# Plasma Energy Box Scam: What is it Physically? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700 "2015-12-30T02:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/1 "2015-12-30T02:46:08Z")
A nice cousin of mine offered to give me an “Energy Box” for Xmas. “You can plug anything into it and it will run…for free!” I asked how it works. What is the source of the energy? “Plasma.” I almost wish I’d said yes, for the fun of cutting the thing open and seeing what’s inside. But that’s what the SDMB is for! So, guys: what would have happened? What is actually inside the box? (My personal bet is that my cousin would have lost his money, and no actual physical box would ever have been shipped to him at all.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/2 "2015-12-30T03:10:49Z")
Search on “Kreshe Magrav Plasma”. Picking up on a few statements related to it’s recall the Plasma Energy Box appears to be a wide, thick, but very short extension cord. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/3 "2015-12-30T03:13:29Z")
Is this related to the ridiculous Irish company Steorn? I think they have a purported free energy product out now. ETA - maybe not, that seems to be called “Orbo”. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/4 "2015-12-30T05:24:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Search on “Kreshe Magrav Plasma”. Picking up on a few statements related to it’s recall the Plasma Energy Box appears to be a wide, thick, but very short extension cord. I did some Googling, and didn’t find a lot. One site said that the vendor kept delaying the actual delivery of the device, with one excuse after another. (I have my home computer on a “wide, thick, very short extension cord” – an isolation transformer – to protect against certain kinds of electrical hazards.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/5 "2015-12-30T06:52:30Z")
Answers on the first Google result for these devices claim that it doesn’t produce energy, but instead, gradually teaches your house and appliances to run on ‘plasma energy’ instead. I’m guessing it does so ‘gradually’ enough for the vendor to disappear with the cash. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/6 "2015-12-30T17:44:19Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Answers on the first Google result for these devices claim that it doesn’t produce energy, but instead, gradually teaches your house and appliances to run on ‘plasma energy’ instead. I’m guessing it does so ‘gradually’ enough for the vendor to disappear with the cash. In 7-8 billion years, the sun will be a red giant and its surface should extend beyond Earth’s orbit, which would provide plenty of “plasma energy” to your appliances. So for certain definitions of “gradually,” I guess it’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/7 "2015-12-30T18:24:15Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > In 7-8 billion years, the sun will be a red giant and its surface should extend beyond Earth’s orbit, which would provide plenty of “plasma energy” to your appliances. So for certain definitions of “gradually,” I guess it’s possible. I’m guessing there could be other factors impairing the function of my appliances by then, as well as my appreciation of their operation. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/8 "2015-12-31T13:26:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Search on “Kreshe Magrav Plasma”. Picking up on a few statements related to it’s recall the Plasma Energy Box appears to be a wide, thick, but very short extension cord. A free energy box that you have to plug into an outlet? Even the abnormally gullible should be able to see through this one. Call your cousin back. Take the deal. Demonstrate the dumb. You said your cousin is nice – do him a favor and make him a little less gullible. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/9 "2015-12-31T13:30:57Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I almost wish I’d said yes, for the fun of cutting the thing open and seeing what’s inside. FYI: That would void the warranty. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/10 "2015-12-31T13:36:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A free energy box that you have to plug into an outlet? Even the abnormally gullible should be able to see through this one. > > Call your cousin back. Take the deal. Demonstrate the dumb. You said your cousin is nice – do him a favor and make him a little less gullible. No-Do _not_ do this. Why do you want to put money in the hands of hucksters? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/11 "2015-12-31T14:03:20Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I almost wish I’d said yes, for the fun of cutting the thing open and seeing what’s inside. > [@TriPolar](#): > > FYI: That would void the warranty. It might let the conditioning out, then the whole world will start running on plasma energy. (Although it is important to note that the profit margin on devices sold to skeptics who wish to disassemble the devices, is the same as the profit margin on devices sold to the gullible - _especially_ if the supplier feels no obligation to actually supply anything at all, as he runs away with the cash). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/12 "2015-12-31T20:19:12Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > . . . _especially_ if the supplier feels no obligation to actually supply anything at all, as he runs away with the cash). That, I’m afraid, is the likeliest outcome of all. Some of the sites and references I’ve found speak of the vendor’s many, many delays in fulfilling promises. What I was hoping for was that someone else – maybe an anti-crank or anti-hoax blogger – had bought one of these and opened it, so he could report on what’s actually inside. But, yeh, I’m not putting a dime into the hands of the scum who are running this bunko. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/13 "2015-12-31T21:05:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No-Do _not_ do this. Why do you want to put money in the hands of hucksters? It wouldn’t tne the OP putting money into the hands of a huckster, it would be his cousin. And the point would be to teach him a lesson. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/14 "2016-01-01T02:44:36Z")
Yeah, but I like my cousin…and I really dislike the scammer…and wouldn’t want to do something that hurts the former and benefits the latter. Seriously, surely someone has taken one of these things apart! Underwriter’s Laboratories, maybe? They test all sorts of things for safety; it’s right in their bailiwick to do a product review. (I’ll write 'em right now!) ETA: No, I guess I won’t. Their web-site doesn’t have contact information, and the fill-in forms they have aren’t relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/15 "2016-01-01T02:56:29Z")
I have taken one apart, and I can tell you that it’s full to the brim with bullshit. …there, happy now? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/16 "2016-01-01T04:37:11Z")
More! Tell me more! What kind of bullshit? Random parts that aren’t even connected? (Oh, look, the left arm of a “Malibu Barbie!”) Or real parts that aren’t connected? Or real parts that are connected but don’t do anything? Or… Or what? What’s going on inside these puppies? Inquiring minds want to know! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-energy-box-scam-what-is-it-physically/741700/17 "2016-01-01T09:06:47Z")
You can only take one aparet if they actually supply it. The potential bad publicity from such a thing is an incentive for the scammer not to supply. In the event they do actually supply a device, I would imagine they will either pot it solid with opaque epoxy, or it will contain some non-functional dingus made of copper wire coils and magnets, which they will argue that you can’t understand with your puny conventional ‘science’.