Free Energy Transformer 1902: The Forgotten Invention - A Self-Exciting Generator That Defied Industrial Norms
The Figuera Transformer, patented in 1908 by Clemente Figuera and represented by Constantino de Buforn, proposed a revolutionary new way to generate electricity without mechanical motion. Instead of rotating coils inside a magnetic field (as in traditional dynamos), Figuera’s design relied on the principle that varying the strength of a magnetic field across stationary coils could induce current. This concept, grounded in Faraday’s law of induction, aimed to eliminate the need for moving parts, reducing friction, wear, and energy input. It introduced a generator that could potentially run indefinitely after a brief external excitation, using a self-sustaining loop to power itself.
At the heart of the machine were two fixed sets of electromagnets (N and S) and a stationary induced circuit placed between them. A rotating brush powered by a small motor passed current through a variable resistance network, modulating the magnetic intensity of the two magnet sets in a push-pull fashion. As one set's magnetization increased, the other decreased, creating continuous magnetic variation around the induced coils. This fluctuation induced current just like in a moving generator, but without any physical movement. A portion of the generated current was fed back to keep the system energized, making it self-exciting and eliminating the need for external fuel or ongoing energy input.
The declared advantages were profound and ahead of their time: no fuel, no motion, no noise, minimal maintenance, and unlimited operational lifespan. Figuera's generator was claimed to deliver useful electrical output - whether for light, heat, or power - entirely from field manipulation, making it not only efficient but scalable for industrial use. Although rooted in conventional electromagnetic principles, its application was entirely novel. The invention’s industrial implications were so significant that a 20-year patent was filed to cover all future machines based on this principle, regardless of design variations. Despite its bold promise, the Figuera generator remains largely forgotten - a piece of lost technology with potential relevance in the modern search for overunity and zero-fuel energy systems.
Free Energy through Dielectric Field Engineering of the Ether: Clemente Figuera’s Infinite Energy Generator (video):
Clemente Figuera of the Canary Islands died in 1908. He was a highly respected individual, an Engineer and University Professor. He was awarded several patents and was known to Nikola Tesla. Figuera’s design is very simple in outline. He has avoided the performance-killing Lenz Law magnetic feedback by splitting a transformer into three parts. Two parts form the primary winding and are shown on the left and on the right. The third part is the secondary winding which is located in the centre. Because of the splitting of the primary into two parts, Lenz’s Law has been abolished for this design, allowing a spectacular performance where the current drawn from the secondary winding has no effect on the current flowing in the two halves of the primary winding. There is also, no back-EMF as current flows continuously in both halves of the primary winding. The very clever method used by Clemente makes the strength of the current in the two halves of the primary to oscillate with one side repeatedly having first much more current and then far less current than the other half. This generates alternating current in the secondary, current which can be drawn off and used for useful work, powering lights, heaters, motors, etc. The following information comes from a man who wishes to remain anonymous. On 30th October 2012, he made the following comments about his repair to a Figuera patent which was missing some of the content. He says:
I heard of Clemente Figuera for the first time from one of the Tesla articles. In 1902 the Daily Mail announced that Mr. Figueras (with an “s”), a Forestry Engineer in the Canary Islands, and for many years Professor of Physics at St. Augustine’s College, Las Palmas, had invented a generator which required no fuel. The newspaper article says that “He claims to have invented a generator which can collect the electric fluid, to be able to store it and apply it to infinite purposes, for instance, in connection with shops, railways and manufacturers. He will not give the key to his invention, but declares that the only extraordinary point about it is that it has taken so long to discover a simple scientific fact. Señor Figueras has constructed a rough apparatus by which, in spite of it’s small size and it’s defects, he obtains 550 volts, which he utilises in his own house for lighting purposes and for driving a 20 horse-power motor. Señor Figueras is shortly coming to London, not with models or sketches, but with a working apparatus. His inventions comprise a generator, a motor, and a sort of governor or regulator, and the whole apparatus is so simple that a child could work it.” [Taken from “Perpetual Motion – A History of an Obsession”].
I was very eager to read any information about Mr Figuera's work and the operation of his ‘Infinite Energy Machine’. It looks very suspicious that the pages describing the most important part of the machine have been ‘lost’. I then decided to just figure this machine out for myself.
Please note that the rotating contact brush needs to be a “Make Before Break” type. That is, it needs to bridge across the gap between adjacent stator contact strips so that there is no sparking due to the current flow being interrupted.
According to Mr. Figuera, an over-unity transformer can be built without using permanent magnets, and based on a very simple concept. Figuera’s generator consists of three rows of electromagnets, where each row is connected in series. The rows of “S” and “N” electromagnets function as the primary of the transformer, while the row of “y” electromagnets, located in the centre, functions as the secondary. The “S” and “N” stand for South and North poles, respectively. The apparatus includes a resistor “R” having multiple taps connected to a type of distributor formed by a cylinder “G” and brush “O”. The brush “O” rotates inside the cylinder “G” changing the connection to the resistor taps. When the brush “O” rotates around the eight taps, it generates two stepped half-cycle sine waves which are 90° out of phase with each other. I suggest that Fig.15 is the wiring diagram as originally disclosed by Mr. Figuera in his patents. The most significant component of the system is the arrangement of the electromagnets shown in section A-A of figure 14. Keep in mind that each electromagnet shown in figure 15 corresponds to a row of seven electromagnets connected in series as shown in figure 14. In addition, I recommend that when building this apparatus, at least for the first implementation, that you try to replicate all of the details of the device shown in the patent. For example, figure 14 shows the top area of the “S” and “N” electromagnets being approximately equal to twice the top area of the “y” electromagnets.
The magnetic interaction of the “S”, “N”, and “y” electromagnets is shown in Fig.16 to Fig.20. Figure 16 illustrates the situation when the brush “O” is at position 1. Here, the current Ips and magnetic field Bps are at their maximum, while the current Ipn and magnetic field Bpn are at their minimum values. When the secondary current Isy starts flowing, the “y” coils generate a magnetic field Bsy which opposes the magnetic field Bps in accordance with Lenz’s law. As a consequence, a South pole is created at the top of the “y” electromagnet and a North pole at the bottom. Because magnets of the same polarity repel and opposite polarities attract, it is likely that some of the induced magnetic field Bsy2 is diverted through the iron core of the “N” electromagnet, which represents a lower reluctance path. And, if the induced magnetic field Bsy can be rerouted so as to avoid opposing the magnetic field Bps which generates it, then, it might be possible to have an over-unity transformer
Figure 19 shows the situation when sliding contact “O” is at position 6. The primary current Ips and the primary magnetic field Bps are still decreasing in magnitude while the magnitude of the primary current Ipn and the magnetic field Bpn are increasing. The primary current Ips (and Bps) is now of lower magnitude than primary current Ipn (and Bpn). Because the magnetic field Bpn of the “N” electromagnets is stronger than the magnetic field Bps of the “S” electromagnets, the polarity of the induced voltage Vsy, current Isy, and magnetic field Bsy are reversed in accordance with Lenz’s law. In this situation, the secondary electromagnets “y” present the north poles at the top and the south poles at the bottom making the “y” and “N” electromagnets to repel and the “y” and “S” to attract. Because of the now higher reluctance of the “N” electromagnets and lower reluctance of the “S” electromagnets, it is expected that part of the induced magnetic field Bsy will couple with the “S” electromagnets, and therefore, the effect of Lenz’s law is minimised.
※ Transistorized snap-off tech harnesses energy from dielectric inertia.
While it is definitely possible to construct each of the cores of the electromagnets from a solid block of iron, doing that will certainly allow eddy currents to generate heat in the cores, wasting useful energy in the process. It would be advisable therefore, to use the standard manufacturing method of assembling each core from a number of thin iron pieces, each separated from it’s neighbour by a thin layer of insulating material. These components are available from companies which manufacture transformers.
[ Information discovered after the text was written indicates that Figuera specifically says not to use laminated cores ]
I have to agree wholeheartedly with the anonymous contributor when he recommends that any attempted replications stay as close to the arrangement shown in the patent drawing, and have seven separate sets of three electromagnets. However, for subsequent experiments, a somewhat easier construction with just one set of electromagnets might be tried, making the electromagnets equal in length to the seven separate units:
Figure 15 shows two electromagnets connected at the top to the battery Minus and at the bottom to the battery Plus. But, one is marked with a North pole at the top and the other with a South pole at the top, so perhaps some explanation would be helpful. If the coils are connected that way, then one will have to be wound in a clockwise (“CW”) direction and the other in a counter-clockwise (“CCW”) direction:
Or the alternative is to have all of the electromagnets wound in the same way, and adjust the connections:
and in it, he short-circuits the secondary winding, showing that the input power is totally unaffected by the current draw from the secondary.
He shows some very interesting oscilloscope shots:
Please bear in mind that if the electromagnets are made from iron, whether laminated or not, that iron restricts the frequency, probably to 500 Hz or less, and so it is necessary to keep the frequency that low if using a solid-state circuit to drive the transformer. For 60 Hz output with mechanical switching, requires the motor to run at 3,600 rpm which is fairly fast although definitely achievable. Also, the output power will be limited by the current handling capacity of the wire in the secondary winding. The first page of the Appendix shows the current capacities for the standard AWG and swg wire sizes.
Because this Figuera design is so important, being low-voltage, high power and not needing tuning I have recently been asked to explain it in greater detail and suggest some component values for people starting to experiment with it. I am not an electronics expert, and so my suggestions need to be taken as just that, namely, suggestions for a possible starting point for experimentation.
The first point is that the two halves of the primary winding of the transformer become electromagnets when current flows through their windings. The strength of an electromagnet increases as the current flow increases. Large current: strong magnet. Small current: weak magnet.
Clemente Figuera’s circuit is arranged so that the current through the windings is made to vary so that when one magnet is strong, the other one is weak. It works like this:
When the switching changes and the battery is connected to point “1” in the previous diagrams, we get this arrangement:
If we switched between these two positions, we would get a square wave style of operation, but Clemente did not do that. Instead, he split the resistor into seven parts (if Fig.14 is drawn correctly, one part having only half the resistance of the other parts). This makes the arrangement like this:
When the battery negative “N” is connected to point “3”, then the current flow through electromagnet “B” is hindered by resistor R1 and resistor R2, but the current flow through electromagnet “A” is hindered by resistors R3 and R4 and R5 and R6 and R7, which together, have a far higher resistance than resistors R1 and R2. This makes the current flow through electromagnet “B” still greater than the current flow through electromagnet “A”.
When the battery negative “N” is connected to point “4”, then the current flow through electromagnet “B” is hindered by resistors R1, R2 and R3, and the current flow through electromagnet “A” is hindered by resistors R4, R5, R6 and R7, which together, have a higher resistance than resistors R1, R2 and R3. This makes the current flow through electromagnet “B” somewhat greater than the current flow through electromagnet “A” (nearly a balanced flow as resistor R7 is only half the value of each of the other resistors.
When the battery negative “N” is connected to point “5”, then the current flow through electromagnet “B” is hindered by resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4, while the current flow through electromagnet “A” is hindered by resistors R5, R6 and R7, which together, now have a lower resistance than resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4. This makes the current flow through electromagnet “B” somewhat less than the current flow through electromagnet “A”.
When the battery negative “N” is connected to point “6”, then the current flow through electromagnet “B” is hindered by resistors R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5, while the current flow through electromagnet “A” is hindered by resistors R6 and R7, which together, now have a much lower resistance than resistors R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5. This makes the current flow through electromagnet “B” much less than the current flow through electromagnet “A”.
When the battery negative “N” is connected to point “7”, then the current flow through electromagnet “B” is hindered by resistors R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6, while the current flow through electromagnet “A” is hindered by resistor R7, which has a very much lower resistance than resistors R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 together. This makes the current flow through electromagnet “B” very much less than the current flow through electromagnet “A”.
Clemente has arranged the battery switching sequence to be to points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, repeating over and over again. This makes the connections to points 1 and 8 to be twice as long compared to the connection times for the intermediate points, giving a sine-wave shape rather than a sawtooth shape.
There is current flow through both electromagnets at all times. The current flow is never broken although, as you can see, the intensity of the current flow varies all the time with each electromagnet getting stronger than the other one repeatedly.
The mechanical switching used by Clemente will work perfectly well, although there will be motor noise and wear on the switch contacts. A solid state version will be silent, more reliable and much longer lasting. There are many different way to build most electronic circuits and each builder will have his own favourite way of constructing the circuit. This Figuera circuit does not specify the battery voltage and so some people will want to use a twelve volt battery. As many FET transistors need as much as ten volts in order to switch on properly, a twelve volt supply is probably a little low for them, and so I suggest using the older bipolar transistors.
As the transistor has to carry the current which passes through the electromagnets, it needs to be able to handle considerable current flow. The very common 2N3055 transistor can do that (as can many other suitable transistors). The switching rate is very, very slow for a transistor and so speed is not an issue. The voltage is very low, and so that is not an issue either and so the 2N3055 transistor is definitely a possible choice.
In common with most high-power transistors, the current gain is low being between 20 and 30 typically. That means that to switch it on properly, a current of one twentieth of the switched current has to be fed into the base of the transistor. That base current is too high to be convenient, so we can raise the transistor gain to around 6000 by adding in a low-power transistor such as the 2N2222 transistor. The two transistors are connected together in a configuration called a ‘Darlington Pair’ which looks like this:
The capacitor “C” in the above circuit diagram will probably not be needed. The switching needs to maintain a constant current flow through both electromagnets. I would expect the 4017 chip switching to be fast enough to allow this to happen. If that proves not to be the case, then a small capacitor (probably 100nF or less) can delay the switch-off of the transistors just long enough to allow the next transistor in the sequence to be switched on to provide the required ‘Make-Before-Break’ switching.
As indicated in the table above, the 4017 pins which feed the transistor pairs through the 1N4001 (or similar) diodes are:
IC1 pin 3 and IC2 pin 5 for resistor connection point 1.
IC1 pin 2 and IC2 pin 1 for resistor connection point 2.
IC1 pin 4 and IC2 pin 10 for resistor connection point 3.
IC1 pin 7 and IC2 pin 7 for resistor connection point 4.
IC1 pin 10 and IC2 pin 4 for resistor connection point 5.
IC1 pin 1 and IC2 pin 2 for resistor connection point 6.
IC1 pin 5 and IC2 pin 3 for resistor connection point 7.
IC1 pin 6 and IC1 pin 9 for resistor connection point 8.
This Figuera design is very attractive as it uses only simple, readily available materials, low voltage and does not require difficult tuning. It also has the potential to be self-powered if part of the output is used to provide a voltage-stabilized power supply for the input power and the remaining output power can be kilowatts if the wire diameters chosen can carry that much current.
※ Transistorized snap-off tech harnesses energy from dielectric inertia.
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