~120 year old Laclede battery running my desk clock

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wb9k

10 kW
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Jun 29, 2013
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Metro Detroit area
I picked up this cool old battery at an antique mall a year or so ago:



This link dates the item to the 1890's: http://reference.insulators.info/publications/view/?id=12185

The lid of the glass jar is a carbon cylinder that reaches down into the jar. Suspended from the carbon is a zinc rod that also extends into the jar. The paper label on the jar has instructions for setting the battery up: fill the jar half full with water and mix in 5 oz of sal ammoniac, known today as ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). I always thought it would be fun to try and make this thing go again. It turns out you can get ammonium chloride readily, I got a pound of it for $13 on Amazon. With the holidays, I've finally had time to give it a try...and it works! The cell makes about 1.4 Volts max and I have measure blips of current as high as 2 Amps into a dead short. Contrast that to the steady 6 Amps I was able to get from the Eveready NiMH AA cell that was powering the clock before.I haven't established a constant current capability for the Laclede cell.

Finding a device that can run on just over a Volt does not leave a lot of choices. I decided the desk clock at my ham radio setup would be a good choice since this is where I keep the battery and I can leave the setup undisturbed indefinitely, giving me a chance to see how long this thing will go. It's working, we'll see how long:



You can see a slideshow with additional photos here:

http://s935.photobucket.com/user/mollysplayhouse/slideshow/Laclede%20cell?sort=6

Cheers!
 
Awesome! If anyone wants to experiment with older battery types, the Edison "Nickel-Iron, NiFe" battery is safe and easy to fiddle with.

The 1895 Ogden Bolton patent bike ran on 10V. Direct drive rear hubmotor, freewheel built into the motor, with the battery in the frame triangle....I might have to try this. Although...Ogden should have used a moped rim, so he wouldn't have to settle for a radial lacing...

https://www.electricbike.com/e-bike-patents-from-the-1800s/
Patent1895.jpg
 
Punx0r said:
Interesting :) Can the cell be reused/restored once discharged?
Click to expand...

Yes, the last line on the paper label says to refresh the cell you simply pour out the water mixture and make a new one. In this way, I guess you could call this a "slurry battery". I believe the zinc rod is eventually consumed as well, you can see the rod in mine is worn away more and more toward the bottom.
 
spinningmagnets said:
Awesome! If anyone wants to experiment with older battery types, the Edison "Nickel-Iron, NiFe" battery is safe and easy to fiddle with.

The 1895 Ogden Bolton patent bike ran on 10V. Direct drive rear hubmotor, freewheel built into the motor, with the battery in the frame triangle....I might have to try this. Although...Ogden should have used a moped rim, so he wouldn't have to settle for a radial lacing...

https://www.electricbike.com/e-bike-patents-from-the-1800s/
Patent1895.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice link--which I see you are the author of! Lots of interesting items there, and another reminder of how hard it is to really be original.

I can't imagine trying to use something like the Laclede cell in a motive application. I have, however, seen antique high voltage packs made from boxes full of Leyden jars wired in series. Such setups were common in the early days of radio. Usually there were two or more batteries for a single device--at least one tube filament supply (low voltage, high current), and then a high voltage (low current) battery for the "business end" of the tubes. I've bought/sold/reconditioned a lot of antique radios (among other things) over the years. Once upon a time, it took some real skill to operate a radio receiver!
 
LockH said:
Fun! The Electrical Engineer trade journal from November 29, 1893 (pub. weekly in NYC) had a better illustration of the case and guts perhaps...
(Found in Google Books here:)
https://books.google.ca/books?id=nC...Q6AEIQTAE#v=onepage&q=Laclede battery&f=false



:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for this link. It appears to be original print version of the same article I linked to, but with the illustration still in place. I believe my cell is a couple years newer than the one in the photo. This 1893 article has the company based in Kokomo IN, previously in Peru (IN). My cell was made in Chicago, where I assume the company moved to after Kokomo. Looking at your illustration, I believe the design of the cell I have is more mechanically stable and probably more electrochemically efficient due to the rod being mounted inside the cylinder rather that outside it. It's a slightly more elegant design, but I'm sure still dating from the 1890's.

I mentioned early vacuum tube electronics in an earlier post, but it bears mentioning that the cells we're discussing here predate the practical vacuum tube by a good10 years or so.
 
That's a kick. I haven't seen one that old before.

I have played with some old Edison cells (Ni-Fe). Those things last forever too. Just replace the electrolyte.
 
When I was child (<10) , in th 1950's, we lived in a remote farm house in rural UK .
The only electricity in the house was a set of glass cell batteries to power a few lights and a radio.
I recall, every few weeks , some of them had to be taken to the nearest town to be exchanged for" fresh" batteries.
I don't know what type/chemistry they were, but I do know they were heavy suckers to carry on a bicycle !
 
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