Updated Jul-13-2010

Surging Batteries

I save my defective batteries in a box.  These batteries will not charge any more and have a voltage of 0 Volts.  A 12V solar panel, which  provides a relatively safe voltage, brought these batteries back up to a normal AA voltage with just a few seconds of surging!

VIDEO

After surging the batteries, as shown in the video above, I looked for an application where I could use just a single battery to provide power.  In order to test the capacity of the reclaimed batteries, it seems best to test each one on its own and not mixed with other batteries.  There aren’t many electronics that use just one AA battery, but here are some:

• Flasher LED’s

• Newer LED flashlights  (I don’t have one of these, though)

• Clocks

This clock uses a single AA battery for power.

I have a couple clocks that each use a single AA battery.  So I popped reconditioned batteries into them and they are working!

VIDEO

The clock above has been running on a reconditioned battery since Jul-8.  The interesting point here is that the batteries used to be at 0 Volts and would not charge up, so were destined for the trash or recycle bin.  But after zapping them for a few seconds with a solar panel, the batteries are again back to work doing something useful.

Battery Charging after Surging

The results are not perfect.  I waited a couple days after surging before doing anything with these batteries.  The result is that more than half the batteries went back to 0 Volts.  I believe if I had tried using the batteries or charging them right after surging, that the results would be better.

VIDEO

As shown in the video above, since I waited a couple days before doing anything with the batteries, many of them returned to 0 Volts.  I performed the surging experiment one more time and had much better luck with the batteries, as shown in the video below.

VIDEO

The good results continued.  After most of the batteries charged up, many of the batteries became useful.  I am using some of the reclaimed batteries in:

• Wireless headphones

• LED flashlight

• Clocks

• Cordless laser mouse

VIDEO

Conclusion

Surging the dead batteries brought many of them back to life and gave them new purpose.  However, they are not good as new and probably have some issues with charge capacity.  But for me, I’m glad to have many of these batteries back to work instead of sitting in a box as scrap.

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Freezing Batteries

I froze a battery pack and saw the voltage of the pack climb from 6.9V before freezing to 8.4 V after freezing.  I did not surge the pack.  Freezing by itself improved the voltage.  The battery pack came from a Spykee robot.

Related post:  Repairing and Replacing Batteries on a Spykee Robot

It’s OK to freeze NiCd, NiMH, and Lithium batteries. I think freezing disrupts the crystals that are causing the plates to short together. After freezing, hit end of battery with soft hammer to break crystals?  [ Source:  ysuusy.com ]

It might not work with Lithium batteries [ source ], although Lithium batteries should be safe from damage even as low as -40C [ source ].

Lithium batteries will not be damaged in freezer as long as they are allowed to warm again before use [source].

A well-written procedure:  Hackaday.

Give a Lithium Battery a New Function

My notebook computer uses a Lithium-ion battery.   This kind of battery typically lasts between 2-3 years.  I have one in storage now after it got too weak to keep the notebook powered for long.  Why do Lithium batteries stop working?  Oxidation inside the battery increases the internal resistance. The oxidation builds up over time and eventually, the cell resistance reaches a point where the pack can no longer deliver the stored energy  But the battery may still have ample charge!  For this reason, an aged battery can be kept longer in applications that draw low current.  [ source ]  So, while my old battery pack might not be suitable for the notebook computer any more, maybe I could use it to light up a few LEDs, power a portable radio, a portable media player, or a micro-controller (like an Arduino).  I’m glad I didn’t throw the battery pack away.  I’ll have to try using that battery pack again for a small application.  First, I have to figure out how to tap into the power connector of a Lithium-ion battery.

Store Batteries at Low Temperatures

Lithium batteries keep their storage capacity better if stored at 0°C and at a 40% charge level.  Some reserve charge is needed to keep the battery and its protection circuit operational during prolonged storage.  [ source ]  This means we could store Lithium batteries in the freezer for improved longevity.

NiMH and Lithium Are Different

Lithium batteries do not like to be fully discharged and full recharged.  They prefer partial discharges with frequent recharges.

Exercising Batteries – My Personal Notes… Work-in-progress

Using an Arduino microcontroller, I exercised some batteries by having them turn LED’s on and off until their voltage dipped below a threshold voltage.

Used this transistor:  ON Semiconductor BC547B.  Data sheet:  http://www.chipcatalog.com/ONSemi/BC547B.htm

The BC547B transistor can handle a maximum of 100mA.  The LED’s I’m using fall below this limit, so this transistor is OK for this application.

My red LED consumes 15mA.

Blinking LED takes up to 13 mA

Blue LED:   up to 65 mA

How to change the batteries on Spykee, the robot.

Spykee came back to life when attached to a 12V portable battery.

In the video below, we hack into Spykee to attach new leads which will later allow for the connection of an external battery pack.  We also connect a multimeter to monitor the battery volage.  We connect a 12V battery, charged with a solar panel, for testing.  Yes, Spykee works on 12V and could be off-the-grid!

VIDEO

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Next, we connected a new external battery pack that uses standard AA rechargeable batteries.  Nothing proprietary here.  We made the new battery pack and now Spykee is better than new. His new external AA battery pack has a higher charge capacity than the original pack that came from the manufacturer.  The original pack was rated at 1,800 mAh while my new home-made replacement battery is rated at 2,400 mAh.  The batteries I chose are Imedion Low-Discharge AA batteries made by Powerex.  See how it works in the video below.

VIDEO

Testing the Original Battery Pack

I tried freezing the original batteries that came with Spykee.  That improved the battery voltage, but was not enough of an improvement to get Spykee moving.

Spykee's original 9.6V NiMH battery

The video below shows the freezing process and how freezing increased the voltage of the batteries.

VIDEO

Disassembly of the original Spykee battery pack

When I took the pack apart, I found 2 bad cells and 6 good cells.  The good cells could be used for another project.

VIDEO

I put the two bad cells into my battery charger.  One of them charged up.  That leaves me with one cell at 0 Volts.  I plan to surge it with my solar panel.  Spykee’s original batteries will live on in another application.

From the summer of 2008 when I started to get serious about solar panels.

Why did I make this video?

I am interested in making my own power using magnetic fields.  Magnets are such a mystery to me and I have yet to fully understand why they work.  How are magnets made?  Where do magnets come from?  What are magnets made of?  These are some of my questions.

Neodymium magnets

I was reading up on magnets, trying to understand better how they are made.  I read that the element Neodymium makes up the world’s strongest permanent magnets.  I wanted to know more about Neodymium and came across a site that had pictures of the Rare Earth Metals being exposed to air over a time period of 4 years.  I was very surprised that Neodymium corrodes so readily in air, which explains why Neodymium magnets are plated or coated by another non-corrosive material, like epoxy or Nickel.  I decided to make a quick video showing how Neodymium degrades almost completely in two years.  (Experiment and photos found at http://www.elementsales.com/re_exp/.  They show all the Rare Earth Metals there – interesting stuff and great experiment.  I have no affiliation with their website.)

Permanent Magnets

How long do magnets last?  Are “permanent” magnets really permanent?  Apparently, even permanent magnets lose their magnetic field over time.  [ source:  magnetechcorp.com ]

Other References

Picture of magnets from:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/10240853@N08/

Some information from: http://www.whatareneodymiummagnets.com/faqs.html

I found it humorous and couldn’t resist trying to make a remix of it. I wish I could have been in the room when it happened. I also like to experiment with Hydrogen, so I admire this group for trying something new. They also have other successful experiments.

Here’s the remix:

And here is the original video:

To give the experimenters credit, they did come up with some corrective actions to prevent future disasters. Luckily, all is well and they learned a lesson from the experiment.

They said that this fuel cell ran well at 12V, but then exploded when they increased the voltage to 150V.  The wires couldn’t take the extra current, got red hot, and ignited the Hydrogen gas.

Corrective Actions

Use a larger gauge cable, to allow for larger Amp draws without getting hot.

Fill the cell to the top with salt water to lower the amount of combustible gas present in the fuel cell.

Install a pressure release valve.

Perform future testing with an open top fuel cell so that the combustible HHO gas will dilute into air.  This would be best done outdoors, too, to prevent an explosion inside your house.

See more of the HHO videos on RonL2524’s Youtube channel.

Related post:  Electrolysis of water into HHO using solar cells

I chose to use aluminum angle to construct my solar panel frame. Video below…

I cut through the aluminum angle using a hacksaw.

I drilled the holes into the aluminum using a drill press and a hand drill.

To protect the steel pipe from the elements, rust, and corrosion, I sprayed it with a cheap, $1 can of black spray paint.

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Conduit connects to the solar panel and how the pole is concreted into the ground with rebar.  Video below…

How do you get conduit out of the boxes anyway?  I think I spent way too much time trying to figure it out, trying to find the end of the conduit so I could pull it through the box.  It may be easier to cut the box all the way open and remove the entire coil of conduit from its box.  If you plan on using all the conduit for one job, why try so hard to preserve the box?

Solar panel is mounted to top of pole and locked with a chain. Solar panel can rotate on pole and aim at the sun. To demonstrate that the panel is producing power, it is used to charge a portable 12V battery and air compressor. The air compressor then inflates the tires on a bicycle.  Video below…

Using Wolfram Alpha, you can find your longitude and latitude coordinates on Earth. Wolfram Alpha also has average wind speed data for your location. You can get weather forecast data to help determine when the best times might be for your wind turbine.

How do I find my latitude on Earth?  See the video below to see:

Lock up your solar panels to prevent theft

These panels cost a lot of money and they would make an easy target for a thief to steal for some quick cash.  An article at insidebayarea.com documents how a guy climbed up on the roof of a school at night and stole $70,000 worth of solar panels and then attempted to sell them on Craigslist.  We need to make more of an effort to protect our investments in off-the-grid power.

Here is one idea for securing panels that I am implementing using locks.

Drill a hole in the solar panel frame to attach a lock.  Then drill holes in a pole concreted to the ground.  Attach locks with a chain to make it harder for theives to take the panel.

The drill bits are titanium coated.

Drill press was used to drill holes into a steel pipe.

Peltier Cooler (also called TEC or Thermo Electric Cooler) - resting against a hot brick

Video of experiment…

The fuel for the fire was just fallen tree branches that I found on the ground.  The portable battery was charged up by a solar panel.

The Peltier cooler rested against one of the bricks.  The brick got up to 210 degrees F while the aluminum heat sink was about 70 degrees F.  At this temperature difference (140F), the Peltier cooler produced:

• 70mW
• 1.05V
• 67mA

The power generated by this Peltier cooler is comparable to the power generated by a small solar panel on a solar landscaping light.

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