Edison battery ( Amazing Feat of Engineering)

[braden]

This is Engineering at its finest. A Battery that would compete today

http://www.lizardfire.com/hydroxy/The_Edison_Alkaline_Storage_Battery.pdf

[neptune]

I actually owned some of these cells years ago . You never seem to hear of them now . They were a nickle - iron battery , and most people confuse them with Ni-cad batteries . They were brilliant at standing up to neglect and abuse , but expensive . Also I seem to remember they were bulkier than lead acid cells of the same capacity . I think you could buy them second hand , possibly ex government . For reasons I never knew , they were sometimes used as starter batteries on milk tanker trucks . It was said they would last 10 years , and then with new electrolyte , be as good as new . The link above gives details of their construction for DIY fans , at least in a crude form . I think the electrolyte ,referred to as potash , was potassium hydroxide , which can be bought , or made from wood ash . It is a strong alkali , so take necessary precautions against contact with skin /eyes .

[Doug1]

Thats one hell of a battery. I dont think anyone would make those for mass production in modern times. Modern times ='s Suuuuucky batteries.

[mscoffman]

@all

While the manufacturing techniques used in making these
Edison batteries were impressive I bet the cost were quite
high. I would imagine too eventually they would have plain
rusted out. I imagine that the grid arrays of acid/lead batteries
where simply cast out refractory lead/antimony metal. With sort
of bulk material process control. Of course, large scale lead metal
processing is a heavy metal pollution curse in modern industrial
societies, Until the recent past I'll bet society may have been
better off embracing Edison cells due to that factor alone.

:S:MarkSCoffman

[Freezer]

Thats one hell of a battery. I dont think anyone would make those for mass production in modern times. Modern times ='s Suuuuucky batteries.

I don't know about mass quantities, but they do sell nickel iron batteries, but they are quite expensive.
http://www.beutilityfree.com/Electric/Ni-Fe