The air that we breathe is filled with a continuous stream of positively and negatively charged ions. A negative ion floating in the air may touch the lead of the capacitor and give up its excess electron and the electron will end up on the negative plate (or membrane layer) of the electrolytic capacitor. By the same token a positively charged ion may touch the positive lead of the capacitor and absorb an electron from the positive lead, leaving a "hole" on the positive plate (or membrane layer) of the electrolytic capacitor. The electropotential inherent in the electrolytic capacitor is acting like a "sponge" that is "soaking up" positive and negative ions in the air. Eventually the "sponge gets saturated" and the electropotential associated with the chemical layers inside the electrolytic capacitor is neutralized by the self-charging process.
So what is the REAL source of energy here? Well, there is energy in the air itself in the form of negative and positive ions. What is the source of the energy that created the ions? The source is the sun. The sun's energy landing on the Earth causes atmospheric wind and the wind creates the ions in the air.
So there is what I think is your answer. It's NOT free energy coming from nowhere, it's renewable energy coming from the sun.
What experiments can you do to test for this? The first one that I can think of is to take two identical electrolytic capacitors. You ensure that both capacitors are fully discharged with no latent charge due to dielectric absorption. For one capacitor you do nothing, it is the control capacitor. Perhaps you wait one day and let it self charge and measure the voltage. For the second capacitor you cut off the leads so that you only have very short leads. Then you cover the short leads with epoxy so that they can't come into contact with the air. You wait one day and then remove the epoxy very carefully and then measure the voltage on this capacitor.
If the first capacitor shows a measurable voltage and the second capacitor shows almost no voltage at all then the conclusion is that contact with the air is necessary for the capacitor to self-charge. That would indicate that my theory is most likely correct.
I challenge you to copy and paste this into all of the captret threads. Hopefully somebody will try doing the experiment.
Finally, in many captret experiments done so far a capacitor of a certain size in microfarads increases by a certain voltage in a certain amount of time. Those are the three critical pieces of information that allow you to calculate the average power production. Power and energy are the terms we use for the production of energy in whatever form. So for all these experiments the real question is to crunch the numbers to get the power. Is it in the microwatt range? The milliwatt range? The nanowatt range? I am going to guess that the average experiment produces power in the tens of nanowatts.
So, if I am right, the conclusion for entire captret project is that you can produce an average of tens of nanowatts of power and the source of renewable energy for this is the positively and negatively charged ions in the air. The ultimate source of energy for these setups is the sun.
It's kind of fun and interesting but it is of no practical value.
MileHigh
Author
Topic: Captret (Read 26300 times)
