E-cat guy reports that he may be able to purchase an e-cat, and he asked for advice about how to test it. I feel strongly about this, because I have spent months in on-again, off-again negotiations to perform a test. Since I am a veteran of failed attempts I feel I have special knowledge of how not to do this, so I have started a new thread to draw attention to my urgent suggestions.
Let me first say that if you need more money I may be able to help. Now, let's go over what you SHOULD do and what you SHOULD NOT do: SHOULD DO If you have enough money to buy one of these things, you have enough to do the tests right. Find someone who speaks Italian, and have them find a top-notch local engineering firm that specializes in testing and certifying boilers. (I call everyone in that business "HVAC" but boiler testing may be a separate category in Italy. I wouldn't know about that.) Let this company handle everything. They have the instruments. They know the local regulations. They have done this thousands of times before. Do not hire a company that has not done it thousands of times. The only thing unusual about this job is that you need some radiation detectors for safety. They are cheap. You stay out of their way, but I recommend you do some simple "reality check" tests of your own, with handheld instruments, a stopwatch, and a weight scale. <ahem> Invite me! SHOULD NOT Do not let any large corporations or government agencies get involved. Do not let scientists get involved. No chemists, and especially no physicists. They do not have the right skill set, to put it diplomatically. Do not make your own instruments. The engineering firm should use industry standard techniques only, with the European version of NIST certified industrial grade instruments. If they suggest you need a special, made-to-order testbed or a custom set of instruments, you are talking to the wrong firm. They should have everything they need sitting in the van. This should be a routine job for them. Do not use high precision scientific laboratory instruments. Too much precision is as bad as too little. Do not invite any experts in laboratory calorimetry. I repeat, no physicists. If one of them shows up at your door with high tech, high precision instruments and offers his services for free, the answer is no, go away, vamoose, うせろ (make yourself scarce -- http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E3%81%86%E3%81%9B%E3%82%8D). Do not listen to any advice from skeptics. Ignore the peanut gallery, including me, except for practical, been-there-done-that advice such as this message. Notice that I am not offering any specific technical advice here about instruments, although of course I could do that. - Jed
