Video demonstrates that 6-volt lantern batteries contain 32 AA batteries.
Published Oct 24, 2007
Claim: Video demonstrates that 6-volt lantern batteries contain batteries.
Example: [Collected via the Internet, October 2007]
Received this video and I’m not sure if it is valid or not. Guess I could disassemble a lantern battery and find out. But as I recall from my high school chemistry days, and the warning on the side of the battery, it is full of stuff that could be dangerous to the average lay person.
Essentially it states that if one needs a cheap source of AA sized batteries, by disassembling a lantern battery, you will find batteries inside of the battery.
Origins: This video purporting to demonstrate that 6-volt lantern
batteries are actually made up of a casing enclosing batteries is just a gag, another form of intended to lure people into trying (or at least believing in) something
Exactly what’s inside 6-volt lantern batteries can vary a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer; they typically contain four individual cells that can be extracted (opening up a battery is not a recommended procedure), but those cells aren’t necessarily batteries that would be of much use to the ordinary consumer. A page displaying the removal of zinc-carbon cells from a battery can be found here, and the following video also shows the extraction of cells from within a battery:
Likewise, 9-volt batteries also contain individual cells, but again those cells aren’t necessarily batteries of a kind that the typical consumer would have much use for.
Last updated: 28 December 2011
Sources:
By David Mikkelson
David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.
Don’t Dispose, Reuse: 5 DIY Projects Using Old or Dead Batteries
Don’t ditch those old batteries. reuse them with these amazing DIY projects.
Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read
Old batteries pose a significant threat to our surroundings when disposed incorrectly – but you don’t have to dispose or recycle old or dead batteries!
If you’ve been keeping old batteries and you don’t want to trash them, you will be happy to know you can turn them into the next exciting and useful DIY project. Here are five cool DIY projects using old or dead batteries. These projects are fun, easy to execute, affordable, and most importantly, they let you turn your old and dead batteries into something useful.
Safety Tips for Using Dead or Old Batteries
Some of the cool DIY projects using old or dead batteries below will have you not just handling but also opening up batteries. Ensure you do the following while going about it:
- Wear gloves and a mask: Chemicals found in batteries are toxic, and when you’re working with old and dead batteries, there’s always a chance these chemicals might spill out if you cut wrongly. Wear safety gloves to prevent chemical burns and a mask, so you don’t inhale these toxic substances in case of a spill.
- Dispose of decayed or leaking batteries: If the battery you were planning to use is leaking or decaying, dispose of immediately since it’s a safety hazard. Ensure you clean up any spot it might have spilled on right away.
In addition to reusing your old or dead batteries, you can make Earth a better living place by trying out DIY electronic recycling projects.
DIY Solar Powered Generator
With global warming threatening the extinction of entire species, the least you could do for Mother Nature is switch to sustainable energy. An easy and affordable way to do this is by making your solar power generator using:
- A solar panel: mono-crystalline 400Wp, 17.2v
- Charge controller
- Deep cycle 12V/7.2ah batteries
- Inverter
- Wires and wire connectors
Start by connecting the inverter to the battery. To do this, take a negative wire, connect it to the negative terminal and then do the same with the positive. Connect the charging controller to the battery and then to the solar panel.
Leave the solar panel outside and position it, so it’s exposed to maximum sunlight for charging. Once it’s above 50%, feel free to connect your smartphone and enjoy free sustainable solar energy. You can include a case to make it portable. When fully charged, this DIY solar generator can keep your Xbox one running for over three hours and your energy-saving light bulb on for up to 25 hours.
A Portable Rechargeable Lighting System
A DIY portable lighting system won’t just put your old batteries to good use – it’ll also come in handy during power blackouts and overnight outdoor activities like camping. You’ll need:
- A 4-volt old battery
- LED plate
- On/off switch
- Diode IN4007
- 1000 Ohms Resistor
- Red LED light
- Charging socket
- Superglue
- Soldering tool
Using superglue, stick the on/off switch and the charging socket on top of the battery. Superglue the LED plate on one of the battery’s sides, and solder its negative wire to the on/off switch. Next, solder the LEDs positive wire and the diode’s positive point to the battery’s positive terminal.
Solder the diode’s positive point and one end of the resistor to the positive end of your charging socket. Bring in the red LED light, and solder its negative end to the battery’s charging socket, and the on/off switch negative points.
Connect and solder the red LED light’s positive point to the remaining end of the resistor. You’ll have created a powerful portable lighting system you can use during power emergencies or even enhance photography.
A Portable Mini Fan
A portable mini fan doesn’t just look cool, it also keeps you cool, and it’s a surprisingly easy DIY project using old or dead batteries. Here’s a list of what you’ll require:
- 9V old or recently dead 9V battery
- Battery clips
- DC Motor
- Red and black wire
- Cutting pliers
- Soldering iron
Pry open your battery and use a pair of pliers to disconnect batteries from the battery clip. To create a battery clip for the fan, solder a red and black wire to the battery clip you got after the first step. Solder the two wires to the motor’s negative and positive terminals. Glue the motor to the bottom side of the battery, and finally, install the mini hand fan blade.
Cool DIY Flashlight with 9V Batteries
Looking for a cool and fun way to spend an afternoon with your tech-curious nephew or niece? If yes, you’ll love this cool DIY project using old or dead batteries. It’s so simple; you won’t even need a soldering iron. Check out what you’ll need:
- 9V battery
- Mini LED light (you can use any color)
- Resistor
- On/off switch
- Pliers
Cut the LED’s transistors using pliers, and then glue it on the top left of the battery such that the battery’s negative terminal is on the right and the positive side on the left. Hot glue the switch on the top right side of the battery, so it has the same arrangement as the LED. Next, glue your resistor in the middle so it touches one side of the switch and the battery’s negative terminal. Press the on/off switch to light it on, and watch your niece or nephew jump in glee at your little invention.
A DIY Magnet Holder
Like the DIY flashlight project above, this too is a cool DIY project using old or dead batteries to do with your little one.
Because aging and dead batteries already feature magnetic ends, get all your magnets and stick them to these ends. You can add as many magnets as you want to create a décor item or a unique-looking toy for your little ones. Alternatively, you could use it as a magnet holder to keep all your magnets organized.
Have Fun Reusing Old or Dead Batteries
DIY projects are a fun way to put your creativity to work and turn things that would have ended up in the trash into something useful and practical.
Our cool DIY projects using old or dead batteries above are perfect proof it is possible. So keep the two safety tips we highlighted in mind, and have fun reusing your old and dead batteries.
How To : Turn an Ordinary 9-Volt Battery into a Secret Safe
- By Eric Ramsley
- 3/28/16 4:37 PM
- 6/2/16 5:18 PM
- WonderHowTo
Sometimes the best way to hide things is in plain sight. Whether you’re trying to sneak some medication past security at a concert with a zero-tolerance policy, or you’re just worried that maybe Omar comin’, YouTuber MrGear has a clever way to put your mind at ease.
In the video below, he shows us how we can store important or treasured items in five places few would think to look. Out of the five, the best one is definitely the 9-volt battery mini safe.
- Don’t Miss: How to Make an Impossible-to-Find Doortop Safe
Cut through until you’re able to remove the plastic piece that the battery connectors are attached to.
Step 2: Remove the Cylindrical Cells
Pull out the connectors and the cylindrical cells, which are just six 1.5-volt batteries.
Now, you’ve got a choice to make depending how secret you’d like to make your 9-volt safe. We’ll start with the simpler version first, and save the more clandestine version for later.
Step 3: Clip the Ribbons (Skip to Step 4 if You Want It to Still Work)
To make the simpler version, just clip the ribbons attached to the battery cells, so that they are no longer attached to the connector.
Your simple 9-volt battery safe is done. All you have to do is stick the items you’d like to keep secret inside, pop the connector back onto the case, and be on your way.
Step 4: (Working Version) Remove Some of the Cylindrical Cells
If you think you’re going to need to be a little more sly by actually using the 9-volt battery safe to fool people, keep two of the cylindrical cells attached so that your safe will remain a functional (albeit less powerful) battery. You’ll also have a little less storage room inside your safe.
Instead of cutting both ribbons, just clip the ribbon below the negative connector (the female, or wider, flatter, connector).
You’re going to want to carefully unravel the cells. There will still be one cell attached to the positive connector—this cell will remain, as well as the cell directly attached to it.
So, before you make the cut, it should look something like this:
Since we just need the first two cells, you’re going to want to snip the ribbon between the second and third cells.
And you should be left with this:
Step 5: Reattach Remaining Cells
Next, we’ll need that wire and a hot glue gun (or a soldering iron if you have one). Glue or solder one end of the wire beneath the negative terminal, where we previously disconnected the ribbon.
Once that dries, glue or solder the other end of the wire to the positive end of the second battery cell.
You can then glue or solder both cells to the underside to keep them in place. This way, you won’t have to worry about the cells moving around inside your safe, and the amount and shape of the storage area will remain consistent.
Once you’ve done this, your battery safe should still have 3 volts of power to help keep up the illusion.
Step 6: Load Your Safe
Now all you’ve got to do is load up your battery safe. If you’re putting hard, rigid objects in your safe, you might want to consider wrapping them up first. Nine-volt batteries don’t rattle—it’ll be a dead giveaway if someone hears something shaking around in there.
Press the top back down, and you’re good to go. When you need to get back inside, just pry the top of the 9-volt battery off with your fingernail, or a credit card, guitar pick, or similar item.
MrGear has a couple other tips for making hidden storage compartments out of household places in his video, so check those out too for ways to hide money and jewelry.
DIY Safes You Can Make at Home:
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The 40 Hidden Inside a 12V Battery
Disclaimer: This site contains affiliate links from which we receive a compensation (like Amazon for example). But they do not affect the opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is an independent, award-winning consumer publication established in 2006. Our finance columns have been reprinted on MSN, Yahoo Finance, US News, Business Insider, Money Magazine, and Time Magazine.
Like many news outlets our publication is supported by ad revenue from companies whose products appear on our site. This revenue may affect the location and order in which products appear. But revenue considerations do not impact the objectivity of our content. While our team has dedicated thousands of hours to research, we aren’t able to cover every product in the marketplace.
For example, Wise Bread has partnerships with brands including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and Amazon.
Hands up who hates buying batteries. (I had both hands up in the air by the way, briefly, but had to put them down to continue writing this article.) Anyway, batteries are the bane of my life. It seems almost every toy we have for our children or gadget for ourselves require batteries. And they need them in all shapes and sizes. The worst offenders are those button-cell batteries. Small and costly. until I saw the coolest video. (See also: 5 Quick Remote Control Hacks to Save You Time and Money)
Kipkay over at Metacafe has done it again, with a life hack and battery hack that will save you roughly 40 on those 1.5V button cell batteries. All you need is a 2-pack of 12V A23 batteries, which retail at less than 2 a pack. I found my set on Amazon for 1.66.
From a 12V Battery
As the video shows, you simply split them open to reveal EIGHT 1.5V button-cell batteries, each one worth around 5. And as these 12V batteries come in pairs that gives you a grand total of 16 new batteries worth around 80. Not bad for an initial investment of 1.66. Kipkay also goes on to split a 9V battery for use in a battery emergency. You could say these hacks are literally power to the people. (Sorry, couldn’t resist).
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Disclaimer: This site contains affiliate links from which we receive a compensation (like Amazon for example). But they do not affect the opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is an independent, award-winning consumer publication established in 2006. Our finance columns have been reprinted on MSN, Yahoo Finance, US News, Business Insider, Money Magazine, and Time Magazine.
Like many news outlets our publication is supported by ad revenue from companies whose products appear on our site. This revenue may affect the location and order in which products appear. But revenue considerations do not impact the objectivity of our content. While our team has dedicated thousands of hours to research, we aren’t able to cover every product in the marketplace.
For example, Wise Bread has partnerships with brands including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and Amazon.
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Whoa, thats pretty sweet! Do you if the batteries last as long as their expensive counterparts?
As far as I can tell they only last about half as long. Of course if you get 8 batteries then it’s still quite a deal. You would basically have 4 batteries for 2 buck’s.
Okay, this is really cool (and I’ll remember it next time I need some of those battery types). However, you really need to compare a little more consistently! You can get 394’s for 0.99 on Amazon too. At 16 per pack, that’s still a ~10x savings though if you need that many!
I do not know what the little 9.3mm x 3.0mm batteries are, but they are not 394s.
394 batteries are Silver Oxide, not Alkaline chemistry, AND they are 9.5mm x 3.6mm.
Clearly these are something else!
Other than that, this was helpful, I just yanked an old A23 (1.50) off my shelf (I use them in my RS Infrared Thermometers), and replaced the 3 dead LR44 batteries in my new 2 LED Screwdriver.
With 5 batteries left over.
And the steel casing from the outside of the A23 was great! I used it to take up the empty space generated by using smaller batteries.
battery is necessary in our life, we can leave it!
I’ll call alkaline batteries dry cells if you call car 12V flooded cells. I just didn’t want to hear about someone thinking using AA battery paste as cold cream is OK.
H2SO4 in your face anyone?
h2so4. if it is a car or acid based battery.
first of all IDIOT, car batteries are Wet Cell. all the batteries we use in our electronics are dry cell.
and cracking open a car battery could KILL you! There’s far more Amps in a car battery than in these things.
You must be a moron! Go ahead and try this, we need to rid the world of morons. in about 2 minutes or less after you short the battery with the metal rod, it will explode. But go ahead.
I’m sure this comment was meant to be funny and tongue-in-cheek.
DO NOT ACTUALLY TRY THIS! The battery may explode or cause a fire, melt, or cause serious burns.
Um, someone please delete that comment before someone hurts themselves. I know for a fact that the batt will explode if you short it out. The heat generated by the Rapid discharge of the batt will weld the piece of metal to it pertinently which puts it in an unending loop of short out batt heat up bar, short out batt heat up bar and will eventually overheat the batt and cause it to explode!
I’m sure you were trying to be funny, but the reality is if you put a metal bar across two automobile posts you could get killed. Come on dude, you can be funny but honestly, getting someone to kill themselves is pretty awful.
Only if you want to ruin the car battery itself. lol
Putting a metal bar across the battery terminals will heat the bar red-hot and if you do it for 10 mins it will not only drain your battery, but probably melt it as well.
and LOL at the claw hammer. Why would anyone do that. You’re not only going to have a mess, but a mess of chemicals that are corrosive all over your driveway.
I hope no one took that comment seriously, or they’re in for a real disappointment and a real headache.
i never heard something so stupid in my life ! car battery are not made whit little 1.5 cell battery they are made of acid if u crush it u ll and u receibe acid in the eyes or somewhere else don’t come blame the site because u are the stupide one
i never heard something so stupid in my life ! car battery are not made whit little 1.5 cell battery they are made of acid if u crush it u ll and u receibe acid in the eyes or somewhere else don’t come blame the site because u are the stupide one
lol! Those little battery sellers must hate energizer and this video!
That video sounds just like an infomercial. I kept waiting for the and if you call now, we’ll throw in.
I can imagine this being pretty damn useful for people with hearing aids etc.
Although this is an old post, someone else may stumble across this like I did, so I wanted to correct this point. Hearing aid batteries are a totally different zinc air formulation. The air powered by the interaction of air with zinc when the tab is removed from the battery. Although they look similar, they are a totally different chemistry than a silver oxide battery and can not be substituted.
hey man thanks fer clearin that up 😀
Where would I find the vidio for this. I dont understand how this would work. thanks
The day a hearing aid uses batteries that large is the day we all fail as a technologically advancing world.
Before I go cutting open batteries, I wonder if this hack only applies to the Energizer brand or with cheaper no-name or from China Batteries?
about batteries from China. You may end up getting burned by that one. Pun intended.
When you disassemble a 12 battery you get eight 1.5 volt alkaline button cells with a capacity of 0.028 Amp-hr. each. I know this because I ‘ve disassembled more than 60,000 of them yielding a half million button cells. Believe me, It has saved me some serious money!
Just curious, why would you disassemble 60,0000 batteries? Were you re-selling?
That’s quite an endorsement.
You know. I think next when I need button batteries that I shall dismember some A23s. Also, as a point totally unrelated to batteries, This video was on the end of video ‘suggestions list’. Very nice it is too, whilst being completely scientific of course 😉
Bravo on batteries though!
In the Army we have a high demand for the 123A battery. These power some optical devices, a handheld hard drive device and the little flashlights that attach to our rifles (Surefire).
In the event that these batteries have to be purchased on the economy rather than through the supply system, you can save a few bucks on each one.
Duracel’s number is DL-123A. Kodak’s is KL-123A. But don’t buy these.
Buy the DL-223 or KL-223. These are usually somewhat less than 20 each, while the 123’s run about 13. But when you cut off the plastic wrapper of the 223, there’s 2 123’s inside!
I must be missing something, you can buy Surefire CR123A’s for a couple bucks each and other brands like Battery Station and Amondotech for even less.
Some handy info to know, save some cash.
Thanks for the info, Guest. You mademe reevaluate the current battery market.
Still, I’m talking from a military standpoint where you have to have batteries, right now, so you walk into Wally-World with the unit MPACT card.
Or anyone else, of course, who maybe can’t wait for an order to arrive.
I took apart a cheap brand and there were no little ones inside.
Do you have the Speech Synthezier or Hunt the Wumpus on your TI994A? How the heck do you use those little batteries to power it? Are you talking about the clock batter?
must only be american batteries, i opened energizer battery bought in ireland n just battery acid etc!!
all i got to say is the battery companies. holding out on us.
good to know. i’ll keep that in mind. last time i needed some of those 1.5V batteries we just ordered them on ebay. for pretty cheap.
anyway to get 3V button batteries from anything?
The only free source of 3v batteries are junk computers, I have access to a virtually unlimited amount of junk computers and the 3v batteries come in handy, good for car remote door lock jobbers.
Kipkay was the genius who discovered this lovely hack, but I can ask around and do some digging. Watch this space.
It was a rainy day, they were there, so.
Definitely worth knowing. I have a couple of the A23 batteries. I’m going to have to check it out.
But the video was really quick. It might have been more helpful to show how to match up batteries with products. A Radioshack 394 battery is not the most common and while it’s a neat trick you would have to be a real expert to know which battery will work with what.
This was listed on GAGFILMS.COM
OK guys, this is called a hoax.
what about the quality of the batteries that are included in the large one?
Having a larger chemical cell would be the most profitable and logical design choice for the battery makers NOT including smaller button cells.
Having a single larger cell is not more cost effective. Especially since the standard battery dimensions were developed in exactly this way. All batteries are made up of cells. IT just so happens that some of those cells are finished products in and of themselves. It’s very costly to design a new product, let alone gear up to manufacture it. A company can save a lot of money whenever they combine existing, readily available, components to produce a product- whether those components are something they produce, or something they buy from someone else. They don’t have to build a substantial new manufacturing line, and they only have to engineer the wrapper, so to speak. Also, there are specific performance benefits that can be achieved by putting existing battery cells together in different ways. You might be trying to achieve longer runtime, or higher initial current, etc., etc., etc.
So, don’t be too quick to disbelieve, all of you who don’t work in product design or manufacturing.