Ibpointless2 Crystal Cells

[PhiChaser]

So the oldest cells made without acetic acid,citric acid,absorbic acid,and oxalic acid did not corrode the magnesium strip.Now they did corrode the copper electrode if it was used.I have no corrosion with the tin can lid and magnesium strips at all.So fumaric acid does not corrode the tin can lids.Or the magnesium.triffid
This week I will make six more cells with dandelion leaf parts to see if I can repeat my results and to see if I can protect the magnesium strips somehow.

@ triffid: Have you tried actually wrapping your Mg with a leaf and building the rest of the cell around the leaf? So that the leaf is a layer in the cell between the Mg and the salts? I hope that makes sense.. And the 'supplies' will go out sometime tomorrow; I had to get a small box and some plastic baggies.

Myself, I'm still having issues with 'flubber' (four, five batches...grrr). Maybe I need to mix things in a certain order, like the borax and H2O first, then mix THAT with the durhams and epsom? I will figure it out... Mixing everything together all at once isn't giving me the results I want... A little more chemistry help might be helpful? (hint hint)

Happy experimenting,
PC

[Peanutbutter29]

Nice updates on the Nature Cells Triffid!

Also, Nice to hear from you IB!  I'll be anxious to see the new goodies you are working on.

@ Phi.  I had to do a bit of checking, as I didn't think there is a reaction with what your doing.  Technically there isn't a chemical reaction since Calcium and Sulfate are both more strongly - and + respectively;  in comparison to Sodium and  Boric acid.  However, it does seem from looking that they use borax.....or oddly Alum in plaster to make a stronger harder end product!  I believe we have a solution.

Evidently the Borax acts as a catalyst or accelerator to the properties of Plaster.  This is called Keene's Cement
Definition here: http://www.answers.com/topic/keene-apos-s-cement
Another page talking about plaster usage and gives a good description of the Keene's #242 on the list.:
http://chestofbooks.com/architecture/Building-Construction-V2/Hard-Wall-Piasters.html
Snip from the link above:
".....but is made of plaster of Paris, soaked in a solution of alum and then recalcined"

And another site which better describes the process and should explain the new question of;  what's recalcined.
http://www.answers.com/topic/keene-apos-s-cement

I think this should give you a way to get your product .

Also, in looking I stumbled on to something that has some beneficial properties;  Barium Borate.  Antifungal and microbial, UV resistant, Moisture resistant, ash glass made from it is a radiation shield....and last but not least;  it's a corrosion inhibitor!  I believe this might be a good choice for certain configurations!
Phi take a look on Wiki for Barium Borate and look in applications for the Grade III Barium Metaborate, as it might be a good add.

last, still side tracked on JT type oscillators and am playing with another coil from a laser (had for ever and never used) and seeing good results.  I'm also a bit side tracked with cells working on a ole' crank / pedal genie too (just prep stuff there). 

Thanks

PS - thinking about all of this, you know I have to say My favorite all time cell hands down;  is the Ni-Cd batteries.  I used these heavily for R/C stuff in the 90's.  Ni-Mh's were a let down in many ways and LiO, LiPo, etc are just terrible.  To give an Idea though, my favorite was Sanyo SCR 1200maH 1.2v cells.  These could be purchased matched of course and were rated to deliver 30 amps without dropping below 1v for XXX time.  The time ran was the grade (eg 600-800-900 sec).  Those cells will give you full output and just die within 20 seconds, oh so lovely.  We'd drain them fully on a 10 parallel string of car bulbs, charge em' up at a couple amps and be ready run them again in 30 min!  Gearing was always so the batteries lasted 4min exactly at full power and then by 4:30, not enough to move the motor.  I had many that stayed good for 3 years or more, those are just my favorite.

[PhiChaser]

@ Phi.  I had to do a bit of checking, as I didn't think there is a reaction with what your doing.  Technically there isn't a chemical reaction since Calcium and Sulfate are both more strongly - and + respectively;  in comparison to Sodium and  Boric acid.  However, it does seem from looking that they use borax.....or oddly Alum in plaster to make a stronger harder end product!  I believe we have a solution.

Evidently the Borax acts as a catalyst or accelerator to the properties of Plaster.  This is called Keene's Cement
Definition here: http://www.answers.com/topic/keene-apos-s-cement
Another page talking about plaster usage and gives a good description of the Keene's #242 on the list.:
http://chestofbooks.com/architecture/Building-Construction-V2/Hard-Wall-Piasters.html
Snip from the link above:
".....but is made of plaster of Paris, soaked in a solution of alum and then recalcined"

And another site which better describes the process and should explain the new question of;  what's recalcined.
http://www.answers.com/topic/keene-apos-s-cement

I think this should give you a way to get your product .

Yay! Thanks PB! I had no idea where to look, these links are awesome! 

Also, in looking I stumbled on to something that has some beneficial properties;  Barium Borate.  Antifungal and microbial, UV resistant, Moisture resistant, ash glass made from it is a radiation shield....and last but not least;  it's a corrosion inhibitor!  I believe this might be a good choice for certain configurations!
Phi take a look on Wiki for Barium Borate and look in applications for the Grade III Barium Metaborate, as it might be a good add.

Niiiice! Salvaging carbon out of old batteries has occured to me a few times (mostly when I run out of supplies and start adding up costs...) for 'free' quality carbon trodes... Um... Not sure Safeway has Barium Metaborate, at least not Grade III. I will have to look... j/k
Some type of 'heath aid' probably has it in there? I have seen some things about Barium and Boron that seem 'interesting'. I will investigate the Barium Borate, just gotta keep on track with one thing at a time. If I try doing too much at once nothing seems to get done...

PS - thinking about all of this, you know I have to say My favorite all time cell hands down;  is the Ni-Cd batteries.  I used these heavily for R/C stuff in the 90's.  Ni-Mh's were a let down in many ways and LiO, LiPo, etc are just terrible.  To give an Idea though, my favorite was Sanyo SCR 1200maH 1.2v cells.  These could be purchased matched of course and were rated to deliver 30 amps without dropping below 1v for XXX time.  The time ran was the grade (eg 600-800-900 sec).  Those cells will give you full output and just die within 20 seconds, oh so lovely.  We'd drain them fully on a 10 parallel string of car bulbs, charge em' up at a couple amps and be ready run them again in 30 min!  Gearing was always so the batteries lasted 4min exactly at full power and then by 4:30, not enough to move the motor.  I had many that stayed good for 3 years or more, those are just my favorite.

I'm guessing this is where the r/c charger recommendation came from? Background knowledge seems to be increasingly valuable these days! I will be reading those links and discuss with Mr. Keene...

Happy experimenting!

PC

P.S. I should have a frequency generator in less than a week ($12.34 on eBay, $24s/h heh heh). And I got more wire (southwire 20/2 signal wire)... Probably will rewind my 'phicoil' next week but that is something else in another thread... Gotta meet Mr. Keene today!
And buy stamps... I forgot those yesterday...

[b_rads]

Myself, I'm still having issues with 'flubber' (four, five batches...grrr). Maybe I need to mix things in a certain order, like the borax and H2O first, then mix THAT with the durhams and epsom? I will figure it out... Mixing everything together all at once isn't giving me the results I want... A little more chemistry help might be helpful? (hint hint)

Happy experimenting,
PC

Add PVA(white glue) to the mix.  Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add diluted white glue with warm water and mix.  Remove the glob that will immediately form and squeeze out as much water as you can from it. 

[PhiChaser]

Add PVA(white glue) to the mix.  Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add diluted white glue with warm water and mix.  Remove the glob that will immediately form and squeeze out as much water as you can from it.

I am trying to not add any additional ingredients to these cells (for now), it makes things more complicated (from a lot of directions). I'm after a simple mix, not something that needs to be squeezed out (although some ideas I've run across/had involve using pressure to get the excess H2O out of the cells)...
Thanks for the suggestion though!

PC