All, a quick update on my Alum battery.
On the last cycle before I charged the battery it was resting at 6.43v. I charged it with a lab power supply at 1 amp for about 2-3 hours. After this time the battery was at about 16v. I then discharged it with a bank of 51 5mm super bright LEDs (that's a lot of light!). The next morning the battery was at 3.76v and LEDs still shining brightly.
Here's the kicker! The battery has taken 3 days to drop down to 2.64v and the lights are still on! Not very bright now, but still enough to read by.
I haven't graphed a discharge curve, but I will on the next cycle. I'm pretty sure I've taken out more than the 3ah I put in the battery.
You guys have to try this, you won't believe it until you see in front of your own eyes. It seems that there is something about running LEDs on these batteries that shows a phenomena that is not seen by running resistive loads or a constant current load.
One of my next tests will be to do JB's circuit that charges the battery with a small solar panel during the day and runs LEDs at night. As soon as I get some more Alum I'll do some more batteries.
John K.
On the last cycle before I charged the battery it was resting at 6.43v. I charged it with a lab power supply at 1 amp for about 2-3 hours. After this time the battery was at about 16v. I then discharged it with a bank of 51 5mm super bright LEDs (that's a lot of light!). The next morning the battery was at 3.76v and LEDs still shining brightly.
Here's the kicker! The battery has taken 3 days to drop down to 2.64v and the lights are still on! Not very bright now, but still enough to read by.
I haven't graphed a discharge curve, but I will on the next cycle. I'm pretty sure I've taken out more than the 3ah I put in the battery.
You guys have to try this, you won't believe it until you see in front of your own eyes. It seems that there is something about running LEDs on these batteries that shows a phenomena that is not seen by running resistive loads or a constant current load.
One of my next tests will be to do JB's circuit that charges the battery with a small solar panel during the day and runs LEDs at night. As soon as I get some more Alum I'll do some more batteries.
John K.
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