The laws may not change however our comprehension and understanding of them does and needs to which indeed can't happen without first knowing what has come before
Agreed. Old and forgotten doesn't mean useless. Its like finding the keys to an old safe left in the garage by grandparents. When you open the safe and find tons of pictures and letters and reliving their moments through those old artifacts is an immensely awesome feeling. Those same feelings can be done by cracking open these old books and completing a project only to find tons of improvements along the way.
There is an old Thomas Edison patent for Nickel/Iron which is a tremendously robust battery, some even lasting 100 years with no degrading from number of cycles or deep discharge. He attributed the robustness of the cell to the insolubility of both Nickel Oxide and Iron Oxide in the KOH electrolyte. I would love to see your ideas for a DIY NiFe battery for storing home power.
I think that the biggest "lost secret of batteries" is the Edison battery, aka Nickel/Iron battery. Relatively easy to make and maintain, almost indestructible (some from WWII still worked 40 years later), don't require rare earths or fancy compounds, nearly unlimited cycles, ... Their disadvantage is their weight and that they won't keep their charge over a long period of time. Both of those disadvantages would be near irrelevant used as batteries in a home solar system. I think that battery technology warrants looking deeper and I would really enjoy your doing a video on them! 🙂
i’ve been super busy with my freshman year of college lately but i just got a break so i’m back home and get to catch up on your videos. I just had to comment and say, thank you Robert. I love your videos with my whole heart. Your videos help me remember what’s important to me, as well as just in life. Your intellect is admirable and your curiosity is contagious. Keep up the truly incredible work and thank you!
Not only are these books packed with useful info (as well as the occasional odd bits of misinformation), but they were also really good at explaining. I find many of the newer texts tend to gloss over the really important bits or worse. I also think it is worth commenting that the motor spun clockwise with your Bennet Cell ( I believe), and Counter-Clockwise when your remove the Zinc electrode and replaced it with the Carbon Electrode (Jurgan?? Jürgen ? How is it Spelled?). I really appreciate that you explained the Lalande battery which basically adds the depolarizer... very interesting! Definitely I don't want to mess with Chromates... they are seriously dangerous. I usually cover the Daniel cell and the Leclanché cell pretty early in the battery sections, right after the Voltaic pile. Thanks for the great video.
Strongly agreed. Somewhere along the way we slowly lost our first-principles mooring of explaining things from the ground up, and in a very natural way. I've therefore personally learned to always default to, or at least naturally prefer, older or more classical text explanations, on any given (challenging) subject - and go from there forward in the literature that exists.
I love this old useful information. Thank you Michael. The automotive battery industry has done a good job at scrubbing the basic information from public access on how simple it is to make different types of batteries. I have watched many videos of automotive batteries being totally remade by Pakistani men in sandals, while sitting on a dirt floor using recycled lead and lead oxide, and using a cast iron pan to melt the lead and a wood campfire to convert the used lead to lead oxide then sealing the battery case with a cut strip of pvc plastic then using a hot piece of metal to weld the plastic case shut. In 1 hour a battery can have new lead plates, both an anode and new coated cathode plates, new separators, and new lugs all done with the utmost of rudimentary tools and tech. Most Americans are terrified of their car battery and have no idea how they work at all yet guys sitting in the dirt around a campfire in sandals can rebuild one in an hour!
I'm so happy that I've found your channel. I love your video editing style, minimal. I feel like I'm in the shop with you. Thank you. I love watching your videos.
Amazing presentation mate. I suggest you to make more videos on that topic - batteries. Maybe one with the title: The Ultimate Battery, that present the best diy solution for electricity storage from solar panels. Something that is easy to make, and with usable energy storage capacity. Thank you for sharing!
Such a fantastic inspiring video. Deeply grateful for all the valuable educational videos you’ve shared with us. Truly pertinent in these difficult times we’re living in. Thank you as always
One easy and very powerful battery you can make is an aluminum iron battery. It makes about 1.7V per cell. For the cathode use aluminum foil or sheet metal for the anode use steel wool and iron oxides. Use some paper towel wet with baking soda paste for the separator/electrolyte. It will take a few minutes to start making current but once activated it will continue till the aluminum is gone.❤
I love old books that were meant to teach you, I have found a wealth of knowledge from older text books from pre 1940's as well as the Harpers Books for Boys from the 1900 to 1910, and old farm shop manuals.
Been watching a lot of your videos recently, ones encompassing magnets, heaters, anything interesting really. It's bloody wonderful what you do. The way that you keep things fascinating and simple, it provokes a lot of thought. You inspired me to make an infra red heater for the Winter out of mostly stuff just laying around. Just waiting on some eco bio fuel that's similar in burning to Ethanol so that it can be used indoors. Thanks fella, you're a bloody gem aye 👍😊
Hi Robert, Model Engineer's original publisher, Percival Marshall produced an entire booklet on the subject of Battery Making. "Electric Batteries - The Model Engineer Series No.5". I have a collection of the ME Bound Volumes, initially for an interest in steam machinery, but latterly early electric and power. Another pair of sources for great information are "The Engineer" and "Engineering" ps There are also some useful online Model Engineer Indexes, especially an Australian one. Lists all subjects via a search bar.
That chromate is insane. Any idea what the cell voltage is, or is it a case of more current due to less internal resistance? I like to look up and down the periodic table in cases like that. Any chance of a molybdate or tungstate doing a similar job?
I have to agree with you about old 'forgotten' methods of doing things. I've always had an interest in machinery, the development of machine tools pre CNC is amazing, (particularly things that are only in museums or old books). A lot of 19th century stuff is still relevant to hobby machinists today, we just use electric motors instead of hand or water power and much tougher tooling. Materials are more consistent plus readily available, measuring equipment cheap and accurate, but, the fundamentals really haven't changed.
Robert i have been watching your videos and find them very enlighting. I am just curoius about your education on these subjects wheither mechanical chemstry or optics. I realy liked this one on batteries and would like to learn more.
Only 2/3 through the video, ya might be missing one, the Hutchinson battery, jihn Hutchinson created AA sized batteries out of crystals, borax, silver dust, and different anodes and cathodes. Think you'll be surprised it doesn't lose charge over time. I'm under the impression that it is a piezoelectric reaction.
Brilliant. New idea? Use magnets made of ferromagnetic metal, easily magnetized or degaussed! That way you can hook up a huge batterypack without subjecting the cells to any temperature at all! You just hook it all up, then wrap it in shrinkfoil and run a degausser over the pack
I have a reprint of the Popular Mechanic’s book “Practical Projects for the Home Handyman “, originally published around 1913, I believe. It’s a goldmine of information but often requires serious consideration before attempting to build.
Uh...I'm a chemist, and I've NEVER worn gloves when working in a lab. If you splash some H2SO4, HNO3, NaOH sol'n, etc, on you, it's no big deal. You just wash it off, But I've ALWAYS worn eye protection! The tiniest droplet of anything like that, in the eye, is BAD news!
Excellent video, and now preserved for a future generation who will hopefully respect chemicals use them wisely and not trash the environment and themselves or others for a quick buck.
super! tu tiens le bon fil! il y à trop peu d'informations fiables et viables sur ce sujet. merci de persévérer sur ce thème! tout le monde t'encourage sur les batteries secondaires et le stockage 'off grid'
Does anyone remember when you could purchase a "Rechrome your car bumper" kit from the ads in Exchange and Mart paper. A nice tub of chromic acid and a metal "paint brush" with a wire attached. Just sent through the post like it was nothing to worry about!
@RichieReportsUK Today, they would probably shut down the school for months to decontaminate it! I often wondered what happened to the old chemistry lab benches from schools. I bet they weren't taken away by men in hazmat suits!
The past contains the basic fundamentals that gave us the building blocks that were built upon to give us today's technology. Forgetting that would be like forgetting Issac Newton, Tesla, Eddison and the great minds that belong with them. ** edit ** Those batteries that were belting along obviously produce a lot of amps, would have been nice to measure the amps, very cool video Rob, very cool indeed 😊
i like you robert... I've always just assumed you know brick houses/buildings used to collect and store their own energy, right? Watching you for the last few years always takes me back to a memory of my mothers friend showing me how he hooked his house back up to the old electrical system which gave him six hours of light on an Edison bulb on his porch. He did it as an experiment and I've never been able to shake the memory. Now that I know about old world architecture and how bricks are slow discharge capacitors I've looked for natural batteries like the Baghdad battery and what you're showing here. I came across you when you were building the hemp capacitor out of paper. I still want to see an update on that scooter. ("how did it not just discharge all at once?! Resistors? What about the heat?" My brain is missing one piece of the puzzle) You're awesome Robert! Keep up the great work
While your recycling, if you have a small container of baby powder, you could put your gloves on it bounce it on the table (glove over open top) and use your gloves again instead of tossing them in the ocean!!! VR
I never made a good battery from wood ash. But I have taken kerosene and some slightly damped wood ash and put a clump in the bottom of a jar with kerosene and tried to run a current through it with stainless steel electrodes to make potassium metal. And do not drop your potassium metal into a pressure cooker with water in it.
Interesting ! So the depolarizer you mention is simply just a hydrogen gas blocker and today they use manganese dioxide for it. Didn´t know that until I searched for depolarizer. Thank you for your superb videos ! 👌
Rob, you are an inspiration and godsend! I was planning to make with students in their lessons some batteries after going through the electrochemistry and galvanic cells chapters and you inspired some ideas in my head XD Of course, they will first calculate the cell voltage, maybe some other stuff, and at the end, they will charge their phones with it XD because why not, right?
🤔 I think this is a lot off Topic,,, but I can remember when my mother broke a thermometer,,, she gave me the Mercury to play with until my Dad got home.... It's a well known fact that I'd had a horse land on my head also as the T.B.I. I received from the Ex, almost 18yrs ago,,,,,,😮 I'm starting now to wonder 🤔 wtf mother was trying to accomplish and I am starting to marvel that I can still have a conversation about most subjects... Ps,It was Not the Horse's fault!!
The strangest battery I've ever used was a 510v dry cell. That's correct, 510 volts. The photo strobe unit charged nearly instantaneously and discharged via a sizable xenon tube.
The facsimile vol 1-12 are on my Christmas list 😉 Really enjoyed this episode hopefully there will be more on batteries of years gone by. Only thing you have glossed over is the "charge controller" and pure (or close to) sine wave transformer.
Geo batteries is something I have worked on quite a bit. Among other thiings I have placed growth anodes and strengthening cathodes in strata of dirt that has a natural flow of liquid or movement or earth. This seems to make a battery that gets stronger over time
Hi Robert, have you tried a clay coating on the zinc? I'm guessing the zinc would still get oxygen from the electrolyte and might last longer. Maybe a clay and iron oxide or some suitable mixture would do something
Could a rectangle acrylic box be used to build a battery . Using a groove in the center. Down the sides, across the bottom with a nickel sheet dividing the electrolytes? What kind of 'C' rating do they have, there was some kind of battery, can't remember what exactly, it could not supply much current, maybe the sodium battery, Its been a while , and I wasn't that interested. Because a huge server rack size battery could only output 60-100 amps or something like that, and 30 amp charge, it seems like the cells were about 12" tall, and 24" -36" x 24-36" and stacked , i never saw any used. And it was in the 1000's of ah, I need about , 300-600 amps from a 1000-1200 ah battery, closer to 1c, snc rather have 2c - 3c batteries. Less voltage sag, less resistance internally a 0.006 c rating isn't going to work,
While this is fascinating, I'd really like to see more technical testing. It's s akin to watching paint dry, but, could you attach a coulomb counter to the batteries, and pull V(out), I(out), and the time component. Practical information on the different battery designs would help us categorize the designs into viable vs curiosity vs science experiment groups. Science experiments are valuable in their own right. Curiosity designs are... Curious. But viable practical designs have immediate purpose.
It is rather simple if the plates are mechanically sound but the battery won't take a charge. First pop the top off to access the cells. Next disolve alum in boiling hot distilled water. Add 2cc per cell. Next apply 110V through a 100W light bulb till it glows brightly. Next use a high current diode and something like a small space heater as a load, hook positive to positive and negative to negative. Watch the battery voltage and when it drops to about 15V stop. Then hook to a regular charger. I revived a jump pack from 2004 this way. ❤
The hysteria over mercury 😂. Proper understanding and handling of any substance is important. Dihydrogen monoxide kills more people by far than mercury any day of the week and double on weekends.
This video was awesome, just read today 3 chemist have come up with a new silicon anode material (claiming energy density will go 10 fold) So I'm spilling my thoughts what about high temp silicon used to seal fire steel box aka wood heater , as the problems with first silicon anode was catching fire , high temp silicon should address that . Maybe mix graphite powder with high temp silicon . Just a thought thankyou Robert you definitely activated my battery thinking cheers.
I need to make a work a day battery for my E bike. Lithium simply catches fire way to easy. A bicycle accident could end up with a fire. It needs to be 50 amp hour at 72 volts. If I need to build two then I simply will.
Very interesting. Perhaps you can do a video on the 'nobility of metals' to demonstrate the reaction potential of different types that can be employed in batteries?
If you are looking here for the ultimate battery try researching nickel-iron batteries. They cannot be damaged by overcharging or undercharging, have unlimited charge, discharge cycles and are not horribly inefficient. They have been around for a century or more. Why are they not in common use? Yes you can buy a nickel iron battery, made from some of the most common elements on the planet yet look at the price! Whatever "new" technology comes out of whatever old pillar of academia will never lift us out of our current situation. The technology of the next paradigm is already perfected but its use is forbidden!
Hello Robert 😃. You did a talk a few years back about how to make batteries out of Hemp. I can't find that series any more. Could you direct me to it. I'm 17. I believe they would be great batteries for many environmental reasons, and I am very serious about wanting to make them and see if I can get them to power a small car. Thank you.
Have you recently seen a new invention of using cement in a super capacitor, MIT mixed carbon black with cement, used a seperator and potassium chloride eg soaked it after hardening and put collector using some type of mesh inside it and its a super cap.
Geopolymers are a way forward for solid state batteries I thought . I tried a few variations over last 5 years but nothing to report . There is something there though but I didn't stumble across anything yet . There is something about ionic salts that have ability to allows ions to share or exchange or carrier or something or rather but I don't remember now .
I remember when I was a youngster chasing a puddle of mercury around the floor as well as that I played with the LED tinsel off the Christmas tree oh well Life goes on
is this what you mean? www.amazon.co.uk/PATIKIL-Flexible-Graphite-Gasket-250x200x1mm/dp/B0C69D1973/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=13FMIN2IIZJNF&keywords=graphite%2Bfoil&qid=1696625919&sprefix=graphite%2Bfoil%2Caps%2C109&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
![HIWWHEE | OHM [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OJJLtTLqLag/mqdefault.jpg)
It might be an old book, but the laws of physics dont change.
😊
Laws of physics don't change, our interpretation of them may change
The laws may not change however our comprehension and understanding of them does and needs to which indeed can't happen without first knowing what has come before
NTR LEX REX
I use them laws on a fork truck to stop friction overcoming the centrifugal force wilst turning breaking and acceleration buy tilting the load😊
Agreed. Old and forgotten doesn't mean useless. Its like finding the keys to an old safe left in the garage by grandparents.
When you open the safe and find tons of pictures and letters and reliving their moments through those old artifacts is an immensely awesome feeling.
Those same feelings can be done by cracking open these old books and completing a project only to find tons of improvements along the way.
There is an old Thomas Edison patent for Nickel/Iron which is a tremendously robust battery, some even lasting 100 years with no degrading from number of cycles or deep discharge. He attributed the robustness of the cell to the insolubility of both Nickel Oxide and Iron Oxide in the KOH electrolyte.
I would love to see your ideas for a DIY NiFe battery for storing home power.
I think that the biggest "lost secret of batteries" is the Edison battery, aka Nickel/Iron battery. Relatively easy to make and maintain, almost indestructible (some from WWII still worked 40 years later), don't require rare earths or fancy compounds, nearly unlimited cycles, ... Their disadvantage is their weight and that they won't keep their charge over a long period of time. Both of those disadvantages would be near irrelevant used as batteries in a home solar system. I think that battery technology warrants looking deeper and I would really enjoy your doing a video on them! 🙂
i’ve been super busy with my freshman year of college lately but i just got a break so i’m back home and get to catch up on your videos. I just had to comment and say, thank you Robert. I love your videos with my whole heart. Your videos help me remember what’s important to me, as well as just in life. Your intellect is admirable and your curiosity is contagious. Keep up the truly incredible work and thank you!
100% 🔥
Clarity, simplicity, succinctness , informative and inspiring.Together,the most rare realities of our times.Good and great show. Thanks.
Not only are these books packed with useful info (as well as the occasional odd bits of misinformation), but they were also really good at explaining. I find many of the newer texts tend to gloss over the really important bits or worse.
I also think it is worth commenting that the motor spun clockwise with your Bennet Cell ( I believe), and Counter-Clockwise when your remove the Zinc electrode and replaced it with the Carbon Electrode (Jurgan?? Jürgen ? How is it Spelled?).
I really appreciate that you explained the Lalande battery which basically adds the depolarizer... very interesting!
Definitely I don't want to mess with Chromates... they are seriously dangerous.
I usually cover the Daniel cell and the Leclanché cell pretty early in the battery sections, right after the Voltaic pile.
Thanks for the great video.
Strongly agreed.
Somewhere along the way we slowly lost our first-principles mooring of explaining things from the ground up, and in a very natural way.
I've therefore personally learned to always default to, or at least naturally prefer, older or more classical text explanations, on any given (challenging) subject - and go from there forward in the literature that exists.
Energy harvesting tech has come light years! These old Ideas worked when efficiency was very poor, and it still worked!
I love this old useful information. Thank you Michael.
The automotive battery industry has done a good job at scrubbing the basic information from public access on how simple it is to make different types of batteries.
I have watched many videos of automotive batteries being totally remade by Pakistani men in sandals, while sitting on a dirt floor using recycled lead and lead oxide, and using a cast iron pan to melt the lead and a wood campfire to convert the used lead to lead oxide then sealing the battery case with a cut strip of pvc plastic then using a hot piece of metal to weld the plastic case shut. In 1 hour a battery can have new lead plates, both an anode and new coated cathode plates, new separators, and new lugs all done with the utmost of rudimentary tools and tech.
Most Americans are terrified of their car battery and have no idea how they work at all yet guys sitting in the dirt around a campfire in sandals can rebuild one in an hour!
No M3P or 500 wh/kg lithium sulfur knowledge….. keep it movin
I'm so happy that I've found your channel. I love your video editing style, minimal. I feel like I'm in the shop with you. Thank you. I love watching your videos.
Amazing presentation mate. I suggest you to make more videos on that topic - batteries. Maybe one with the title: The Ultimate Battery, that present the best diy solution for electricity storage from solar panels. Something that is easy to make, and with usable energy storage capacity. Thank you for sharing!
i second that request :)
Robert did several battery videos a couple of years ago. Check out the zinc bromide gravity battery
Such a fantastic inspiring video. Deeply grateful for all the valuable educational videos you’ve shared with us. Truly pertinent in these difficult times we’re living in. Thank you as always
One easy and very powerful battery you can make is an aluminum iron battery. It makes about 1.7V per cell. For the cathode use aluminum foil or sheet metal for the anode use steel wool and iron oxides. Use some paper towel wet with baking soda paste for the separator/electrolyte. It will take a few minutes to start making current but once activated it will continue till the aluminum is gone.❤
I love old books that were meant to teach you, I have found a wealth of knowledge from older text books from pre 1940's as well as the Harpers Books for Boys from the 1900 to 1910, and old farm shop manuals.
Been watching a lot of your videos recently, ones encompassing magnets, heaters, anything interesting really. It's bloody wonderful what you do. The way that you keep things fascinating and simple, it provokes a lot of thought. You inspired me to make an infra red heater for the Winter out of mostly stuff just laying around. Just waiting on some eco bio fuel that's similar in burning to Ethanol so that it can be used indoors. Thanks fella, you're a bloody gem aye 👍😊
Hi Robert,
Model Engineer's original publisher, Percival Marshall produced an entire booklet on the subject of Battery Making. "Electric Batteries - The Model Engineer Series No.5". I have a collection of the ME Bound Volumes, initially for an interest in steam machinery, but latterly early electric and power. Another pair of sources for great information are "The Engineer" and "Engineering"
ps There are also some useful online Model Engineer Indexes, especially an Australian one. Lists all subjects via a search bar.
Great job on this. Can’t. help thinking that string is the one of best forgotten tech. 👍👍
Thank you for the trouble you go to in bringing us such important information. Your work is appreciated.
That chromate is insane. Any idea what the cell voltage is, or is it a case of more current due to less internal resistance?
I like to look up and down the periodic table in cases like that. Any chance of a molybdate or tungstate doing a similar job?
I have to agree with you about old 'forgotten' methods of doing things.
I've always had an interest in machinery, the development of machine tools pre CNC is amazing, (particularly things that are only in museums or old books).
A lot of 19th century stuff is still relevant to hobby machinists today, we just use electric motors instead of hand or water power and much tougher tooling.
Materials are more consistent plus readily available, measuring equipment cheap and accurate, but, the fundamentals really haven't changed.
This great video has charged me up to indulge my own curiosity further :)
Lol - was this Rob's impression of Mr Miyagi, "Gloves on, gloves off"!
Many thanks Rob!
i love all your videos! i wish you would you use 4k cameras tho. I think it would be nice to see details of your builds/experiments in higher quality.
Awesome mate. I have been a fan since the conductive ink days. Keep up the good work. ❤
👍
Knowing what NOT to do and what is DANGEROUS is very important to know. ie:- Don't use a lit match to see how much petrol is in a tank! lol.
Thank you, too.
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Batteries, your best work.
Wonderfull! So great to see you are back to giving know how on batteries. Loevit Rob!
It would be good to test each of those cells for lifespan to see if any of them would be practical today.
Superb video...thank you for your efforts to memorialize these.
Love the history..many thanks.. DVD:)
Robert i have been watching your videos and find them very enlighting. I am just curoius about your education on these subjects wheither mechanical chemstry or optics. I realy liked this one on batteries and would like to learn more.
Only 2/3 through the video, ya might be missing one, the Hutchinson battery, jihn Hutchinson created AA sized batteries out of crystals, borax, silver dust, and different anodes and cathodes. Think you'll be surprised it doesn't lose charge over time. I'm under the impression that it is a piezoelectric reaction.
Brilliant. New idea? Use magnets made of ferromagnetic metal, easily magnetized or degaussed! That way you can hook up a huge batterypack without subjecting the cells to any temperature at all! You just hook it all up, then wrap it in shrinkfoil and run a degausser over the pack
I have a reprint of the Popular Mechanic’s book “Practical Projects for the Home Handyman “, originally published around 1913, I believe. It’s a goldmine of information but often requires serious consideration before attempting to build.
Uh...I'm a chemist, and I've NEVER worn gloves when working in a lab. If you splash some H2SO4, HNO3, NaOH sol'n, etc, on you, it's no big deal. You just wash it off, But I've ALWAYS worn eye protection! The tiniest droplet of anything like that, in the eye, is BAD news!
Very cool. Well researched.
Excellent video, and now preserved for a future generation who will hopefully respect chemicals use them wisely and not trash the environment and themselves or others for a quick buck.
You sure put the try in chemistry! 😆✌️
Fascinating stuff Rob thanks for that :)
I love your battery videos.
Could you attach a voltmeter to show voltage of your cells? Will you do a video on the Baghdad battery.
What the Baghdad battery probably was is a prayer scroll container.
Science ends up coming down to trial and error. I think we've lost that.
super! tu tiens le bon fil!
il y à trop peu d'informations fiables et viables sur ce sujet.
merci de persévérer sur ce thème!
tout le monde t'encourage sur les batteries secondaires et le stockage 'off grid'
Does anyone remember when you could purchase a "Rechrome your car bumper" kit from the ads in Exchange and Mart paper. A nice tub of chromic acid and a metal "paint brush" with a wire attached. Just sent through the post like it was nothing to worry about!
@RichieReportsUK Today, they would probably shut down the school for months to decontaminate it! I often wondered what happened to the old chemistry lab benches from schools. I bet they weren't taken away by men in hazmat suits!
Very interesting. Keep up the revival of the old technology for reference.
Also, it reminds me of the Swedish cook in the Muppet's Show 🙂
And to think the first ever known battery, was created by mistake over 1000 years ago.
The past contains the basic fundamentals that gave us the building blocks that were built upon to give us today's technology. Forgetting that would be like forgetting Issac Newton, Tesla, Eddison and the great minds that belong with them.
** edit **
Those batteries that were belting along obviously produce a lot of amps, would have been nice to measure the amps, very cool video Rob, very cool indeed 😊
i like you robert... I've always just assumed you know brick houses/buildings used to collect and store their own energy, right? Watching you for the last few years always takes me back to a memory of my mothers friend showing me how he hooked his house back up to the old electrical system which gave him six hours of light on an Edison bulb on his porch. He did it as an experiment and I've never been able to shake the memory. Now that I know about old world architecture and how bricks are slow discharge capacitors I've looked for natural batteries like the Baghdad battery and what you're showing here. I came across you when you were building the hemp capacitor out of paper. I still want to see an update on that scooter. ("how did it not just discharge all at once?! Resistors? What about the heat?" My brain is missing one piece of the puzzle) You're awesome Robert! Keep up the great work
“ bricks are slow discharge capacitors” huh? I gotta hear more about this. Bricks store heat energy but whats this about capacitors?
While your recycling, if you have a small container of baby powder, you could put your gloves on it bounce it on the table (glove over open top) and use your gloves again instead of tossing them in the ocean!!!
VR
I never made a good battery from wood ash. But I have taken kerosene and some slightly damped wood ash and put a clump in the bottom of a jar with kerosene and tried to run a current through it with stainless steel electrodes to make potassium metal. And do not drop your potassium metal into a pressure cooker with water in it.
Interesting ! So the depolarizer you mention is simply just a hydrogen gas blocker and today they use manganese dioxide for it. Didn´t know that until I searched for depolarizer. Thank you for your superb videos ! 👌
Rob, you are an inspiration and godsend! I was planning to make with students in their lessons some batteries after going through the electrochemistry and galvanic cells chapters and you inspired some ideas in my head XD
Of course, they will first calculate the cell voltage, maybe some other stuff, and at the end, they will charge their phones with it XD because why not, right?
🤔 I think this is a lot off Topic,,, but I can remember when my mother broke a thermometer,,, she gave me the Mercury to play with until my Dad got home....
It's a well known fact that I'd had a horse land on my head also as the T.B.I. I received from the Ex, almost 18yrs ago,,,,,,😮
I'm starting now to wonder 🤔 wtf mother was trying to accomplish and I am starting to marvel that I can still have a conversation about most subjects...
Ps,It was Not the Horse's fault!!
The strangest battery I've ever used was a 510v dry cell. That's correct, 510 volts. The photo strobe unit charged nearly instantaneously and discharged via a sizable xenon tube.
Very very informative
Puts on gloves due to dangerous chemicals, then wipes nose! LOL!
11:56 An itch is an itch lol
The facsimile vol 1-12 are on my Christmas list 😉
Really enjoyed this episode hopefully there will be more on batteries of years gone by.
Only thing you have glossed over is the "charge controller" and pure (or close to) sine wave transformer.
Robert did a video on DIY inverters a few years ago
Geo batteries is something I have worked on quite a bit. Among other thiings I have placed growth anodes and strengthening cathodes in strata of dirt that has a natural flow of liquid or movement or earth. This seems to make a battery that gets stronger over time
Outro Fuel for torpedoes. Same 🍊
Hi Robert, have you tried a clay coating on the zinc? I'm guessing the zinc would still get oxygen from the electrolyte and might last longer. Maybe a clay and iron oxide or some suitable mixture would do something
Could a rectangle acrylic box be used to build a battery . Using a groove in the center. Down the sides, across the bottom with a nickel sheet dividing the electrolytes?
What kind of 'C' rating do they have, there was some kind of battery, can't remember what exactly, it could not supply much current, maybe the sodium battery, Its been a while , and I wasn't that interested. Because a huge server rack size battery could only output 60-100 amps or something like that, and 30 amp charge, it seems like the cells were about 12" tall, and 24" -36" x 24-36" and stacked , i never saw any used. And it was in the 1000's of ah, I need about , 300-600 amps from a 1000-1200 ah battery, closer to 1c, snc rather have 2c - 3c batteries. Less voltage sag, less resistance internally a 0.006 c rating isn't going to work,
While this is fascinating, I'd really like to see more technical testing.
It's s akin to watching paint dry, but, could you attach a coulomb counter to the batteries, and pull V(out), I(out), and the time component.
Practical information on the different battery designs would help us categorize the designs into viable vs curiosity vs science experiment groups.
Science experiments are valuable in their own right.
Curiosity designs are... Curious.
But viable practical designs have immediate purpose.
Very interesting... I would be interested in seeing how to revitalize led acid batteries.
It is rather simple if the plates are mechanically sound but the battery won't take a charge. First pop the top off to access the cells. Next disolve alum in boiling hot distilled water. Add 2cc per cell. Next apply 110V through a 100W light bulb till it glows brightly. Next use a high current diode and something like a small space heater as a load, hook positive to positive and negative to negative. Watch the battery voltage and when it drops to about 15V stop. Then hook to a regular charger. I revived a jump pack from 2004 this way. ❤
The hysteria over mercury 😂. Proper understanding and handling of any substance is important. Dihydrogen monoxide kills more people by far than mercury any day of the week and double on weekends.
That's like saying heroin is safe because more people die from alcohol poisoning.
Please talk about the nickel iron battery. I have a bunch of them, made in the 1960s
I remember taking a battery apart as a child and the carbon rod was wound with string and jammed into a zinc cup.
This video was awesome, just read today 3 chemist have come up with a new silicon anode material (claiming energy density will go 10 fold) So I'm spilling my thoughts what about high temp silicon used to seal fire steel box aka wood heater , as the problems with first silicon anode was catching fire , high temp silicon should address that . Maybe mix graphite powder with high temp silicon .
Just a thought thankyou Robert you definitely activated my battery thinking cheers.
Silicon, element, metal. Silicone, rubber compound, contains some silicon. One does not replace the other.
I need to make a work a day battery for my E bike. Lithium simply catches fire way to easy. A bicycle accident could end up with a fire. It needs to be 50 amp hour at 72 volts. If I need to build two then I simply will.
High tech string, I love it.
String, string
Is a wonderful thing.
Rope is thicker
But string is quicker.
Spike Milligan
fantastic.
Would you be able to built a floating device using battries to create an electro magnetic field? How much energy would it take in your opinion?
Very interesting. Perhaps you can do a video on the 'nobility of metals' to demonstrate the reaction potential of different types that can be employed in batteries?
So a Battery of " Battery Secrets", Please,Please do!!!
If you are looking here for the ultimate battery try researching nickel-iron batteries. They cannot be damaged by overcharging or undercharging, have unlimited charge, discharge cycles and are not horribly inefficient. They have been around for a century or more. Why are they not in common use? Yes you can buy a nickel iron battery, made from some of the most common elements on the planet yet look at the price! Whatever "new" technology comes out of whatever old pillar of academia will never lift us out of our current situation. The technology of the next paradigm is already perfected but its use is forbidden!
Superapacitor so (re-)chargable. Are these all rechagable or are some primary batteries? Ah question answered at @13:00
I'm thinking of getting a powerwall or similar. Do you have one / would you get one, or would you make your own?
Buy a stack of 304Ah Lifepo Eve cells from China and a BMS from Pace in China and you're done!
THANK YOU!!!
Hello Robert 😃. You did a talk a few years back about how to make batteries out of Hemp. I can't find that series any more. Could you direct me to it. I'm 17. I believe they would be great batteries for many environmental reasons, and I am very serious about wanting to make them and see if I can get them to power a small car. Thank you.
Have you recently seen a new invention of using cement in a super capacitor, MIT mixed carbon black with cement, used a seperator and potassium chloride eg soaked it after hardening and put collector using some type of mesh inside it and its a super cap.
it's not new i did a video on it 4-5 years ago
Lyden jars
Thanks
I would like to buy these books with your notes. Sub stack style would be good.
great video again sir!
Geopolymers are a way forward for solid state batteries I thought . I tried a few variations over last 5 years but nothing to report . There is something there though but I didn't stumble across anything yet . There is something about ionic salts that have ability to allows ions to share or exchange or carrier or something or rather but I don't remember now .
Have you ever considered doing a reprint book?
I look at Calm Morison Hokes books on 'Refining Precious Metals Wastes' (1940) in much the same way.
Interesting, in search of the flowing electron (s)
You put the alligator clips onto the beaker rim?
What happens if you connect two completed different batteries together in series?
I remember when I was a youngster chasing a puddle of mercury around the floor as well as that I played with the LED tinsel off the Christmas tree oh well Life goes on
Wow, I missed this in the indoctrination facilities
Excellent 👍👌
What about eye protection,, don't want that in your eyes now do
we 🤔
Are you doing the water battery?
What is a Jer cloth or J cloth (that's what captions said)?
Did he say J Cloth? For the separator he is using? What is this?
Your nick name should be MacGyver!
Amazon does not have it,Shucks!!!
is this what you mean? www.amazon.co.uk/PATIKIL-Flexible-Graphite-Gasket-250x200x1mm/dp/B0C69D1973/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=13FMIN2IIZJNF&keywords=graphite%2Bfoil&qid=1696625919&sprefix=graphite%2Bfoil%2Caps%2C109&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
Project moses