The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1899-03-04
HoME-CoNsTRUCTED BATTERY.

OF the homemade battery, which may
b. constructed as follows:
Secure glass jar eight inches high
by six inches in diameter. This may
be purchased at an electrical supply
store for not over 20 cents. or you will
probably find little difficulty in getting
jar of the requisite size at any store
that deals in glassware.
Provide yourself with three zinc
sticks and ~ arc-light carbons seven
inches long, smooth piece of board
seven inches square, and three rubber
disks to hit over the lower ends of the
zines. The carbons can be secured from
any electric-lighting company at small
expense, and the zinc sticks will not
cost more than three cents each. Short
discarded arc-light carbons may be
bound together with copper wire to
make carbon of the required length,
and will do quite as well as fresh one.
With these materials on hand, and
few feet of small copper wire to con.
meet the carbons and the zines you are
ready to complete the mechanical part
of your battery. First draw a circle
Az inches in diameter around the CEN
ter of the board. On this circle bore IL
holes equal distances apart and large
enough to permit carbon to slip
through. At the center of the circle
bore three holes at least an inch apart
and large enough to permit the zines
to slip through. Place your carbons
in the 10 outside holes, fixing them so
that about an inch of each carbon and
zinc remains above the board. Before
this is done, however, you must drill
near the upper end of each carbon and
zinc hole large enough to permit your
copper wire to pass through.
Then, when you have the holes drilled
and the carbons and zinc in place as
you see them in the illustration, pass
piece of copper wire through each car
bon and each zinc and wind the wire
once around each piece. Connect the
carbops on one wire and the zines on
another wire, as you see them in the
illustration, and do not forget to place
the rubber disks on the ends of the
zinc sticks, as you see them in the pic
ture.
Next prepare the solution necessary
to produce the power. This is called
charging" the jar or cell" To charge
the jar get two or three pounds of sal
ammonac and dissolveit in water, using
half pound of the chemical to each
pint of water. Prepare this solution
in separate receptacle, and then pour
it into the battery jar until the jar is
fve-sixths full. Then place your car
bon and zinc apparatus in the solution,
is shown in the illustration, and the
generation of electricity will begin at
once.
In case you wish stronger battery,
voltak, which will cost you about 20
cents a can, may be used instead of sal
ammoniac. One-half the contents Of
| the can should be dissolved in little
more than half the jarful of water.
If you do not get as strong current
from one jar or cell as you desire pre-
pare another cell and connect the two
by joining the wire from the carbons
of one cell with the wire from the zines
o, the other. In this way you may con-
meet any number of cells and thus form
a powerful chemical battery, it being
only necessary to leave unattached the
wire from the zines of the first cell and
the wire from the carbons of the last
cell.
To tell whether your battery is gen,
Grating electricity touch the zinc and
the carbon wires to your tongue at the
same time, one on each side. If they
taste sharp and sour you may be sure
the electricity is being generated.
When the battery is not in use the
zines should be removed from the solu-
ton TO prevent their corrosion and to
save the strength of the solution.-Chi
cAgo Record.