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Need help restoring my estate sale 2 boxer

Started by Kjmcmurdo, November 04, 2017, 04:52:50 PM

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#15
Quote from: RB on November 07, 2017, 05:52:04 PM
what did a wet cell look like?

Like this, round or square. You have to imagine the cap or lid with two terminals which are connected inside the jar to 2 electrodes immersed in an electrolytic solution. The old WE catalogs on TCI show the jars and electrodes (different jars and electrodes).

Sargeguy

Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409

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I've never seen an original but of the similar but different old original battery jars on eBay, they are quite pricey.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-EDISON-Primary-Cell-Battery-SQUARE-GREEN-Glass-Jar-Samson-Railroad/232551129706

Kjmcmurdo

I've never seen anything like it.  They're amazing!

RB

I have seen examples of wet cells, but never a link to phone applications.
had no idea, thanks guys for the education.
was there a cut off date when they switched to dry cells?
and were they 1.5 volt or there about?
I would imagine, the mix of the juice would effect the total output voltage?

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#20
Quote from: RB on November 08, 2017, 08:48:20 AM
I have seen examples of wet cells, but never a link to phone applications.
had no idea, thanks guys for the education.
was there a cut off date when they switched to dry cells?
and were they 1.5 volt or there about?
I would imagine, the mix of the juice would effect the total output voltage?

Yes, the voltage depends on the electrodes used and the solution. 1.5 volts DC is "normal."

Wet cells began to go out when they figured out how to make the solution a paste and put it into a cylinder which became known as the dry cell, at first the big round batteries and eventually the "D" cells and onward. No cut off date, just a transition period from wet to dry. For example, the 1916 WE apparatus catalog in which I found those wet cells had dry cells on the next page.

If you have a DVM, you can put two different electrodes into a solution that has electrolytic properties and play with mini-voltage batteries you are creating.

Just ran down to the dungeon to make one up (5 minutes total time including taking multiple readings). I didn't have any pure zinc so used an iron nail as my reference anode electrode (-) and attached a copper wire, a brass wire and a stainless steel probe to the cathode (+) lead.

Half filled a small plastic cup with tap water and added table salt. Got the following readings:

(-) nail === brass wire (+)   0.22 volts
(-) nail === copper wire (+)   0.32 volts

then added a teaspoon of vinegar and got these readings:

(-) nail === brass wire (+)   0.33 volts  (the acetic acid added 0.1 volts with brass)
(-) nail === copper wire (+)   0.35 volts  (the acetic acid added only 0.03 volts with copper)

attached a Stainless Steel rod and got:

(-) nail === SS (+)   0.42 volts

Of course, the metal is used up to create the voltage, it rusts so to speak. The molasses I used to clean lanterns created a voltage between the tin/steel lantern and the copper reference electrode used to check for voltage.

Back then they used the best solution and electrodes to get about 1.5 VDC out of each battery jar. One thing nice about the battery jars is that they could be dumped and reloaded with new electrolyte solution and the electrodes changed out as needed.

Somewhere there tables showing the voltage produced between different metals in different solutions - basic physical chemistry stuff. Something to "wow" the kids with. The solution can be anything that passes electrons, soda, orange juice, salt water, etc).



Sargeguy

#21
Here is a base for the #5 arm:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/282602682207
Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409