Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=122597865
See my latest experiments and behind-the-scenes footage!
Let's suck our way to generating electricity using Lego! In this video, we experiment with a few different 'Lego Vacuum Engines', and use a powerful turbine engine to drive a Lego generator made of large neodymium magnets and 3 coils of copper wire. This generator outputs a 3 phase signal, giving us a nice smooth signal at quite a high voltage. The current is limited, but this gives me great hope for an upgraded version with beefier coils!
Now it's not lost on me that we're using a 620 watt hoover to generate only a small amount of power. But this sure has been a fun experiment using a vacuum to drive our turbine, and then using this to drive our generator.
"Yo bro can you charge my phone?" "Sure let me just get my vacuum."
😂
Lol
charging phone using lego ? i gotta get some lego like right now
@@JamiesBrickJamsyoo I have an idea for a continuation title for dis. -sucks dick
You must say "Full Bridge Rectifier" more! We must spawn Electroboom
Agreed
Definitely - perhaps one day we'll be graced with his presence 😊
@@JamiesBrickJams i wish you meet him
No, don’t we don’t need him going. crazy again.
As electroboom always says ThefullBrigerectifi and there is no free energy
I'm happy to see that I'm not alone in using my tongue to measure voltage.
Best measuring method out there for lower voltages 😋
Human Voltmeter
Same but I almost died
I used my fingers to know if electric model train tracks are conducive.
@@JamiesBrickJamsvoltage gives a delicious taste 😋😋. No need for sambal or any spice. Voltage is spicy enough
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="392">6:32</a> while 10000 RPM is of course a ridiculously high speed, the faster the spinning is, the higher the flux will be. And as the flux is directly proportional to the induction voltage, the higher your RPM is the more voltage you will generate. Anyways, love to see these physics applied in lego builds, it's really cool!
Yeah I'm almost tempted to see just how fast it could spin if I connected the magnets directly to the turbine without any gear reduction. But I'd be pretty worried about something flying off or creating a speed wobble. Perhaps in a future experiment!
but vaccum engines have less torque than a nitro engine
@@JamiesBrickJamsdo it, no balls
@@sammyboy2007 on it already 😉
@@JamiesBrickJams eeyyy my man
Awesome! I appreciate that you’re getting into lego air-flow based things now! Both vacuum engines and pneumatic engines.
ayy hi there
Cheers! I hadn't messed around with vacuums until now, but it was a lot of fun, so will definitely explore this a little more 😉
Bros fr in here nice
Most people who are into Lego vacuum engines lubricate their axles and turbine blades with olive oil to achieve even higher RPM. Veggie oil works too :)
I considered that, but didn't want to get my hands all oily 😅 Surprisingly, there wasn't much wear and tear even after running this engine quite a bit. But for a future experiment I'll consider some oil to see how far we can push it!
@@JamiesBrickJams A Q-Tip / cotton swab works pretty well and keeps your hands pretty clean. Cheers!
@@JamiesBrickJams You should honestly use something like silicone grease or oil instead. Vegetable oils tend to oxidize and are hygroscopic, which means they will gum up and actually increase friction after a while.
Are you saying that olive oil is not a veggie oil? 😂
@@SonoIlFactotum They are different I dunno what you are on about ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
surprised this guy does not have more than 100k. You definitely deserve more than 100k for your work.
Aw well appreciate your kind words ☺️ Maybe one day!
Views or subs?
Subs
March 2025: This Lego Jet Engine Blows!
🤔
@@JamiesBrickJams yo what happens if you put oil at the spinny spinny turbines, does it get faster?
@@UnderpaidGuardD9 I'd imagine using some lubricant would make it run just a little faster. Probably not too much though. I believe lubricant would make a bigger difference with a piston engine
@@JamiesBrickJams future video idea?
i like how it sounds like a 4 cylinder sportbike
A piston vacumm engine sounds better i think
Want alot of power? Make a lego vacuum v12 engine!
Powered by 4 vacuums!
@@JamiesBrickJams YES!
Actually a vaccuum v12 will be far weaker than even a vaccuum 1 cylinder. The reason is because the vaccuum will need to spend more power to move 12 entire pistons instead of just 1. The axle will also have more rotational inerta in the v12.
@@LemonJuice_ Exactly
What about 12 vacuums 👀
Btw hetty is so cute lollll😂
I agree, she's the best! I refuse to upgrade her
you should design a clutch for the hand crank thing attached to the red door, it should act like an E-Stop where the door closes and the engine stops
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="660">11:00</a> the loudest lab bench power supply
when i relized you ran those 3 12 volts on just one coil you kinda blew my mind. pretty awesome. now make one for a small steam of water
Slightly new here but just want to say that I love your work. Nothing more nothing less. I truly enjoy your content Keep your little light shining.
What a lovely comment, thanks so much for that, and for the encouragement! 😊
This is such a cool and interesting hobby. I'd love to get my hands on a collection of technic.
Thx for the videos! You inspired me to make a tiny Lego speaker because you made it look so easy.
Aw that's amazing, and I'm so happy to hear that! All I really want is for folks like you to take ideas from these vids to make your own inventions ♥️ Hope your speaker works well!
@@JamiesBrickJams It does! Thx again
Cool! I’d love to see more vacuum based projects in the future
Thanks! I'm pretty new to vacuum engines, but I had a lot of fun, so will definitely be experimenting more here 😉
You never fail to impress me… keep up the great work!
Damn, appreciate the compliment, thanks a lot! 🙏
@@JamiesBrickJams Like damn, I never thought these things were possible with Lego! Not only this, but your video ideas are very original, captivating, and just completely awesome. Thank you man. Been subscribed for a very long time.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="45">0:45</a> the LED actually flashes TWICE per passing of the magnet, once when the coil approaches, an extremely short interrupt at the center as everything is balanced out, then once more when it moves away.
lol no, when the magnet moves away from the coil, the output voltage has the polarity reversed, and since LEDs require the right polarity, they only blink once per pass
You plug the vacuum into the wall, then plug the vacuum into a generator, then plug the generator into a light. It's complicating things a bit, isn't it? Lol, amazing work. Your channel is really cool! Keep it up.
Thanks a lot! And yes, it's really ridiculous - not practical at all 😅 But a very fun experiment
mAN just casually electrocutes himself testing a lego turbine. mad. love the video
Can you please make sure that the final generator can power the vacuum cleaner? That would be nice.
This guy is gonna set the record for the fastest lego jet plane one day I like how you combine lego and electric components to make such creations, keep up with the good work!
A man can dream 😂 And thanks a lot for the encouragement!
hey jamie, i’ve almost been building these engines for a year on tiktok, but i’d recommend trying to port the housing a little more to optimize airflow, and definitely lube it (veg oil works fine, but i prefer wd-40 if you don’t care abt maybe damaging bricks more). I think it would also be cool to add a supercharger on top for fun (contact me if you’d like any help on that). Have a good one
Now connect it to something like a pi pico or a ti-84 and play doom, to say that you ran doom on a vacuum cleaner with lego
Haha that's actually a great idea 😂
This is a brilliant way to show in a a practical experiment how electricity can be produced just by using airflow to rotate the magnet core.
Thanks 😁 It's obviously totally impractical but a fun experiment nonetheless!
If you want a vacuum turbine to perform well, you have to let the inlet be light and barely any friction in the inlet because it will let the engine run at its best rpm while having the inlet at a certain point where the engine likes it
So you're using electricity... to power a vacuum... to generate electricity. Love it!
Haha yeah this is totally ridiculous and impractical. But fun ☺️
A thought, If you enclose the generator portion between the vacuum and the vacuum driven turbine, it could perhaps reduce the air pressure such that the generator could be easier to drive. Maybe even house the generator within the body of the vacuum.
Nice to see the vacuum to phone adapter is going well 😂
😂 Absolute nightmare bringing this charger on the plane
@@JamiesBrickJams and if you do you can use the toilet to power it 😂
@@JamiesBrickJams and if you do you can use the suction from the toilet to power it 😂
WoW that was something super interesting!
Aw thanks 😁
awesome build
Thanks! 😊
i love this series of making generators, please make a hydroelectric generator
Water power is on the agenda 😉 And thanks!
Very cool! I've wanted to build a vacuum turbine for a while, although at the moment I have got myself a vacuum mill engine (which is basically just a steam engine with a very simple valve gear - used in old mills & factories, hence the name!). It runs quite well with a large flywheel to keep it turning over. Not sure if it's able to achieve the same results you have with the turbine lol.
Woah that's awesome! What a cool idea for a Lego build 😱
While i do love this ingenuity , i just had to comment on one thing. I dont know i f you have an oscilloscope, but i would recommend that you get one to se the wave signal of your coil. because those coils are extremely inefficient. And since you talked about efficiency regarding the vacuum turbine, i would like to think that machine efficiency would also be equally important. While the magnet traverses over the coil, enveloping the coil, there is no induction at all. One would like to think that peak voltage would be at that point, but due to the coil geometry that is not the case. I would assume that the peak voltage positive is when the permanent magnet is introducing the magnetic field in where the edge of the magnet is aligned with the center of your circular core. and a new peak when the magnet is about to leave the coil. The coil in it self introduces harsh harmonic distortion which in turn creates huge losses. If you are going to iterate on this design, i would invite you to check out how coils are assembled in the stators, aligned perpendicular with the magnet, linear, non-circular. A bit difficult to explain, but check out for example lesics. Anywas, a really good proof of concept. i imagine, keeping your coil urn, id guess you would acheive atleast 60% efficiency if you redesign it. And that might be a understatement.
im so hyped for the video i love your content
Thanks a lot! 😊
i think you should make an actual turbine with steam sometime! that would be pretty cool imo
Epic video, as always. ;)
Wow ! Now, you just need to create a screen, and you have build a complete computer !
A Lego computer would be quite the spectacle 😄
Complete with Lego mouse and keyboard 🤯🤯🤯
@@Sivaramachandran971 The keyboard already exist, it's just a little modification of the organ.
5.5F is absurd! awesome vid
Yeah I love those little things! They're great at pretending to be a USB source for a short while for low powered things. And a bank of 20 of them is actually quite useful at times
Lol thanks for making a video about it. Maybe i can fit it on some of my lego technic builds that the original designs didn't seem to do very well with.
Awesome, hope it works out - best of luck! 😁
Very awesome and inspirational design! You think a second prototype can be made more efficient and compact?
Absolutely! And thanks 😁 The generator portion is extremely inefficient, so this is likely the first thing to improve. But the vacuum engine too could see some significant upgrades. Will work on this over time 😉
This is so cool! i love it
Aw appreciate it, thanks! 🙏
Don't have the budget to patronize anyone (can barely make ends meet) but I remain a faithful humble subscriber. Keep doing cool stuff. One thing I would like to see is a Lego variable capacitor, it ought to work if you put aluminium foil on one side of the plate?
Aw well I just really appreciate your support and comment! ☺️ That's a really interesting idea about a variable capacitor. I guess in theory that's pretty doable. Will have a think about possible applications. Thanks a lot!
You should put more copper around the magnets
The pun on the video title is just insane
That's basically a backwards vacuum cleaner that turns the output vacuum of a regular vacuum cleaner back into electricity the same way it was created lol.
Haha yeah, kinda! It's a pretty silly and inefficient way of turning a 620 watts into (probably) sub-10 watts 😅
Fun and interesting, as it's really surprising just how much power can be drawn from just atmosphere pressure, if using a vacuum to direct it. But; I find the fact the word 'efficiency' is abandoned, yet still used early on incredibly amusing; because using a mains powered vacuum cleaner as the source of for this generator renders all efficiency pretty much void the second it's turned on.
Haha you're totally right, this is really just an absurdly inefficient and over-engineered transformer. Turning a 620 watt vacuum cleaner into only a few watts is pretty silly 😅 But a fun experiment, and I like getting an idea from these generator experiments to benchmark their performance. I'm confident there are better configurations of this vacuum generator which would be much more performant. The engine is good (could be a bit better), but the generator could be much better. Will work on it 😉
@JamiesBrickJams Well, if you like the ridiculously redundant... Did you consider 'supercharging' your vacuum? As in use a little positive pressure on the inlet.
Oooh I did not, that's a cool idea! Might have to tinker with that a bit - cheers for the suggestion
Dude! you are so underrated
Ha thanks a lot man, appreciate it 😁
i love your content soooooo much!!!!
Aw thanks a lot! ☺️🙏
Nice job
Thanks 🙏😄
Most vacuum cleaners also have an output, where air from the vacuum is brought out of the vacuum cleaner. Why not connect a hose to the output of the vacuum cleaner, and use on the input vent of the generator? Would it make more power now that are is not just being drawn in, but forced in? Have vacuum on one side of the fan, and air on the other side still, Add a flap to the air side so you can still control the power. Might even use a bigger fan to spin it, so you have much more torque and power.
Bro dropped another banger🔥🔥🔥🔥
Damn thanks so much! 😁🙏
Jamie's Brick Jams has got a brand new notified subscriber right now in me. My first viewing on this channel has been great fun! KZhead can learn a lesson from this Channel on the "generating" of an honest Thumbnail that practically guarantees a "Like" simply for its truth in advertising alone. Being lied to makes for a shaky first impression and little chance for a subscription. KZhead should ask the Creator if the Thumbnail represents honestly what's in the video, if not KZhead should place a "Fake Thumbnail" watermark over that video's thumbnail. Power to the People.
Aw well thanks so much for your lovely comment! It can be challenging striking a balance between intrigue and honest representation of the content. Cheers for joining, and appreciate your comment 😁
I`m subscribing, this is very cool
Ayy cheers for joining 😁
You should be able to get an estimate of how much power your phone is taking by using an app to measure power going into the battery, and having it take measurements with the screen off so you can be sure that almost all of what your phone takes is in fact going into the battery. The only issue is that I'm not aware of an app that records historical power measurements. The closest I'm aware of is Battery Guru, which reports instantaneous power (which you can only actually see with the screen on), but only records historical current (which doesn't tell you much beyond a qualitative fast/slow without also knowing the battery voltage). I'm sure an app that does the right thing is possible though.
me reading the title: well i sure hope it does!
Try this with a lego vacuum piston engine, I've built ones before and the 1 cylinder has high rpms and decent torque with a good flywheel.
That's an awesome idea, it's definitely on my list as I'm pretty new to vacuum engines, but they look fun as hell!
They sure are, but something about the actual piston engines is that the valve timing has to be 90° left or right from the piston. Some other engines i made it has a ohc, which then I had to use a chain for it. Awesome video btw 👍
Vacuum turbines are more efficient and have a higher power output though.
Yeah I just assumed a turbine engine will be more efficient overall. But I do love the mechanical sound and functioning of a piston. They demonstrate concepts well too. So will still give it a try!
Vacuum turbines are fast but have little torque. Piston engines are pretty much the same. But definitely more torque
If you put a metal rod inside of the coils, they will actually produce more electricity than before.
Tip: and it may sound ridiculous with plastic but use a lubricant for a smoother use and less wear on the lego
Cheers! I thought of using some olive oil but decided to keep my hands clean. Might try it for a future version though 👌
Improvement idea: try building the turbo out of those yellow circle pieces it will be much more efficient
In vaccuum engines, turbos actually decrease the preformance of the engine. Thats because the vacccuum will have to use up more power to spin up the turbo along with the engine itself which will decrease power.
Guess we're gonna have to use multiple vacuums 😎
@@JamiesBrickJams 😎😎😎
Are there low power vacuum cleaners you can use? If so can you turn this into an perpetual motion machine that actually produces power to supply itself?
Something you can do to get your vacuum cleaner my tightly fit onto the wall of the entry is putting one of those rubber LEGO tires onto it for a rubber seal, I've seen people do it on the world records for highest RPM LEGO vacuum turbine. Edit: Nevermind, you already did that lol.
Haha yeah it does make quite a difference
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="806">13:26</a> bro was proving size doesn't matter
It's all about the speed and how violently you can spin it 👀
great channel! I subbed
Appreciate it, and cheers for joining 😁
Hi Jamie, could i ask if u send the link if where u have bought the copper wire used in the video please? Thanks!❤
Sure! I just get most of my bits and bobs on Amazon. Here's the link to the wire: BNTECHGO 24 AWG Magnet Wire - Enameled Copper Wire - Enameled Magnet Winding Wire - 1.0 lb - 0.0197" Diameter 1 Spool Coil Red Temperature Rating 155℃ Widely Used for Transformers Inductors amzn.eu/d/jip4jls
Thank you!!!!!! I rlly appreciate it!!!!!❤
Use gears to make the Generator rotor spin faster and Use Oil and mechanical Lubrication to prevent friction
For this generator I actually need the opposite - less speed, more torque. Because it easily reaches over 20 volts at this speed, it'd be more useful to get more torque at a 3rd of that speed to power usb devices with more current. Lubricant could be a good upgrade for a future version though!
@@JamiesBrickJams i mean if I want to make a Very Fast Generator all you need is WD‐40 to use lubricant to make it not get damaged while its spooling up, if you want Torque And speed the gear ratios can help
While this more or less is a demonstration, you could probably use this generator with a vacuum generated by falling water! I don’t know any of the logistics, but seeing as it was a relatively low power setting and vacuum, running this off a small waterfall seems like a viable idea.
Driving something similar with water is definitely on my agenda, good thinking! I also love the idea of driving it by vacuum created by the flow of water through a pipe. Thanks for the suggestion 😁
Try doing flat discs together, like a tesla turbine. Would be a cool experiment to compete with the normal turbine
For sure, I've actually been tinkering with a Tesla turbine for a while. It's unfortunately really difficult with existing Lego pieces, so I may have to resort to 3d printing for the flat blades
@@JamiesBrickJams I'd suggest using thin steel or aluminum discs with a .5mm thickness if you can, they are much more resistant to speed, but it can be a bit troubling to cut out the holes. Also, I wouldn't worry so much about cheating/not using lego pieces, the best designs will only be possible with at least a little bit of this type of cheating
"thinking quickly, macguyver produces a 15 volt generator using nothing but legos, a vacuum, and a 120 volt power supply"
😂 The hard part is making that 620 watt monster like 1% efficient!
this is so cool
Thanks a lot! 🙏
Could you try building a windmil that generats power when it spins in the air
Its glorious.
Ha thanks a lot ☺️
Excellent solution. I think Lego Technic with electric parts would like to support for learning at teaching for physic or experiencing for electric technology. Thank you for saving my experience. I want to enroll for electric technology. 😊👍 i think i need to enroll for understanding how does it work with energy power like vacuum or wind power and how does it work if you add a chargable battery like at car without loading energy. If wind comes then wind boosts then generates more energies to battery? ⚡️
you can push 9 volts into your phone. most newer phones charge at 9 volts with usb pd. they keep the voltage at 9 volts but the phone will manage how many amps it takes based on the temperature and if the screen is on etc
You need a voltage regulator. Phones don't play well with voltage spikes.
@@harms123 nahhh wont be that much of an issue its fine
Would like to see an ammeter added. Watts is a measure of power. Watts is amps x volts. The power output is the true measure of a generator.
Dude You Made A Vaccuum Engine LOL
Awesome video, but I got excited by the title as I thought this might finally be my white whale! I've been looking for motorised builds that can generate their *own* vacuum suction; ideally to fill up Lego pneumatic air tanks without the need for pump pistons. No hoovers or compressed air; just Lego parts. Do you think this sort of build would even be possible? The closest thing I've found is a mini centrifugal fan on Yoshihito Isogawa's channel.
I'm right there with you, I've been looking for an elegant way of blowing air for a musical instrument for ages. Sadly this is quite challenging using Lego, and I've a suspicion that any method of compressing air or creating a vacuum using Lego is going to need to be so airtight that only pistons are viable. Though I'm working on a Lego bellows that might be able to sort of work (badly). The best vacuum I've managed to get working is the peristaltic pump in my drink cooler video, but it's super weak, and only useful for thick fluids like water
Reciprocating piston vacuum engine when? They're very powerful and you'll get a lot more torque out of one than those propellers.
To be fair, vacuum turbines are technically more efficient though. Not sure about this specific design however.
perfect title
Hey kid wake up Jamie made a new video your videos are great
Really appreciate it 😁🙏
It's amazing how something can turn 1kW of electricity into 30W of electricity and 970W of FUN
Haha that's the best description of it I've heard yet 😂
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="503">8:23</a> looks like da haydron colider
Can you try the small turbine thing you made at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="240">4:00</a> but scale it up to have more length aka more propellers and use it with presurised air
You must to do this with piston vacuum engine with one or two cylinder btw I from Poland (:
_Ohhhhhhhh!_ Now I get it!
at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="445">7:25</a> it sounds like an air raid siren
You're killing me with the square rotor in the round hole. 😫
😅
I have also made a vacuum turbine but instead it resembles a supercharger with two two-blade turbines that are geared together and also not using the half studs you used to get a better seal
That's awesome! I like the idea of gearing together more than one blade - well done
@@JamiesBrickJams Yeah even turning the axle by hand produces a steady amount of wind. You just have to make sure to adjust the small margins on the axles so it doesn't touch the walls. Another problem is that the four-blade doesn't fit with another one beside so you have to use two-blade turbines which probably has some leakage
Woah that's actually really useful to hear - I've been trying to build a turbine blower for quite a while and just haven't been able to get a design that works nicely. I'll certainly give your idea a try here. Thanks for the info!!
@@JamiesBrickJams No problem! I basically made it like the dude in this video just shorter in length and adding some pieces in the corners to get a better seal kzhead.info/sun/eLWbh5Z6qqaIlIE/bejne.htmlsi=ZjwU9EOyDcD_MTgD
Thanks for sharing man, that's such a cool design - love it!
Didn't you used to be called Jamie's Lego Jams? Also - great video.
Thanks! And yes, you're right I was called that. Though I was warned that Lego is quite protective over their brand and name though, so I decided to err on the side of caution and update my name while I'm still relatively new 😅
@@JamiesBrickJams Ah, okay. Fair enough.
I was hoping if you still remember me the guy who was thinking about building a heating element so I can put it into my backpack for a lab and all that
I do remember! Did you see any success with it?
This guy will discover warp propulsion
😂
I want to see you attach this generator to a lego wind turbine and make some power without using power to generate your air
Me too, that's absolutely on the agenda 😉 I've built a few working prototypes, but will certainly do a video on it at some point
Yes it does
I would love that you beat the world record for the fastest lego vacuum engine (lve) ❤❤😂😂 good try!
Appreciate it 😁 I've seen a few videos recently that get some pretty high RPMs. I'm surprised they aren't higher though. Thanks for the idea - I might give it a try!
The record is about 60k RPM, would be a little difficult, but not impossible! (Also keep in mind, the dude that said he claimed the ”world record” (lucas dynamics) didn’t actually beat the world record)
@@JamiesBrickJams They are though. The current world record is 60k RPM. The bigger videos with vacuum turbines lie about the world record.
Woah ok, my impression was waaaay off - I thought it was under 20k. 60k is just nuts. Do you have a link to that? I'd love to see what on earth they did
Well yes, i would hope it does
Nooooo you cant just make power with Lego! HAHA turbine go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT
We love you bro
Aw appreciate it a lot 😁
someday he will make a particle accelerator with lego.