Make your own batteries Video

Make your own batteries Video Transcript

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>> Justin, our product manager, sent me a link to Kip K's [phonetic] YouTube Video on hacking apart a 9 volt battery into 6 AAA replacements. So I had to try it for myself. Now a 9 volt batter is actually made up of 6, 1.5 volt cells. Those cells are actually AAAA size, but you can make them work in AAA compartments. Here's how. You're gonna need some needle nose pliers. And we're gonna pry apart the casing on this 9 volt battery. Now to do so you should be wearing gloves and you should be wearing something over your eyes. I know that one guy from Mail Bag said; it's not sexy or manly. But you know what? I want to keep my eyes. So here we go. You see that seam. You're gonna go for the seam side and get those needle nose pliers in under there. And then the way it worked best for me was just kind of wedge one side down and keep popping that thing open, at least on this kind. And just rip them apart. You're just trying to get that case apart. Now be careful you don't want to puncture those 1.5 cells. So don't dig too far in, just kind of work along the seam there. And just get that case open nice and easy. Now once you get it open you're gonna pull off these metal parts and this top part. You might want to save these though, because they may be useful later in making the AAA, or making these fit into AAA size. And you can just use the needle nose pliers. Be careful here, you don't want to puncture the cells; you just want to rip open the plastic. ^M00:01:43 [ silence ] ^M00:01:49

>> Now in this brand you get a nice little sausage link ring of cells. This is actually very handy, because you're gonna use this little metal in between in order to make it fit into the AAA compartment. Sometimes, like in this brand, if you pull them apart you get individual cells, and that's when you need to hold onto that extra bit of metal that comes out, so that you can work those in to make them fit. So before you put them into a AAA compartment, you're either gonna want to attach some metal, or if it's like this, bend that metal over to give it the extra room it needs and the conductivity to make it fit. Now one thing to remember when you get a regular AAA battery the bumpy side's positive and the flat sides negative. I found out in these 9 volts, the flat side's actually the positive side, and the bumpy side is negative. It's a little trial and error figured that out for me. Just show ya 2 of those cells. And you can see I just kind of bent just a little bit over, just so it has enough to look like a AAA battery, or not look like, but to fit like a AAA battery when you plug it in there. ^M00:02:56 [ silence ] ^M00:03:02

>> And you can see it works. Now you may or may not be saving money here, even if you save some it's not gonna be a lot. The cost of a 9 volt battery runs roughly 6 times as much as a single AAA. But in a pinch the 9 volt battery could come in handy. Just don't expect to use it as a 9 volt battery anymore after you do this. Now also via Kip K, the Energizer brand of A23, 12 volt battery, like this one, can be pried apart to reveal 8 of these button cell batteries. You can recognize these. They're useful for watches and other small load electronic devices. Now here you're saving money. The 12 volt is a couple of bucks. Each of these button cells can run about 5 bucks. So I'll put my protective gear back on. Just being safe. I want to set a good example for people. This one's a lot easier than the 12 volt actually. This is really just a case. There's nothing much going on with it. So it pulls apart really easy. And you don't have to do much. Once you get it open, look at that, like a roll of Smarties. You just got all 8 of those little single cells, each 1.5 volts. Ta da, it's like Halloween. So there you go. You got 8 of those things. You're saving at least 20 bucks depending on where you buy these. Now Rath Needleman [phonetic] pointed out you can actually order these online for a lot cheaper. But it's not a fun as pulling this stuff apart. Do be careful while you're pulling them apart. Wear the proper protective measure. And be careful not to slice yourself or slice open the battery, because battery acid is dangerous. But if you do it right you've got a little more flexibility, and you might save some money. That's it for now; I'm Tom Merrit, CNET.com. ^E00:04:51