Easy to make free power crystal cells

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savageagle

HamRadio/Office of Emergency Services/Fire-EMT-SAR
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Crystal power cells.
Making power from just about nothing that can give you unlimited power for years.? It's easy to make and if you know any basics of math the basic instructuons can be modified allowing you to make power cells in any size you need.
The basic power cel will give you approximately 1.4 vdc @ 90 ma and so far they have been runing fow almost 3 years of continuous power. In most cases the output increases with age and the time when they become exhaused has not beed established.
You start with a copper pipe cap, a solid magnesium core and 4 ingredients.
you mix 1/2 cup of borax, 1/2 cup of alum, 1/2 cup of potasium chloride
and a 1/2 cup od Epsom salt. You mix the ingredients very good, For this project we are usuing a copper pipe cap 2" in diameter by 1 1/4 deep, a solid magnesium core cut from a 12" D x 1" piece.
The magnesium core gets drilled and tapped in center for a 1" machine screw.
You heat the ingredients very slowly until they liquify. ( you don't want to boil it as this creates bubbles and you CANNOT have ANY bubbles in your mixture. After your ingredients have been heated and liquified and you have placed your magnesium core into your copper pipe cap (centered) you slowly pour in your mixture working it with a piece of wire to make sure any bubbles come to the surface and are removed, Once your mixture is in your copper cap and leveled to the top you can remove the entire copper cap and place it into a container of water to cool it SLOWLY with luke-warm water. Let it cool a long time, over night would be good. This is to insure that there are NO cracks between the copper pipe cap and the nagnesium core.
now is a good time to insert the screw into the copper pipe cap. Add a nut on the screw so you can use it as a locking nut. screw the down several threads then screw down the nut until it contacts the magnesium core. Snug it up to insure the screw will not turn.
Thats it............Now you can connect a small motor or LED light.
Remember this size will give you about 1.4 vdc and 90 miliamps.
You can easily adjust your dimensions and make a larger one or as I did, create many of this size and then wire them up in series until I had 11.4 colts @ 720 mili-amps. ( There are some that have been made over 2 years ago. One runs an LED light and the other is running a small motor turning fan blades They are still running. I'll include a link to the guys website who has a live real time video feed of these power cells in operation.
I have purchased 8 pipe caps and bags and bags of the contents as well as the magnesium rod at $7.32 for 12 inches x 1".
It has many uses and being free it can't be beat.
I'm curious as to how large a cell I can make and just how much juice I can get out of it.
Here is the link to this guys video on youtube.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Mzq_qWIhamQ
crystalcelldiagram_zps4d8f447e.gif


He mentions his website url in the video. Check it out. He has other great simple projects that you may like,
I will bump up the size to 2" D x 2" long copper pipe caps and 1.75" D x 2" magnesium rod. I'll have to experiment with various sizes to see how far I can go with this to make it practical for the apllicatons I intend to use it for.
Having these materials on hand I think is a good idea. Takes a very short amount of time to put together and would be a good bartering item. After several are made they will be running a circuit board with 4 T6 led's on it and placed as walkway lights. They can easily have an on-off switch wired in or even a day/night sensor or a motion sensor to turn them on.
It's free cheap energy and makes it nice like with my soon to be moved chicken coupe to my new home. I don't have to worry about getting power out there. I just make what I need to run lights and place them out there with the chickens. I also plane on adapting them to run some wireless outdoor night vision cameras that right now have solar as power.
After experimentation we'll see whats going to work best and get busy.
The live video feeds of these power cells working is an ongoing project. Up to now it's been almost 3 years they have been supplying free power so who knows how long they will really last.
I hope you enjoy this post as it has potential depending on how far your willing to experiment and what your needs might be.
 
How is it free? Don't all the materials cost money?
When you add it all up, would it be cheaper (and much easier) to just store a stockpile of rechargeable batteries and solar chargers?
 
So what if it's not totally free....you spend maybe $7 on one cell and it lasts for years. If you have these materials stock piled then you run out of batteries or whatever you still have an endless source for power at a very minimal fee. Re-chargeable batteries and solar chargers don't last forever.

It isn't meant to completely replace other things, just a good option for very cheap power that will last a very long time. Hopefully there are others who see my point and take it as a helpful article.
If it doesn't help you then stick to batteries and chargers.
 
Crystal power cells.
Making power from just about nothing that can give you unlimited power for years.? It's easy to make and if you know any basics of math the basic instructuons can be modified allowing you to make power cells in any size you need.
The basic power cel will give you approximately 1.4 vdc @ 90 ma and so far they have been runing fow almost 3 years of continuous power. In most cases the output increases with age and the time when they become exhaused has not beed established.
You start with a copper pipe cap, a solid magnesium core and 4 ingredients.
you mix 1/2 cup of borax, 1/2 cup of alum, 1/2 cup of potasium chloride
and a 1/2 cup od Epsom salt. You mix the ingredients very good, For this project we are usuing a copper pipe cap 2" in diameter by 1 1/4 deep, a solid magnesium core cut from a 12" D x 1" piece.
The magnesium core gets drilled and tapped in center for a 1" machine screw.
You heat the ingredients very slowly until they liquify. ( you don't want to boil it as this creates bubbles and you CANNOT have ANY bubbles in your mixture. After your ingredients have been heated and liquified and you have placed your magnesium core into your copper pipe cap (centered) you slowly pour in your mixture working it with a piece of wire to make sure any bubbles come to the surface and are removed, Once your mixture is in your copper cap and leveled to the top you can remove the entire copper cap and place it into a container of water to cool it SLOWLY with luke-warm water. Let it cool a long time, over night would be good. This is to insure that there are NO cracks between the copper pipe cap and the nagnesium core.
now is a good time to insert the screw into the copper pipe cap. Add a nut on the screw so you can use it as a locking nut. screw the down several threads then screw down the nut until it contacts the magnesium core. Snug it up to insure the screw will not turn.
Thats it............Now you can connect a small motor or LED light.
Remember this size will give you about 1.4 vdc and 90 miliamps.
You can easily adjust your dimensions and make a larger one or as I did, create many of this size and then wire them up in series until I had 11.4 colts @ 720 mili-amps. ( There are some that have been made over 2 years ago. One runs an LED light and the other is running a small motor turning fan blades They are still running. I'll include a link to the guys website who has a live real time video feed of these power cells in operation.
I have purchased 8 pipe caps and bags and bags of the contents as well as the magnesium rod at $7.32 for 12 inches x 1".
It has many uses and being free it can't be beat.
I'm curious as to how large a cell I can make and just how much juice I can get out of it.
Here is the link to this guys video on youtube.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Mzq_qWIhamQ
crystalcelldiagram_zps4d8f447e.gif


He mentions his website url in the video. Check it out. He has other great simple projects that you may like,
I will bump up the size to 2" D x 2" long copper pipe caps and 1.75" D x 2" magnesium rod. I'll have to experiment with various sizes to see how far I can go with this to make it practical for the apllicatons I intend to use it for.
Having these materials on hand I think is a good idea. Takes a very short amount of time to put together and would be a good bartering item. After several are made they will be running a circuit board with 4 T6 led's on it and placed as walkway lights. They can easily have an on-off switch wired in or even a day/night sensor or a motion sensor to turn them on.
It's free cheap energy and makes it nice like with my soon to be moved chicken coupe to my new home. I don't have to worry about getting power out there. I just make what I need to run lights and place them out there with the chickens. I also plane on adapting them to run some wireless outdoor night vision cameras that right now have solar as power.
After experimentation we'll see whats going to work best and get busy.
The live video feeds of these power cells working is an ongoing project. Up to now it's been almost 3 years they have been supplying free power so who knows how long they will really last.
I hope you enjoy this post as it has potential depending on how far your willing to experiment and what your needs might be.

I ran this one by my electrician/teammate, he likes the idea as a back up source for our energy needs. Your right on the rechargeable batteries and solar batteries not lasting forever. This is just another backup system that I think will save us down the road. Thanks for posting the info. I've copied your schematics and tucked it away as another good PDF file for us.
 
Thanks silent bob, that was the intention. everything I could think of buying seems to have it's limits but this, as long as you have stored and stashed away enough of the ingredients you can easily make these power cells in many sizes and just let them run.
I have myself a huge amount of AA batteries and re-chargeables and panels but to have something that as far as whats on this guys website and confirmed that the basic configuration has lasted a bit over 3 years and actually increased it's output a bit too. I bet if you do the math comparing a 3 year period and compared re-chargeable batteries with solar panels versus just one basic crystal cel it's easy to see which one comes out ahead. Long term it's a good idea, at least it's a make it and let it run item. Don't have to ever do maintenance. I'm almost finished with some and look forward to having wireless lights 120 yards from my new home so the chickens can see while they make eggs, and no switch to turn on or forget to turn off.
The schematic doesn't show wiring them in parrallel to increase the voltage. I'm going to experiment with a copper cap 6" diameter by 4" deep and see what current and voltage I get from it. I'll post results later. I think there is potential here. cheers.
 
Thanks silent bob, that was the intention. everything I could think of buying seems to have it's limits but this, as long as you have stored and stashed away enough of the ingredients you can easily make these power cells in many sizes and just let them run.
I have myself a huge amount of AA batteries and re-chargeables and panels but to have something that as far as whats on this guys website and confirmed that the basic configuration has lasted a bit over 3 years and actually increased it's output a bit too. I bet if you do the math comparing a 3 year period and compared re-chargeable batteries with solar panels versus just one basic crystal cel it's easy to see which one comes out ahead. Long term it's a good idea, at least it's a make it and let it run item. Don't have to ever do maintenance. I'm almost finished with some and look forward to having wireless lights 120 yards from my new home so the chickens can see while they make eggs, and no switch to turn on or forget to turn off.
The schematic doesn't show wiring them in parrallel to increase the voltage. I'm going to experiment with a copper cap 6" diameter by 4" deep and see what current and voltage I get from it. I'll post results later. I think there is potential here. cheers.


Cell or battery storage has been my biggest issue when it comes to energy. My friend as I mentioned (who is like a brother) believe we should be good at manufacturing energy through either three ways...wind, solar or water. I've got a good wind kit in storage, I've heavily invested and learned a bunch from my own solar projects and have more panels and equipment to generate quite a bit of energy from the sun. Water remains a big issue, since I am still looking for a new BOL site that will give me water rights so that I can dam it up and build a water powered mill/should be able to generate power too.

I ran a thread a while back and it seems from everyone rechargeable batteries is where everyone is investing in preps. I've got several Deep Cell and regular batteries (that are dry) in storage. So it will depend on how I ration them when SHTF. But like all car batteries, you know your only going to go so long on them before a cell dies off and the charge won't take anymore.

Yeah, as my friend mentioned, he was aware of that, figure the next time I go up to OKC, we might play with a basic start up design to see if it works.

So thanks for the post. It has given us one more idea to prep.
 
Storing the energy you create is the biggest issue in the business right now. Im working on alternative furnaces and house Technic systems for a living. Producing electricity, heat, cold etc as for of energy is not a problem. The biggest Problem, like you said, is to store it.
I worked on and installed house systems where the house is build around a 45000 liter (about 12000 US gal) water tank. Over the summer the whole body of water gets heated up via vacuum solar panels, that heat is enough to heat your house and your hot water. Its enough to bring you through the winter and as it cools down over the month its cool enough to cool the house in the summer.
Neat stuff, super expensive and huge. But its going in the right direction.
 
Storing the energy you create is the biggest issue in the business right now. Im working on alternative furnaces and house Technic systems for a living. Producing electricity, heat, cold etc as for of energy is not a problem. The biggest Problem, like you said, is to store it.
I worked on and installed house systems where the house is build around a 45000 liter (about 12000 US gal) water tank. Over the summer the whole body of water gets heated up via vacuum solar panels, that heat is enough to heat your house and your hot water. Its enough to bring you through the winter and as it cools down over the month its cool enough to cool the house in the summer.
Neat stuff, super expensive and huge. But its going in the right direction.


Marv, are you doing that stateside or back in Germany? Stateside, depending on where you plan to live, depends heavily on zoning laws. Part of my problem not installing the wind kit. I ran into city ordnance issues and couldn't get the permit or the neighbors approval since it makes noise at night....we get 50-60 mph wind here, so it would have been the better option, but the solar project thread is what I had to go with. The pictures are a bit dated, because I now have another 8 sitting on my storage shed that tie into another inverter and battery. My electric bill in the summer is only about $30 and that is with the pool pump running 24 hours a day...well might not be soon since we are running out of water and my rainwater storage is bleeding dry.
 
I'm doing that in Germany for now. Working for the leading company in alternative house Technics in my area. besides that, i am attending college on my GI bill for my associates in the
HVAC field. Im trying to get a job in that field when we are in the states.

In my "prepper" opinion water is the way to go. Water runs 24/7. Wind and sun are only out on certain days and highly dependable on seasons. And like i said earlier, its hard for us right now to store the produced energy.
 
I'm doing that in Germany for now. Working for the leading company in alternative house Technics in my area. besides that, i am attending college on my GI bill for my associates in the
HVAC field. Im trying to get a job in that field when we are in the states.

In my "prepper" opinion water is the way to go. Water runs 24/7. Wind and sun are only out on certain days and highly dependable on seasons. And like i said earlier, its hard for us right now to store the produced energy.


Have you looked into your state's qualification, my friend lives in Oklahoma now, but he is a licensed Master Electrician in California and Texas...he told me he has a very hard time with getting his Master's certification in Oklahoma...so just asking, would hate to see you not get to the states and have to wait to get certified. Just thoughts. Of course, here in Texas, the guys who inspect for the city, typically might not have a clue as to some of the work you might you do. Trust me on the Solar system....that was fun (not).

Yeah, just where I plan my new BOL...the state has some serious legal issues with water rights. Well, in North Texas, we have an abundance of sunshine and a typical day in Texas, the winds still churn above 10 MPH and that is a light breeze here. This morning, it was blowing from the Southeast at 30Mph.

Have a great week Marv...kindest regards..
 
If it doesn't help you then stick to batteries and chargers.

Downside of posting, lose a lot in translation without body language, voice inflection, etc. I do thank you for the information, I didn't mean to criticize the effort. Just wondered if it was really cost effective or practical. Does seem to be a longer lasting option at least, which could justify the effort. My apologies if it came off wrong.
 
I guess cost is something to consider in any of these projects. one I saw in a magazine......A house being built had a 20' x 20' by 10' deep sub basement built with concrete which was filled with a type of rock that is best in heat retainment, then water lines were plumbed into and out of it which were connected to 3 large solar heaters (polished aluminium back panels with copper piping layed over that and all fed from a large 2k gallon water tank that was on a hill and the system was fed by gravity. says the storage of the heated water in the rock retained 89% of the heat over a six month period and had fairly hot showers all winter. you'd have to be where you get more sunshine and this system as said above is one that is very depedant on sunny days.
My power cell project has started with twice the size I mentioned above. Same design just larger and getting 2.5 volts and 160 mili-amps. Those in the diagram are not wired correctly in series but you get the idea. I have 18 completed and so far they have been working 6 days with 2 of them increasing to 2.6 volts and 168 miliamps. The ones shown online have been working for over 2 years. I plan to continue and make even larger ones and I will stock pile and monitor what I make. I think if these work as said then I will at least have something to trade with/for when and if the power goes bye bye. These easily give me the option to make various circuits increasing the output to match various uses. One i've added an on/off switch, works fine so I figure I can add a motion sensor and camera system or whatever I can think of and have as many varied sizes or configurations and they are maintenance free.
Yes, it costs for the materials but it's cheap and after that there are no costs at all, just a power source you know will work for a very long time.
I'm very curious as to the limits in size to one power cell and what power and current it will produce.
hope everyone had a great 4th of july, if you celebrated.......................cheers.
 
Thanks for the post. . . I saved it to show to hunny since this is not my specialty, but the guys are gonna love it!
 
I have magnesium fire starters which are a rectangular block. I wonder it you need a round shaped rod or could you use a block of it. I was just wondering about availability of larger pieces of magnesium.
 
danil54grl, Mine are making me happy from the success of them. Yes, show the guys, have them give it a try.

brent, I bet if you had something the same shape as the firestarters it would work. Magnesium is magnesium. It would have to be copper and square and i'd guess you'd want at least 1 inch of space between the outer copper wall and the magnesium piece. If you can solder the you could get some copper sheet and cut out your piece. One piece would be the bottom and all 4 sides, then just fold the sides up to make a square and solder those together. You could make it as tall as the magnesium core.
The magnesium is easy to get. Do a search on pure magnesium rod stock. The stuff I use is from a solid piece 12 inches long and about 1.2 inches accross. It was $7 plus shipping and I cut it at 1 inch intervals.
If you want to try the firestarter stuff and making an outer copper peice that is square I couldn't tell you what voltage and currect you'd get out of it. I'm not a math wiz thats why I like to video I started with, he's not exact in his measurements but it still works great.
If you try it let me know how yours works. Be cautious with the soldering and mixing the ingredients with the fumes. Outdoors would be a good idea. Good Luck with it.
I'm sure you know how but if you need a template to make a square container let me know and i'll post one up you can copy.
 
danil54grl, Mine are making me happy from the success of them. Yes, show the guys, have them give it a try.

brent, I bet if you had something the same shape as the firestarters it would work. Magnesium is magnesium. It would have to be copper and square and i'd guess you'd want at least 1 inch of space between the outer copper wall and the magnesium piece. If you can solder the you could get some copper sheet and cut out your piece. One piece would be the bottom and all 4 sides, then just fold the sides up to make a square and solder those together. You could make it as tall as the magnesium core.
The magnesium is easy to get. Do a search on pure magnesium rod stock. The stuff I use is from a solid piece 12 inches long and about 1.2 inches accross. It was $7 plus shipping and I cut it at 1 inch intervals.
If you want to try the firestarter stuff and making an outer copper peice that is square I couldn't tell you what voltage and currect you'd get out of it. I'm not a math wiz thats why I like to video I started with, he's not exact in his measurements but it still works great.
If you try it let me know how yours works. Be cautious with the soldering and mixing the ingredients with the fumes. Outdoors would be a good idea. Good Luck with it.
I'm sure you know how but if you need a template to make a square container let me know and i'll post one up you can copy.
I'm with you on having fun with building and trying new things. I think learning about how things work is more like fun than work.
 

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