Bedini Earth Light

[mikrovolt]

The NickZ cell uses more copper surface area and the baking powder
recipe so leaving the recipe alone and adding more copper surface area
might increase current.

Regarding the size, from various tests the small
cells such as ice cube size (simular to rock batteries)
are not large enough to get enough copper surface area.

thin copper foil may be able to give more surface
area.

[NickZ]

Guys:
Although the current will not add up, I do notice that my best cells don't weaken in the circuit, as easily as some of the first ones that I made. So, there is a benefit in using the strongest cells, even though they all output 1.2 volts or so. If I add more voltage and amps to the cell bank from an additional lead acid 4 volt battery, which have 650 mA, or more, the leds still get dimmer after a while, by about 50%. These cells seam to build up a resistance inside, that makes the led light intensity drop down. This same thing keeps them from being able to charge other batteries to their same voltage level, and will only charge them to about 1/2 of the voltage provided by the cells. I'm still not sure how to resolve this yet.

[b_rads]

Replication Update:

@all

Update on the Monothermal replication attempts:
The first pair of cells (Epsom salt/Carbon Filler) is now 8 days old. The second 2 pairs of cells (fertilizer/carbon and chlorine/carbon) are now a week old. All three pairs are still working very well and each set is powering a red LED nonstop. I know the voltages have remained fairly constant and I will check amperage later, I have not seen any degradation since their construction.

To prove the layer effect is making a difference in these cells, I made two additional cells. On these two I did not separate the intermediate layer materials. I mixed carbon, Epsom salt, and glue together in one batch as well as carbon, chlorine, and glue as a separate batch. The Epsom salt started at 450ma and the chlorine started at 300ma. Both sets expired within 48 hours. True galvanic batteries and these cells took a very heavy toll on the magnesium.

In previous posts I made reference to the Bedini Voltaic Battery. My replication of that battery was as follows: mg/felt Alum/cu - mg/felt Alum/cu etc,. On the next Monothermal replication I used 3” x 3” copper foil and 3” x 3” zinc plated sheet metal. For the intermediate layers I used Alum/glue and Iron oxide/glue. According to the information in the patent, those materials should not be a terrific combination and it isn’t. It is however, cheap materials and enough to qualify some testing. So next I took the three cells and stacked them so I have: ZN/iron oxide/Alum/Cu - ZN/iron oxide/Alum/Cu - ZN/iron oxide/Alum/Cu. Each cell outputs approx .87V short circuit and stacked outputs 2.6V. I was able to connect this stack to a clock movement that operates on 1 AA battery. This stack powered the clock movement. With better materials and using the stack method, this process has potential IMHO.

Brad S

[NickZ]

Guys:
Here's are a couple pictures of what I've been working on. They are different versions of the Hartley oscillator circuits that I've adapted to be use with the cement cells. kn2222a transistor, 103 cap, and different value trim pots, on different cores. Unfortunately none of them will work properly when connected to my cells.
I think that it's best to just connect the leds direct to the cells, with no Jtc at all, as I don't see any real benefit yet, using the Hartley or the Jt circuits with my cement beach sand battery cells.
NickZ

[skaght]

@b_rads

It would be interesting to short one of your monothermal cells for a week or longer and then pry it apart to check if the metal is degrading or not. That would be a pretty clear indication if there was any galvanic component to the cell.

[NickZ]

@ All:
I made a couple of small cement cells using the small aluminum containers that emergency candles come in, 1.5" wide by 1/2 " high. With just a straight piece of copper pipe 1/4 thick inside. They are now about 3 months old, and I was about to throw them away, as they weren't outputting anything, anymore. But, I decided to drop them both into a glass of tap water, and I forgot about them for a week or so. I just tested them now, and they read 1.2 volts 25 mA. each cell. So, water is important in reviving this type of cement cells. My bigger cement cells still show no signs of deterioration. But as the cement dry out it may help to soak them in water overnight from time to time. It worked well for me. Now the two tiny cement cells will light an led. Try it before you throw your old cement cells away.

[b_rads]

@ All:
I made a couple of small cement cells using the small aluminum containers that emergency candles come in, 1.5" wide by 1/2 " high. With just a straight piece of copper pipe 1/4 thick inside. They are now about 3 months old, and I was about to throw them away, as they weren't outputting anything, anymore. But, I decided to drop them both into a glass of tap water, and I forgot about them for a week or so. I just tested them now, and they read 1.2 volts 25 mA. each cell. So, water is important in reviving this type of cement cells. My bigger cement cells still show no signs of deterioration. But as the cement dry out it may help to soak them in water overnight from time to time. It worked well for me. Now the two tiny cement cells will light an led. Try it before you throw your old cement cells away.

NickZ - I tried this a while back with some larger cement batteries. Took an ice pick and punched a few tiny holes in the aluminum - water level slightly below the top of the concrete - added alum to the water since I used alum in the cement cell. This works quite well running from the water bath. You might want to try adding baking soda to your water. I never got the output you are plus, when removed from the water they would drop fairly quickly - so I gave up on these - I may need to try your formula though.

skaght:
@b_rads
It would be interesting to short one of your monothermal cells for a week or longer and then pry it apart to check if the metal is degrading or not. That would be a pretty clear indication if there was any galvanic component to the cell.

Hard for me to believe that there is not some sort of redox action going on in these cells. I have not replicated with the same material recommended in the patent yet. Good idea - I am thinking about using thin aluminum foil for the anode, that should indicate degradation quicker than sheet metal or magnesium possibly. Thanks for the suggestion.
Brad S

[mikrovolt]

I almost threw away that old razor blade cell

I made a cell with plaster of paris, alum and razor blade.
its just a small block of plaster with alum with a razor blade (negative electrode)in it and it sits on metal.

The razor blade quickly got rusty and I thought that was no good.

The rusty razor blade turns out to be significant on how the cell functions !

It is possible to further reduce the cost as better materials find there
way into these cells. (posibly aluminum is better choice)
The iron gave fast results by releasing ions but a slower reacting material may be an improvement.

I opened the cell and examined the rust was black shiny and brown in some places. I believe the alum formed a crystal, it is this substance and
the area surrounding it is where the electro-chemistry takes place.
The area surrounding the razor has metal ions and creates a potential difference but it is the black material that forms a barrier.

After one month
the black crystal material appears to have slowed the rust. The black crystal material formed in this case is doing a great job
the energy continues to flow with only adding water !

The surrounding area of plaster contains some alum, water and some metal ions.
I believe the gel and glue batteries may help us to understand how to effectively build a more
efficient gradient of ions in the surrounding area.
The surrounding media sets up a higher concentration nearest the negative electrode and a lower
concentration of ions as you move further away. This may be natural tendency in rocks.
The potential difference gradient.

For positive electrode I tried clean shiny brass, copper, tin and aluminum. The results were
were typically .2 Volts. Hard to believe the rusty razor blade is superior
to clean shiny metals as a negative electrode.

I began to think about the other electrode (the positive one) should be one that discourages the black formation crystal barrier.
As it turns out from testing I found that is true for the positive electrode a significant increase by using stainless steel.
The voltages even further improved when placed on a paper towel with alum water with the positive electrode.
Thin Stainless steel from hobby store

I am glad I did'nt throw away the razor blade cell. Now its a process
to coat the active electrode with alum before placing in the cement.
today I got some scrap metal strapping or banding from the lumbar yard
and will treat with alum to make a larger cell.

[NickZ]

I was about to throw these two little cement cells away, until they soaked in water and are now producing 1.2 volts, and 25 mAs, again. They were dead before that. A soaking in Alum water would probably do any of these type of cells some good, if it doesn't deteriorate them. Now the two cells are lighting a red led.

[Matthew Jones]

I was about to throw these two little cement cells away, until they soaked in water and are now producing 1.2 volts, and 25 mAs, again. They were dead before that. A soaking in Alum water would probably do any of these type of cells some good, if it doesn't deteriorate them. Now the two cells are lighting a red led.

I dunked mine some time ago and it is still putting out 1.16 volt at 10 ma.
It 2 months old or maybe more. I busted one open and expected to see some green stuff or some pitting in the aluminum, nothing.

Before I got done writing this post I went and gave the one cell a dunk for 5 minutes, towel dried it, set it in front of the fan on my computer and heated it up. 1.44 volt standing and I can short the meter to it and get 22 ma.

I wish I had 1000 of them.

Matt

[NickZ]

Matt:
I think the longer they soak the better. Its takes some time for the cement or whatever to really absorb the moisture from the water bath. Overnight is probably good enough, but the longer the better.
Anyone that has some Alum can try a soaking with some of that too. Baking powder doesn't hurt also. WD-40 sprayed on any of the wire connection points, can help some too.
I just left some of my cells out in heavy tropical rain to see if that has any beneficial effects, as I can't get distilled water here. Which is probably the best water to use to soak them in. They seam to bounce back to life afterwards.
Hooking these cells to a solar panel is my next task, so far they work great connected to lead acid batteries, and the charge they give to those batteries last even longer than a regular charge. But they can also absorb an additional external charge, that can also be put to use.
NZ

[b_rads]

Concept Battery

It is possible to further reduce the cost as better materials find there way into these cells.

13 U.S. penny 12 cell thermal voltaic pile battery. How is this for cheap material construction? With my dremel and a sanding wheel I removed the copper from one side of 11 pennies to expose the zinc. One penny I removed all the copper and the last penny I kept all the copper. The penny can be used as both cathode and anode together. On the copper side I applied glue/carbon (2:1 mix) and on the zinc side I applied glue/fertilizer (2:1 mix). I was totally surprised how well this worked considering the poor construction technique used in building this battery - 3v open circuit. Good news however, there is a lot of room for improvement in build technique and material selection. The next morning the LED was not as bright, but still powered by the battery.

Brad S

[NickZ]

b_rads:
I was watching a video on youtube where a voltaic type cell was made by using a combination of metals piled together to form a cell that was about 3" by 3" square. I'll bet that it had some current too. If I find it again, I'll send the link to it.

[Vorg]

Has anyone found any differances in the 3 monothermic patents? They seem to be the same thing with different patent numbers.

[mikrovolt]

Bedini earth cells are beginning to get discussion elsewhere on the internet.

YouTube - ‪Bedini's Earth Battery explained by Les Kraut‬‏

and seamonkey actually mentions de-polorizers:

Bedini's non-galvanic earth battery and open field joule thief circuit - Page 4 - Heretical Builders

A great source of info on old batteries
http://survival-training.info/Librar...%20Carhart.pdf