Ibpointless2 Crystal Cells

[triffid]

I still have six magnesium strips protected with a black colored coating from borax.I will put those into another set of six cells with dandelion leaf.




So far the copper and aluminum wires offer the longest life of the electrodes.But not the highest voltage outputs.I can twist the tops of copper and aluminum wires together with a pair of pliers.To make connecting wire bridges between cells.

[PhiChaser]

Built 11 cells yesterday using borax, Durham's and Epsom salt. There were three 'batches', all mixed in a different fashion with the same ingredients (does that make sense?).
The first 'batch' ended up with 5 cells. I had to add ingredients to get the right mix that would 'set' properly (i.e. without having to freeze them).
The second two 'batches' (3 cells each) were mixed a little differently but all the mixes used hot (melted) borax in the H2O previous to adding to the Durham's.
Looks like it doesn't matter much at this point since I haven't tried any ratio tests yet.
Anyhow, I hooked them to the 6v lantern batteries (one on one cell, two on the other) in parallel overnight and took some readings earlier.
Right now I have those three cells in series lighting an LED and reading 5.29v on the VOM (also in series). This averages to about 1.75 volts per cell; I did measure the individual cells and the one in the middle is closer to 1 volt and the end cells are closer to 2 volts. This may be due to how I took some ammeter readings as well as some 'short' tests. Either way, 1.75v is pretty good for me.
The amperage was around 100uA when I was running an ammeter off the LED leads but the voltage would dip to around 3.3v and the amperage would drop (even though the voltage would rise slowly)... Some of the best ammeter readings (without the LED 'load') were over 1.5mA (not microamps for a change!).
I am going to leave the LED hooked up for a few hours and peek at the VOM off and on. Heck, I might even write down some numbers... Or not. Heh heh...
Will add to this post later tonight...

Happy experimenting,
PC

EDIT: The VOM is at 5.05v and the LED appears unlit. It is only hooked to the last cell so I am guessing that particular cell is below 1.3v. I will look into possible configurations to give me better data. I may have to try some multiple (C) electrode tests one of these days... one of the pics I took earlier showed 4.6v on the VOM and 1.8mA measured at the center cell with no LED connected...  I'm out of materials again and I really need to get some more connectors... Gotta go. Got my FG today!

[triffid]

Today I made six more cells using oxalic acid from" barkeepers friend" and copper and aluminum wires twisted together at the top with pliers.I added them to the six cells I had already made.So I have 12 of those cells connected together.At .5 volts each that should give me 6.0 volts.
The copper and aluminum wires seem to resist the oxalic acid ok.Will check the voltages tomorrow when the glue has dried enough.triffid

[triffid]

From PBs post on page 80 of this thread:  If we were to assume a low loss (high Q) dielectric and a perfect conformal coating;  then the output (with one electrolyte) would be 0.  But again, because this is a capacitive junction; the voltage would be the SAME as without it. 

Now looking more specifically at these cells; we have a conductive metal with a coating dielectric and a conductive electrolyte on the other side.  This essentially creates a capacitive type junction and does two things.  First, the voltage across electrodes will be the same (if the dielectric is non reactive), as a capacitor has no issues transferring electrostatic tension.  Second, with a single electrolyte, the current available would be lowered to X degree.  This degree is based on the Dissipation factor of the dielectric, as well as the integrity of the conformal coating.   

So this seems to explain to me why my petro jelly protected cells gave me as much voltage as the unprotected cells.and why the petro jelly lowered my current from the cells that had no petro jelly.Good Show PB.triffid

[Peanutbutter29]

@ Phi getting mA's, Nice!  Particularly since you aren't oxidizing your Al .  If you can have a single cell produce say, 10 ma or bit more;  you can light an LED pretty close to full with a JT or JR.  Some of the small solar motors run around .5v and 40ma too. 
  Also, were you able to harden a higher concentration of Borax with these new cells?  I just thought of another possibility that may work, thinking of Zamboni.  Make your cells with the oxalic and durhams (Mainly, to use oxalic for voltage increase from oxide removal on Al).  After they harden, try pouring through a concentrated borax solution and let dry.  Any salts that dry in the pores will start a seed for more and allow for conduction / reaction.  Test your output, then repeat with another soaking.  You should be able to get a good saturation this way, or even use borax solution for wetting. 
  Last, I would recommend trying Zinc sulfate too, cheap on ebay;  as it could be mixed in wet probably.  (so, oxalic and zinc sulfate with durhams here)
  I suppose getting pure Oxalic would be better than BKF for since it' has other ingredients.

@ Triffid, ya the Oxalic seems to be right on the edge for Al which could prove to be useful there.  With the petrol cells, I suppose you also know the jelly was not involved in the reaction too.  Heh, and you probably did a good job coating them.

I wonder if that Electrolube may be a good coating.....

Thanks, PB