# Make Your Own Batteries?



## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

Is it in anyway a viable option? Ive got a buddy that melts down car batteries and other stuff to make bullets and figurines . Is it feasable to make your own for home power?


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

short answer No...........


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Agree.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

lead is used to make secondary batteries (fifth grade science class, but that's ok....i can't spel)...they do not make electricity, they store electricity (have to be charged). but anyway no, or everyone would be doing it.

the lead oxide smoke produced by melting the spongy lead plates used in modern lead/acid batteries is evil stuff.


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Look at the old Delco battery systems. A big glass jar like a one piece aquarium with lead plates hanging in acid. It should be easy to make. 

And aren't all batteries storage devices and not generators?


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

primary cells CONVERT chemical energy into electrical energy consuming themselves in the process 

secondary cells Store electrical energy by a chemical process that is reversible as electricity is drawn off, until the chemical takes on a stable form or the cell breaks down mechanically. sulfurization of the cells, shorted plates, cracked plates. 

lead,niclkel, lithium, zinc , cadium are used for secondary cells, basically unreactive metals.

primary cells use two different metals that are reactive to each other combined with acids or alkalines , therefore the corrosion of the metals and eventual demise of the metals.

so are we talking about melting down the lead and lead oxides (the foam like material on the lead grids)in commercial secondary batteries to make solid lead plates, putting them in a glass or other container with sulfuric acid/water mixture to make a homemade secondary battery? acid, unsealed containers,,, its a good fifth grade physics experiment(when using commercially available lead and baking soda as an electrolyte instead of acid) its not a good home power storage method,,,unless i'm missing something.


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

The man wants to make a battery. Maybe he had mumps that week in 5th grade. Humor him and don't squash his dream.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

sorry, i cannot condone the use of two very dangerous chemicals plus the waste of someones time in a doomed effort. its not in my nature..sorry


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

It used to be you could get sal amoniac, zinc and carbon rods and make a battery. Lead acid storage cells CAN be made, but not well.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

book on rebuilding battries, use at your own risk,

http://www.powerstream.com/1922-FLA.htm

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/PESWiki/Directory/Bedini_SG/files/Bedini-The_Battery_Bible.pdf


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

Harry Chickpea said:


> It used to be you could get sal amoniac, zinc and carbon rods and make a battery. Lead acid storage cells CAN be made, but not well.[/QUOTE
> The sal amoniac is still available in block form from plumbing suppliers for tinning soldering irons.
> 
> when i was a kid, i had an old science book that described making primary batteries from zinc, copper cents, salt/water and blotter paper as the separators....blotter paper in the early seventies??? My dad (who usually raised our family as if we were very poor,,,, perhaps we were) took his time and money to go to town and order a sheet from a printer. i did not know that any absorbent non conductor would have worked... anyway i have always had a little guilt in his trouble to help me with the experiment....but i have used the experience in the way i raise my kids.
> ...


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

if your really serious about making some battries you may want to study out the Nickel-iron (Ni-Fe) battery, alos called the edison battery, they do not hold as much power, and have a lower voltage, 1.2 volts, but are nearly indistructable, they can easly last over 40 years with a little care, where a well cared for lead acid battery is usaly in the 7 to 10 year range at best,

http://www.nickel-iron-battery.com/


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## roachhill (Jul 8, 2009)

Anything's possible, I read a very old kids science book that had instructions on building an x-ray machine, home atom smasher and steel rocket with a range of several miles. I'm sure now you'd tell your kids that none of those projects are feasable. I'm not saying it's a good idea or anything just that people manage all sorts of things that seem impossible. If nobody ever tried we wouldn't have a lot of inventions we take for granted now.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

yes then by all means build secondary batteries that have 5 amp hours storage and blind yourselves in the process instead of going to walfart and purchasing a 1000 amphour battery for $70. parts for atom smasher on the next isle over....

yes it is possible to make secondary cells.....for the last 125 years its been possible. 

what ever i tell my kids, it will not to be to build an x ray machine or rockets from steel tubing packed with sulfur, potassium carbon and rubber dust, or make hydrogen gas by using sodium hydroxide and metal foil or shotguns from plumbing pipe. or
that a gallon of gas will get a midsized car 200 miles if only the automaker had not bought up the rights to make the magic carburetor. I tell my kids among other things to learn from history, learn from others mistakes, cause you don't have time to make them all over yourselves.

so melt lead oxide and lead, be sure to properly flux while melted, pour it into a mold, roll it thin using a slip roll, drill it and make a paste of lead oxide and pack the drilled holes to try to get the surface area to something worth while (perhaps 10 amphours) solder the plates alternately on a lead hanger bar with fiberglass resin separators to form alternate plates to form a cell the sum of which the voltage will be 2.2 volts so make five more of them. then hang them into something that will hold a sulfuric acid/water solution. Then fire up the generator to charge the battery but not at a charge rate of more than c20 or your cell plates will warp all to hewl, the sulfuric acid will boil corroding everything in the area. rush out and patent the 125 year old design 

have fun fellows


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

ace admirer said:


> or
> that a gallon of gas will get a midsized car 200 miles if only the automaker had not bought up the rights to make the magic carburetor.


Well...they DID buy the 200 mile battery and shelve it,thats a fact.[prophead]


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

But,,since i could be totally wrong,,,,,lets revisit the subject in 12 months and lets see pictures of the projects,,,,it would be very interesting.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

u talking about the gm car? do you know the chemical process used by the battery? or is that part of the reason the cars were called in.

now that would be a worthwhile breakthrough. i drive 150 miles a day to a job....if i could get 200 miles on a charge it would make my life a lot more.......profitable......

but lead is probably not the way to go..,,,its got to be lighter......


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

ace admirer said:


> yes then by all means build secondary batteries that have 5 amp hours storage and blind yourselves in the process instead of going to walfart and purchasing a 1000 amphour battery for $70. parts for atom smasher on the next isle over....
> 
> yes it is possible to make secondary cells.....for the last 125 years its been possible.
> 
> ...


I LOVE this post. I might invite you to join the curmudgeons club. Just re-read it. Congratulations, new member! It takes a lot to both impress me and make me get a SE grin on my face from the way the knowledge is presented.


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

ace admirer said:


> yes then by all means build secondary batteries that have 5 amp hours storage and blind yourselves in the process instead of going to walfart and purchasing a 1000 amphour battery for $70. parts for atom smasher on the next isle over....
> 
> yes it is possible to make secondary cells.....for the last 125 years its been possible.
> 
> ...


Have fun? I'm having a great time watching you blow a biscuit over a simple question someone asked. At least this post is a little nicer after the edit. 

Where there's a will, there's a won't.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Sometimes the only way to make a point is to be blunt.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Possible, viable and feasable are 3 different things.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Thanks ace a. . . . . LOL


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

I think my original No was blunt enough


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## roachhill (Jul 8, 2009)

I just remember reading a book on Edison and he did all sorts of crazy projects as a kid and look where that led. John Muir built a device just after the Civil War to light the fire at the school house in the morning so he could sleep in later, and that was after he was told it couldn't be done. I'm not saying what is or isn't a good idea just that to automatically say can't be done to an idea just leads to nothing new ever being done. Any idea is worth researching and considering before giving up on.


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## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

those who say no are somewhat mistaken. 
batteries were made in ancient egypt.
saying no is like teaching a child "I cant" it stops the possiblities.
How many innovations have been lost because someone said it cant be done. 
a battery can be made with an anode and cathode in nearly anything salt water , orange juice , heck even a potato. 
Dangerous well most anything is dangerous if you dont pay attention . 
the fear of lead is fairly new . acids require a bit of care but seriously its not nuclear fission . 
No No you cant build a battery , but science students do it in jr high. 

Rather than saying" No You Cant" why not be honest and say you need to study and learn the mechanics and chemistry , recognize the dangers and take the proper precautions before attempting.


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## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

LOL and I didnt even mean to start a war!


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

fantasymaker said:


> LOL and I didnt even mean to start a war!


naw, no war. just a discussion. sometimes written under low blood sugar,,,or something...


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## roachhill (Jul 8, 2009)

Don't forget the Mayans, they had batteries too. I'm still waiting for some archeologist to unearth the ancient Mayan boombox to go with the batteries, LOL.


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Ya gotta shoot him now,its the Law of the West or sumthin like that.

Tough break.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

PyroDon said:


> those who say no are somewhat mistaken.
> batteries were made in ancient egypt.
> saying no is like teaching a child "I cant" it stops the possiblities.
> How many innovations have been lost because someone said it cant be done.
> ...


Uhhh, cause I HAVE made cells similar to the Babylonian cell, and I HAVE fooled around with a few other designs. Almost all of the "batteries" that are demo batteries create little or no usable current. It is one thing to make a voltmeter respond, and another thing to drive even a tiny motor.

Typically the demo batteries are hooked to a capacitor that discharges into a LED, which then creates a brief flash. Many of them can't even light an LED continuously, something that coin size commercial mercury batteries do with ease. Aluminum and salt sandwich batteries, foil and copper pipe batteries, potato, lemon, pickle, BTDT. Much more proof of concept than usable. So my short answer is still "no." You can't cost effectively make a usable battery if your use is much above the milliwatt range.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

I dought that the OP wanted just to make 'science class'. bats.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Nah. He said "home power" bats, and was apparently thinking lead acid. Whatever, led to an interesting thread.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

sooo somebody,,,anybody here send in a photo of a secondary lead battery made from salvaged secondary battery materials. that you are using for storing meaningful amounts of current at meaningful voltages. something that is in use. something storing at lets say,,,,,,,,, 500 amphours..at 13.2 or more volts.(there is no such thing as an actual 12 volt lead acid secondary battery,,,,,i'll let that simmer). not a picture from the turn of the last century or from the poor mountains of the mid south from the forties. something any of you have in your basement or garage,,,probably next to your 4 foot wind generator that powers your whole house,,,,bring them out...i would love to see what you guys have come up with.

alternate energy is something we should take dead serious, cause we are running out of energy...sooner or later....its a problem that needs to be solved...and to solve it will take true science and sound engineering.

all energy used on earth is from solar energy....


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Here are battery making instructions. 

http://www.powerstream.com/1922/battery_1922_WITTE/batteryfiles/chapter11.htm


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

ace admirer said:


> sooo somebody,,,anybody here send in a photo of a secondary lead battery made from salvaged secondary battery materials. that you are using for storing meaningful amounts of current at meaningful voltages. something that is in use. something storing at lets say,,,,,,,,, 500 amphours..at 13.2 or more volts.(there is no such thing as an actual 12 volt lead acid secondary battery,,,,,i'll let that simmer). not a picture from the turn of the last century or from the poor mountains of the mid south from the forties. something any of you have in your basement or garage,,,probably next to your 4 foot wind generator that powers your whole house,,,,bring them out...i would love to see what you guys have come up with.


Nope. Not goinna do it. No way, no how. However if you want a battery made of recycled materials, go to WalMart or any place that sells batteries. All LA cells have recycled lead in them.


alternate energy is something we should take dead serious, cause we are running out of energy...sooner or later....its a problem that needs to be solved...and to solve it will take true science and sound engineering.

We are NOT running out of energy. We are using up easily available resources, but no way are we running out of energy.

all energy used on earth is from solar energy....

Nope. Geothermal. Nuclear. And you better get your LA cell above 14 volts if you want to store anything.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

4' wind genny . . HOO wow . . . . .


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