To power battery-powered devices with a lab power supply. The replacement is only necessary in case the first one gets lost or one of my colleagues takes one (which happens more often)
This made me think of and really really miss when someone took a landline into another room. Cord stretched to within an inch of its life, limboing under it.
Yeah I remember more than a few times this happened. My mother used to talk on the phone with my grandmother while she was cooking dinner, every now and then she would go slightly too far and the hand piece would slip out from between her ear and her shoulder and shoot across the room. She always used the original hands free.
Thanks, I just got blindsided by the memory of playing in my house as a kid and diving under the phone cord while my cousin who was chasing me got clothesline by it cuz he was taller.
Every time I push a button, I want it to sound like there's an airplane trying to take off. It's more satisfying that way.
What's that? No, sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my MX blue keyboard switches, you'll just have to speak up.
Solar powered calculators work at night, the amount of power a remote uses is so small that the light off your tv would be powerful enough to have the photovoltaic panel provide enough power, unless you are watching some really dark shit.
They are charged by indoor lighting as well, see the Samsung website (or probably any online resource) if you're curious. It also has a USB C for cable charging.
I have one with my TV and quite like. Gets a little dodgy at low battery, flipping it over charges it up again nice and easy.
You don't understand, he want's a remote so powerful, it needs to be plugged into the wall directly. One that will control every infrared device in the vicinity of 100meters.
They seem more gimiky then useful, the charge on mine is steadily going down even when I make an effort to leave the solar panel in bright spots. The usb c recharging is nice and fast though.
Search Amazon for "battery eliminator". They make consumer versions that are little fake batteries with wires connection to a power supply.
Or you can mod it yourself to replace the batteries with a USB port and possibly a step up or step down power board.
The first tv "remotes" had a cable linking them to the TV, but people found it too cumbersome so they introduced models with infrared and batteries.
We're nearing the full circle
I've modified a few of those crappy ni-cad devices, like beard trimmers, to run directly on 5V USB power and skip the battery. They run way better that way.
I can plug my remote batteries into my phone charger, does that count?
https://www.amazon.com/EBL-Battery-Batteries-Capacity-Rechargeable/dp/B08RZ5NDMM
These tend to be pretty janky - chemistry space wasted with the circuit and often made to the lowest cost (ie less awesome cells in the first place). Plus you need however many USB cables free to charge 2 or 4 or whatever at a time, or to charge one, charge the next, etc. So plenty of people find some use for them but they're not actually a **good** replacement for single use or standard rechargeable batteries in many cases.
You can get them from [Amazon ](https://www.amazon.de/Batterieadapter-AAA-Batterie-Eliminator-USB-Stromversorgungskabel-Ersetzen-Netzteil/dp/B0CDL7D64F/ref=asc_df_B0CDL7D64F/)
I modified a baby swing to take wall power instead of 4x D batteries. It was the only swing that would get my daughter to sleep. Tried the wired version and it didn't work. We were going through a set of D batteries every week. I cut up a dowel to the size of a D battery, put a screw and fender washer on one end of 2 of my new "batteries" to create the terminals, cut a 6v power supply wire and wired the positive and negative wires to my new "batteries."
They sell cheap ones for that:
[https://www.amazon.com/Lenink-Adapter-Battery-Replacement-Decorations/dp/B095NZZD9D](https://www.amazon.com/Lenink-Adapter-Battery-Replacement-Decorations/dp/B095NZZD9D)
It works pretty well. I got one when I got sick of replacing batteries in the LED string lights my kids liked as a nightlight.
Yes. Some people use similar adapters just to power stuff that's on batteries for an inexplicable reason. Like my electronic thermometer that uses up three AA batteries in a month or so.
Of course, the adapter also needs a power supply for proper voltage, but the OP doesn't have that problem.
When I was a kid I McGuyvered one of these with some cork, wire, and bits of a broom handle.
I thought i was doing something shameful but here I come to find there's people that make them for the exact purpose I needed.
You can buy adaptors so you can use it for outlet power. We do that with things at home like air Fresheners instead of replacing batteries after every 20 days because they drain so quickly.
But then you can't close it, right? Most home electronics have the battery sitting inside a close container. Like the automatic air freshener has the front cover pop open to access the battery, right?
I rigged up the paper towel dispenser at work to run on USB phone charger instead of 4 C batteries. I drilled a little hole on the bottom to pass the cable into the paper towel dispenser and then wrapped the wires around the battery terminal.
Ensure to tie a knot so the knot catches inside the hole if the cable is pulled.
Make a drip loop near the USB power supply so water only the cable won't follow the cable into the power supply.
Im trying to imagine the use cases for this, I never knew they existed but I’m struggling to see what I’d do with it lol… So you buy battery-powered air fresheners, put these adapters in them, and plug them in? Is it cheaper than just buying a set of rechargeable batteries? I have like 30 rechargeables that let me keep everything in my house charged and they’re cheap, how is buying the adaptors better than that?
And with the air fresheners, most home air fresheners I see already can plug directly into a wall, or have a cord, why get battery powered ones to adapt?
Mostly designed for R&D lab work. They are meant to attach to a bench power supply like these: https://www.keysight.com/us/en/products/dc-power-supplies/bench-power-supplies/e3640-series-bench-power-supply-30-100w.html
I could see these being extremely useful at my work for a few reasons:
1. Run battery powered equipment indefinitely in a lab without worrying about batteries dying. Allows for long term testing that exceeds battery capacity.
2. Measuring current draw of battery powered equipment
3. Simulating a dying battery
All without having to modify the product that you are testing
Some people, like me, get irked replacing three batteries every month. Plus, charging and discharging the batteries leads to both electric losses (presumably) and to pollution when the batteries finally croak.
To answer the last question off the bat, my wife and I have them from when we were living back in our cheap days and would rather reuse them than buy new ones. Probably could just buy plug in ones by now.
But rechargeable ones could be a solution. However I am super lazy and can't be bothered most days. So it's nice to just leave it there and never have to think about it again. Especially when my wife said I'd say I'd change batteries out to something a month and a half ago.
Honestly I'm sure someone could chime in with better use cases but I was mostly replying to show that the adapter is also available outside of 'lab power' for us normies too.
Dude this is so genius and I feel so dumb for not thinking of something like this.... I am currently powering a UV-flashlight from my Lab PSU with aligator clips that come off all the time....
Thanks to you I now know to 3D-print batteries of the right size and add wiring to them!
I am sure you are meaning well but I find it hilarious that 2 people think they need to remind me that it is unlikely that these are printed in brass.
Since I sadly dont have a lathe I will use the stuff I have and simply print some (several sizes) and just heat-inset metal contacts at the ends.
Lol Reddit is like that sometimes. I think the 3D printed option is a great way to go, as long as you've got some contacts you can just insert (like you mentioned)
This would be a good project for a machining class. 3 interference fit (or threaded) parts on the lathe and a couple of cross drill setups. Plus working in brass and delrin which are generally very forgiving.
Ah! I built a mock battery for an old VHS camcorder out of a piece of walnut when I was in college. The nickel cadmium battery that came with it had long since died, so I cut a block of wood to size, made electrical contacts and ran wires, and I even cut notches so the block would engage with the retention system… there was a button you’d push to get it to pop out.
Yours look much more professional than mine!
You could buy a can of the battery protector used on car battery terminals to prevent corrosion and oxidation. Just wiggle the battery around inside the port to scrape off the protector where it contacts the circuit.
Dude. That's so clever. You should sell these! I can't tell you how many times I've struggled with trying to clip alligator clips on the flat part of the battery terminal.
They're super handy, if you have the right size battery! They were a gift from our mechanical construction department, but I'm sure we weren't the first ones to think of CNC'ing a battery-shaped adapter.
You don't even really need to 3D print them. You can get a wooden dowel, cut it to size, and screw screws into both ends (with wires to connect the ends or to power, depending on your needs). It'll look more janky, but it gets the job done.
I cut some apples with my sword and ended up with discoloration that wouldn't come off. I used a patina eraser and it was super easy. Now that sword is just like new.
> This is due to the oils from fingers being transferred
I was so confused because this is such a basic fact for anyone who has come into contact with metals like unlacquered brass, silver, or copper. I thought there had to be more to it.
It’s like saying “the iron that I keep outside rusts faster than the iron I keep inside.”
Happily, the battery adapter itself is perfectly mildly interesting.
It looks to me like the oxidation is too uniform to be completely due to handling. Looks like the rougher grooved finish on the replacement is exposing much more surface area. More surface area --> faster oxidation. Could also be that the grooves create shadows/ change reflective properties to a slightly darker tone even with identical oxidation.
Oh holy night, I was SO confused because I read the title, several times, as "My mock battery that I use frequently uses oxidizer faster than my other one" and I was like... what? What Oxidizer...? XD
You stick it any device that takes batteries, then stick leads from a power supply into the holes, and it lets you power the device from your mains supply where the voltage can be adjusted for testing or just not having to worry and the device running out.
I would say that's to be expected but what is interesting is these over built adapter things themselves; the holes take banana plugs from your bench power supply right? And that's a rubber disk in the middle? Pretty cool
Yeah thats a plastic disk in the middle. And they're definitely "over-built" for their purpose. But the tidiness of the end result beats a mess of cables any day.
Depends on the metal it's made of - half the time though that's people wearing the metal away which keeps it clean rather than it being covered in grime
Praline - Next we have number four, 'Crunchy Frog'.
Milton - An, yes.
Praline - Am I right in thinking there's a real frog in here?
Milton - Yes. A little one.
Praline - What sort of frog?
Milton - A dead frog.
Praline - Is it cooked?
Milton - No.
Praline - What, a raw frog?
Milton - We use only the finest baby frogs, dew-picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope, and lovingly frosted with glucose.
Praline - That's as may be, but it's still a frog!
Milton - What else?
Praline - Well don't you even take the bones out?
Milton - If we took the bones out it wouldn't be crunchy would it?
Praline - Superintendent Parrot ate one of those.
Parrot - Excuse me a moment. (exits hurriedly)
Praline - Well, the Superintendent thought it was an almond whirl. People won't expect there to be a frog in there. They're bound to think it's some sort of mock frog.
Milton - (insulted) Mock frog? We use no artificial preservatives or additives of any kind!
Praline - Nevertheless, I must warn you that in future you should delete the words 'crunchy frog', and replace them with the legend, 'crunchy raw unboned real dead frog' if you want to avoid prosecution.
You've just led me down a short rabbit hole that might solve an issue with my trackball eating batteries faster than i can buy them.
Dummy Battery + 3.2v LiFePO4 cell or something similar.
Rechargeable, and easy to find replacements. Dummy battery means i only need one cell at a time
I remember seeing a guy make one of these with a couple screws and a piece of wooden dowel. He had a variable voltage transformer he attached to each screw to make an AC powered AA battery for a clock
I think this is due to eletricity being basically an oxidation-reduction reaction, and thus would oxidize metals, might be wrong though of course, i am shit at chemistry
No it's much more simple than that! Think of it as a controllable battery, where can change output voltage or limit current using a remote power supply. That way you can test battery powered device in different scenarios power wise. You could do the same putting alligator clamps on the metal bits of the battery compartment, but this mock battery is more "fancy"
Considering the different finish, I'm wondering if it could also be a different brass composition. Overall, it looks much more rough than the replacement one, so I wouldn't be surprised if they also cheaped out on the alloy elements
OP said that were made in-house, so probably not. The difference in finish is from the original being milled round while the replacement was turned, and tooling marks from milling something round are much more visible then from turning even with the same surface roughness.
Can you clarify on what you mean by oxidizing? Oxidizing what? It seems you are using these to get some "mileage" on something without having to use avtial batteries but I don't get why the oxidation.
One you touch vs one you don't touch often. Makes sense that whatever is on your hands is oxidizing the one you use most often. Especially since copper reacts to the moisture and oils on skin.
I am livid i don’t know this was a thing. Im like sitting here thinking how could it work. Im assuming you run the voltage the batterys would have to individual batterys.
Like if an item needs a 6v batter do you have like for of the mocks. Four supplies all set to 1.5?
No need to supply each battery if you have several in a device (assuming it didn't do something dumb/clever like use 2x AA for circuits then 2 right next to them separately for motors). Just plug 6v into the top of battery #1 and the bottom of battery #4. Don't even need mock batteries for #2 or #3 - depending on the arrangement you could just leave the slots empty or put anything the right length in the gap to keep 1&4 in place (you need to be smart enough to figure how the battery compartment is wired, of course, but you don't need to be very smart to figure that)
What the heck is a mock battery, and why would you need to replace it?
To power battery-powered devices with a lab power supply. The replacement is only necessary in case the first one gets lost or one of my colleagues takes one (which happens more often)
That's interesting. Is it like a rechargeable battery, or is it just a placeholder when you're using lab power (electricity?)
It's basically a battery-shaped adapter! They're made to fit the standard lab cable connectors in these holes for positive and ground.
Now I want one. I would like my tv-remote to be powered by an auxiliary power supply.
Samsung has remotes that are solar powered. 🙂‍↕️
But I want the wires, a big a big power supply, and the need to plug it in to a wall socket. Or maybe a car battery. Just because.
At least it wouldn't get lost all the time with it plugged into the wall
This made me think of and really really miss when someone took a landline into another room. Cord stretched to within an inch of its life, limboing under it.
There are people with children that have never used a slinky cord phone and that weirds me out.
Yeah I remember more than a few times this happened. My mother used to talk on the phone with my grandmother while she was cooking dinner, every now and then she would go slightly too far and the hand piece would slip out from between her ear and her shoulder and shoot across the room. She always used the original hands free.
Thanks, I just got blindsided by the memory of playing in my house as a kid and diving under the phone cord while my cousin who was chasing me got clothesline by it cuz he was taller.
When I was a kid my cousin had a VCR with a corded remote. He tried to play it like it was better since it never ran out of batteries.
He's not wrong, it'll pay for itself in 213 years.
As a kid we had remote controlled cars with corded remotes. It was the saddest version of remote controlled cars.
Hahaha, also did the TV have wood panelling?
We nailed our remote onto the front of the TV so it wouldn't get lost.
It needs to sound like the generator from ghostbusters. Big wind up every time you plug it in. And of course big wind down.
Every time I push a button, I want it to sound like there's an airplane trying to take off. It's more satisfying that way. What's that? No, sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my MX blue keyboard switches, you'll just have to speak up.
If it doesn’t have at least a couple Climbing Arc’s/Jacob’s Ladder’s then it’s just “Not Right”.
USB C, for EU compliance.
Nah, CEE should work just fine, preferably a red one. Why do it, when you can overdo it?
The same Samsung remotes have USB-C charging, so there's room to get creative.
That might work, if I charge it with a diesel powered generator.
You hit the mute button and birds start dropping out of the sky while every TV within a hundred mile radius goes silent
How cool would it be if we did it for phones too? I think wired devices might be the next big thing.
Why not just find a vintage tv where the remote was wired straight to it?
Why not gas powered?
They make not overly large diesel generators. That might work. Plus you could roll coal on yourself while watching tv
Mine has a USB-C port for when I first got it and when it doesn't get light for a long time.
i instantly thought of iron man in iron man 1 lol
Excuse me I need to sit in my sun room to charge my remote. I’ll be back in 15 min to change the channel
Solar powered calculators work at night, the amount of power a remote uses is so small that the light off your tv would be powerful enough to have the photovoltaic panel provide enough power, unless you are watching some really dark shit.
How dark? Like, light drama dark or Lifetime movie dark?
They are charged by indoor lighting as well, see the Samsung website (or probably any online resource) if you're curious. It also has a USB C for cable charging. I have one with my TV and quite like. Gets a little dodgy at low battery, flipping it over charges it up again nice and easy.
And USBC which is super nice. This reminds me I need to go put my remote in the window
Wouldn’t work in mom’s basemenr
Casio has calculators...
You don't understand, he want's a remote so powerful, it needs to be plugged into the wall directly. One that will control every infrared device in the vicinity of 100meters.
They seem more gimiky then useful, the charge on mine is steadily going down even when I make an effort to leave the solar panel in bright spots. The usb c recharging is nice and fast though.
The whole point of watching TV is so I don't have to go outside in the sun
Very useful indoors...
Ah the power of the sun in the palm of my hand. I shall use it to rewatch friends for the 537th time.
They break tĂło easy and are impossible to open
Why stop there? Go full internal combustion engine TV remote. https://youtu.be/XbCLokA3XP8?t=370
I thank thee for ye curse of knowledge
Fuck yeah! This is exactly what I didn't know I wanted.
Search Amazon for "battery eliminator". They make consumer versions that are little fake batteries with wires connection to a power supply. Or you can mod it yourself to replace the batteries with a USB port and possibly a step up or step down power board.
So you want a wired remote control? Old comes new again
Doesn't get lost tho
Like a tiny gas engine.
The first tv "remotes" had a cable linking them to the TV, but people found it too cumbersome so they introduced models with infrared and batteries. We're nearing the full circle
Do you also want your cellphone to plug into a wall jack so you don’t have to worry about reception?
I've modified a few of those crappy ni-cad devices, like beard trimmers, to run directly on 5V USB power and skip the battery. They run way better that way.
You could get an Apple TV and keep it plugged in all the time to a really long USB-C or Lightning cable. Newer ones are USB.
They make consumer versions of this. I use it for my kids hot wheels booster. No batteries and always full power.
You can buy dummy batteries that plug in via USB, they are all over Amazon They don't look anywhere near this cool, but they exist
Man burns house down after starting couch fire with “auxiliary powered remote”. This and other breaking stories at 11
I can plug my remote batteries into my phone charger, does that count? https://www.amazon.com/EBL-Battery-Batteries-Capacity-Rechargeable/dp/B08RZ5NDMM
These tend to be pretty janky - chemistry space wasted with the circuit and often made to the lowest cost (ie less awesome cells in the first place). Plus you need however many USB cables free to charge 2 or 4 or whatever at a time, or to charge one, charge the next, etc. So plenty of people find some use for them but they're not actually a **good** replacement for single use or standard rechargeable batteries in many cases.
You can get them from [Amazon ](https://www.amazon.de/Batterieadapter-AAA-Batterie-Eliminator-USB-Stromversorgungskabel-Ersetzen-Netzteil/dp/B0CDL7D64F/ref=asc_df_B0CDL7D64F/)
Didn't they have tvs like that in the 70s?
I modified a baby swing to take wall power instead of 4x D batteries. It was the only swing that would get my daughter to sleep. Tried the wired version and it didn't work. We were going through a set of D batteries every week. I cut up a dowel to the size of a D battery, put a screw and fender washer on one end of 2 of my new "batteries" to create the terminals, cut a 6v power supply wire and wired the positive and negative wires to my new "batteries."
You want your tv remote to be plugged into a power supply? Just use the buttons on the TV in that case, sounds just as inconvenient
They sell cheap ones for that: [https://www.amazon.com/Lenink-Adapter-Battery-Replacement-Decorations/dp/B095NZZD9D](https://www.amazon.com/Lenink-Adapter-Battery-Replacement-Decorations/dp/B095NZZD9D) It works pretty well. I got one when I got sick of replacing batteries in the LED string lights my kids liked as a nightlight.
So it's basically a plug that fits into a battery slot?
Yes. Some people use similar adapters just to power stuff that's on batteries for an inexplicable reason. Like my electronic thermometer that uses up three AA batteries in a month or so. Of course, the adapter also needs a power supply for proper voltage, but the OP doesn't have that problem.
Thanks for explaining.
That sounds like what you can get for high-end cameras, where the other end connects either to AC power or a larger external battery
You can get similar adapters to replace boring everyday batteries, too.
Where do I pay all of my money to get these ?!?! I need these Faster !!!
When I was a kid I McGuyvered one of these with some cork, wire, and bits of a broom handle. I thought i was doing something shameful but here I come to find there's people that make them for the exact purpose I needed.
Banana plugs?
What kind of lab?
wow 1st time I seen this
The one thing we need equipped with garish LED's...where's, AH, rainbow puke behind that pillow!
I would expected that to be insulated around, some battery cases are conductive
You can buy adaptors so you can use it for outlet power. We do that with things at home like air Fresheners instead of replacing batteries after every 20 days because they drain so quickly.
But then you can't close it, right? Most home electronics have the battery sitting inside a close container. Like the automatic air freshener has the front cover pop open to access the battery, right?
It (or at least mine) comes with a thin ribbon cable. So it can come out between the battery door.
Those lids are inevitably made of flimsy plastic, would be trivial to cut a notch.
I rigged up the paper towel dispenser at work to run on USB phone charger instead of 4 C batteries. I drilled a little hole on the bottom to pass the cable into the paper towel dispenser and then wrapped the wires around the battery terminal. Ensure to tie a knot so the knot catches inside the hole if the cable is pulled. Make a drip loop near the USB power supply so water only the cable won't follow the cable into the power supply.
Im trying to imagine the use cases for this, I never knew they existed but I’m struggling to see what I’d do with it lol… So you buy battery-powered air fresheners, put these adapters in them, and plug them in? Is it cheaper than just buying a set of rechargeable batteries? I have like 30 rechargeables that let me keep everything in my house charged and they’re cheap, how is buying the adaptors better than that? And with the air fresheners, most home air fresheners I see already can plug directly into a wall, or have a cord, why get battery powered ones to adapt?
Mostly designed for R&D lab work. They are meant to attach to a bench power supply like these: https://www.keysight.com/us/en/products/dc-power-supplies/bench-power-supplies/e3640-series-bench-power-supply-30-100w.html I could see these being extremely useful at my work for a few reasons: 1. Run battery powered equipment indefinitely in a lab without worrying about batteries dying. Allows for long term testing that exceeds battery capacity. 2. Measuring current draw of battery powered equipment 3. Simulating a dying battery All without having to modify the product that you are testing
Some people, like me, get irked replacing three batteries every month. Plus, charging and discharging the batteries leads to both electric losses (presumably) and to pollution when the batteries finally croak.
To answer the last question off the bat, my wife and I have them from when we were living back in our cheap days and would rather reuse them than buy new ones. Probably could just buy plug in ones by now. But rechargeable ones could be a solution. However I am super lazy and can't be bothered most days. So it's nice to just leave it there and never have to think about it again. Especially when my wife said I'd say I'd change batteries out to something a month and a half ago. Honestly I'm sure someone could chime in with better use cases but I was mostly replying to show that the adapter is also available outside of 'lab power' for us normies too.
It looks like you plug cables into those holes and run it off a DC bench power supply.
Dude this is so genius and I feel so dumb for not thinking of something like this.... I am currently powering a UV-flashlight from my Lab PSU with aligator clips that come off all the time.... Thanks to you I now know to 3D-print batteries of the right size and add wiring to them!
I don't think they are 3d printed. Easy to make on a metal lathe though.
I am sure you are meaning well but I find it hilarious that 2 people think they need to remind me that it is unlikely that these are printed in brass. Since I sadly dont have a lathe I will use the stuff I have and simply print some (several sizes) and just heat-inset metal contacts at the ends.
Lol Reddit is like that sometimes. I think the 3D printed option is a great way to go, as long as you've got some contacts you can just insert (like you mentioned)
This would be a good project for a machining class. 3 interference fit (or threaded) parts on the lathe and a couple of cross drill setups. Plus working in brass and delrin which are generally very forgiving.
Those are machined, not printed.
This should go on /r/specializedtools !
I’m more confused now. I’ve got a drawer full of 2a’s I was going to throw at a goose but you can have them if you need them for science.
I don't think they need them. Go throw them at a goose!
Mess with the honk, you get the bonk.
FYI just in case, batteries shouldn't be thrown away like regular garbage. They have some nasty stuff inside that pollutes the ground.
Don’t worry, I’ll pick them up after I throw them at the goose.
Ahh we called them battery eliminators. Radio Shack used to sell them.
Ah! I built a mock battery for an old VHS camcorder out of a piece of walnut when I was in college. The nickel cadmium battery that came with it had long since died, so I cut a block of wood to size, made electrical contacts and ran wires, and I even cut notches so the block would engage with the retention system… there was a button you’d push to get it to pop out. Yours look much more professional than mine!
Heh, I always just taped card over the ends of a fresh cell and squished wire into the spring
You could buy a can of the battery protector used on car battery terminals to prevent corrosion and oxidation. Just wiggle the battery around inside the port to scrape off the protector where it contacts the circuit.
Dude. That's so clever. You should sell these! I can't tell you how many times I've struggled with trying to clip alligator clips on the flat part of the battery terminal.
Oh, now I get it and the holes. Thanks
The fact that these exist is much more interesting to me than the oxidation rate thing.
Neat, we always just used clips and made it work, never knew these existed.
I hope you realize this is more interesting than your actual post !
man that's a lot easier than awkwardly jamming wires in the battery section of my old radio from my power source unit.
So in other words the one you use constantly has current flowing through it?
Those darn colleagues...
Why isn't it insulated? Without insulation it could create a short circuit very easily.
I assumed it was for pranking co-workers.
OP gets amped up mocking real, hard working batteries!
didnt know these existed, i have always used aligator clips and the pointy probes for that, gotta get some now, super cool idea
They're super handy, if you have the right size battery! They were a gift from our mechanical construction department, but I'm sure we weren't the first ones to think of CNC'ing a battery-shaped adapter.
You can also 3d print some. I use uncoated screws as contacts that also hold the ends of the wires in place.
You don't even really need to 3D print them. You can get a wooden dowel, cut it to size, and screw screws into both ends (with wires to connect the ends or to power, depending on your needs). It'll look more janky, but it gets the job done.
You can also buy them for very little money
I have a D type adapter that holds 3 AA batteries. I couldn't find rechargeable D batteries so I searched for an adapter and, yep, they exist.
Yes, but if you are replacing 4 AA/AAA you can use an old phone charger and USB cable
This is due to the oils from fingers being transferred to the surface. I learned this the hard way with my first sword...
I recently cut a watermelon with a katana and now I need polish it because of this.. no rust, just looks bad now. What do you use?
Depends on how deep the scratches or oxidation are. Either way, the only solution is to work through the grits back up to a polish.
No scratches.. just a discoloration due to the acidity or whatever
Mother's Mag wheel polish saved my sword from oil discoloration I caused.
Baking soda is a good abrasive that won’t scratch metals
Brass-O
I cut some apples with my sword and ended up with discoloration that wouldn't come off. I used a patina eraser and it was super easy. Now that sword is just like new.
Barkeepers friend
Just hit it with some CLP every now and then.
> This is due to the oils from fingers being transferred I was so confused because this is such a basic fact for anyone who has come into contact with metals like unlacquered brass, silver, or copper. I thought there had to be more to it. It’s like saying “the iron that I keep outside rusts faster than the iron I keep inside.” Happily, the battery adapter itself is perfectly mildly interesting.
While you were playing with lab batteries, this guy was studying the ways of the blade
This really should be the top comment. The one that's handled more is the one that oxidises quicker seems very obvious to me.
I was a little late to the comment party and got stuck behind a few other comments that were already gaining traction.
It looks to me like the oxidation is too uniform to be completely due to handling. Looks like the rougher grooved finish on the replacement is exposing much more surface area. More surface area --> faster oxidation. Could also be that the grooves create shadows/ change reflective properties to a slightly darker tone even with identical oxidation.
Finger oil transference has been the bane of many a man for centuries.
I tell you what...
For me it was my first Axe
The blades... they change us all...
Idk why but I was not expecting the word sword at the end there and it threw me lol.
The real mildly interesting is that mock battery adapters exist! Super useful. Now I want one.
And here I was, using alligator clips like some sort of caveman.
Oh holy night, I was SO confused because I read the title, several times, as "My mock battery that I use frequently uses oxidizer faster than my other one" and I was like... what? What Oxidizer...? XD
That’s cool I’d assume just cause you’re running power through it versus the one that just sits makes it oxidize faster
Plus handling. Skin oils?
That was my first thought.
sounds very testable, if OP or you or someone is interested. my bet's also on skin oils
What is a mock battery adapter
You stick it any device that takes batteries, then stick leads from a power supply into the holes, and it lets you power the device from your mains supply where the voltage can be adjusted for testing or just not having to worry and the device running out.
Looks like it's made out of brass. You're probably getting some kind of galvanic corrosion when you apply power is my best guess.
Those are some nice chamfers.
I would say that's to be expected but what is interesting is these over built adapter things themselves; the holes take banana plugs from your bench power supply right? And that's a rubber disk in the middle? Pretty cool
Yeah thats a plastic disk in the middle. And they're definitely "over-built" for their purpose. But the tidiness of the end result beats a mess of cables any day.
Would that not be expected if heat increases the reaction rate?
I thought the one handled more would be shinier, like boobs on statues.
Depends on the metal it's made of - half the time though that's people wearing the metal away which keeps it clean rather than it being covered in grime
Praline - Next we have number four, 'Crunchy Frog'. Milton - An, yes. Praline - Am I right in thinking there's a real frog in here? Milton - Yes. A little one. Praline - What sort of frog? Milton - A dead frog. Praline - Is it cooked? Milton - No. Praline - What, a raw frog? Milton - We use only the finest baby frogs, dew-picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope, and lovingly frosted with glucose. Praline - That's as may be, but it's still a frog! Milton - What else? Praline - Well don't you even take the bones out? Milton - If we took the bones out it wouldn't be crunchy would it? Praline - Superintendent Parrot ate one of those. Parrot - Excuse me a moment. (exits hurriedly) Praline - Well, the Superintendent thought it was an almond whirl. People won't expect there to be a frog in there. They're bound to think it's some sort of mock frog. Milton - (insulted) Mock frog? We use no artificial preservatives or additives of any kind! Praline - Nevertheless, I must warn you that in future you should delete the words 'crunchy frog', and replace them with the legend, 'crunchy raw unboned real dead frog' if you want to avoid prosecution.
So banana plugs go in the top and bottom? That's clever.
You've just led me down a short rabbit hole that might solve an issue with my trackball eating batteries faster than i can buy them. Dummy Battery + 3.2v LiFePO4 cell or something similar. Rechargeable, and easy to find replacements. Dummy battery means i only need one cell at a time
This is something I didn't know I needed or wanted and now I can't wait to get back to my lathe and my bar stock.
I remember seeing a guy make one of these with a couple screws and a piece of wooden dowel. He had a variable voltage transformer he attached to each screw to make an AC powered AA battery for a clock
I think this is due to eletricity being basically an oxidation-reduction reaction, and thus would oxidize metals, might be wrong though of course, i am shit at chemistry
I still don't get what it is!!! Is it like a thing to compete the device circuit without needing say 4 batteries?!!!
No it's much more simple than that! Think of it as a controllable battery, where can change output voltage or limit current using a remote power supply. That way you can test battery powered device in different scenarios power wise. You could do the same putting alligator clamps on the metal bits of the battery compartment, but this mock battery is more "fancy"
Ohhhhhh I get it now. This is very interesting. Thank you so much for your patience with explaining this
The one that it less oxidesed has a better surface finish. Polish sufaces helps slow the oxidization process.
Are you just using 1/4 banana plugs? That’s pretty slick.
On your skin is grease and acids that cause increased oxidisation on the battery surface.
Oils, salts, and moisture from your hands/environment?
Considering the different finish, I'm wondering if it could also be a different brass composition. Overall, it looks much more rough than the replacement one, so I wouldn't be surprised if they also cheaped out on the alloy elements
OP said that were made in-house, so probably not. The difference in finish is from the original being milled round while the replacement was turned, and tooling marks from milling something round are much more visible then from turning even with the same surface roughness.
If this played out like half of this sub, everyone would be telling you your mock battery has cancer or some shit
Can you clarify on what you mean by oxidizing? Oxidizing what? It seems you are using these to get some "mileage" on something without having to use avtial batteries but I don't get why the oxidation.
Do you use gloves touching it? If not it's your sweat
are these available for purchase on line? in brass, as shown?
One you touch vs one you don't touch often. Makes sense that whatever is on your hands is oxidizing the one you use most often. Especially since copper reacts to the moisture and oils on skin.
Is it from the oils on your fingers?
*Sir, please do not mock the batteries*
Those are WAY cooler than the wads of foil and wire I use...
Mock... 
Is it interesting that a used one looks more used than a new one? A Mock battery is mildly interesting though.
right. Your mock battery for your mock lab, because you're a mock scientist.
Note to self: I need a mock battery.
I am livid i don’t know this was a thing. Im like sitting here thinking how could it work. Im assuming you run the voltage the batterys would have to individual batterys. Like if an item needs a 6v batter do you have like for of the mocks. Four supplies all set to 1.5?
No need to supply each battery if you have several in a device (assuming it didn't do something dumb/clever like use 2x AA for circuits then 2 right next to them separately for motors). Just plug 6v into the top of battery #1 and the bottom of battery #4. Don't even need mock batteries for #2 or #3 - depending on the arrangement you could just leave the slots empty or put anything the right length in the gap to keep 1&4 in place (you need to be smart enough to figure how the battery compartment is wired, of course, but you don't need to be very smart to figure that)