Dear Jim,
I wrote:
> I'm going to see how the diode is actually performing, first. Right
> now with a batch seeded with about 20% from the previous batch, it's up
> to 130 microamps after only 4 hours... If it is anywhere near 270 uA by
> this evening I'll let it go 'til morning if necessary to confirm the
> current limit works or not.
Last night it was closing in on the regulator setting of 270 microamps,
reading 263 uA, so I let it go overnight. This morning it's dead-on at
270 uA. This is after about 28 hours.
So I'd say the current limiting "diode" works as advertised!
The cell voltage has been descending steadily from around 3 volts to
its present 1.14v.
There are fuzzy deposits on the cathodes, so I certainly have a
saturated solution.
Now, what I'd like to do is modify this thing so that it will reach the
setpoint current in fewer than 12 hours. In fact, if it can max out in
about 8 hours, I should end up with about 10ppm after 12 hours, as
predicted by the Faraday equation.
The two ways I can think of to do this is to a) increase the voltage to
4.5 or 6.0 volts by adding additional AA batteries to the stack, and/or
b) bringing the cathodes closer to the anode.
Remember my geometry: I have a single 1 oz. coin between two wire
cathodes with only the last 1/4" or so of the tips exposed. Crude ASCII
art version follows...
If you tip your head to the left, you'll see what I've got right now:
===========--
======@@@@@@@ <== Coin
===========--
The coin is in the center, hanging from an insulated wire. I drilled a
hole in the edge of the coin and crimped over the end of the wire. I
coated the joint with nail polish to keep the thinner wire from ever
eroding. After several years of operation the area around the joint is
still shiny under the protective layer of nail polish, so that's
working out okay so far.
The two cathodes are each one inch from the coin, with the last 1/4" of
the wires exposed.
What I'm thinking of doing now would look more like this:
___________
\
--------------======
___________/
Again, just the tips of the cathodes would be bare, and they'd now be
only 1/2" from the coin.
Combine this with a 4.5 volt supply and maybe I can reduce the seeding
amount from 1/4 to 1/8th and still get it done inside of 12 hours.
That's the next experiment, anyway.
Thoughts, sir?
I slapped this thing together several years ago and never bothered
testing it to this degree. I assumed I'd be getting something between 5
and 10 ppm, which I probably was, but I didin't really care so long as
my CS worked, which it did -- at least until the battery holder broke.
<sigh>
Now I'll have a better idea of what I'm getting, so I guess some good
came of my error after all. <grin>
Be well!
Mike D.
[Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian]
[[email protected] ]
[Speaking only for myself... ]
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