But how would you procure potassium hydroxide? I'm certainly not a chemist, or as well versed in it as he is, but I get the feeling that it is not a chemical that can be readily synthesised on the go.
+Ring0Resident It used to be done in the medieval times. Burn trees or plants, probably bananas, get potassium carbonate from the ashes and then add calcium oxide (also know as quicklime), boil in water and there you go potassium hydroxide.
Sometimes, I click those link, and it shows 1 or 2 lines with a pic and lots of ads. I click Next, and then the process continues for another 10 page and I never found out what the simple trick is and I close the page.
lol and will have 1000x the experience when he gets into his field. the more diverse knowledge base you have, the easier leaps in logic become to new designs and ideas. you can sit in class and study theory all you want, but practical application is where the real learning and understanding comes from. Cody is the kind of person who will come up with some idea that will turn into a multi million dollar product that probably does the world quite a bit of good.
In the future, for cool stuff like this, please don't skip parts! Removing all of the used innards of the battery is just as cool and instructive as putting it all together again. For example, why didn't you have to do anything to the manganese?
+SparksThePhysicist however the batteries he ended up with were not really the same batteries as he begun with, they just used the same casings. (It's sort of that "if you replace every plank in a ship is it still the same ship?" dilemma)
+CoolAsFinnBro technically the only part of the ship which is unable to be replaced is the keel (repairing a damaged keel is possible, but it weakens the strength of the hull). so replacing every plank, still makes it the same ship as long as the keel is intact. this is true for most ships. maybe untrue for fibreglass hull ones but those mostly yatch and smaller sailboat and boats.
Heh, you're not wrong, but I think you might be missing the point of the question, I think the spirit of it is that you assume that even the keel can be replaced.
Brilliant video Cody, I will not be re filling my batteries, but I still appreciate your technique, and showing us how its done. I can vision you as an excellent high school science teacher. Thanks for an interesting, and creative video production.
I have a weird fascination with batteries, I'm always measuring them and trying to get the most out of them even though I have 30 new ones sitting in a drawer as well as rechargeables. Right now I'm trying to stop myself ordering a set of Kentli AA's that I don't need just because I think they're a really neat design. I definitely spend way too much time on this pointless habit - but even I don't have the time or inclination to rebuild my own primary alkaline cells hahah. You're amazing Cody, I couldn't stop laughing at how both cool & ridiculous this is at the same time lol :-)
Keep in mind, there could be additives and the formula is secret so who knows what is actually in it other than zinc oxide! It is easy to take some chemistry classes and get a confused idea of what chemicals you're actually working with in various real life scenarios. If it isn't even a food, don't just assume it is pure-whatever!
You didn't chage the manganese oxide that why you got lower voltage, you have mostly Mn2O3 in the dead battery and the Mn(III)/Mn(II) redox pair should increase the voltage to 2.78V but this is not happening so what you have there is the leftover MnO2 reacting with the Zn.
But then I'm wondering why they put more manganese oxide than zinc. I mean if zinc was finished and still some Mn oxide was available... It seems strange and a waste of manganese
@@Bert0ld0 The manganese miners union put that in their contract.....makes about as much sense as ethanol in our gasoline....people who fail science and math become politicians and legislate nonsense....
@@Bert0ld0 I think it has something to do with preventing case corrosion and leakage - that way the zinc and potassium hydroxide is used first and the cell is not as corrosive. Plus the manganese dioxide also acts (if I remember correctly) as a depolarizer, preventing the formation of hydrogen bubbles which would reduce the surface area and thus the current generation capability.
They're not 1.5V because the large majority of the MnO2 was reduced to MnOOH during the initial discharge of the battery. Adding fresh Zinc will give you a tiny bit of extra capacity but not much to a 0.8V endpoint. Cool experiment nonetheless.
Wow..! I just learned something i will never forget..... Has any one made a lantern that you just add powder too.... Like a lantern that has two bins ... one with zinc powder and one with mangenese dioxide.... A powder fueled electrical lantern...?
There is one that's water powered, it's basically this, but powdered electrolyte so that when you add the water it completes the battery and powers it up, same idea basically. Called hydrotorch, or something to that effect.
I think he said "hell" and didn't mean to, and tried to play it off by adding "ck" to say heck. Didn't really work though. :P (the -ava is run together, of a, "hell/heck of a")
The oxidation of zinc is exactly why alkaline batteries may NOT be recharged. You did a nice job showing the innards of a dead dry cell with the spent zinc.
You didn't recharge the cells, You REBUILT them! Good job. The reason you fell short on voltage, is because of oxidation of the zinc paste. There could have been some oxidation of the cathode (outer cylinder) as well. That just happens after decades of sitting on a shelf.
Probably you had not only to replace the zinc dust, but also recharge the battery before you seal it hermetically, because not only zinc is consumed during discharge process, but also manganese dioxide is reduced to lower oxidation states (+2 and +3 from + 4 and that will explain why you have lower voltage.
***** it should, but not very quickly. according to a 1968 patent i dug up on ore refining... heating it will speed it up, but going over 1400F will start to favor MnO h2o2 should oxidize it quickly but then must be removed
***** Actually you don't need to refill MnO2 into battery. What is left in battery when MnO2 is partially consumed is a solid state solution of MnOOH (Mn+3) in the MnO2 lattice (Mn+4). More importantly these ions are quite mobile in lattice and you can replace/oxidize easily Mn+3 to Mn+4 (unless most of +4 is already lost) just applying external voltage to battery - just charge battery! I'll suggest to use a current source with few mA of current in the course of many days, the slower the better.
Make a battery of an oil drum like this :D Jokes aside, this is great, if only the ingredients for making this were more accessible - where I am it's like looking for bird milk and fish hair.
@@diosilva16 Exactly, I agree and I see. I mean, it's not impossible to do a larger scale battery, just a matter of preparation, which would be complex. Either way, it would be fun.
Voltage is current multiplied with the resistance. If you're using a perfect voltmeter, with an inner resistance of infinite ohms, there's no current, though you detect a voltage. Without a closed circut, you don't have a current.
+lil Chiller There recently was a problem with bulb in a car not lighting up. Voltmeter showed 12v, but bulb would not work :D Contacts in other place further were oxided, it stopped current from flowing :)
@Jeff Caligari Sorry, but no. I successfully recharged a 1.5v button cell at 5v with no problem, although it was only able to run the watch for a week. You just have to monitor the cell's temperature, in this case it stayed cold to the touch, but if it had warmed up I would have definitely backed away.
That's nominal load, no load should be 1.45, same with 18650s which state 3.7 but a fully charged cell no load will be 4.2. Car batteries are 12v right? Nope most are over 14v.
I agree by the definition of the word he is recharging it but normally recharging a battery means running backwards voltage into it, not replacing the contents of the battery
+CoolAsFinnBro I guess the title could be considered a little misleading, but if recharging was as easy as that it wouldn't make a very interesting video, and I think interesting is the goal here
Alkaline cells CAN be recharged by applying voltage to them. Just as long as you do it slowly and watch the temperature. But not when the cells are this far gone
good idea. pencil "lead" has a lot of clay and other softeners in it, but should work. it is quite brittle as a result. i remember reading somewhere that tin/SnO2 electrodes is a popular choice instead of carbon for this reason. "tin" is harder to come by now days
vevenaneathna not really, pure tin solder isnt too hard to come by. get some industrial tin solder like this www.ebay.com/itm/Lenox-WS10297-50-50-1-4-Tin-Lead-11-1-4-Tri-Bar-Solder-10bar-bundle-30oz-/281727698805 and use that. it's not super cheap, but not out of this world expensive either. you might get away with regular electrical solder which is for the most part around 60-70% tin other than that you have pewter, which, like electrical solder is around 70% tin. this might be easier to find if you rely on scavenging scrap. getting tin in any large quantities however is harder.
_LED bulbs will burn bright on almost dead batteries._ - by using a Joule Thief to _milk_ the last remnants of juice out of them. It's a obvious that Cody has a type of incandescent bulb (halogen, xenon, simple vacuum etc) in his flashlight with to the visible 'ramp-up' and down of the filament when he switches on and off, whereas LED would be hard on and off. I agree it looks very bright for 2.5v into a 3v rated bulb
You keep saying “current” in place of voltage. Checking voltage doesn’t tell you the current, current is a measure of the flow, I know you know this, but it might be confusing to others.
I don't think this counts as recharging...you've re-manufactured or refurbished them...and did a great job. Your videos are always fun to watch...maybe you can get a head-mounted camera so both of your hands are free?
Charging literally in the dictionary includes filling something. Charge a musket, charge a goblet, charge a battery. Always remember to check the dictionary before attempting to correct vocabulary. ;)
the thing with dictionaries is that they give many examples ... but not all definitions are applicable. Yes, "charge" can mean to fill something that is empty...but in this case, the battery was full of the material, but it had lost its ability to produce electricity, so the actual contents had to be removed before he could add the new material. To DIScharge a battery is to use it as a power source until it is "dead"...but the contents are still inside it, just not chemically reacting to produce electricity. If you were to recharge the battery you would either connect the battery to a current to replenish its electrical reserves, or you would disassemble the battery, remove the contents and replace the material altogether, which is a rebuild or re-manufacture...or perhaps reload.
At first I was planning my comment bashing you for recharging a chemical battery, but you tricked me by doing something cool and "recharging" them correctly. Kudos! Now excuse me while I disable my ad-blocker and reload your video...
+Michael Mast (TurboAAA) I read that you can actually recharge regular alkaline batteries somewhat if you just do it slowly enough. Haven't tried it myself though.
h3rteby Though they do have a limited ability to hold a charge if you run them through a charger, its not recomeneded (and not just by the manufacturer). So you could charge them but in the long run it will be more trouble than its worth.
Michael Mast Yeah, what I saw was an electronics guy who modified a charger with a resistor I think, so that it would charge much slower, and that way he could charge alkaline batteries without overheating them.
I honestly love your videos I'm sixteen and I find this stuff fascinating keep the videos coming I've been watching for about a year now and just revising some videos.
Silly rabbit, lithium type batteries you take for special disposal. That's the coin and button cells, mostly. Alkaline batteries, yes, you just throw them away unless they were made before about 1988.
IKEA stores collecting all the old batteries, they clearly stating this on their Eco-recycling campaign, they collecting old batteries for the minerals inside which can be reused esp. if battery died fresh, of course the recycling made by separate contractors for IKEA
Recharge, I would define as adding energy back into a battery. Your the first to make this reference comparing a rebuilding of a battery. You might be using the word "Recharge" incorrectly.
Holy crap that was one of the coolest things I've ever seen I fucking love this channel so much I've been binge watching your videos keep up the amazing work Cody
I read part of a book from the '90s -- a Sarajevo survival guide from back during the Balkan War. Batteries were in short supply so it advised wrapping them up watertight and boiling them in water to bring back the charge. Potentially dangerous of course, but so was walking around town as a target for snipers.
20 years ago I purchased a Buddy L charger, it charges both NiCad and Alkaline batteries. It was touted to charge lesser branded cylindrical batteries 2-3 times, and better branded batteries 10-12 times. It has revived old batteries numerous times and still works to this day albeit one of the spring mechanism hold downs broke. In conjunction to your method shown here I would think you could get years of battery power with minimal cash outlay.
I worked at Rayovac for 27 years, I may have had a part of making those batterys. The zink we used was a coarse ground zink. There is only one Rayovac plant in the US.
This was on my watch later for a while. Finally got around to watching it. Funny enough after i finished it i got an advertisement for battery safety from lg.
this was very interesting. I just watched my first video of yours (where you made the mine ring). is is my 4th video, first comment and subbed. I'm going to enjoy watching all your others. I'll be leaving thumbs up!
Cody would definitely survive a zombie apocalypse.
But how would you procure potassium hydroxide? I'm certainly not a
chemist, or as well versed in it as he is, but I get the feeling that it
is not a chemical that can be readily synthesised on the go.
+Ring0Resident It used to be done in the medieval times. Burn trees or plants, probably bananas, get potassium carbonate from the ashes and then add calcium oxide (also know as quicklime), boil in water and there you go potassium hydroxide.
Cheers man.
@MrBlackRapp so the zombie apocalypse WILL be televised!
Hell, one of his projects may start a zombie apocalypse.
Battery manufacturers HATE him! See how he saved over 17,324$ with this simple trick!
Greatest comment ever
U put the $ sign in the wrong place
@@gri5in862 That baited you didnt it.
How much it is in canadian pesos?
Sometimes, I click those link, and it shows 1 or 2 lines with a pic and lots of ads.
I click Next, and then the process continues for another 10 page and I never found out what the simple trick is and I close the page.
This Dude is the equivalent of a dark ages alchemist. I am very happy i subscribed.
+bruce wayne same
+bruce wayne Batman, needing to learn something. I thought you had Alfred for that? Oh yeah, he's retired now, right?
2degucitas wrong universe man.
bruce wayne Ah, ok. Hard to tell from a distance. Keep on bat'n on!
+bruce wayne he is the reincarnation of merlin.
*Sees explicit "do not recharge" warnings on casing*
Cody: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
*Does it anyway*
This guy took all the theoretical stuff from school waaaaay too seriously
what i did was pry them open and see what could be done
Its not so much of a recharge as a rebuild.
lol and will have 1000x the experience when he gets into his field. the more diverse knowledge base you have, the easier leaps in logic become to new designs and ideas. you can sit in class and study theory all you want, but practical application is where the real learning and understanding comes from.
Cody is the kind of person who will come up with some idea that will turn into a multi million dollar product that probably does the world quite a bit of good.
By recharge they normally mean running backwards voltage into the battery, why he did was refill the battery casing. :)
Cody's Lab drinking game: Drink whenever Cody says, "It's not that big of a deal," followed by, "it's only [something] so I can replace it."
Don't forget, "I'll get around to that later," or some variant thereof.
I'll be off to my "double A" meeting now.
but before you start the game, you have to make your own alcohol with some chemicals that would usually kill you. :p
don't forget "I was right"
Cody in two years: "It's only a rocket engine, so I can replace it." Cody in seven years: "It's just antimatter, so I can replace it." :P
In the future, for cool stuff like this, please don't skip parts!
Removing all of the used innards of the battery is just as cool and instructive as putting it all together again. For example, why didn't you have to do anything to the manganese?
+Cody'sLab _some parts get cut due to time._
We really don't mind an extra 5 minutes of Awesome.
+RonJohn63 I second this!
+Cody'sLab I go for your longest videos first usually. ;)
YEAH I've been noticing recently that he's skipping parts and it seems like he's making false videos. Kinda like the recent canning experiment.
ravemastaj it wasn't a dry cell battery. Dry cells are the manganese dioxide and carbon rod batteries
4:17 "but is a hel-heck of a lot better" lmao
Hellallulot
I interpreted it as "Helika"
It's a Toyota celica lot better
I'd call this refilling not recharging the batteries
battery's he had = not much charge
battery's he ended up with = good charge
recharge: restore an electric charge
???
+SparksThePhysicist however the batteries he ended up with were not really the same batteries as he begun with, they just used the same casings. (It's sort of that "if you replace every plank in a ship is it still the same ship?" dilemma)
CoolAsFinnBro Except the only thing in the ship that was actually replaced was the cargo, so it is the same ship.
+CoolAsFinnBro technically the only part of the ship which is unable to be replaced is the keel (repairing a damaged keel is possible, but it weakens the strength of the hull). so replacing every plank, still makes it the same ship as long as the keel is intact. this is true for most ships. maybe untrue for fibreglass hull ones but those mostly yatch and smaller sailboat and boats.
Heh, you're not wrong, but I think you might be missing the point of the question, I think the spirit of it is that you assume that even the keel can be replaced.
Brilliant video Cody,
I will not be re filling my batteries, but I still appreciate your technique, and showing us how its done. I can vision you as an excellent high school science teacher. Thanks for an interesting, and creative video production.
I have a weird fascination with batteries, I'm always measuring them and trying to get the most out of them even though I have 30 new ones sitting in a drawer as well as rechargeables. Right now I'm trying to stop myself ordering a set of Kentli AA's that I don't need just because I think they're a really neat design. I definitely spend way too much time on this pointless habit - but even I don't have the time or inclination to rebuild my own primary alkaline cells hahah. You're amazing Cody, I couldn't stop laughing at how both cool & ridiculous this is at the same time lol :-)
Impressed as usual. Cody's depth of chemical knowledge is incredible, but his ability to implement it in a Maguiver (?) - like manner is more so.
Recharge your alkaline batteries! Not really cheap, and only 100 times the hassle!
Fun video though!
So once alkaline batteries are depleted, the zinc oxide maes good sunscreen? Great tip! *heads to the beach sith a box of dead batteries*
Not just sunscreen, zinc oxide is also pretty good for wounds. Slightly antimicrobial and all that.
Since the electrolite around it is potassium hydroxide, I'd not be so keen to smear it over my skin. :p
Keep in mind, there could be additives and the formula is secret so who knows what is actually in it other than zinc oxide!
It is easy to take some chemistry classes and get a confused idea of what chemicals you're actually working with in various real life scenarios. If it isn't even a food, don't just assume it is pure-whatever!
Mátyás Fodor That's why he said it should be washed first.
He did say after you wash it, no of course you should not use it strait up XD
I can't fully express how cool this video is. Thanks for posting!!!!
I love your channel so much man! I love that there's a channel I can watch for 6 hours and not feel guilt about it because I learn so much
This was so cool. You're science vids this summer have been awesome!
You didn't chage the manganese oxide that why you got lower voltage, you have mostly Mn2O3 in the dead battery and the Mn(III)/Mn(II) redox pair should increase the voltage to 2.78V but this is not happening so what you have there is the leftover MnO2 reacting with the Zn.
Yeah, I thought the same
But then I'm wondering why they put more manganese oxide than zinc. I mean if zinc was finished and still some Mn oxide was available... It seems strange and a waste of manganese
@@Bert0ld0 The manganese miners union put that in their contract.....makes about as much sense as ethanol in our gasoline....people who fail science and math become politicians and legislate nonsense....
@@Bert0ld0 I think it has something to do with preventing case corrosion and leakage - that way the zinc and potassium hydroxide is used first and the cell is not as corrosive. Plus the manganese dioxide also acts (if I remember correctly) as a depolarizer, preventing the formation of hydrogen bubbles which would reduce the surface area and thus the current generation capability.
Please correct the type, it's Change, not chage.
They're not 1.5V because the large majority of the MnO2 was reduced to MnOOH during the initial discharge of the battery. Adding fresh Zinc will give you a tiny bit of extra capacity but not much to a 0.8V endpoint. Cool experiment nonetheless.
Wouldn't that be Mn(OH)2?
Wow, what a fast and easy process with materials we all have on hand. My zinc block has just been sitting around doing nothing.
Small wonder why this guy has almost 2 million subscribers.
One of the best CZcams sites in existence.
Wow..! I just learned something i will never forget.....
Has any one made a lantern that you just add powder too....
Like a lantern that has two bins ... one with zinc powder and one with mangenese dioxide.... A powder fueled electrical lantern...?
There is one that's water powered, it's basically this, but powdered electrolyte so that when you add the water it completes the battery and powers it up, same idea basically.
Called hydrotorch, or something to that effect.
4:17
"helluckava lot better.." lol
I think he said "hell" and didn't mean to, and tried to play it off by adding "ck" to say heck. Didn't really work though. :P
(the -ava is run together, of a, "hell/heck of a")
@@41A2E c'bnb ccx
The oxidation of zinc is exactly why alkaline batteries may NOT be recharged. You did a nice job showing the innards of a dead dry cell with the spent zinc.
That's very neat! I've seen multi-cell batteries "rebuilt" by putting in new cells. But this is the first time I've seen the cells themselves rebuilt!
"DO NOT RECHARGE".but , it said nothing about rebuilding.
May I come live on your ranch when the zombie apocalypse hits?Awesome videos
Me tooooo, me tooooooo...
You didn't recharge the cells, You REBUILT them! Good job. The reason you fell short on voltage, is because of oxidation of the zinc paste. There could have been some oxidation of the cathode (outer cylinder) as well. That just happens after decades of sitting on a shelf.
Great stuff! Each video just gets better and better!
Probably you had not only to replace the zinc dust, but also recharge the battery before you seal it hermetically, because not only zinc is consumed during discharge process, but also manganese dioxide is reduced to lower oxidation states (+2 and +3 from + 4 and that will explain why you have lower voltage.
***** it should, but not very quickly.
according to a 1968 patent i dug up on ore refining...
heating it will speed it up, but going over 1400F will start to favor MnO
h2o2 should oxidize it quickly but then must be removed
vevenaneathna But hydrogen peroxyde quickly turns into water in contact with air so it's a very valid solution
if any h2o2 were left in the battery, it would turn to water.... and also oxygen gas too. not sure you want that in your batteries.
vevenaneathna duh, let it reduce before inserting the mixture in the battery
***** Actually you don't need to refill MnO2 into battery. What is left in battery when MnO2 is partially consumed is a solid state solution of MnOOH (Mn+3) in the MnO2 lattice (Mn+4). More importantly these ions are quite mobile in lattice and you can replace/oxidize easily Mn+3 to Mn+4 (unless most of +4 is already lost) just applying external voltage to battery - just charge battery! I'll suggest to use a current source with few mA of current in the course of many days, the slower the better.
Make a battery of an oil drum like this :D Jokes aside, this is great, if only the ingredients for making this were more accessible - where I am it's like looking for bird milk and fish hair.
that would be a bomb rather than a battery
Do it do it do it
@@diosilva16 Maybe... maybe not. We will never know unless we make it. One thing is for sure: whatever comes out of it would be awesome :)
@@philipthepirate1762 3:19
@@diosilva16 Exactly, I agree and I see. I mean, it's not impossible to do a larger scale battery, just a matter of preparation, which would be complex. Either way, it would be fun.
You have a lot more patience than I would.But considering how expensive C's or D's are,it is a legit idea,Thanks for sharing.
Me watching this video after 5 years and becoming a fan of Cody AGAIN.
You're mixing up current and voltage. No offense, just saying :)
***** This is not as simple, aspecially with chemical batteries
Voltage is current multiplied with the resistance. If you're using a perfect voltmeter, with an inner resistance of infinite ohms, there's no current, though you detect a voltage. Without a closed circut, you don't have a current.
A science channel always attracts smart people :)
+Cody'sLab 1-2 vs 181k, hmm who wins?
+lil Chiller There recently was a problem with bulb in a car not lighting up. Voltmeter showed 12v, but bulb would not work :D Contacts in other place further were oxided, it stopped current from flowing :)
Recharging even a small button watch battery causes explosion. Almost loud as a .22lr bullet. And yes projectile across the room.
@Jeff Caligari Sorry, but no. I successfully recharged a 1.5v button cell at 5v with no problem, although it was only able to run the watch for a week. You just have to monitor the cell's temperature, in this case it stayed cold to the touch, but if it had warmed up I would have definitely backed away.
If you charge it with an arc welder.
I don't comment on vids on CZcams often but you my man are a legend . Greetings from Ireland
Wonderfully inventive and a little crazy but I live it. keep on sharing we enjoy the education and innovation.
cody, 1.25 V is the normal voltage for Zinc Manganese Alkaline batteries! You did nothing wrong!
That's nominal load, no load should be 1.45, same with 18650s which state 3.7 but a fully charged cell no load will be 4.2. Car batteries are 12v right? Nope most are over 14v.
Car batteries are 12 volts. Car alternators put out over 14 volts.
@@themikeshow 12.8, I kinda went high on my comment
@@Gunzee 13.6 one hour after charging. They tend to lose charge in time. also AGM has higher voltage than that
@@Gunzee 12,68 v
Is this really recharging the battery because it seems more like making a new battery with the same case. Love your videos though.
Depends how you want to define recharge. Originally to recharge something meant to reload or refill it.
I agree by the definition of the word he is recharging it but normally recharging a battery means running backwards voltage into it, not replacing the contents of the battery
+CoolAsFinnBro I guess the title could be considered a little misleading, but if recharging was as easy as that it wouldn't make a very interesting video, and I think interesting is the goal here
Alkaline cells CAN be recharged by applying voltage to them. Just as long as you do it slowly and watch the temperature. But not when the cells are this far gone
This is the only way you can recharge an alkaline battery.
Cody never ceases to impress me.
Congratulations on 10,000 subscribers!
With the price of 'D' cells, this is probably a feasible solution.
You can get AA to D Cell adaptors and then throw in some Alkalines, Rechargeable AAs or Lithium AAs (Non-rechargable)
More of a refurbishing than a recharging, but still: nicely done.
Coolest thing i have seen on the internet in a long time! Thank you for sharing
That was actually purty cool. Thanks for taking the effort to film it.
could you make one fully from scratch?
Jessie Parker needs a carbon electrode which is kinda impractical
vevenaneathna Pencil leads bundled with a rubber band or wire maybe.
good idea.
pencil "lead" has a lot of clay and other softeners in it, but should work.
it is quite brittle as a result.
i remember reading somewhere that tin/SnO2 electrodes is a popular choice instead of carbon for this reason. "tin" is harder to come by now days
***** Awesome! Can't wait to see if they work well enough to be a viable option. Thanks!
vevenaneathna not really, pure tin solder isnt too hard to come by. get some industrial tin solder like this www.ebay.com/itm/Lenox-WS10297-50-50-1-4-Tin-Lead-11-1-4-Tri-Bar-Solder-10bar-bundle-30oz-/281727698805 and use that. it's not super cheap, but not out of this world expensive either. you might get away with regular electrical solder which is for the most part around 60-70% tin
other than that you have pewter, which, like electrical solder is around 70% tin. this might be easier to find if you rely on scavenging scrap.
getting tin in any large quantities however is harder.
LED bulbs will burn bright on almost dead batteries.
+umperthay
but not all dead! :)
I totally agree.
As you probably know, what states the true power of a battery is just that - power, not voltage.
_LED bulbs will burn bright on almost dead batteries._
- by using a Joule Thief to _milk_ the last remnants of juice out of them.
It's a obvious that Cody has a type of incandescent bulb (halogen, xenon, simple vacuum etc) in his flashlight with to the visible 'ramp-up' and down of the filament when he switches on and off, whereas LED would be hard on and off.
I agree it looks very bright for 2.5v into a 3v rated bulb
jayc2469 I agree. - I was dead tired when I typed the comment. 1 amp is plenty to light one well (if the voltage is descent - which it was).
LEDs are more sensitive to the voltage than halogens though.
You deserve way more than 10k subs! I JUST subbed and can't wait to see more awesome content! Keep it coming!
Cody is the only kind of dude who you would never expect to clickbait you and in this too he didnt technically clickbait you
You keep saying “current” in place of voltage. Checking voltage doesn’t tell you the current, current is a measure of the flow, I know you know this, but it might be confusing to others.
Not super old
10-12 years old
HMMMMM THAT SEEMS OLD ENOUGH FOR ME
Spent the last 2 hours watching your videos. Definitely gained a subscriber!
Thanks for posting. Now I know how to make batteries in an "end of days" scenario, when all the available ones no longer work.
*breaks the whole battery* ehhhh not that big of a deal
I don't think this counts as recharging...you've re-manufactured or refurbished them...and did a great job.
Your videos are always fun to watch...maybe you can get a head-mounted camera so both of your hands are free?
SDD525 no, giving something a charge is recharging. ..
replacing the contents is considered rebuilding, in my opinion.
great job, Cody
Charging literally in the dictionary includes filling something. Charge a musket, charge a goblet, charge a battery. Always remember to check the dictionary before attempting to correct vocabulary. ;)
the thing with dictionaries is that they give many examples ... but not all definitions are applicable.
Yes, "charge" can mean to fill something that is empty...but in this case, the battery was full of the material, but it had lost its ability to produce electricity, so the actual contents had to be removed before he could add the new material.
To DIScharge a battery is to use it as a power source until it is "dead"...but the contents are still inside it, just not chemically reacting to produce electricity.
If you were to recharge the battery you would either connect the battery to a current to replenish its electrical reserves, or you would disassemble the battery, remove the contents and replace the material altogether, which is a rebuild or re-manufacture...or perhaps reload.
Amazing restore on those old cells!
This is the silliest, least practical, and coolest thing I've seen all evening.
You should strap a gopro to a hat or use a headband so you can use both your hands!
Ahahaaa! psssh nothing :P
***** TMI hehehe
At first I was planning my comment bashing you for recharging a chemical battery, but you tricked me by doing something cool and "recharging" them correctly. Kudos! Now excuse me while I disable my ad-blocker and reload your video...
+Michael Mast (TurboAAA) I read that you can actually recharge regular alkaline batteries somewhat if you just do it slowly enough. Haven't tried it myself though.
+h3rteby
no you can't, it's a chemical reaction and once the chemicals are depleted, game over
h3rteby Though they do have a limited ability to hold a charge if you run them through a charger, its not recomeneded (and not just by the manufacturer). So you could charge them but in the long run it will be more trouble than its worth.
+Michael Mast (TurboAAA) Also, if you discharge them below 1,25V you will NEVER be able to recharge them.
Michael Mast Yeah, what I saw was an electronics guy who modified a charger with a resistor I think, so that it would charge much slower, and that way he could charge alkaline batteries without overheating them.
this was really cool, I would love to see a series called out of the dark ages where you go from rock to torch making everything in between
HTME check it out, someone doing the same thing with a tad bit of help (some from cody)
Cody all my kids watch you every single day over and over😂😂 we need more episodes bro we watched everything several times over
2016:no
2017:no
2018:not yet
2019:perfect!
Your right it is a helica lot better :) haha.
I honestly love your videos I'm sixteen and I find this stuff fascinating keep the videos coming I've been watching for about a year now and just revising some videos.
That was totally electrifying! Downright illuminating! The end result was brilliant! (That's enough, Labguy! OK.)
No, no! You do not just throw batteries away. You take them to specialty locations that dispose of them properly.
TheOtherSteel places that just throw them away you mean? :p
Silly rabbit, lithium type batteries you take for special disposal. That's the coin and button cells, mostly. Alkaline batteries, yes, you just throw them away unless they were made before about 1988.
IKEA stores collecting all the old batteries, they clearly stating this on their Eco-recycling campaign, they collecting old batteries for the minerals inside which can be reused esp. if battery died fresh, of course the recycling made by separate contractors for IKEA
Dude just take the lithium foil out.
Recharge, I would define as adding energy back into a battery. Your the first to make this reference comparing a rebuilding of a battery. You might be using the word "Recharge" incorrectly.
I never thought about refurbishing batteries like that. Nice.
You have awesome videos! I aspire to be as knowledgeable as you! Keep the videos coming 😁
Holy crap that was one of the coolest things I've ever seen I fucking love this channel so much I've been binge watching your videos keep up the amazing work Cody
You're amazing, Cody. Geez. It proves you don't need superpowers, all you need is science.
you're right! This is so much easier than buying new ones!
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I was able to repair my micro watch batteries for my hearing aids!
If I had to make a post-apocalyptic team you would be high on the list. Amazing depth of useful knowledge.
+TheGreatMoonFrog
You would get expelled from your own team though because you cant offer any skills, lol ;D
+Emil Brandwyne zombie decoy *
I know this is an old video. But, Cody's the man. Keep doing you bro
Wow great result!
this kind of stuff makes me feel like the stuff i would make out from scratch myself, so nice.
great job Cody!
I read part of a book from the '90s -- a Sarajevo survival guide from back during the Balkan War. Batteries were in short supply so it advised wrapping them up watertight and boiling them in water to bring back the charge. Potentially dangerous of course, but so was walking around town as a target for snipers.
I am so impressed by your videos. I am watching all of them. LOL
Man Cody I wish I was as smart as you. Your amazing man just remember that and keep your head up brother.
i cant ignore you mix up voltage and current.. holy moly
you are awesome bro... you do anything!!!
That's so neat. Love the videos, man.
20 years ago I purchased a Buddy L charger, it charges both NiCad and Alkaline batteries. It was touted to charge lesser branded cylindrical batteries 2-3 times, and better branded batteries 10-12 times. It has revived old batteries numerous times and still works to this day albeit one of the spring mechanism hold downs broke. In conjunction to your method shown here I would think you could get years of battery power with minimal cash outlay.
You're freaking brilliant. Definitely a kind of genius.
Loved your video. Thank you!
This was actually pretty cool. Thanks!
Cody, you are a wizard.
Cody's Top, He's such a sweet Guy.! Ya just can't help but like Him...
I worked at Rayovac for 27 years, I may have had a part of making those batterys. The zink we used was a coarse ground zink. There is only one Rayovac plant in the US.
What I really liked were the sophisticated hi tech fencing pliers
This was on my watch later for a while. Finally got around to watching it. Funny enough after i finished it i got an advertisement for battery safety from lg.
Soooo cool!
You are the new MacGyver!
Cody: it's around 10, 12 years old...
Auto generated captions: It's around 1012 years old
I well ENJOYED this video.
BRAVO! Fun video!
Cody, you are "THA BOSS", cheers :)
this is my favorite youtube channel
this was very interesting. I just watched my first video of yours (where you made the mine ring). is is my 4th video, first comment and subbed. I'm going to enjoy watching all your others. I'll be leaving thumbs up!
A hell-k of a lot better. Good save.