"TimR" wrote in message news:3a4168e6-a2e1-4eff-8bb0-

stuff snipped

I haven't opened one since I was a kid, but a D cell used to have a carbon
rod as the
positive terminal, about 3/8 inch in diameter, and the lantern battery had
one almost an inch
across.

Oh yes, now that you mention it, that's probably a good source for the
carbon rods. Time to get out the hacksaw just to check. (-: I think I
will skip the carbon arc test for the reasons previously stated but knowing
whether there's still a carbon rod in a D cell is worth investigating.

--
Bobby G.