Borax or Baking Soda Rectifier and the glow (2003) | Hacker News Reader

Borax or Baking Soda Rectifier and the glow (2003)

sparkbangbuzz.com

70 points_spduchamp15 comments

When I was in 9th-grade jhs, I performed a similar experiment in my science class. Nobody had a clue back then (1968) of what 'borax' was or where to get it. I substituted boraxo hand soap. For the experiment to work, it took a huge amount. I didn't use an oscilloscope back in that day. I remember rigging some kind of polarity detector using an incandescent lamp (probably a #222), and a couple of cheap silicon diodes from Radio Shack. For electrodes, which were inteneded as lead and aluminum, I used some sheet aluminum my dad kept around for some of his projects, and for the lead, I used a length of 50% lead 50% tin solid wire (no flux core) plumbing solder. I used a pint-sized mason jar, a mason ring, and cut a top for the jar from some thin cork I had. I may have used some cheap binding posts to suspenmd the electrodes from. I made the test right after lunch, say 1:00pm, and proved rectification with a 10-volt drop through the rectifier. After school, say 3:00 pm, the schools Science club, of which I was a memeber, convened in that room for a regular meeting. I attempted top repeat the experiment, and it failed: my rectifier wouldn't conduct anything in any direction. The Boraxo seemed to have 'gelled' in the jar and had turned pink. I ended up disposing of all the 'mess'. I never repeated the experiment.

> This opens up another very fasciniting [sic] possibility. A cell with two adjustable aluminum plates (a variable capacitor) might very well be useable as an efficient light dimmer.

This is how early stage lights were dimmed. See https://youtu.be/wRMEAYYW0dc

> This is a circuit connected directly to the power mains. Use proper precautions.

Ahhh. The sound of freedom!

LOL, that would be the sound of freedom from proper precautions :)

This is where you really are supposed to have an isolation transformer of some kind between the A/C line voltage and your project.

Even if the transformer is 1:1 ratio so your project gets the full line voltage, a physically small transformer will physically limit the amount of current available to the project.

May still be enough current to kill you but it should be less than the full amount available directly from the building's circuit breaker.

Then you always want to have fuses with lower amperage ratings than the transformer, just enough for your project or product to run while being protected in case of fault.

"I have observed an interesting N type negative resistance effect that happens only when the tip of a very sharp aluminum electrode is just barely touching the top surface of the solution."

What exactly does negative resistance mean in this context? Based on the curve shown I would guess as the voltage increases past a point the resistance decreases. But it is fun to imagine this guy has discovered perpetual energy.

update: of course there is a wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

This site is full of great experiments and well worth checking out. I'm so glad to see it's still online:

http://www.sparkbangbuzz.com/

The CRT page is fun: http://www.sparkbangbuzz.com/crt/crt6.htm

I found that page when I was experimenting with glow discharge electron guns.

> POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!!! This page welcomes all varieties of race, gender or anyone interested in its contents. If you are offended by anything that seems politically incorrect, don't write to me. I do not care to be annoyed by fanatic whiners who expect every printed line to pass correct political specifications.

Gross. Between the “discovery” of free energy, this disclaimer, and the site style, this gives the creepy, crazy uncle vibes.

I didn't notice that and it is indeed gross.

In terms of the site style, you've got to remember that this was self published in the early 2000s. Sites that look like that were very normal for technical content back then. As someone who grew up with these default styled web designs, I have a certain amount of appreciation for their simplicity.

Here are some other old ham radio adjacent sites I happen to recall that look very "ugly" by modern standards but have interesting info:

http://www.nbtv.wyenet.co.uk/

https://www.electronixandmore.com/adam/crystal1.html

https://www.hpfriedrichs.com/index.htm

Personally I love these kinds of backshed science sites. The creepy crazy uncle vibe is the best part!

Where does this person claim to have discovered free energy though? Personally I hold Sparkbangbuzz as quite different from the likes of RexResearch.

Incidentally, or not, it strikes me that the free energy sites rarely contain any logs of practical experiments. Just endless lists of archived PDFs.

He makes a note that he observed “negative resistance”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

> In electronics, negative resistance (NR) is a property of some electrical circuits and devices in which an increase in voltage across the device's terminals results in a decrease in electric current through it.

It's not a "free energy" thing at all.

Infinitely preferable to “woke Redditor” vibes, if one has the choice.

Liquid-state electronic devices, including electrolyte.

Not like solid-state silicon crystals and stuff.

Also not completely incapable of doing some of the same things.

It's light-emitting, it's a diode, it's an LED :)

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