lasersaber battery replication

[AL Electro]

Those are nice cells, Ibpointless. 500 mA is great for the dry copper tube an magnesium cell. Good videos..... I'm going to try and reproduce one of your cells too. Already have all the ingredients but had to buy the salt substitute which is costly for what you get.... The purchase left me wondering "which of the four chemicals in this salt subtitute is contributing to the cause". Potassium Chloride? Would be much cheaper if that were the case.
Far as power density goes your copper cell is tiny compared to the 3 inch by 10 inch Carbon rod of the Lasersaber cell and i see how you get away with using copper in the first place. Far as the magnesium being consumed by galvanic reaction in a wet cell, I mainly just wanted a good source of power that was rebuildable when the magnesium was used up. Kind of like an emergency type cell. Just add water and salt and viola! Thing is I don't see why my cells wont produce at least a few hundred miliamps considering it's size and the surface area of the magnesium. I know graphite has it's losses bit this is a massive chunk. I guess i'll mess around with some other salt combinations and see if I can get the current which Lasersaber made look so easy to accomplish. OR maybe try your dry salt impregnated paper on one of the rods.
At any rate, working on and experimenting with these cells is satisfying for me. But the output power on this video really has me wondering how he can slap together a cell that cranks out so much power and my cell's are basically dead in comparison. They're the same thing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG8qyN7y-PE&feature=relmfu

[AL Electro]

Question still stand's.
Has anybody here replicated lasersabers 3 in. X 10 in. Carbon and Magnesium cell in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG8qyN7y-PE&feature=relmfu or something close with comparable output? I replicated them but the output isn't even remotely close. Any ideas on getting these cell to come to life would be greatly appreciated. I've tried different salts and different thickness of paper towels/insulator for ion flow differences.

[NickZ]

  If we knew how to make cells that produced 1.5 amps or more, permanently, we would not be making cells that put out only in the mAs, if that.

   I made a cell like John B and Lidmotor made using the 3" by 10" carbon water filter elements, but since I can't get the Mg ribbon, I used aluminum wire.  I still have the cell around somewhere, but I only got very moderate current, something like 75mA, or less, without the use of salts.  I know what will happens when you add salt to iron or aluminum wire, they generally dissolve, unless there is no oxygen present. 
   Lasersaber has placed his cells in an oil bath, to control oxidation. But the point of nobody else obtaining those kinds of current output levels, is somewhat disturbing. Once the cell is put under a load it drops lower yet, especially after a while, like most of these two different metal or carbon cells do.
  The main thing is, can a cell like that power a device or some leds without losing that current output level ability over time?
The big Carbon Rod cell voltage was still less than 2 volt. which is not much for a cell that size, but its main advantage is the big current output that it can produce.
On going tests may still be happening...  Check the Lasersaber channel.

The more current a cell puts out, the quicker is give up its sacrificial metals. This type of cell is based on a purely galvanic reaction, but the idea is to see how long it will last. In any case, the Mg ribbon only takes a little while to replace, and that type of cell is easy enough for anyone to make and use.

  I have not tried Ib2 method of using Epsom/salt substitute on the electrolyte paper, and letting that dry out. then hermetically sealing the cell.  But, it should also work on big Carbon/Mg cells like the 3 by 10 inch size.  I think that the trick would be to seal the entire outside of it with E-poxy. Or maybe even dipping it in roofing tar, or... 

  My hot dog cell has now blown several larger 1/4" size bubbles that have developed and are growing bigger each day, (right through the glue), now that it has been totally seal in glue.  So, looks to me like this type of cell needs to vent, especially if it puts out some juice. Mine has not been used lately at all, but is still venting hydrogen gas.