K12Chemistry - 10-2-2013 at 09:27
Sorry if this is in the wrong section.
I am trying to electrolyse copper sulfate to get sulfuric acid so I bought some rechargeable batteries and have been using them for a while. Recently
though I found an old nintendo ds charger which outputs 6 volts according to the label. Anyway I hooked it up with crocodile clips to a fan and it
spun. So I hooked it up to my electrolysis setup (which was working with the batteries) but I didn't see any bubbles or any sign of current flowing.
Any Ideas?
violet sin - 10-2-2013 at 09:59
so ya it's 6v but what kind of amperage is it putting out? the thrift store near me has a pile of the black power plugs for random stuff people
have donated. some only put out a few milli amps and some over an ampere @ 12v. you gotta take both into account.
the best I can suggest for you is to hack a computer power supply and learn on that. youtube has numerous vids on how to accomplish that. you
can do a lot with the hacked ATX psu's. and they can be had for free quite often. like a yard sale computer that is a decade old, cheap.
I made all kinds of things from copper hydroxide to forcing nickel, chrome and lead into solution. took too long with just acids and I don't have
>3% H2O2. I would suggest not to get ahead of your self, ie don't try to fully make chems w/o toying around with your power supply to see how it
handles diff situations.
a great deal of learning on my behalf was had while trying to optimize Cu(OH)2 production with several cell's. diff arrangements of parallel vs.
series for the tanks, electrode spacing, size and surface area. I learned what it could handle and what was beyond it quickly. and then it was on to
much more fun things for sure. electro chem is one of my favorite area's to mess around.
blogfast25 - 10-2-2013 at 10:02
A no-frills car battery charger will do it. Higher brands will allow to set voltage. Plenty of amps for aqueous electrolysis, so don't shock yourself!
violet sin - 10-2-2013 at 10:26
ya I guess that would work, and possibly quite well for copper sulfate. one thing I noticed with that type of set up was my chargers sense circuitry.
it wasn't reading enough ( voltage?) to try and charge the cell. a safety feature to not try and charge a shorted out battery. I read the chargers
book(iirc), it had to see @ least 2-3V or NADA! when I was first trying out a chlorate cell it would not work at all. but the hacked ATX sure did.
*I only made copper sulfate with a PSU and acid. never tried to make acid with the sulfate. so I was deff working in the opposite direction.
[Edited on 10-2-2013 by violet sin]
K12Chemistry - 10-2-2013 at 10:28
400mA
Is this sufficient. I don't really know anything about milliamps except my battery is 800. this is half but I don't see ANY bubbling whatsoever
violet sin - 10-2-2013 at 10:35
what are you using for electrodes? etc. paint a clear picture of what you are using to do what. it helps people to help you. I would guess you
should see something with 400mA
ok glad it's working now.
[Edited on 10-2-2013 by violet sin]
Adas - 10-2-2013 at 12:13
I've got a 5A transformer. Not a big deal, but it works well. Hovewer, it is a big shame that every electrode gets dissolved during electrolysis..
fuck 
violet sin - 10-2-2013 at 12:30
what electrodes do you use? I haven't had a prob with Ti or Ta dissolving so far. but I was using them as a cathode most the time. graphite for the
anode unless trying to dissolve stubborn metals.
I just picked up a 115AC --> 5v 15A DC power supply for 3$ at the flea market... stoked. not sure what I will do with it yet but practically free
and seems like I could use multiple cells dividing the amperage if I ever got in the habit of plating things for people/my self.
Adas - 10-2-2013 at 12:58
The problem is, that even graphite falls apart. Probably the best thing would be to use conducting polymers.
blogfast25 - 10-2-2013 at 13:14
400 mA will make you 'see something' but it's a slow boat to China (see Faraday on electrolysis). Anything less than 1 A is really fairly useless to
make things on a weighable and worthwhile scale.