On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:46:50 -0600, Jim Yanik
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote in
:

On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:13:55 -0500, JW wrote:

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:22:07 -0800 Jeff Liebermann
wrote in Message id: :

Find a dead AA battery. Make sure it's totally discharged. Wrap with
aluminum foil. Instant shorted battery.

I'd be worried that it'd start leaking.

Add another layer of aluminum foil wrap. It will take a while for the
electrolyte to eat its way through two layers of aluminum foil.

Foil can have pinholes. plus,you add more thickness with each layer of
foil.

Embalm the 2 layers of aluminum foil with some tape or shrink tubing.
Maybe drill a hole in the negative end, heat the battery, and let any
liquid drain. There's always a way to make it work.

Incidentally, I always embalm my flashlight batteries in household
cellophane wrap because of the large number of leaky batteries that
have made my life interesting.

Why take the risk?

Because I'm cheap and lazy. My suggestion was intended to be
sufficiently outrageous to not warrant serious consideration. I was
amused at the idea of someone asking how to create a dead short, which
is literally one of the easiest electronic components to fabricate.
Note that I also suggested core drilling a wooden dowel, shoving a
brass rod down the center, and soldering a brass washer on the
negative end. I have several like that, but with a different purpose.
Inserted in a battery pack, they act as a voltage monitor and
sometimes a battery eliminator connection point. I also have some
inserts setup for battery or device current measurement.

Use a dowel with a longitudinal slot cut for a wire. You can make them with
just a hand saw.
Simple,long lasting,safe.

Yeah, but that's too easy and no fun. I just hate it when someone
takes me literally.

I once worked for a company that seemed to specialize in minimalist
design. At the time (before robotic assembly), the incremental cost
per component was a serious cost issue. Minimizing the component
count was a major part of the production engineering process. The
problem was that the dividing line between economical and outright
crude was difficult to define. Your dowel would be considered a good
economical solution, while my aluminum foil wrap would be considered a
kludge. Some of the abominations the came the failure to recognize
the distinction were scary. For example, when the device decided to
draw more than the rating on the 3 terminal regulator, instead of a
larger regulator, a resistor was simply added between the input and
output terminals.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558