I have continued to experiment and have some interesting measurements to report. For my latest experiment I have returned to using 2 nickels as electrodes with an electrolyte of sodium carbonate which is Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. I prefer this electrolyte to the borax since it does not tend to leave extreme green deposits on my positive supply connected nickel. I decided to try this particular one when I read that it is used to restore rusted items. It has excellent conductivity and allows me to calculate an effective resistance of approximately 6 ohms between my supply terminals. As an example, I typically am measuring around 11 volts at my supply terminals when 1.97 amps of current is flowing through the test circuit.
My constant current supply is set to deliver 1.97 amps and it does an excellent job of keeping the set current constant over a large voltage range as needed. I have run at this level of current for several hours now and add extra sodium carbonate or water as needed to keep the resistance low. This seems to be an easy task and I am measuring reasonable and repeatable performance. I calibrated my measurement system by taking two "new" nickels and stepping the current through them. I chose this as my control since it is highly unlikely that a fresh nickel would generate LENR activity within a few hours of loading with hydrogen. For technique I allowed each current value to continue for an hour before I measured the supply voltage and the temperature of my electrolyte bath at a well defined physical location. I also checked to verify that the current was constant and discovered that it only varied by .01 amp in one of several independent measurements. The ambient temperature was also measured so that I could determine the rise due to heating. I performed this calibration at the following currents: 1.00, 1.24, 1.52, 1.75, 2.01, and 2.5 amps. The power ranged from 8.24 to 33.325 watts as calculated by taking the measured supply voltage and multiplying it by the step current at that value. A plot of power versus temperature delta was generated and it made a decent curve fit. The R^2 value for the second order curve fit was .9948. I can supply the actual data if anyone is particularly interested. My test system is open to the air and heat is escaping by many different paths, but it appears to follow a reasonable curve fit that allows me to calculate the power being dissipated as a function of the bath temperature. My worse fit for both calibration as well as test runs is only off by 1.1 C degrees while most points are much closer. You might say I was pleasantly surprised. My meter reads to single digit degree C values except in the case where it is clearly jumping between two numbers and then I estimate in between. After I completed the control-calibration run I replaced the inactive nickel connected to the negative supply terminal with one that I have been loading with hydrogen for greater than 30 hours. This nickel is still quite clean and shinny since I am careful not to let it be tarnished and I clean it when I complete testing for the day. This nickel is valuable and I keep it in a safe place unless it is undergoing testing. I have been running my special 30 hour nickel for several hours this evening and it is apparent that it does not emit excess heat as compared to my control. I have made 6 test measurements this evening and they straddle the calibration line established earlier. I suspect that it will take more time to properly load the nickel before it has much chance of success. My current level is in line with those used in the palladium systems. The nickel has a diameter of 2.121 cm which makes it have an area of 3.533 square centimeters. I am keeping the electrolyte level at roughly one half of the nickel surface which means that my effective area is in the vicinity of 3.533 square centimeters since both sides are active. The edges come into play as well, but the difficulty in controlling the dept of the bath leaves the area estimate as rough. My current has been set to 1.97 amps so I end up with a current density of .5675 amps/square cm. I am surprised that these types of measurements can be repeated as well as I am detecting and I feel confident that I would be capable of seeing excess power if it were 5 to 10%. The fact that I do not see any excess power thus far does not mean that it will never show up in time. The surface of my nickel is not treated specially and it has not been given a great deal of time to become loaded so any conclusion would be premature. I am not confident that borax would be better than my electrolyte since hydrogen is the needed material and it shows up at the cathode in either case. The happenings at the anode only concern me when I detect strange effects due to the choice of materials. Borax lead to several bad deposits that screwed with the resistance and dirtied the bath while sodium carbonate did not seem to have any serious evils. I would recommend that others switch to sodium carbonate. My plan is to keep loading this special nickel and retesting for a while hoping for signs of success unless I decide it is time to surrender. I can outline my setup in more detail if it would be of interest to other members of the vortex. Dave
