Turquoise Energy Ltd. Monthly Newsletters Index

Hint:

To find the latest and greatest ideas and techniques, search from the most recent newsletter back for the topic in question. (To follow the history of development of a project, go the other way.)

TE News #25 - March 3rd 2010

   February in Brief (summary)
      * Family needs and garage repairs divert energies and efforts.
      * Improved Electric Hubcap Motor making manual. ('Interim version' posted on website.)
         (...I looked at it and said 'Holy smoke, does that ever need some updating and improvements!')

   Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive System Project Detailed Report
      * Heaters: Found a better heater core - 36V, four 200 watt elements.
      * Cheap Sheet Metal Break (bender) - just $39.99!
      * Electric Car Heater Making Plans: how-to, chassis/assembly.
      * Hmm... More ready-made 36 volt commercial units are now available

   Mechanical Torque Converter Project Detailed Report
      * February Work - not much of it, I'm afraid - no time.
      * Ack! New idea for a magnetic converter... (but wouldn't it be "lossy"?)
      * Wow! New idea for a mechanical variable gear/torque converter: This one's surely a Winner!

   Ocean Wave Power Project - Revival?
      * Ratchet wrenches plus a lawn mower motor for a generator could make for a mechanically much improved "proof of concept" wave power unit, resolving the worst problems with the previous unit and likely to actually work. (...and just when, exactly, will I find time for this?)

   Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Detailed Report
      * A missing step found: once made, the coils need to be heated to about 450ºC and cooled slowly,
         to anneal them, which forms the microcrystals/nanocrystals in the amorphous glassy substrate.
      * Sources? Is it possible to actually just BUY these things in strips?

   Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
      * February Battery Experiments
      * Ni-Mn/alkaline... with the perchlorate chemie not performing as expected, should I aim simply for superior alkaline batteries for now instead?

    The Lead-Acid/Sodium Sulfate Battery Renewal Project February report
      * Sodium Sulfate becomes unavailable at Pharmacies
      * So I've ordered 30Kg from Toronto


TE News #24  -  February 1st 2010

   January in Brief (summary)

   Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive System Project Detailed Report
      * Permanent magnet versus induction motors note
      * Axles, hubs, bearings
      * (Electric Heater - no report - the month of 'Jan' was too warm to think about heating!)

   Mechanical Torque Converter Project Detailed Report
      * Modifications, more tests show modified problems
      * New configuration: reverse the drum and inertia plate, get inertia plate onto the axle to steady it.
      * A promising looking 1660 design?
      * Best Rotor Drum

   Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Detailed Report
      * No activity - no report

   Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
      * The short version - Found: what looks like the Holy Grail of battery research. 2500 W-H/Kg chemistry.
      * The long version - Study of KCl/KClO4 and then LaCl3/La(ClO4)3 as battery electrolyte/electrode material

    The Lead-Acid/Sodium Sulfate Battery Renewal Project January report
      * Glued-on Lids: How and Why the Battery Companies Are Likely to Try to Prevent People From Improving Batteries
      * Further battery renewal tests.
      * Sodium sulfate chemie: the likely cleaning reaction.
      * The missing link in battery renewal found?: Deep cycling after adding the sodium sulfate.
      * Instructions update for treating a battery.
TE News #23 covering December 2009

December in Brief (summary)

Biodiesel Fuel & "Politics"

Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive System Project Detailed Report
     * December Trials.
     * Sluggish motor starting & PWM frequency
     * Better disconnect circuit breaker / switch (BSS4007 or BSS4048)
     * Better EV Heater: 200-400-600-800-1000-1200 Watts with a revised 120 V fan heater.
          (Long story short: use its heating elements with a 24VDC computer fan,
          DP on-off-on switch, and make a new housing to fit.)
     * Sodium Silicate "Water Glass" coil casting.

 Mechanical Torque Converter Project Detailed Report
      * Unsuccessful car tests December 6th & 22nd show play and vibration in mechanism are bad things.
     * "Torque Multiplier" is evidently the name of a type of power tool, so I'm going back to "Torque Converter".
TE News #22 covering November 2009

         November in Brief
"Big Oil" - the World's Largest Organized Crime Ring?

Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive System Project Detailed Report
* New topic heading to cover the EH system as a whole.
* Hall Effect Magnetic Switches:
    - easier to install than optical sensors system
    - make EH motors even easier to build.
* EV Heater: 12V Electric Heaters in Series [3 for 36V]: a simple & cheap "off the shelf" solution.
* Vehicle Handling; Motor weight and suspension: I've had the key all along?
* Supermagnet "Fan Blade" Choices.

Mechanical and-or Magnetic Torque Multiplier Project Detailed Report
* New name: Torque Multiplier - is to differentiate it from worthless hydraulic crap.
* Parts selection and reselection: homing in on a workable unit.
* Unit ready to test about November 22nd, but motor system changes delay testing.
* Successful Bench Tests November 30th - seems to provide plenty of force to propel a car.

Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Detailed Report
* No Activity - no report

Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
* Poggendorff cell.
* Oxalic Acid Battery - It works! Potential for substantially higher energy density than lead-sulfuric acid because 3 to 4 x lighter electrode metals can be used.
* Acetic Acid (Vinegar) Battery?

The Lead-Acid Battery Project Progress Report
* Trade Secret: Evidence that battery manufacturer secretly adds alum salt - but only to its "top of the line" batteries. A cunning patent: even in the battery factory no one knows about it!
* Alum's battery life extending effects were already well known during world war two - except to the public.
* Automating the Experiments.
* Better instructions for treating a battery.


TE News #21 covering October 2009

         October in Brief
Department of Inventive Progress: The government's missing organ

Directions for Softening Epoxy Glue (eg, to Remove Magnets from Rotors)

Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Motor and Controller Project Detailed Report
* a mistaken diagnosis - Hall effect sensors - New MC chip (sigh!)

Magnetic Mechanical Torque Converter Project Report
* Conceptual Adaptation and Design Growth
* A test indicates it'll work better without magnets, so it becomes purely "mechanical"!
* Works by inertias and masses - reminiscent of mechanical clock escapements.
* First Mechanical Torque Converter proves itself vastly superior to geared transmissions in every respect, doubles gas mileage. Adoption is sabotaged by GM duplicity, and it's rejected by the automakers -- IN 1923!

Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Detailed Report
* No Activity - no report

Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
* Design Considerations: Dimensions
* ABS battery case forming tool #3.
* At Last: The awesomely powerful flat-plate electrode compactor mega-press!
* Squashed stainless steel mesh to replace "perforated nickel sheet" for pocket electrodes?
* Veegum, CMC gum, xanthan gum for electrode briquettes
* Semipermeable Membranes
* More on Manganese; Certain Rare Earths

The Lead-Acid Battery Project Progress Report
* Overview
* The plate cleaning reactions figured out...(?)
* October Quantifying Experiments
* Better Instructions for Renewing a lead-acid battery with sodium sulfate salt.
 * More & long term testing is needed to get hard figures & statistics.

TE News #20 - October 4th 2009

Highlights/Contents:
        September in Brief (summary)
Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Project Detailed Report
* The motor and controller are both finished and the designs are on the web.
* Motor Controller Making Manual updated - schematics.
* Regenerative braking ideas

Magnetic Torque Converter Project Report
* Project Recap
* Painfully slow progress towards a prototype - changing design ideas.
* Preliminary test... It Runs!

Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Detailed Report
* Cores with "Barium Titanate" - didn't work

Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
* Good Cellophane - YAY!
* Ion passing electrode separator sheet.
* Battery cases: Squaring round ABS tubes in the kitchen oven
* Battery making idea: start with charged electrode chemicals instead of discharged.
* Manganese negative electrode: Higher energy density and voltage than MH, Zn, Cd, Fe...
* Making Lithium Hydroxide electrolyte additive.

Lead-Acid Battery Project Detailed Report
* Tried epsom salt - yuk!
* Tried sodium sulfate - Higher voltage: ? Test battery is crap - leaks!
* Made sodium sulfate by adding sodium hydroxide to the battery's own sulfuric acid. (Cheaper!)
* pH Test Paper Famine!
* Tentative Instructions for "Renewing" a lead-acid battery with sodium sulfate salt or sodium hydroxide.
TE News #19  -  September 4th 2009

Highlights/Contents:
        August in Brief (summary)
Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Project Detailed Report
* A similar Hybridizing Concept!

Magnetic Torque Converter Project Report
* A completely new design. Still not built.

Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Detailed Report
* Some test cores made and tested - no positive results yet.

Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
* Lanthanum-Manganese battery.
* Sealed Cases, Pressurized Batteries, Higher Voltages: the continuing saga.
* Cellophane separator sheets: they're MADE broken! "Standard" plastic coatings clog cellophane's microporous structure.
* "Lead-Acid" batteries -- Switch the electrolyte; ditch the dangerous acid: 50% more energy per charge, triple the life span! Restore "worn out" batteries to better than "like new"! [Correction: some of these claims, copied fresh off the web at the time, are not true. In particular, the electrolyte becomes acidic and dangerous regardless of what's put in, and performance may be restored to "like new", but it's not "better than". Please see newsletter #21 for the real story and battery renewal instructions.]
Construction Manuals for making your own:
* Electric Hubcap Motor
* Turquoise Motor Controller
http://www.TurquoiseEnergy.com/
TE News #18 - August 3rd 2009

Highlights/Contents:
July in Brief (summary)
Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Project Detailed Report
* Oh boy, Motor Wire!
* Compact high current pugs & sockets: they exist! (Anderson "Power Pole" connectors)
* Improved Wiring/Equipment Box with New Motor Controller: Made, Tested, Working.
* Instructions for new motor controller/equipment box are now on line!

Magnetic Torque Converter Project
* A quick test

Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Started
* Some test cores made and tested - no positive results yet.

Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
* Manganese negative electrode - fell apart.
TE News #17 - July 2nd 2009

Highlights/Contents:
 June in Brief (summary)
Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Project Detailed Report
* Another Geared Wheel Motor - This motor looks very similar to Electric Hubcap
* New Motor Controller logic - circuit & PCB design is done, have circuit boards, ready to test
* Wiring Boxes with Motor Controllers: merchandisable product?

Magnetic Torque Converter Project
* Theory of operation defined

Microcrystalline Ceramic Motor Coil Cores Project Started
* Materials Purchased to make test cores for firing in a pottery kiln
* Test procedure worked out: Find the distance from which a "standard" size coil will make a magnet jump!

Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
* My paper "Some Principles of Aqueous Electrolyte Battery Design" is now on the web.
* A practical battery electrode design
* Made a working battery (at last!)
* Electrodes with monel powder appear to be a BIG advance to the state of the art!

TE News #16  -  June 3rd 2009

Highlights/Contents:
May in Brief (summary)
Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
* Torque Converter first test, spins car wheel May 20th. Movie.
* Torque Converter Induction Rotor design: An axial flux adaptation of NEMA "Type D"?
* EH Power (oops): consumes max 5400 W (7.2 HP)... Not 3600 W (4.8 HP).
* Copper Loss Calculations: inefficiencies at high currents. Better at lower drives.
* How Much Electric Power is Required?: a 4 HP, 50 Km/Hr, converted car.
* Reconfigured motor free-spins: lower current draw when not turning car wheel.
* Optical Commutator and simplified motor controller with MC33033 chip.
* Micro-Ferrite Ceramic Motor Coil Cores with Niobium?
Turquoise Battery Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
* Nickel - Iron battery experiment
* Some Battery Design Principles

A Great Electric Generator?
* It looks like the common lawn mower motor is the fabulous cheapo DC generator everybody wants but can't find for windplants, micro-hydro, etc.

Bipolar Division of Labour?


TE News #15 -  May 3rd 2009

Highlights/Contents:
April in Brief (summary)
* Preliminary manual for making Electric Hubcap/PMSM Motor Controller/Wiring Box is now on line.
* Electric Hubcaptm: runs well, but still doesn't have quite enough torque. Not to worry...
* Compact Magnetic Torque Converter should solve the problem.
* Entered Motor project in New Ventures BC awards competition
* Turquoise Energy Ltd. Gains Business Partner?
Electric Hubcaptm Car Drive Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
* Timing adjustment experiment shows best timing to be where I originally figured it should be.
* "Thin-line" plug & socket for heavy motor wires.
* Magnetic Torque Converter: torque leverage without gears.
* Car turn signal lights wiring: Too simple!
* Motor Controller Circuit Improvements
* Ignition Switch Power Relay - found one at last
Turquoise Battery Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
* Great glue found for battery cases: model airplane dope!


TE News #14 -  April 3rd 2009
March in Brief (summary)
* Much work on web site - more to do.
* Icy weather impedes car/outdoor work.
* First driving attempt ("Production Prototype" motor): Motor moves car but is not quite yet fit for street.
Competition !?!
* "TheWheel": electrically similar wheel motor makes many performance claims very similar to Electric Hubcap.
* they are even more optimistic about average direct-drive PMSM energy savings (50%) than my estimates (33%).
* bulkier, heavier, costlier & can't retrofit existing cars
* Their large model is running ultra-efficient hybrid busses.
Electric Hubcap Car Drive Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
* Calculations show current phase lag is a non-issue for EH 3-phase power timing.
* Evolving designs of terminal blocks for heavy wires.
* Slow, steady progess on small details/problems during March.
* First moves car March 26th.
* After all my figuring... timing adjustment seems needed.
Turquoise Battery Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
* A problem identified: cellophane needs chemical surface treatment for use as electrode separator sheet.
Electric Hubcap Motor Making Course/Workshop
* Hybridize your car (or other motor project).
* Workshop cost re-examined: $2750 all inclusive?
Innovative Product Developers Assoc.
* Meeting: Sunday, April 26th 2009, 1:30 PM, 820 Dunsmuir Rd, RSVP, 384 2626 (there's no article, just this notice.)

TE News #13  -  March 2nd 2009
 
February in Brief (overview... summary... the short version!)

INVITATION to Inventors and Innovative Product Developers
 * Owing to the absence of support for innovative product
   development in Canada & BC, we hope to create a
   professional innovators' association.
 * Exploratory First Meeting Sunday March 15th, 1:30 PM

Electric Hubcap Car Drive Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
 * New motor spins wheel, tests look good.
 * But lack of funds eventuates in further delay of road testing.

Turquoise Battery Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
 * Several electrodes sent to U of Stockholm for evaluation


TE News #12  -  February 9 2009

 
    January in Brief (overview... summary... the short version!)
        * or, this TOC is the Super Short version...

    Electric Hubcap Car Drive Project, Longwinded Detailed Report

        * Electric Hubcaptm is (today) ready to test


    Turquoise Battery Project, Very Longwinded Detailed Report

        * Interesting Chemistries Emerge
        * University Battery Researcher to run performance tests and evaluate my Electrodes
TE News #11  -  January 2nd 2009
 
    December in Brief (overview... summary... the short version!)
        * or, this TOC is the Super Short version...
        * December was a slow month for the energy projects.

    Electric Hubcap Car Drive Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
        * Cold weather, flu delays production model prototype tests.

    Turquoise Battery Project, Longwinded Detailed Report
        * To get much lower resistance, more current: compress powders.
           (nothing established battery makers didn't already know!)
    Electric Hubcap Motor Making Course/Workshop: Hybridize your car (or other relevant motor project)!
        * Workshops are on hold pending motor road tests - (Hopefully coming this spring)
TE News #10 - December 3rd 2008
 
    November in Brief
        (overview... summary... the short version!)
        * or, this TOC is the Super Short version...


   "Secret" Federal SDTC Program: Filling the Funding Gap!

        * Funding for developing clean technologies


    Electric Hubcap Motor Making Course/Workshop: Hybridize your car (or other relevant motor project)!

        * Cheaper, easier with only two motors needed?
        * starts, um... Feb? March?


    Electric Hubcap Motor "Kit": Marketing Idea

        * Sell manuals and parts


    Electric Hubcap Car Drive Project, Very Longwinded Detailed Report

        * Double power "production model" motor
            - probably just 2 motors needed per car instead of 4!
            - made from off-the-shelf automotive parts!


    Turquoise Battery Project, Very Longwinded Detailed Report

        * Effective Sealed Battery Housings:
            - plumbing pipes & rubber test tube stoppers!
        * Convoluted battery chemistry... experiments continue.
        * Recent patents disclose battery work paralleling mine.



 TE news #9 - November 1 2008
The Month in Brief (overview... summary... the short version!)
   Or, here's the Super Short version:
    * Electric Hubcap Motor Moves Car!
    * Batteries start to Charge!
    * Promising New Battery Chemicals!
BC's Goals? - an editorial comment
Proposed First Electric Hubcap Motor Making Class/Workshop
    (...January?)
Electric Hubcap Car Drive Project, Long, Detailed Report
Turquoise Battery Project, Long, Detailed Report

TE News #8 - October 6 2008
The Month in Brief
** Classes/Workshops: Battery & Electric Hubcap Motor Making
Electric Hubcap Project Detailed Report
    rewiring; tests; new motor controller; tests
Turquoise Battery Project Detailed Report
    a bit of progress; Lead-acid: 1/4 cost of gasoline

TE News #7 - Sept 3 2008
Electric Hubcaptm Car Motor: a recap
Rerevised Motor Controller - the "Opto-electronic commutator"
Submarine Motors Project?
Who Killed the Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery? - and a battery comparison

TE news #6 - August 4 2008
Electric Hubcaptm Drive Motor Changes - cooling & mounting mods
Revised Turquoise Motor Controller
Cross Section of the Turquoise Batterytm (as currently envisioned)

TE news #5 - July 5 2008

Electric HubcapTM Drive Motor - successful spin & car move tests
Turquoise Motor Controller - successful motor driving tests
Turquoise BatteryTM
Car Conversion Economics
How is that Possible?

TE news #4 - June 6 2008

Technology Implementation Editorial [& democratic company ideas]
The Electric HubcapTM Drive Motor
Turquoise Motor Controller
Turquoise BatteryTM
Site C Peace River Hydro versus Vancouver Island Wave Power

TE news #3 - May 1 2008

Technology Exploitation
The Electric HubcapTM Drive Motor
Turquoise Motor Controller
Turquoise BatteryTM
The Wave Power Machine

TE news #2 - April 6 2008

The Electric HubcapTM Electric Car Motor

 The Turquoise Motor Controller

The Turquoise Battery Ni-MH car battery

Commercialization of the Products

TE news #1 - March 6 2008

Wave Power

MPMG

Batteries [?]

<>
http://www.TurquoiseEnergy.com

Victoria BC