A battery that lasts!

[CuriousChris]

Car batteries are made to fail after a short period of time.

It is much better to build its own lead acid batteries which can be maintained.

You can use rooftop plumb lead foils to build the plates and use
sulfuric acid in silicic acid ( crystalline silica )
as the electrolyte and binder.

The only problem is to find the right cases for the batteries as you can not buy empty battery cases...

If anybody has a source for empty battery cases in Europe, please let me know.

Many thanks.

As the battery industry uses too thin lead plates, these fail very shortly after 2 or 3 years...
but if you use the thick rooftop plumb lead foils these hold much longer !

Regards, Stefan.

Its not so much they are made to fail. Its that they are made to be as cheap as possible. The result is they have a very limited lifespan. About 1 day after the expiration of the warranty. so look for batteries with good warranties it means the build is better (sometimes).

Lead is too expensive and has far too few charge carriers. which is why we use lithium. but there are many exciting technologies starting to provide fruit. I am most interested in zinc air batteries. still a few years off but as they are rechargeable and have an energy density approaching lithium without the cost it should be cost effective for a house.

As an interesting aside metal air batteries get heavier as they discharge, unlike a fuel tank which gets lighter.

[minnie]

NTU. Singapore seem to have made a development regarding lithium batteries.
Could this be a step toward the reasonably priced long life battery we could do
with? I really hope so.
                  John.

[mscoffman]

NTU. Singapore seem to have made a development regarding lithium batteries.
Could this be a step toward the reasonably priced long life battery we could do
with? I really hope so.
                  John.

Yes, I saw that John. Maybe seven seconds to recharge the battery. I've always said that lithium batteries are going to take
the same course as computers have already taken. I believe that slowly over time lithium batteries will get better and better.
Imagine if your service station was a lane on the expressway. You might never have to stop to fill up at all. Kind of
reminds me of the steam locomotives which would scoop up water as they passed by. Maybe that is ICE engines
Achilles-heel - the time taken to fuel up.