This thread http://www.mattersofsize.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3101 explains the Blakoe ring.
The image below is my cheapy version of it.
I used a piece of copper tubing and a rolled up piece of zinc I had recoverd from a cheap carbon-zinc (not Alkaline) AA battery.
Repost of my earlier material:
I found a convenient source of zinc metal. Cheap carbon-zinc batteries. Not alkaline, they have steel casings. But the cheapest carbon-zinc cells have zinc casings.
You'll have to cut it apart and clean it up. Best to use a new cell, because otherwise the inside surface is pretty corroded and you'll probably want to sand all that stuff off.
I just opened up a AA cell which was not new but not dead either. I did have to clean the inner surface pretty well with sand paper.
The zinc case is pretty soft. It usually has a paper or cardboard outer layer. You can cut the zinc pretty easily. I cut mine apart with an Xacto knife. Once I got it rolled out in a sheet, I was able to sand it up, and then cut it to whatever size I needed with a plain old scissors.
In sheet form you can then shape it how you wish, but I rolled it around a screwdriver to make a tube like shape.
Remember though, use cheap carbon-zinc cells only. Alkaline have steel shells. NiCad or NiMH have (probably) nickel shells, etc.
So using the above zinc section (about 1" x 1/8") and a similar section of copper tubing, I threaded some cut up rubber bands through them, and put it around my unit. I also measured 0.7 volts.
Since I had the copper tubing as scrap, and a carbon-zinc cell already, and, of course some rubber bands, total cost to me was $0.00.
The image below is my cheapy version of it.
I used a piece of copper tubing and a rolled up piece of zinc I had recoverd from a cheap carbon-zinc (not Alkaline) AA battery.
Repost of my earlier material:
I found a convenient source of zinc metal. Cheap carbon-zinc batteries. Not alkaline, they have steel casings. But the cheapest carbon-zinc cells have zinc casings.
You'll have to cut it apart and clean it up. Best to use a new cell, because otherwise the inside surface is pretty corroded and you'll probably want to sand all that stuff off.
I just opened up a AA cell which was not new but not dead either. I did have to clean the inner surface pretty well with sand paper.
The zinc case is pretty soft. It usually has a paper or cardboard outer layer. You can cut the zinc pretty easily. I cut mine apart with an Xacto knife. Once I got it rolled out in a sheet, I was able to sand it up, and then cut it to whatever size I needed with a plain old scissors.
In sheet form you can then shape it how you wish, but I rolled it around a screwdriver to make a tube like shape.
Remember though, use cheap carbon-zinc cells only. Alkaline have steel shells. NiCad or NiMH have (probably) nickel shells, etc.
So using the above zinc section (about 1" x 1/8") and a similar section of copper tubing, I threaded some cut up rubber bands through them, and put it around my unit. I also measured 0.7 volts.
Since I had the copper tubing as scrap, and a carbon-zinc cell already, and, of course some rubber bands, total cost to me was $0.00.
