Looking for suggestions

[dduce]

Hello all! My name is Aaron. I'm new to the forums. I have read fairly extensively throughout these forums looking for answers and learning all that I can.

Currently, I am an Engineering Student. I've been working towards a degree in ChemE.

Anyway, the reason I'm here, and the reason I am posting, is because I'm working on a project for one of my engineering classes. To sum it up, I am creating an earth battery which, in theory, will power a small electric motor.

The motor is a 1.5-3.0v and its current draw is unknown. I was trying to test it today but the fuse in the DVOM was blown. The resistance is really hard to obtain, as it bounces all over the place. I'm thinking it's bouncing all over because it's an electric motor... Although, truly, I have no idea. Turning the motor however, there are certain area's where I can get a steady reading which holds at ~5ohms.

Thus, at 3.0v I calculate that 0.6amps will be needed to drive the motor, and at 1.5v I get 0.3amps.

The design of the earth battery is as follows:

*16 ice cube trays (each cube holder I will create a voltaic cell).

*Each tray has 14 cube holders, thus there are going to be 224 cells.

*Each cell produces ~1.15v and ~.6mA (These figures were pulled using straight vinegar, which I saturated the dirt with; however, I'm actually going to use something more acidic, covered in the next bullet).

*I am using a mixture of pixy stix's (citric acid) as well as lemon juice as the solution that will be added to the cells in order to (hopefully) increase the output of each cell. The pH of the cells are ~1.8
-----So in theory, I'm sort of creating a Cu-Zn voltaic cell/lemon battery.

*I am using Copper metal and Zinc washers, which I was planning on running in parallel, hoping to gain enough current to turn the motor. However, if my calculations are right, I'm only going to be able to produce ~134.4mA; I'm fairly certain that I need a minimum of 200mAh to turn the motor (I gather this amperage amount because the motor came from a system which requires 2 AAA batteries). However, I'd like to try to get closer to 400mAh if possible.

My question(s) are:
Is there anyone out here in the forum that have any suggestions on how to increase the output of my earth battery system?

I was thinking of making a JT and placing a few 10 farad super-capacitors in parallel with the 1k resistor, as I've read in other threads and other like postings which I have had the pleasure of reading. Or maybe a Fuji Circuit, if I can figure out how exactly to make one. Do you think the JT will help me to accomplish my goal? Should I attempt to create a secondary for the JT?

If the JT sounds like a good idea, would I be correct in assuming that the motor would replace the LED?

Sorry for all the questions, I really have tried to research as much as possible, but unfortunately I'm not very savvy in electricity... not yet at least.

Well, I appreciate your time, and I'll be on this end with my fingers crossed as I eagerly await replies.
~Aaron

[sigzidfit]

check out lasersaber his are very impressive earth battery demonstrations.

[sucahyo]

I found that 3V toy motor require at least 1Amp to sustain the speed and 3Amp to start it.

I doubt you can power it with small earth battery. Maybe you need very huge earth battery or build a motor that require less power.

[quantumuppercut]

Hi,

From your cell information it reads 1.15v at .6 ma . You calculated 134.4ma total from 224 cells so I guessed that you planning to put them all in parallel, which means it's a 1.15v @ 134.4 ma . It's not meeting your motor rating.

You can increaes your earth power battery by having more cells in parallel. To reach a safe mark of 400ma, that would be 16x3 trays. To make it about 2.25v, it's 16x3x2 trays. That's huge in my opinion.

You can try different electrolytic solutions to increase amps. You can minimize number of cell by increase surface area on your galvanic pair.

The joule thief use to light LED which is a high voltage low amp application. If you want to use it to charge a super capacitor then use it later to run your motor then I guess it'll work, but it's like charing for a few minutes and run the motor for a few second.

Overall, the only solution I can see is change your motor rating. Radio shack has some small motors but it still draws quite a bit of amps. I do see alot of low amps bedini motors around here but I don't know if you're up to building that motor and if you do, you still need to master its efficiency to draw low amps. There are alot of Bedini motor masters in here if you choose that path. Goodluck

[dduce]

Hi,

From your cell information it reads 1.15v at .6 ma . You calculated 134.4ma total from 224 cells so I guessed that you planning to put them all in parallel, which means it's a 1.15v @ 134.4 ma . It's not meeting your motor rating.

You can increaes your earth power battery by having more cells in parallel. To reach a safe mark of 400ma, that would be 16x3 trays. To make it about 2.25v, it's 16x3x2 trays. That's huge in my opinion.

You can try different electrolytic solutions to increase amps. You can minimize number of cell by increase surface area on your galvanic pair.

The joule thief use to light LED which is a high voltage low amp application. If you want to use it to charge a super capacitor then use it later to run your motor then I guess it'll work, but it's like charing for a few minutes and run the motor for a few second.

Overall, the only solution I can see is change your motor rating. Radio shack has some small motors but it still draws quite a bit of amps. I do see alot of low amps bedini motors around here but I don't know if you're up to building that motor and if you do, you still need to master its efficiency to draw low amps. There are alot of Bedini motor masters in here if you choose that path. Goodluck

That's what I was afraid of. Deep down, I knew that I needed to increase the amount of ice trays, although, I was honestly hoping for some sort of miracle. I'm going to follow your advice and increase the amount of trays, as well as increase the surface areas of the metals which I am using as electrodes, and I'll check into other motors as recommended. I appreciate your reply!

I'll post back to let you know how it goes. Cross your fingers for me!

[Joit]

There is a Thread allready about a Earth Battery,
what you may wanna read through.
http://www.energeticforum.com/renewa...attery-sg.html
What i have seen at all, is adding Vinegar and Salt to it
will increase the mA but let the Metals deplete faster.

[dduce]

There is a Thread allready about a Earth Battery,
what you may wanna read through.
http://www.energeticforum.com/renewa...attery-sg.html
What i have seen at all, is adding Vinegar and Salt to it
will increase the mA but let the Metals deplete faster.

That's exactly what I'm hoping to accomplish with citric acid. I believe that sense the citric acid has a low pH than the vinegar, I should be able to gain on the current; however, because the materials are somewhat expensive (for a college guy), I don't really want to test the battery with the citric acid because it will deplete the metals... I guess the best answer is for me to actually do the experiment on a small scale using only one cell and collect data from there. My figures that I listed at .6ma was using vinegar. I'll post back and let you know what I discover.

Is there anyway to boost the amperage other than more ice trays?

Thanks again for the reply!