Crystal Power CeLL by John Hutchison

[Koen1]

You're welcome guys, but thanks for the thanks. 

@Ian: I cannot find any clear mention of how much current Staschewski applied to his probes.
I am also not entirely certain a high current is actually used... In some descriptions of electret building
for example they clearly state one should apply a high voltage, but no mention is made of actual current;
and like you said, a high amperage will cause electrochemical interactions and reactions in the material.
Even if no electrolysis occurs, charge carrying particles will move back and forth between electrodes
(if the medium allows them that much freedom of motion, and if the voltage is high enough), and this
probably does not have a positive effect on the internal structure of the final material. Or at least, I suppose
it doesn't. Except of course if the material matrix is rigid enough to keep all particles in place more or less,
yet allows electrons themselves to move through the matrix. But if you have that kind of material, let me know.
In any case, I think polarisation of the material can be done without current, by applying an isolating layer between
the "charging" electrode and the material that is to be polarised. If a high voltage is applied to the plate/electrode,
and an opposing charge to the opposite electrode, the electric field between the plates should still polarise the material
but no actual current should flow. (depends on how high the voltage is, how thick the layer of material, and how
good the isolator.) However, i do think Staschewski applied a direct current to his probes, but I don't know how much.
I'll see if I can find out.
As for the agate stones, their output seems to depend very much on the humidity and temperature, according to dr. Staschewski's
diagrams. They clearly show how the voltage curve of various agate samples mimics both rises and drops in both those parameters
over the course of a couple of months. His remark that the agate voltage also reacts to outside humidity when it is entirely isolated
from the outside is interesting, though. I guess that's what he meant when he said they react to "water radiation in the atmosphere".
Dye is not exactly my specialty, but if it is possible to impregnate agate with dye I suppose one could indeed select dyes containing
the right p and n particles and use them as 'dopant'. Good idea.

@jeanna: indeed, the humidity thing is a theme in the paper; one if dr Staschewskis main goals seems to have been to study the
effects of various influences on his various samples. Some of his diagrams show material voltage per day, but also the temperature,
atmospheric pressure, amount of rainfall, sometimes even whether there was a thunderstorm or not. Some materials like the agate
stones show a clear sensitivity to the rainfall/humidity levels as well as the temperature outside, while the PEMs seem to show more
sensitivity to only the outside temperature, the gypsum samples seem to indicate a decline of voltage over time (probably due to drying
out gradually, as the author said), and very little to no direct reaction to outside temp nor humidity, and the wood samples he tested seem
to show a slow but steady increase of voltage to a max of around 100mV and apparently completely unrelated to the environmental influences.
Mind you, all samples are kept indoors at room temperature, around 24 degrees celcius, so the outside temperature and humidity
should not have any effect on the samples directly. Why some of the samples do react to these outside circumstances is quite a good question.
The author does mention, in another paragraph:
" [...] All of the studied materials had a common quality: they were all hydrophiles, in other words, either hygroscopic or containing some degree of
crystal- or 'pore'-water. [Many silicates contain a degree of water, including most types of rock. Some can absorb quite some water and release
it again when heated, others simply consist of a structure with water 'encased' in it. Fyi.] Liquid water with its dielectric contant of around 80 is a
material that can be polarised well. It is known that for example wood [and other materials] absorb water from the air humidity. [Author is hinting
toward the relation between water content, waters dielectric polarisation characteristic, and measured voltage in certain materials] Simple
measurements with a voltmeter show that wooden surfaces in the open, as well as for example wet cellar walls, depending on the circumstances,
can show charges up to 1 V for a short period of time. [...]"
... which does indeed seem to indicate that he considers water contained in various materials to play some kind of role in the voltage generation.
However, he does not really get back to the water later on in the paper, he focuses increasingly on the dry and isolated material samples, and
their voltages and recharge characteristics and the relation of those to outside circumsances. It seems the water content was something he pointed out,
but never really picked up again.

Meanwhile preliminary measurements on a 'fresh' cell variation I made seem to indicate around 500mV max voltage, which after having been shorted
seems to return to the full 500mV within about 10 minutes. It's not much but it's another little bit of positive stimulation to keep trying.

[ian middleton]

Hi all,
@jeanna, thanks for the info on dyes. I'm on it.

The sensitivity of a completely isolated peice of agate to water I find fascinating, must explore that one.

For what it is worth, burying a solar panel to see if there is any effects from earth currents returns no voltage, no current and a stiff back through digging. 

The" tuna can" cell I made 2 weeks ago and put on the shelf and forgot about has just measured 0.175V but the polarity has completely reversed  Wonder how'd we go with a "rock lobster"

Ok back to the lab Igor.

Ian

[Koen1]

Lol

that reversal is indeed interesting... could be a very late opposite polarisation reaction? You did put it there
so it could dry and you could make sure there were no electrochemical reactions going on inside, right?
So it may be that that has happened, and what you have now is the true polarised potential of the dry material?

lol burying your solar panel... where'd you get that idea?
I have heard of this trick, sort of the opposite: you put a metal plate on your roof, then put one on (preferably in)
the ground (!) in your basement, and put a potted plant on that. Then you take another metal plate, suspend it
over the plant as if it were a lamp, and connect it to the plate on your roof usig a wire. It is claimed the plant will
grow as if it is receiving sunlight. I do not know if this is true, have not tested it nor do I know anyone who has.

Good luck with your rock lobster experiment.

[ian middleton]

Afternoon all.

@Koen  The tuna cell was well away from any detectable electric influences as far as I can tell.
I put it aside to "mature" after it was baked. Initial voltage was -35mV, so I forgot about it. Now as I said it's reading +0.175V.  You may be right.


Many years ago I did the experiment with the metal plate on the roof and that attached to a screen above a grounded seed tray. All in the dark. It works, but only if the plate on the roof is insulated. I used 3 or 4 coats of clear varnish and coax for the cable. Thanks for reminding me, I have some notes on it somewhere.
Also using the same technique I had the roof cable attached to a coil in a container of water to charge it. I would drink the water and then come up with weird ideas like burying solar panels..

But the water was also used to water plants with positive results.  At the same time I was running tests on plants with a GSR  gizmo I built. Same as Cleve Baxter. Very interesting results.

Charging rock mixes with radiant energy.. HHmmmm.

Onward and upward.

Ian

[Nihilanth]

I've been looking into creating a crystal cell (and other energy sources) myself when I stumbled upon this topic. I've made a list of materials that seem to be mentioned anywhere that rocks and electricity are mentioned, but I don't know that much about the materials or the way they could react. My biggest concerns are causing some kind of electrical fire, explosion, or creating some kind of toxic gas.

I'm also thinking of making a chart organizing what materials effect the voltage, but I don't want to get too in depth with the ratio of materials used, for now. Does anyone think it will negatively effect the voltage if I use equal amounts of each material? (Except water, which will stay constant.)

Also, I noticed that the creation of these cells for the most part lacks mechanical pressure, commonly found in the creation of natural crystals. Has anyone considered putting their pies under a press while cooling, in addition to giving it an electrical charge? If only to see the voltage difference it makes, and possibly make it less crumbly.