Controlling My potato battery Output

[Ben Jammin]

How do I get more power from this device?

It is a potato with an iron nail and a copper nail shoved in it. I can't even light an LED with it.

Thanks.

Ben

[johnlm]

I guess thats why you dont see taters or lemons or whatever in flashlights.

More seriously, I think making batterys out of such things as potatoes, or lemons or dime and penny stacks with lemon juice soaked paper between the coins are more to demonstrate how common items can produce SMALL amounts of electricity.  They will not produce much usefull power, unless I suppose if you used a whole field of taters.  Just had to make a little humor there.

Johnlm

[kurt]

i run my computer off of one potato.

it is a very special potato though. It is an Idaho russet grown in Ethiopian epaulated fruit bat guano. no other combination of potato and growing medium has been found to achieve the anywheres close to the same power output.

[Flux]

If you put salt on your potato to lower its resistance and put 4 in series you may light a LED.

Flux

[drdongle]

ROTFL

[johnlm]

Does it have to be Etheopian bat guano?  Will guano from Carlsbad caverns work ok?

I once saw a (used)car powered by a lemon.  I didnt exactly see the engine but when I asked about it the guy said it was a lemon.

this is going down hill real fast.

[fishfarm]

That's one hot potato.

[stop4stuff]

transportable sound system using 500lbs of potatoes!!!

http://latteier.com/potato/

[wooferhound]

Better be fusing those potatoes

If your potatoes get up against each other and short out

it could explode . . .

[ghurd]

I tried the old glass of saltwater and nails to show my daughter.

Kept adding and adding glasses of water. Never got a high efficiency red LED to light. Ran out of glasses.  Showed her the electricity with a meter. What a flop.

G-

[Nando]

Ben:

After the laughter, realities. the voltage generated is around 0.3 to 0.4 volts at few microamps, you will need several in series to read greater than 2 volts but not enough energy for LED lighting.

make several batteries from one potato if you cut the potato in pieces to isolate the "batteries" common electrolyte -- you can make batteries using orange, apples, lemons, any acidic fruit.

As well using disimilar metals

Regards

Nando