ok!
this is interesting.
i was playing around and got idea "lets hook rock to multimeter :D"
after a while i noticed "spikes" of mV range 5-100.
ok... i decided to charge 1 uF 50V cap, and it did!!
i got 0.020 volt hehe. here is video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmcizOis9ns
it its funny, i try to put in series and i got from 3 180uF 35V cap and 3 small rocks 0.070 volts.
il try tomorrow 10 or more in series.
note that not all rocks works.
here is another video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgyK1vl7_30
2 in series, 180uF capacitors with rocks, 0.060 volts. tomorrow il do more tests.
Quote from: hemancro on November 23, 2010, 07:56:02 AM
here is another video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgyK1vl7_30
2 in series, 180uF capacitors with rocks, 0.060 volts. tomorrow il do more tests.
interesting stuff... with a garage full of rocks you could power a small calculator :P hehe... jokes aside, looks interesting... let us know the results of tomorrows test :)
Pete
I've seen this before a while back. I picked up a rock from my drive way and at certain spots it would give me voltage and some spots would switch polarity.
I think i got more power out of it when i add aluminum foil and salt or something can't really remember it because it was long time ago.
But heres a video of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY18yt0ZzM8
I think i conclude it was a simple water battery, but what i couldn't figure out was that for it to be a water battery it needed a dielectric and it didn't have one.
yeah i have noticed that it change polarity.
if its water battery how it gives power when rock is dry?
tnx for the video, il check it out in the morning.
Quote from: hemancro on November 23, 2010, 04:20:00 PM
yeah i have noticed that it change polarity.
if its water battery how it gives power when rock is dry?
tnx for the video, il check it out in the morning.
My first thought was water battery but never confired that it was. Dry or wet it would give me voltage. Some spots was little or no voltage while others were crazy high voltage, I think i got up to .5 volts one time.
I think it might have to do with the quartz in the rocks. Or it could be something to do with the stress the rocks have come across that gives them the voltage. Piezo speakers have a quarts rock in them that can produce power. I wish i could tell you more but even to this day it has stumped me. ???
i took your advice and connected wire (i think its zinc) to 1 side of the rock.
guess what? i got 1 peak with 0.680 volt, !
il post video on youtube soon.
i dont know what it is but its interesting.
il continue to experiment.
i want to add something.
i made concrete battery, how i call it, 20.5.2010.
at first it give 1.2 volts and 6-7 miliampers.
now give 0.8 volts and 1 miliamper.
strange thing is that after 2 months it fall down to 0.8V and 1 miliamper.
at first it was pure galvanic reaction but... after a while it stuck on 0.8 volts and even today give the same.
and can still run joue thief and light red LED.
i think it have something with minerals in sand.
here is new video. i dont have aluminium foil, il go and buy if i can :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hw7R-Sc8tM
i left 6 rocks and 6 capacitors 22 uF 16V for around 5 hours in series.
they charge capacitors to more than 400 millivolt.
as soon as i connect voltmeter volts rapidly dropped to 20 millivolt.
now i know that they:
charge capacitors.
mv can go from 1 to 200.
mv can get higher (700 mv) with wire or some metal connected to rock from 1 side.
change polarity.
can link in series to gain voltage
if anyone have more information and willing to share, il be very happy :)
Quote from: hemancro on November 24, 2010, 02:08:01 AM
i left 6 rocks and 6 capacitors 22 uF 16V for around 5 hours in series.
they charge capacitors to more than 400 millivolt.
as soon as i connect voltmeter volts rapidly dropped to 20 millivolt.
now i know that they:
charge capacitors.
mv can go from 1 to 200.
mv can get higher (700 mv) with wire or some metal connected to rock from 1 side.
change polarity.
can link in series to gain voltage, but only with capacitors in parallel with rocks (rocks on parallel with capacitors and then capacitors in series).
if anyone have more information and willing to share, il be very happy :)
You are at LEAST 40 years behind the 8 ball here. It's called Petrovoltaics man, and a fella by the name of TT Brown researched it extensively long ago attaching different rock types to different circuits.
Rather than do what most everyone else here does (which is THINK they are breaking new ground and experiment on topics that have ALREADY been PROPERLY and METHODICALLY researched sometimes +100 years ago), go and save yourself a lot of time and expense by first reading the research notes along with patents of TT Brown. THEN IF you think you have a novel new way of expanding the research, you can go from there. Anything else is just buggerizing around like an average backyarder and I will tell you this achieves nothing!
Here is the site with all the notes -
http://www.qualight.com/petro/
Now I will tell you what the problem is with petrovoltaics - Lack of power density (not to mention nobody wants a battery that involves pushing a wheelbarrow to light a LED).
Yes, you can stack rocks and make even thousands of volts (batteries hundreds of years old are based on this), but it is next to useless other than a novelty. It carries virtually no current and current does all the work.
Good luck.
E-Goose
Quote from: ElectricGoose on November 24, 2010, 02:39:50 AM
...Here is the site with all the notes -
http://www.qualight.com/petro/
....
"Petrovoltaics is the spontaneous rectification of and storage of radiation in the form of electrical potential by certain materials. Townsend Brown observed this effect in numerous materials, but the effect was most prevalent in granitic and volcanic rocks such as in Koolau basalt found near the city of Honolulu in Hawaii and other complex siliates. Interestingly, the observed potentials appeared to undergo definite circadian rhythms or cycles. Attempting to isolate the petrovoltaic effect from other known phenomena such as piezoelectric, thermoelectric, or pyroelectric phenomena, Townsend Brown shielded his "sensors," consisting of natural rock specimens or manufactured materials, materials from electrostatic, thermal, humidic, and radiation effects. However, the electrical potentials remained, albeit at lower values, and more interestingly, the cyclical nature of the potential was still present. It was these cycles that intrigued Townsend Brown - where was the energy coming from, and what interaction was occurring between that energy and the materials of his sensors to produce measurable potentials with circadian rhythms ? He theorized that the gravitational fields of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and planets were interacting with the mass of the sensors. This theory sprung from the predicted observation that such an interaction would elicit a generally higher effect with more massive sensor materials. "
Don't let high voltage fool you it can do a lot of work.
A stack of some rocks would be great to have to light up some LED's.
I say keep going and see if you can light up a LED with a joule thief.
im after 0.8 - 0.9 volts.
if i can get that in 1000 uF cap then i can have small blink with joule thief and LED :)
im sure that there are some minerals in rocks that give electricity,
only i don't know which one.
here is new video that recharge 4700 uF 25V capacitor to more than 0.900V
i stop recording before 0.9V
5 rocks in series, i don't know is that capacitor self charge or what, but it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqHa-NZxYHo
If you get your voltage higher, say around 7 volts, i can show you how to double the light out put from a capacitor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJZs6tlj_Y
Where do you get your rocks?
that's a cool video, i watch it and done some experiments myself. failed tho :)
i live now in thailand, that black rock is common here.
i found some brown one that give me output 0.7V-0.8V and 0.001 mA
and some other black 0.9 to over 1 V and 0.003 mA
but then again i need aluminum foil. i cant work with scarp metal.
it don't cover all surface and my voltage and amps go down quick.
now i'm sure that it has to do something with minerals in rocks.
here is video of my concrete battery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLgHWYGydng
it charge 35200uf 35V capacitor and light LED with joule thief.
please note that this battery is more than 6 months old and still produce electricity 0.9 V and 1 mA. i have made those 20.5.2010.
power dropped ofc in first 2 months and after that stay at 0.9V and 1mA
i want to make update on progress.
at first i needed 1 day +- few hours to charge 25uf capacitor with 1 rock to 100mV.
now i need 5 min to charge 100uf to 250mV.
that's huge improvement.
now i want to give you some numbers.
i have 10 rocks. every rock give me 300+mV and 10 rocks give 0.001mA
10000 rocks can give 1mA at 300+mV
150.000 small rocks can give 5mA 0.900mV.
i know its little power :), but i think its constant.
i still not sure what give electricity. minerals in rocks, some form of radiation or what ever, but its there.
tomorrow i'l post 1 more video of charging 1200uf capacitor, and after that i hope il be able to light LED.
if someone know more, please share.