Sunnytech Solar Magnetic Levitation Model Levitating Mendocino Motor Educational Model ST41

There are a few things that are confusing about this company and product. First, I want to make it clear that this item is manufactured in China. Some of what is put in the ad could lead someone to believe that this was made in the USA but, that is definitely not the case so, if you are sensitive about where it is made, just understand that it is clearly labeled "Made in China" on the box it is packaged in. Also, some reviews have commented that it doesn't come with a manual but, the one I got did...well kind of. It came with one sheet of typed print that gives some suggestions and pointers on how to use it. It is pretty obvious that whomever created this "manual" did not have the benefit of proof reader to check the final version because, it is really difficult to understand their translation of what they were trying to say. All that being said, It got to me VERY quickly, in perfect condition and very carefully packaged and protected. It was even wrapped in aluminum foil, I suspect to function as a Faraday cage to protect the electronics within. That is something I have never seen before but, if that was their intention, I am impressed with the fact that they took that precaution. If you are looking for something that will excite and entertain you with lots of action, you may be disappointed with this device. If, on the other hand, you are looking for something that is well designed and elegantly displays some amazing laws of physics, this will not only please you but, it will also make you happy to share with others and to watch it function. I have not included any videos or pics because there are already plenty of those here. Suffice it to say that it came right our of the box, meticulous wrapping and just started working perfectly!!! It is precisely balanced and regardless of some complaints I have seen posted about having gotten units that were out of balance, this one spins smoothly and with stability at all speeds and in all forms of light. Just FYI, it seems to function best if the light source is coming from the side of the unit, at a 90 degree angle to the solar collector (Armature or, spinning part). Another thing I have discovered that I have not seen mentioned in other reviews. If you place it in such a manner that the light IS coming from one side of the armature, it will rotate towards the light source. If while it is spinning, you carefully turn the unit around 180 degrees from the light source, it will slow and reverse direction to once again rotate towards the light. It will spin fast enough in direct sunlight to be totally a blur. With lesser light sources, like facing a window just before the sun comes up or, just after it goes down or, from an electric light, it will spin consistently but slowly, still fun to watch and be amazed at. If the light source is or gets too dim, it will eventually slow and stop spinning. IF YOU ARE EVEN SLIGHTLY INTERESTED IN SCIENCE, THE LAWS OF PHYSICS THAT CONTROL OUR UNIVERSE OR, IF YOU ARE A TEACHER…THIS DEVICE IS FOR YOU. I would buy it again in a heartbeat and in fact, I plan to order several more of these to send to friends and family as Christmas gifts. This is something just about anyone would love to own and watch.

Ok, I got the thing, and it works well !!!! The only problem is that it's bit off balance, so I have to bend the shaft a little bit, but it runs really fast !!! Then, it goes flying off into the furniture... Hahahahahahaha None the less, 5 stars !!!!!!! LOL But.... If we made a giant one of these things, it should be able to drive an alternator as long as there's decent light. Just this little thing has some strength to it. I put a decent amount of pressure on it and it still maintained it's momentum. The point is that there's free energy out there all around us. Between wind and solar... Etc.... we can cut down emissions and need for oil in no time, if the oil lobbyists stopped giving campaign money to the upper crust of our politicians. The minute Ronald Reagan took down the solar panels on the Whitehouse and decided not to use the metric system is why we're in the place we're at. Funny how it seems like things have only gotten worse in the political arena. Deep State Trump is now hitting that ball out of the park for the Lobbyists with more lies. Maybe once winters no longer exists and all the ski slopes close down we'll start to open our eyes. Until then, I hope more companies like this sell these toys to show our youth that there really is hope out there for the future of the world. Sorry, not being political, just naming humans that stopped progress in the world. In hundreds of years from now, Historians will not look kindly on the turn of this century. Honestly it's an embarrassment that it's also recorded on video for them, but sadly it is. Anywho, have a great day and do something nice for another person today !!! The future is wide open, as long as we strive towards that, the rest will follow. -Les :-)

I absolutely love interesting mechanical desk toys, so of course I had to buy one of these as soon as I saw it. Very happy with it overall. My only complaints: 1. Needs a considerable amount of light to work. Normal office fluorescent lighting won't keep it going. I set mine up directly under my desk lamp and it hums along all day there. On a windowsill on a sunny day, it really takes off. Enough to actually feel a bit of breeze off the fan. 2. Poorly balanced. At really slow speeds and really fast speeds, it stays pretty stable. However, at certain medium speeds, the wobbles start to resonate and compound enough that the solar panels will hit the base. The low speed I run it at with my desk lamp has it pretty stable, but I may play around with adding some counter balance weight to make it better at higher speed. 3. Weird shipping packaging. This is obviously a very minor complaint. The parts were wrapped in bubble wrap (as expected), but then under that, they were wrapped in aluminum foil. It looked like leftovers from a restaurant or something. It was boxed with a free fidget spinner though, so that was an interesting surprise. Update: Added some sticky tack to the fan blades as counter-balance. Wow! Really made a huge improvement. Goes a lot faster using my desk lamp now and doesn't require a 'nudge' to get going anymore. Just turning the light on is enough to get it going. Also, if you don't care about the fan, you can slide it off the end of the shaft and that improves the balance quite a lot without the delicate work of sorting out where to put the sticky tack to achieve perfect balance. Update 2: Just to say, two years later and the little motor is still going strong. I took the fan off, as that seems to give it the best balance to spin quickly. There's even a little divot by now where the motor spins against the acrylic from having made so many revolutions day in and day out. Doesn't impact performance at all, but I'm hoping it'll keep spinning until it drills itself all the way through! :)

Bought this to display in my office to drive Reliability conversations because I am a Maintenance manager. It not only serves its purpose but draws lots of attention from those not in the maintenance field

Unit arrived well protected and ready to run. After locating a brighter area in my living room I placed the rotor in position, easy to find the magnetic levitating point. Gave a very light spin and the unit started to rotate, slowly in the beginning but then got pretty fast. After few seconds got to full speed. It started to experience a bit of un-balancing, but by reducing the amount of sunlight getting to the solar panels, unit ran smoothly and awesomely well. Need to be gentle when moving the unit, the strong magnets can pull down very hard on the rotor and possible damaging the solar panels.

very cool little motor. arrived on time, very well packed. it illustrates several principles of magnetism & physics. a couple tips i figured out to make it run better are; 1. the drive magnet is actually 2 magnets, the motor runs noticeably better when the larger thin (top) one is slid to an offset (off center) position to the smaller stronger bottom one. that gives the magnet more leverage on the electric field of the rotor. the 2nd tip is to place the plastic base containing the magnets onto a piece of sheet metal the same length but several inches wider then the base. i used a metal cookie box & i noticed that contracted the magnets field & improved the speed & torque of the motor. my only complaint is the propeller is very fragile, thou easily repaired with super glue. they also included a figet spinner with mine, that was a nice touch.

It looks great on my desk and lots of people comment on it, but it wobbles. The rotor is out of balance so it wobbles and eventulally throws itself of the levitating magnets. Basically useless because they didn't bother checking balance during manufacuring. This makes it a static display piece instead of a kinetic one, which makes it not worth the money it cost to purchase. I would steer clear until they have the production issues resolved.

It's kind of a pain in the butt to get going and likes to off balance itself since there's no dimple located on the anchor plate but once you get it in the sun you can tell it WANTS to go crazy. Also, you can hear from the next room when it does come on balance due to the THUD this thing makes when the magnets slam together. . . . Directly on the solar glass sides and fan blades (yikes). Maybe it was just the one I got but I wasn't nearly as impressed as I wanted to be but will update when something breaks. . . . .

Used an halogen work light to start it the first time since flashlight didn t work. Flashlight worked after but will never match the work light 😅. Very well wrapped. All good

this item stopped working after 3 weeks. The solar cells are very cheap and work only for a short period of time. The concept is interesting and nice but the item is useless. Don't bother buying this, there is much better elsewhere.

Arrived earlier than expected. Build quality is very good. Runs better than expected, no setup required. Pleased with this toy.

The quality looks good, however the implementation isn’t great/functional. The balance is off with one side being heavier than the other which adds to the problem of normal light being able to make it turn. The only way I can get it to stay spinning is a high powered light a few inches away even after giving it a solid spin to get it started. Normal sunlight or a 100w light bulb 2 feet away won’t keep the unit I received spinning. If the performance actually worked with normal light I would be thrilled, however I have to say the unit I received is a disappointment :-(