4 Ways to Make a Home Stack

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4 Ways to Make a Home Stack
4 Ways to Make a Home Stack

Video: 4 Ways to Make a Home Stack

Video: 4 Ways to Make a Home Stack
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To make your own battery at home, you just need two different types of metal, some electrical wires, and a conductive material. Many household items can be used as the medium in which to put metals, for example salt water, a lemon or even dust.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Making a Soda Stack

Make a Homemade Battery Step 1
Make a Homemade Battery Step 1

Step 1. Gather the materials

For this stack, you'll need a closed soda can (any flavor will do), a plastic cup (177-236ml) and a 2cm wide copper strip that's a little longer than the height of the cup.. In addition, you will need scissors, a voltage meter, and two electrical leads with alligator clips at the ends.

  • If you don't have these materials at home, you can buy them at a hardware store.
  • It is possible to replace the copper strip with several pieces of copper wire glued or zigzag bent to achieve the desired width.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 2
Make a Homemade Battery Step 2

Step 2. Fill the plastic cup about 3/4 full with soda

Note that the cup does not have to be plastic, it just cannot be metallic. Styrofoam and paper ones will also do.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 3
Make a Homemade Battery Step 3

Step 3. Completely empty the can

Discard or drink any remaining soda, turn the container upside down over the sink, and shake it a little to remove all the beverage.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 4
Make a Homemade Battery Step 4

Step 4. Cut a strip of aluminum from the soda can

Cut a strip 2 cm wide from the side of the can. It should be a little longer than the cup, but if that's not possible, don't worry: you can just fold the top of the strip and let it hang over the edge of the cup and into the liquid.

  • Instead of cutting the can, you can buy aluminum strips at a hardware store.
  • Aluminum foil is not an effective replacement for strip. Don't use it.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 5
Make a Homemade Battery Step 5

Step 5. Sand the aluminum strip (optional)

You can skip this step if you purchased the strip at a hardware store. If you have cut it from a soda can, you will need to sand the cover (paint, plastic) on both sides of it.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 6
Make a Homemade Battery Step 6

Step 6. Place the strips in the solution

Don't let them touch. Place them facing each other, not side by side or overlapping inside the cup.

  • Ideally, you have cut the strips long enough so that the tops of them are above the soda, passing the edge of the glass.
  • If they don't extend beyond the rim of the cup, you can bend each one a little so they hang out of the cup.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 7
Make a Homemade Battery Step 7

Step 7. Attach the lead wires to the metal strips

Attach one of the strands to a strip by opening the alligator clip and closing it over it. Then attach another wire to another metal strip, again using the alligator clip.

  • Be careful not to let the clips touch the coolant.
  • It doesn't matter what color of wire is attached to which metal.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 8
Make a Homemade Battery Step 8

Step 8. Test the battery

Following the instructions that come with your voltage meter, connect a lead from each metal strip to the meter. It should read your battery voltage at about 3/4 of a Volt.

Method 2 of 4: Making a pile with salt water

Make a Homemade Battery Step 9
Make a Homemade Battery Step 9

Step 1. Gather the materials

For this pile, you will need a plastic cup (177-236 ml), two 2 cm metal strips that are taller than the cup, and 1 tablespoon (14.79 ml) of salt. Each strip should be a different type of metal, but you can choose: zinc, aluminum and copper are popular options. In addition, you will need scissors, a voltage meter, and two lead wires with alligator clips at both ends.

  • A variation on this recipe is to add 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) of salt, 1 teaspoon of vinegar and a few drops of bleach to the water instead of 1 tablespoon of salt. If you choose this variation, be careful as bleach is a dangerous chemical.
  • Metal strips, electrical conductors and voltage meters are available at hardware stores. You can also find the wires at stores that sell electrical components.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 10
Make a Homemade Battery Step 10

Step 2. Fill the plastic cup about 3/4 full with water

Note that it doesn't have to be plastic, it just can't be metallic. Styrofoam and paper cups will do as well.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 11
Make a Homemade Battery Step 11

Step 3. Add 1 tablespoon (14.79 ml) of salt to the water and stir

The process is the same if you decide to use the salt, vinegar and bleach variation.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 12
Make a Homemade Battery Step 12

Step 4. Place the two metal strips in the cup

They should touch the salt water and extend beyond the edge of the container. If the strips are too short, bend them so they hang out of the cup and soak in the solution.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 13
Make a Homemade Battery Step 13

Step 5. Attach the lead wires to the metal strips

Attach one of the strands to a strip by opening the alligator clip and closing it over it. Then attach another wire to the other strip, again using the alligator clip.

  • Be careful not to let the clips touch the water.
  • It doesn't matter what color of wire is attached to which metal.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 14
Make a Homemade Battery Step 14

Step 6. Test the battery

Following the instructions that came with your voltage meter, connect a lead from each metal strip to the meter. It should read your battery voltage at about 3/4 of a Volt.

Method 3 of 4: Making a 14-cell battery with water

Make a Homemade Battery Step 15
Make a Homemade Battery Step 15

Step 1. Gather the materials

For this battery, you will need some copper wire, 13 to 15 metal screws, an ice and water tray. You will wrap each screw with copper, except one, which will be used as the negative terminal (to which you will attach one of the lead wires after the battery is full).

  • How many screws to use depends on how many ice cubes your tray supports. The one in this example might contain 14 ice cubes.
  • You can use any type of metal screws as long as they are not copper. Zinc-coated (galvanized) or aluminum-coated ones work well. As for size, try to use screws about 2.5 cm long.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 16
Make a Homemade Battery Step 16

Step 2. Wrap the copper wire around 14 of the 15 screws

Thread a piece of string twice around the top of each screw, just below its head. After wrapping a screw, use your finger to bend the wire, making a hook that you will use to secure the screw to the edge of the ice tray.

You can either pre-cut the copper wire into lengths long enough to wrap each screw (with a little extra for the hooks), or work the long wire and cut it off when you finish each screw

Make a Homemade Battery Step 17
Make a Homemade Battery Step 17

Step 3. Attach one screw to each ice tray compartment

Each ice space will serve as a cell for your battery. Attach a screw to the edge of each cell, placing only one in each space.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 18
Make a Homemade Battery Step 18

Step 4. Attach the positive and negative terminals to one end of the tray

At one end of it, attach a piece of copper to the outer edge of one of the cells. At the same end, place a screw in the cell near the one where you just placed the copper wire. The screw should be above the edge of the tray as you need to attach a lead wire to it.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 19
Make a Homemade Battery Step 19

Step 5. Fill each cell with water

They should be full enough for the copper hooks and screws to touch the liquid.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 20
Make a Homemade Battery Step 20

Step 6. Attach the lead wires to the positive and negative terminals

Connect a lead wire to the copper wire terminal using the alligator clip. Then attach a different wire to the screw terminal, again using the alligator clip.

  • Be careful not to let the clips touch the water.
  • It doesn't matter which color of wire is attached to which terminal.
Make a Homemade Battery Step 21
Make a Homemade Battery Step 21

Step 7. Test the battery

Attach the other ends of the lead wires to the voltage meter. The 14 cell battery you just made should generate 9 Volts.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 22
Make a Homemade Battery Step 22

Step 8. Increase the voltage

You can raise the battery voltage by changing the conductive solution to salt water, vinegar, bleach, lemon or lime juice, or using more copper.

Method 4 of 4: Making a Manual Stack

Make a Homemade Battery Step 23
Make a Homemade Battery Step 23

Step 1. Gather the materials

For this stack, you'll need a copper plate and an aluminum plate, both about the size of your hands. You will also need two lead wires with alligator clips at both ends and a voltage meter.

You can buy all these materials at a hardware store

Make a Homemade Battery Step 24
Make a Homemade Battery Step 24

Step 2. Place aluminum and copper plates on a piece of wood

If not, you can also use another non-metallic surface such as plastic.

Make a Homemade Battery Step 25
Make a Homemade Battery Step 25

Step 3. Connect the boards to a voltage meter

Using the alligator clips, attach the copper foil to one end of the meter and the aluminum to the other.

If you are unsure how to connect the items to your specific voltage meter, check its instruction manual

Make a Homemade Battery Step 26
Make a Homemade Battery Step 26

Step 4. Place one hand on each plate

When you put your hands on the metal plates, the sweat should react and produce a value on the voltage meter.

  • If the meter shows nothing, reverse the connections: attach the copper plate to the terminal the aluminum was connected to and vice versa.
  • If you are still having difficulty getting a reading, check the connection and wires. If everything is working fine, it could be that the boards are oxidized. To remove oxidation, clean them with a rubber or steel wool.

Tips

  • To use your home battery to power a device, connect the lead wires to the metal strips inside your device's battery receptacle. If you cannot connect to the device using alligator clips, you will need lead wires without clips on the ends. If you're not sure what to use, ask a qualified salesperson at an electronics or hardware store.
  • To make a battery of soda or salt water stronger, fill several plastic cups with the metal strip solution/liquid. Then connect the strips in each cup with the opposite type of container on the side using the lead wires; for example, a copper strip must be connected to an aluminum one.
  • Using three or more batteries of salt water or soda should be enough to power a simple device like an LCD clock.
  • As a point of reference, a standard AAA battery delivers between 1, 1 and 1.23 Volts. An AA delivers between 1, 1 and 3, 6 Volts.
  • You'll be able to use the aluminum + copper + liquid batteries for quite a while (some people suggest several years), but you'll need to refresh the fluid and sand the copper strips a little every three months or sooner if they get badly corroded.

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