Quote from: jbignes5 on February 26, 2012, 01:00:05 PM
The masses must be balanced though. Magnesium weight must balance to the copper side weight.

I think that the electrode surface areas and thicknesses would be more important than material mass. Maybe there is an ideal weight ratio though? Layers of foils packed in-between oiled paper in a (glass?) tube. Or in a paper towel roll, or something... How thick is a layer of zinc paint? Would pressure bring higher current/voltage readings like we are finding in some of our experiments I wonder...
The additive voltage idea shouldn't be hard to test right? Who' wants to build a Zamboni pile first? Or has one of you already started??
PC

Quote from: PhiChaser on February 26, 2012, 01:59:44 PM
@ IB: Yeah, I think Jbignes5 is right. If you were using magnesium probes you would probably get zeros. It does lead to a lot of interesting ideas regarding how to use an oxide layer as a seperator rather than introducing a new material (like paper, whatever...). The blackened Mg seems to be stable/non-corroding? Sounds like that works. Oil works. Controlled oxidation may be a way to 'keep it simple'?
Do you get any readings with copper touching the Mg oxidization directly? I like the paper/oil dip idea that J suggested..
@ Jbignes5: We need to figure out which caps are going to work well on this low voltage, micro(pico?)amperage scale. I keep thinking that transistors would have to be in there to let current flow until the cells drop to a certain voltage, then cut them out of the charging until they naturally charge up enough to 'flow' current into the circuit again. Example: When the cell voltage is over 0.5v allow current to flow, when the cell voltage reaches 0.5v cut that cell out from charging the cap, when voltage levels reach 1.0v (again) the current is allowed to flow (until the voltage drops to 0.5v again, etc...).
I haven't done my homework so I'm not sure there is such a thing (yet)... Everything these days is designed to go FAST and we're looking for something that goes S-L-O-W right? Back to handmade caps maybe? I haven't had time to even start reading the captret thread... Real life is really busy heh heh.
Using Tesla style tech is a good thing to keep in mind too!
Gonna go make some cells I think... I may have some free days next week too!

Happy experimenting!
PC

You got it all wrong. The Zomboni pile is all voltage. It seems the metals are additive. So how hard would it be to charge a cap with 2k volts? Then discharge the cap via Tesla's style of disruptive discharge into a bifilar coil with zero self inductance. The only thing that will be the problem is resistance then which doesn't seem to bother high voltage apps. Think of a pile that has millions of layers all perfectly separated by oil. It would be the source Tesla needed but couldn't find. He has to use conventional generators to do that. In our case 20-40k volt cells could be made to charge a cap and let it discharge across a gap into the coil..

I finished sealing my second 18 cell panel with wax.I hooked all the cells up with wires with alligator clips.In the beginning I saw 14 volts which settled down to 11.85 volts.Then for amps.I saw at first 1.89mas which settled down to 1.55mas.So 11.85 volts and 1.55 mas is what I finished at.So 18.37 milliwatts is what I ended up with.Triffid


I tested my six cells in series vitamin C cells,4.35 volts and .110 mas.Then an magnesium electrode broke off .So I spoke too soon when I said one hadn't broke off yet.


Just a general observation,The vitamin C cells are twice as many amps as any other cells I have made.
At two weeks of age the aspirin cells are down to .005mas and vitamin C is at .110mas.Volts are about the same.
Maybe the silica is responsible?Or the three acids present?And their buffers?


I know heat will recharge them.So give me a hot car on a summers day.triffid

To recap vineagar is too strong for my cells,If I can find a buffer to protect the magnesium from the acid then maybe I can build higher voltage cells.It so Happens I have a replacement for vineagar.I found it last week when a quart of buttermilk went on sale for 59 cents.Not wanting to miss out on a bargain and because I do like buttermilk.I bought It.It does not contain vineagar but it tastes like it has it in there.Of course it has casin in it too(a form of glue).It is highly buffered I would believe.So I guess my next attempt will be buttermilk/vitamin C cells to take the place of my vineagar/vitamin C cells.triffid

Hello all! This is my first post here on these forums. I hope I can add something useful to the discussion.

I am a musician and recently started teaching myself basic electronics and electric theory via the internet. In my online studies I ran across this project on youtube and it really caught my eye. I have a few thoughts that might spark an idea in someone with a much greater understanding of these concepts than myself.

Has anyone tested the solar potential of these crystal cells? My thought is that an anthocyanin and titanium dioxide such as is found in solar panels in addition to light bouncing around inside an already inherently electrical crystal structure might be fairly powerful if correctly combined.

According to Wikipedia:

"In ceramic glazes titanium dioxide acts as an opacifier and seeds crystal formation."

Just thought I'd throw that out there in case it's somehow useful. I'll be quiet now leave the advanced stuff to the people who know what they're talking about.