Why did Bessler Use Embedded Codes?

It seems clear enough that Bessler had always intended to insert coded information embedded within his publications, because by applying a simple code to his name, Orffyre in place of Bessler, he draws our attention like a magnet to see what else is to be found. He adopted his pseudonym immediately he began to exhibit his first wheel at Gera, and we can infer that he was following a carefully thought out plan of action. Even his first publication Grundlicher Bericht contains a number of ciphers, and a large variety of codes becomes apparent in his subsequent publication Apologia Poetica.   Even his last and most impressive work, Das Triumphirende follows the same trajectory, containing a number of pieces information veiled in innocent looking text.

So the question is, why?  What reason prompted him to spend what must have occupied his mind for many hours, presumably also at the same times as working on his wheels?  He was certainly fascinated by ciphers of all kind, having been taught about them by the Jesuit priest and the Rabbi he met in Prague.  I have argued that the information was embedded in all his publications in case he was forced to prove his priority in designing a perpetual motion machine, but this would not be necessary if he had sold his machine and he certainly expected to do so. If, as happened, he didn’t sell it, perhaps he needed the proof of his precedence if someone else demonstrated the secret before he had acquired a buyer. Even then what possible benefit to him would that be?  Ultimately he hinted that he would prefer to die without selling it than give it away while he still lived.

He sought fame and fortune, and some might suggest that perhaps the fortune part was not as important as the fame, but I don’t think so.  The sum of money he asked for was huge.  He wanted acknowledgement of his discovery and even if someone else won the prize, Bessler could still prove he was first in the search for a successful perpetual motion machine.  But he must have had a plan to provide the means of either deciphering his clues and codes, or publishing a full explanation showing how to unravel them. Yet the codes and ciphers are so obscure as to practically defeat the efforts of most people, so we are left with the same question - why?

I think that the whole field of codes, ciphers, secret messages, chronograms, alphabetic substitutions, alphanumerics etc, absolutely fascinated him and he was an inveterate showman, performer and egotist.  Perhaps he looked forward to explaining to his future rapt audience how he cleverly hid all the information needed to build his machine, under the very eyes of those who sought out his secret. 

JC

Shouldn’t Observation Support Theory?

Bear with me in what follows it has a point to it. Empiricism seems to comes second to the current paradigm.  It shouldn’t do but that’s the way it usually ends up. Empiricism is the belief that all knowledge is based on real experience derived from observation or experimentation rather than theory. This thinking was stimulated by the rise of experimental science, which developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. But as time passed and presumptions flowed from the original experience, unsupported assumptions occasionally diverted from the observed facts and errors swayed the latest beliefs.

I was reading an article on a website dedicated to the history of archaeology, and I was interested to note that during the 19th and 20th century there were numerous finds of early man-made tools. The archaeologists involved included both professional and amateur scientists. They published literally hundreds of papers in all the most respected archaeological journals of their time and they are still available.  These finds number in the thousands. The articles were peer reviewed and the dating of the finds were, in the majority accepted.  But guess what?  At some point in the last century a huge number of those finds were either described as fraudulent or mistaken.

The reason for this volt-face was that in almost every case that was rejected, the date assigned to the substratum in which the tools were found along with the remains of apparently modern human bones, was said to be too early for them to have been genuine man-made tools - therefore their findings have been dismissed.   This did not fit in with the paradigm accepted throughout the world of archaeology that modern man could not have existed so long ago therefore the finds were fake or mistaken. 

The article was written by a highly respected and knowledgeable expert on prehistoric man-made tools and, using the latest scientific methods to re-examine a number of these tools which lie in dusty cupboards in many museums around the world, he declared the finds genuine and argued that the current paradigm was wrong and modern humans had existed many thousands of years longer than the current archaeological system allows.

The reason I have mentioned this, reminds me of our own case.  The archaeologists rejected those early findings because they didn’t agree with what they had been taught.  Modern science rejects our finding because doesn’t fit in with what we have been taught.  We believe that the evidence that Johann Bessler’s perpetual motion was genuine and there is excellent evidence in the form of direct observation supporting this conclusion, but this evidence was dismissed because it didn’t fit within the current belief both then and now.

JC

The True Story of Johann Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

On 6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had succeeded in designing and building a perpetual motion machine. For more than fourteen years he exhibited his machine and allowed people to thoroughly examine it. Following advice from the famous scientist, Gottfried Leibniz, who was able to examine the device, he devised a number of demonstrations and tests designed to prove the validity of his machine without giving away the secret of its design.

Karl the Landgrave of Hesse permitted Bessler to live, work and exhibit his machine at the prince's castle of Weissenstein. Karl was a man of unimpeachable reputation and he insisted on being allowed to verify the inventor's claims before he allowed Bessler to take up residence. This the inventor reluctantly agreed to and once he had examined the machine to his own satisfaction Karl authorised the publication of his approval of the machine. For several years Bessler was visited by numerous people of varying status, scientists, ministers and royalty. Several official examinations were carried out and each time the examiners concluded that the inventor's claims were genuine.

Over several years Karl aged and it was decided that after so long it was time the inventor left the castle and he was granted accommodation in the nearby town of Karlshafen. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence that his machine was genuine, Bessler failed to secure a sale and after more than thirty years he died in poverty. His death came after he fell from a windmill he had been commissioned to build. The windmill was an interesting design using a vertical axle which allowed it to benefit from winds from any directions. 

He had asked for a huge sum of money for the secret of his perpetual motion machine, £20,000 which was an amount only affordable by kings and princes, and although many were interested, none were prepared to agree to the terms of the deal. Bessler required that he be given the money before the buyer was allowed to view the internal workings of the machine. But those who sought to purchase the wheel, for that was the form the machine took, insisted that they see the secret mechanism before they parted with the money. Bessler feared that once the design was known the buyers could simply walk away knowing how to build his machine and he would get nothing for his trouble. 


I became curious about the legend of Bessler’s Wheel, while still in my teens, and have spent most of my life researching the life of Johann Bessler (I’m now 77). I obtained copies of all his books and had them translated into English and self-published them, in the hope that either myself or someone else might solve the secret and present it to the world in this time of pollution, global warming and increasingly limited energy resources.

Not long after I was able to read the English translations of his books, I became convinced that Bessler had embedded a number of clues in his books. These took the form of hints in the text, but also in a number of drawings he published and I found suggestions by the author that studying his books would reveal more information about his wheel.


For some ideas about Bessler’s code why not visit my web sites at 

http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/

Take a look at my work on his “Declaration of Faith” at 

http://www.orffyreus.net/

Also please view my video at 

https://youtu.be/5BWVKtpuzn0

It gives a brief account both the legend and some more detail about some of the codes.

The problem of obtaining a fair reward for all his hard work was anticipated by Bessler and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that his secret was safe, but he encoded all the information needed to reconstruct the machine in a small number of books that he published. He implied that he was prepared to die without selling the secret and that he believed that posthumous acknowledgement was preferable to being robbed of his secret while he yet lived.


It has recently become clear that Bessler had a huge knowledge of the history of codes and adopted several completely different ones to disguise information within his publications. I have made considerable advances in deciphering his codes and I am confident that I have the complete design.


Johann Bessler published three books, and digital copies of these with English translations may be obtained from the links to the right of this blog. In addition there is a copy of his unpublished document containing some 141 drawings - and my own account of Bessler’s life is also available from the links. It is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" 

Bessler's three published books are entitled "Grundlicher Bericht", "Apologia Poetica" and "Das Triumphirende...". I have called Bessler's collection of 141 drawings “Maschinen Tractate”, but it was originally found in the form of a number of loosely collected drawings of perpetual motion designs. Many of these have handwritten notes attached and I have published the best English translation of them that I was able to get. Bessler never published these drawings but clearly intended to use them in his planned school for apprentices.

You can order copies of the books from my website at 

www.free-energy.co.uk

Printed books direct from the printer can be obtained from here

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/johncollins

Or from the top of the right side panel under the heading ‘Bessler’s Books’.

There are also links lower down on the right side panel.

As I often say, the solution to this device is needed now. Anything that might help cleanse the planet of pollution and help to reduce green house gas emissions, by providing a clean cheap alternative energy source should encouraged in its discovery and development to counter global warming.

View this video for information on our current and future energy needs.

https://youtu.be/wDOI-uLvTnY

JC

Amy Pohl, my Amazing Granddaughter’s got 2 Million Followers!

My apologies for inserting this item into my blog, but I’m so proud of my granddaughter, I couldn’t resist.  Normal service will be returned as quickly possible 

Following over two years of trauma caused by the insertion of a dirty cannula at a large teaching hospital, Amy suffered from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which subsequently developed into complete paralysis of the lower body, this is known as Functional Neurological Disorder.

She has fought through PTSD and other mental disorders and despite it all she has become an inspiration to thousands of people around the world.  

On TikTok she has over 2 million followers, but the numbers on YouTube are mounting faster and will overtake TikTok

You can see her account of her life to date on YouTube.

Just put amy e pohl into google and YouTube and follow the links.

Also on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

NB She has Seven year old Hungarian Vizsla called ……..Bessler! Amy named after Johann Bessler because she believes that I’m right about him.

JC

UPDATE - Moving House Next Week - Workshop in Action ASAP!

We left our previous house 13 months ago thinking we could find our ideal house quickly and be able to strike a good deal as we didn’t have a house to sell.  Oops!  Almost immediately the number of desirable houses available slumped.  We had moved in with my daughter thinking it would only take a couple of months before we completed our purchase and moved in - how wrong we were, 13 months! Covid more or less closed the market down, but at last we’ve secured somewhere we like.

I’ve had no workshop in all this time and it has been sooooo frustrating! But as soon as we’ve moved in, unpacked etc, I’ll be able to get back to work, building what I think will be the solution to Bessler’s wheel.  As you all know I’ve been here before, more than once, but optimism is a vital ingredient in this game, and as long as I remain convinced that Johann Bessler’s claims to have built what he reluctantly termed a perpetual motion machine, were genuine, then I see little chance of ever giving up trying to find the solution.

I think this will work, but if it doesn’t I’m sure it will come closer than I’ve ever got before. I’m not going to say anymore about the design until I’ve tested it, but I don’t want to leave my work on this unpublished because we don’t know what lies around the corner and I can’t risk keeping it all to myself any longer.  The explanations I’ve got are being written and will be published as soon as testing has been finished, working or not. That way at least, if I can’t finish it, someone else will have the opportunity to use my work to complete the project.

JC

Is This the Perfect Storm for Bessler’s Wheel?

It’s a curious situation we find ourselves in, we who believe that Johann Bessler did actually build a machine which ran continuously with no input of energy from the traditional sources.  It sometimes feels as if we are promoting some kind of New Age religion; we are it’s disciples and the rest of the world are non-believers!  It isn’t the same though because religion relies on faith without evidence, without reason or intellect.  We, however, have evidence which we accept despite the mountain of scepticism we have to defend against.  We seek to prove our evidence is legitimate, and so dispel the accusations of blind faith. Religion can never prove it’s legitimacy until we’ve passed on from this life, but I hope that one of us will provide the unassailable evidence that Bessler’s claims were genuine, preferably sooner rather than later.

We are facing what could be regarded as a perfect storm, to use a popular expression, on the contrary, this is probably the best possible time in history for Johann Bessler’s perpetual motion machine to make it’s second and final appearance.

It began with the concerns that the earth was running out of accessible crude oil and that we were burning it at an unsustainable rate.  Then the climatologist jumped onto the bandwagon, declaiming the greenhouse effect, global warming and pollution.  Then we had the plague, or covid. It’s beginning to sound a bit like the ten plagues of Egypt, caused by Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites go free.  This plague caused a global recession, and then when we had just about had enough, Vladimir Putin, decided to make war on his neighbour, which rapidly involved the rest of the world, leading to more deaths, more mass-migration and more starvation…….and the price of gas has rocketed upwards, perhaps we need an alternative?

This might seem as if that mysterious ‘guiding hand’ I once mentioned here a while ago, is at work.  But is it overpopulation or pollution or some other endgame which we are being steered towards? When I was about 26 years of age, I had a serious car accident which could have killed me or maimed me, but from which I walked away with nothing but a brief period of unconsciousness.  Upon my return to normal life, I   experienced a feeling of intense exultation, optimism and the absolute certainty that I was destined to do something of great importance.  I have tried to rationalise this feeling, putting it down to my amazement at having survived without serious injury, let alone death. It was this event that got me researching the life of Bessler some ten years after my first encounter with him. This revelation has stayed with me throughout all my years; true, it hasn’t morphed into anything of substantial value yet,  although I’m always hopeful that Bessler’s wheel will indeed make its triumphant appearance one of these days.

It would seem as though Bessler’s invention came more than 300 years to soon.  We had to go through the steam age, then the crude oil age, the nuclear age, the solar/wind ages before the time was ripe for Bessler’s wheel - that guiding hand again?

I don’t actually believe in a guiding hand, it’s just the way things happen, the easy route is usually the one that wins.  We humans have an inherent ability to see patterns where none exist, draw conclusions on them, but mostly they are coincidences.  Is Bessler’s machine the easiest route available to solve so many problems now? I reckon so.

I’m adding a link to a very important video which was sent in a comment below by Yuri.  Please take a look.

https://youtu.be/wDOI-uLvTnY

JC

Johann Bessler’s Various Perpetual Motion Machines

There is a curious consistency about all four of Johann Bessler’s wheels, which is interesting and leads one to certain speculations about them.  The details which follow are all taken from www.orffyre.com.  This website is run by an old friend and correspondent of mine dating back to our earliest research days, and his information is accurate to date. From the afore-mentioned website:

(Bessler used the Leipzeg ell in his measurements - 1 ell = 22.3 inches

First wheel - Gera

Diameter = 4.6 feet

Thickness = about 4 inches

Speed = over 50 RPM unloaded

Rotation = uni-directional, required restraint when not in use

Axle = unknown

Sound = unknown

Power = unknown

* size in ell units: reported diameter = 2.5 ell = 4.6 feet; reported  thickness = 4 Leipzeg inches = 3.7 inches *

Second wheel - Draschwitz

Diameter = 9.3 feet

Thickness = 6 inches

Speed = over 50 RPM unloaded

Rotation = uni-directional, required restraint when not in use

Axle = 6 inches diameter (probable diameter = 1/4 ell = 5.6 inches)

Sound = loud noise

Power = unknown

* size in ell units: reported diameter = 5 ell = 9.3 feet; probable thickness = 1/4 ell = 5.6 inches *

Third wheel - Merseburg

Diameter = 12 feet

Thickness = 11.15 inches

Speed = 40 RPM or more

Rotation = dual-directional, required gentle push start in either direction

Axle = 6 inches diameter (probable diameter = 1/4 ell = 5.6 inches)

Sound = banging noise at descending side of wheel

Power = estimates range from 20 Watts to 100 Watts

* size in ell units: reported diameter = 6 ells = 12 feet; reported thickness = 1/2 ell = 11.15 inches *

Fourth wheel - Kassel (Weissenstein Castle)

Diameter = 12 feet

Thickness = 18 inches

Speed = 26 RPM unloaded - 20 RPM under water screw load

Rotation = dual-directional, required gentle push start in either direction

Axle = 8 inches diameter (probable diameter = 1/3 ell = 7.4 inches)

Sound = about 8 bangs per revolution at descending side of wheel

Power = estimates range from 25 Watts to 125 Watts

* size in ell units: reported diameter = 6 ells = 12 feet; probable thickness = 3/4 ell = 16.7 inches

Bessler's apparent use of the Leipzig ell suggests he probably built his wheels to whole ell units and simple fractions thereof. The above diagram shows feet and inches derived from Leipzig ell conversions as listed in the data above.)

Ok, this me!  The first thing to notice is that the first three wheels turned at a speed close to 50 rpm. Given the difference in the sizes of all three devices we might have expected a larger variation in their output.  The fourth wheel, the Kassel wheel, the largest one tested, only rotated at 26 rpm, but given that it was designed to undergo an endurance test of several weeks, it would be surprising if Bessler had not designed it to turn at approximately half the speed of the others.

It seems likely that he increased the thickness of the wheel to compensate for the reduced weight-lifting capacity caused no doubt by reducing the speed or the actions  of the internal mechanisms, thus slowing its rotation.  Although we know little about the interior of the machines we can speculate on what alterations he might have made to the mechanisms within the fourth wheel,  (the Kassel wheel) compared to those earlier ones to make turn more slowly.

In the most basic terms, we know that there were weights which must have moved about relative to the axle, and they had to be able to move from one place to another, and then return within one rotation.  There seem to be limited potential  variables, and I ruled out alterations in the mass of the weights. This leaves only a variation in the number of weights, and the distance they can move.

Again if we take into consideration the common rotational speed between the first three wheels, (Gera, Draschwitz and Merseburg) we might speculate that although the distances the weights moved might vary from wheel to wheel, perhaps their effect was controlled by the amount of torque each one could produce, and regardless of weight and mechanism size, perhaps no variation could occur, other than a reduction in top speed due to friction or work.

The first two wheels (Gera and Draschwitz) would begin to spin spontaneously as soon as a brake was released.  We can infer that they were both in a state of permanent imbalance.  I ignore suggestions that the wheel was stopped in a certain position in order to provide this effect.  Besides Bessler stating that they had to be locked to stop them continuing to rotate, there is plenty of evidence from onlookers that he spoke the truth.

The second two wheels (Merseburg and Kassel) did not have this feature, but would begin to spin after being given a gentle nudge in the desired direction.  They were capable of being started in either direction from which point they accelerated to their  top speed. Clearly their two-way capacity led the two directions being balanced when stationary.  This leads us to another question.  If the first two wheels could attain a speed close 50 rpm, it seems surprising that the third wheel (Merseburg) also achieved the same speed in either direction.  We can leave aside for the moment, the slow-turning Kassel wheel because we know it was designed to be slow.

One might think, as I did, that the two-way wheels had a second set of mechanisms designed to turn in the opposite direction, which allowed the wheel to be turned either way, but that might seem to create resistance in one mechanism being turned the wrong way which would either prevent the wheel turning, or lead to it turning more slowly.  This apparently did not happen because the two-way Merseburg wheel was able to match the speed of the earlier one-way wheels. If a duplicate, but mirror image mechanism was installed within the Merseburg wheel, it was twice the thickness of the second wheel which would probably provide enough space for a double mechanism.  

Given this problem perhaps he had found another way to allow just one set of mechanisms to cause rotation in either direction, this would have been the ideal solution, it would have simplified things.  But we cannot work out how he might have done this until we know how his one way wheel worked. 

So what is it that seemed to allow the first three wheels to reach around 50 rpm?  Well we do know that several witnesses remarked on the great regularity of all the wheel’s evenness of rotation.   There was no jerkiness nor bumpiness in each rotation.  I presume there would be a limit to how fast the weights could move and this could be a limiting factor, regardless of size of any internal mechanisms.  This could possibly be improved in these modern times, not just by reducing friction but by improving the configuration of the each mechanism.  It would be a curious feat if one could improve the speed up-to 60rpm, measuring exactly one minute.

A single second was, historically, established by calculating the time it takes for the Earth to rotate once about its axis and dividing the time by the 86,400 seconds in each solar day, (60 x 60 x 24 = 86,400).  Of course we have a much more precise method now, but in 1656, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens invented the first pendulum clock. It had a pendulum length of just under a meter which gave it a swing of one second, and an escapement that ticked every second. It was the first clock that could accurately keep time in seconds. By the 1730s, 80 years later, John Harrison's maritime chronometers could keep time accurate to within one second in 100 days.

But, if Christian Huygens pendulum clock had a pendulum length of just under a meter which gave it a swing of one second (39.27 inches), might that give us a hint at the length of levers in Bessler’s clock? Were they also just under a meter in length to time the wheel to close the 60 rpm? Allowing for friction that might have slowed the rotation to what it actually was.

I suspect that Bessler’s weighted levers had a much longer swing than Huygens’ 6 degree swing because it was generating force rather than measuring minutes, but given the work they did, they moved more slowly than any clock pendulum, so being close to 60 rpm may or may not be just coincidental.

JC

Johann Bessler and a Few Coincidences?

There seem to be some related features within Bessler’s documents which may be coincidental, or not - so I have tried to draw conclusions from them by assuming that they are deliberate.  I’m sure some will disagree but I think it worth pointing them out, just in case they were intended to catch our eye for some reason.

It’s sometimes easy to see things as coincidences rather than intentional occurrences.  For instance I like the fact that Bessler stresses the importance of the number 5, and 55.  My birthday is on the 5th day of month 2, obviously a coincidence, how could it be otherwise?  I was born in 1945, Bessler died in 1745 just another coincidence.  There is one more example which I’ll mention later. 

The document I have always referred to as the “Toys” page is numbered MT 138, 139, 140 and 141.  This is logical as it follows MT 137. There are actually five drawings on the page lettered A B C D and E plus what appears to be a late addition of a hand drawn figure with the number 5 adjacent. So we appear to have four pages, apparently with five drawings labelled with letters plus one more number 5.

At first sight I believed the intention was to show that this page was intended to replace four others, destroyed or buried, after his arrest.  But this assumes that either he was charged but not imprisoned otherwise he might not have had time to prepare for searches or confiscation of his documents, so the charges he was accused of made him hurry to take precautions against such actions against him.  This is possible, but why would he need to remind himself of four pages buried or destroyed?

The total of 141 is interesting.  It seems as though he wanted to get to that number and not beyond, but numbering the ‘Toys’ page 138 would seem to have been good enough.  141 is not a prime number and it’s only factors are 3 times 47.  If we turn to MT 47 we discover that inserted within  the drawing which is numbered 47, another number 47, twice in fact because one is the mirror image of the other so there are three number 47s present on the page. Is this a pointer to the number 141 or the reverse or is it just a coincidence?

Bessler’s ‘Declaration of Faith’ which appears in his “Apologia Poetica” chapter 55, contains numerous Bible references, 141 to be precise.  So if we assume the same link as before, what is the relevance of the number 47?  The first thing which occurred to me was Euclid’s 47th proposition. Was Bessler drawing attention to it for some reason.

“In any right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse.” It’s also a 3, 4, 5 triangle, see below.  I’m sure I needn’t go into any detail about this, but the figure also relates to the Freemasons symbol as you can see further below. Maybe this was the connection he sought to hint at.

There other pointers to the Freemasons and I guess it’s up to people if they think the above is relevant.  But most likely, in my opinion it points to Pythagoras who is believed to be the originator of much of Euclid’s Propositions, and thus to geometry, which ties in with Bessler’s second portrait in his Das Triumphirende book (DT)

One other coincidence for now, which I wrote about in 2019.  I wrote “I have a copy of a document, a panegyric addressed to Karl annually, but it has something unique.  As many will know, Bessler was very fond of chronograms, which is a phrase or inscription in which letters such as M, D, C, X, L, I, W and V can be read as Roman numerals giving a date. He provides dozens and dozens of them in some of his documents and curious as they are, they don’t appear to hold any coded information.

This particular one includes the year.........2019! He also wrote them for 1519, 1619, 1719, 1819 and 1919.  But why 2019 and why did he stop,there? It could have been the year his solution was discovered - what a coincidence that would have been.  If it had, everyone would have believed that Bessler had somehow predicted the future, but it didn’t happen, and if it had, it would still be just a coincidence.

In my experience I find that Bessler added more clues, hints and implications as and when they occurred to him, consequently one often comes across new and exciting ‘coincidences’ seemingly added almost as an afterthought.

Of course the following is just  a happy coincidence, my new house which I hope to move into before the end of this month is numbered 47.  No!  I wouldn’t buy a house because I liked its number!  And I’m not into the Freemasonry.

JC

Some Thoughts Worth Considering in Designing a Gravity Wheel

I used the term ‘Gravity Wheel’ in the title of this blog in place of ‘Bessler’s Wheel’ to show that gravity wheels might have different configurations to Bessler’s Wheels, although from what I know I don’t think the basics will differ very much.

Fletcher made a comment in my last blog which touched upon a point which most of us will be aware of but which maybe some people missed the potential beneficial consequences of including its actions in our designs. I know its action is used in Bessler’s wheel.

fletch wrote, “ By my reasoning, therefore, for a Bessler wheel to gain in Angular Momentum and be everlasting in motion etc, then some part of the local available Angular Momentum pool must be compensatorily depleted to give the runner Rotational Kinetic Energy.”

A couple of years ago I realised the importance of something connected with gravity wheels which I had been aware of all my life but never considered it’s potential as a source of free energy, additional to that which we already know about, i.e, gravity enabled falling weights.

We design weights to be able to move around with the intention of causing the wheel to overbalance. We can calculate the work done by gravity in making the weights fall, but of course the path of the falling weight is not needed because we only need the perpendicular height of the fall. But if the weight is required to do work as it falls, and still overbalance the wheel, the extra time which the weight takes to fall because it’s doing work, does not affect the calculation, because in the simplest terms, time is not a necessary ingredient. 

Therefore if we simply configure the mechanism to react to the position change of the wheel and use gravity to make a weight move into position which overbalances the wheel, we miss the opportunity to use the weight’s action or motion under the force of gravity, to do some work during its fall. 

If the weight is in free-fall, it has no potential energy to unleash as kinetic energy, until it lands, but if it does work as it falls then it is using kinetic energy as it does so and it can still cause the desired overbalance by its eventual completion of its fall. The argument is similar that used in describing the friction generated in a brick sliding down a slope but in this case the work/friction could be used to help lift a fallen weight. This action may explain von Erlach’s description of each weight “landing gently on the side towards which the wheel turned”. There was little or no padding because the weights were slowed down by doing work, and made reduced noise as they landed. 

This idea I believe might correspond to fletch’s comment that “….some part of the local available Angular Momentum pool must be compensatorily depleted to give the runner Rotational Kinetic Energy.”

JC