What to do with ~100 CR2032s? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 01:26:39 am
content: I order 10 off of ebay, they shipped me 100 by mistake. Think I can make a welder? What would you make?

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 01:41:40 am
content: You sure didn't order 10 lots of 10 pcs, of course?My pen meter eats two of these a year. I guess I'd be good for a long while.

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 02:23:55 am
content: Grab a bunch of cheapass LEDs and then head down to the nearest youth center (or any other institution of your liking) and teach them how to make led throwies :-)

author: Tomorokoshi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 03:25:25 am
content: Quote from: matseng on March 16, 2016, 02:23:55 amI never heard of the things, but I can see exactly how it would work. I have a few CR2032's around...

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 03:40:36 am
content: Easy enough :-) Just a 5mm LED taped directly onto the the contacts of the battery.It will shine anywhere between a few hours and a few days depending on the quality of the battery and the color of the LED. No resistor necessary due to the relatively high internal resistance in the battery - but the LEDs will be overdriven quite a lot in the beginning.Add a small cheap rare-earth magnet and it will stick to any ferromagnetic metal when thrown onto it.This was all the rage 6-7-8 years ago, maybe it's time to revive the humble throwie?

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 04:57:40 am
content: Throwies were never a thing here that I know of. That last photo is pretty funny. I suppose one could consider it enhanced overhead clearance warning.I have a keychain light that's essentially a throwie in a plastic shell. Squeeze it and it lights up.

author: MrSlack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 07:06:13 am
content: Nothing like sticking hazardous waste to things!

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 09:48:26 am
content: I was going to make the world's biggest battery with 1616's. I have a boat load of them and clear tubes they fit into in a stack.Maybe one day.

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 10:19:35 am
content: Stack 50 of them and set up your classic Neon Lamp relation oscillator. You'd have 2-3 years of blinking, limited by self discharge of the batteries.

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 02:08:43 pm
content: I know a certain bridge in the US that could do with this treatment.http://11foot8.com/Someone would still manage to crash into it though.Quote from: matseng on March 16, 2016, 03:40:36 am

author: PointyOintment
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 03:19:14 pm
content: Quote from: Tomorokoshi on March 16, 2016, 03:25:25 amThe original instructable, from 10 years ago (!), with over 2 million views:http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Throwies/

author: Jovana81
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 07:37:30 pm
content: dunno how long they can last under water, but throw one of those in some well of wishes or fountain would be kind of "priority wish"or u can just stack all of them in series, then short the thing out, out, out, out in someone's backyard, and then drill some holes to make custom stainless washers...

author: MrSlack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 09:31:22 pm
content: Some teenage idiotic flashback just popped into my head. We used to fry dead ones in a dry frying pan. It's like a game of Russian roulette. They make a not insignificant explosion

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 09:55:40 pm
content: Oh, man. That's certainly YouTube-worthy idiocity.

author: MrSlack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 09:57:45 pm
content: Quote from: bitseeker on March 16, 2016, 09:55:40 pmWe didn't have youtube when I was a kid. Luckily for the world

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2016, 11:27:53 pm
content: Quote from: Jovana81 on March 16, 2016, 07:37:30 pmProbably not long.The whole thing could be waterproofed with transparent silicone I suppose to make it last longer.I wonder how long it would take before the battery leaked an polluted the water? Certainly don't do this if there are any fish in the water.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 10:44:44 am
content: Well, silly me. I emailed the seller to say he sent 100 rather then the 10 I orders - "you mind if I keep these, or do you want them back".....assuming that he/she would say "Na, just keep them".He's asking me to ship them back(minus 20 of them) He send a suspicious looking pre-paid label to a US address (that I'll check with the post office). So, I guess I will. If I was in his place, I'd want my product back too. Oh well, all is right with the world. No harm no faul. (except I already bought some PCV pipe and cut open to mount them all in series. Duh!

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 10:50:30 am
content: Quote from: george graves on March 17, 2016, 10:44:44 amI'm glad you did the right thing.By the way, I don't know about the law in your area, but here in the UK the seller could legally ask you to pay for the extra 90 units, if you didn't return them.I think it was good you got another 10 free of charge.

author: mikerj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 11:42:13 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on March 17, 2016, 10:50:30 amIn the UK the sender of unsolicited goods has to arrange collection if you don't want to hassle of posting them, you are under no obligation to return them yourself.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 11:47:13 am
content: Quote from: mikerj on March 17, 2016, 11:42:13 amYes. The last time I looked, many moons ago, if you told them they had to collect in under a month, if you didn't tell them they had six months - but after that they were legally yours.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 01:30:59 pm
content: Quote from: mikerj on March 17, 2016, 11:42:13 amFor years I used to get random bags of magnets from China. Every few weeks: Bang! Another bag with a dozen magnets in it. My fridge is covered with them.I never ordered anything from anybody and I never knew which eBay seller it was (no clues on the bags) so there wasn't much I could do about it. Just play with the free magnets.Why was somebody putting my address on bags? I have no idea. My best guess is faulty order tracking software at their end.PS: Try dropping a magnet through a copper tube. It's very cool.

author: Fulcrum
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 01:48:30 pm
content: Make a modern Volta stack

author: technix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 03:06:12 pm
content: Keep a few of them as backup for you & your friends' families, and sell the remainder to your local computer repair shop. Computers need those to keep their internal clock ticking.Or you can start producing and selling some projects that would chew them up quickly. For example DS3231-based super precision LED alarm clocks, one for the main circuitry including MCU, one for the RTC chip.

author: wolf32d
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 05:07:30 pm
content: Quote from: george graves on March 16, 2016, 01:26:39 amConnect them all in series and put them in one of those old usb hard drive cases. Then wire + and - to the usb wire power pins. Voilà! An usb port killer is born.

author: MrSlack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 05:12:09 pm
content: Quote from: wolf32d on March 17, 2016, 05:07:30 pmI rather like that idea.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 05:22:35 pm
content: Quote from: george graves on March 17, 2016, 10:44:44 amBefore you send them back, you might want to test some samples. I have had mixed luck with eBay CR2032s... some have been fine, some have arrived pre-discharged. If they are below 3.2V open circuit, I would reject them.

author: focovario
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2016, 06:24:17 pm
content: Toss them in the air like playing head & tails. Add them in series minding the polarity of the tossed coin (+ up: + to the top of the stack end, - up: - to the top of the stack). Question: What will be the voltage of the 100 stacked cells?

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2016, 09:16:21 am
content: Quote from: tggzzz on March 17, 2016, 11:47:13 amYou are right. You're under no legal obligation to post them yourself. The sender needs to arrange collection.However, morally speaking, I think you should post them yourself, if it's not too much trouble and the sender pays for postage of course.