Pulse Motor vs Bedini Motor:
What's the Difference?

One of the most common questions I get from newcomers is: "Is a pulse motor the same as a Bedini motor?" The short answer is: sort of, but not exactly. The longer answer requires understanding where these terms come from and how the community actually uses them. Let me break it down.

What Is a Pulse Motor?

A pulse motor is a broad category — any electric motor driven by timed electrical pulses rather than continuous current. The term encompasses many designs: reluctance motors, pulsed DC motors, electromagnetically triggered motors. If it spins because of timed pulses of electricity through a coil, it's a pulse motor. For a full explainer, see What Is a Pulse Motor?

What Is a Bedini Motor?

A Bedini motor is a specific design of pulse motor created and popularized by inventor John Bedini. His signature circuit — particularly the Bedini SSG (Simple School Girl) — became the template that thousands of hobbyists build from. A Bedini motor is absolutely a pulse motor, but not every pulse motor is a Bedini motor. The Bedini design has specific characteristics that make it distinct.

Key Differences: Circuit Design

The classic pulse motor circuit can use many triggering mechanisms: Hall effect sensors, reed switches, optical sensors, or even mechanical commutators. The circuit is flexible and builder-defined.

The Bedini SSG circuit uses a specific transistor-based oscillator triggered by a feedback coil (often called the "trigger coil" or "bifilar coil"). The motor coil itself provides the trigger signal — no separate sensor needed. This is elegantly self-referencing. The circuit features:

• A single or bifilar wound coil (one winding drives, one triggers)
• A single NPN transistor (often 2N3055)
• A resistor-controlled base circuit
• A dedicated recovery diode feeding a second "charge" battery
• Strong emphasis on back EMF capture into a separate battery

See the full Bedini SSG Circuit Guide for a component-by-component walkthrough.

Efficiency and Back EMF

Both pulse motors and Bedini motors can be tuned for efficiency. The Bedini design places particular emphasis on capturing back EMF into a secondary battery. In a well-built Bedini SSG, the primary battery runs the motor while back EMF spikes are rectified and stored in a second battery. Under ideal conditions, the second battery charges faster than the primary depletes — which is what makes Bedini designs so controversial and fascinating.

Generic pulse motors may or may not have this recovery circuit. It depends on the builder's intent and design.

Use Cases: Which Should You Build?

Here's a practical breakdown:

• Build a generic pulse motor if you want maximum flexibility, don't mind adding your own sensor, and want to experiment with different coil/rotor configurations
• Build a Bedini SSG if you want to follow a proven, community-tested design, focus on BEMF recovery, and have access to the extensive Bedini documentation and community knowledge
• For beginners: either works, but the Bedini SSG has more documentation and forum support, making it easier to troubleshoot

The Community Angle

In most online communities, the terms are used interchangeably. If someone says "I built a pulse motor," they might mean a Bedini SSG, or a Hall-sensor-triggered design, or something entirely custom. The Bedini motor explained simply: it's the most famous and well-documented flavor of pulse motor.

Papa Bale's channel covers both — you'll see Bedini-style builds, custom pulse motor designs, and everything in between. Check the Videos section to see them in action.

Bottom Line

Pulse motor = the broad category. Bedini motor = John Bedini's specific (and famous) implementation. Both are worth building. Both will teach you more about electromagnetic theory in a weekend than a semester of textbooks. Start with whichever has more resources available to you, and don't get too hung up on the naming — get building.