Testing Batteries for Sulfation
Uber-maker Mikey Sklar demonstrates how to charge, test, and recover a sealed 12V lead-acid battery from the dumpster, using his Power In My Pocket open source kit.
batteries
Component of the Month: Batteries
What goes on, exactly, inside those AAA batteries powering your LED flashlight? The short answer is: Chemistry. Chemical reactions can encourage electrons to flow out from one terminal and back to the other, doing some useful work along the way. Meanwhile, inside the battery, positive ions, also known as electron-holes, are changing places. Eventually the chemical reactions run down, and the battery stops delivering power. If it is a rechargeable type, you can force the electrons and the positive ions to go back where they started, ready to run again.
Engineer Guy vs. The Lead-Acid Battery
Here, friends and neighbors, is the eighth and final video of Engineer Guy series #4. The element of the week is called ‘plumbum’ in Latin, abbreviated to ‘Pb’ on the periodic table, and generally known as ‘lead.’ Formed into electrodes with its oxide and submerged in sulfuric acid, lead is an essential component in the ignition batteries that start cars and other gas-powered vehicles.
Printable Stub Case Adapts AA Cells to C
A standard-sized AA cell is 0.5mm longer than a standard-sized C cell, but in practice that difference is negligible. Besides “stub case,” an adapter like this is also sometimes called a “sabot.” They can be purchased commercially, but I’d just as soon print my own. And now I can. Thanks again, Thingiverse!
What’s Up with Batteries?
I’m no battery expert, but in tracking science and tech sites this year, there seemed to be more promising developments in the field than in previous years. Let’s hope so. Here are a few of the recent headlines that caught my attention on Science Daily
“18650 Things To Do With An Old Laptop Battery”
As much as I enjoyed this unusual technical info from GeekDad contributor Roy Wood, I was disappointed to learn that not all 18,650 things you can do with an old laptop battery are specifically listed in the article. Moreover, by a truly amazing coincidence, “18650” turns out to be the part number for the most common size lithium-ion cell used in assembling laptop batteries.
How-To: Solar TV remote
With the Solar TV Remote project from MAKE Volume 25, you’ll never have to replace your remote control’s batteries again. Instead, just leave it in the sun to charge up! This project is fairly easy and you may already have most of the tools and supplies you’ll need. It might also make you feel slightly […]
