lemon powered effects?

[darron]

just a thought. i have a lemon tree that produces more than i use.... what about a pedal with a couple of terminals at the top to stick a lemon on to power it? maybe like a maestro fuzz (1.5V).

has anybody tried something like this?

"hold on... i'm running out of juice..."

[markeebee]

How about a Big Meringue Pi ?

[darron]

i actually just googled that lol

[mac]

Invite some friends and make litres of Bikini Open, vodka, light rum, milk, sugar, ice and lemon    

IIRC you can get energy from potatoes as well.

mac

[darron]

next thing people will claim better tones from different fruits...

[cathexis]

  I tried lemon power once - it took six lemons to light an LED, and you had to look real close to see it... PLEASE, post pictures! 

[darron]

I tried lemon power once - it took six lemons to light an LED, and you had to look real close to see it... PLEASE, post pictures! 

well a lemon gives just under 1V... i've put 5/6 in series to light an LED, yes, very dim. the problem is current draw available isn't much, so it definitely couldn't have an LED.

i also tried a boost circuit off one or two lemons to go straight to 3-6V for the LED but not enough current.

but a couple of low draw transistors maybe... might give a lot of sag effect too! (:

[Gurner]

......be ideal to enter in a stompbox competition.....then a case of "Lemon entry my Dear Watson" (geddit?)

[kupervaser]

Meyb you could use a voltage doubler hahahah

[frequencycentral]

http://hilaroad.com/camp/projects/lemon/lemon_battery.html

[DC9V]

2 years ago I also ended up with more lemons than I could use.
I hadn't started to dabble in the occult realm of DIY effects yet.
So I made some limoncello instead (Here's a recipe -- very easy to make )
I made 12 bottles and offered one to each of the bands that played at a small concert I organized, and to each of the people who helped me with the organization.
So all in all, I still found a music-related way to use lemons

[BRingoC]

How's about a potato battery?  http://www.miniscience.com/projects/potatoelectricity/  This website says a potato generates up to 1.5v of power.  I would think a lemon would have difficulty establishing a connection because the cells inside would need to be broken open and allow the juice to flow around better and help the flow of things?  Obviously I have no idea what I'm talking about, but if you try to power a pedal, try rolling a lemon on the counter top so you sort of mash up the insides without breaking the rind, then measure the voltage, I'm thinking it might be higher, although probably negligibly.

[Morocotopo]

Don´t do it. Your music will end up sounding really acid.






Sorry, coudn´t resist.

[spectraljulian]

I've looked into this, and it just seems like a waste of good food. 

[PRR]

The actual voltage and energy comes from the two metals, not the fruit.

And the metals are consumed when current flows.

They are also consumed by lemon-acid even when no current flows.

So as a practical power source: use the cheapest metals with the highest voltage difference and the mildest juice with good conductivity. Zinc is cheap, carbon is cheap, damp charcoal and managnese dioxide is cheap. They sell this rig pre-made.

As a visual gimmick.... sure, several Nail/Penny/lemons in series will inexpensively power a small fuzz all night long, though may be looking, smelling, and sounding sour after a 3-day gig weekend.

Don't eat/drink the lemons afterward.  

[frequencycentral]

Don't eat/drink the lemons afterward.  

A friend of mine may have tried this and then eaten the lemons afterwards. What bad things will happen to me him?

[PRR]

I don't know. Metals in acids make all sorts of odd compounds.

At my house we don't cook acids (tomatoes) in aluminum pots, even though the surface of "aluminum" is really aluminum oxide, pretty inert stuff. (But if you wrap tomato pulp in aluminum foil you soon see how the acid eats the metal.)

OTOH, we stir lemonade with old worn silverware (copper under the silver-plate) and don't get sick.

Zinc (or "copper penny") may be trickier.

"Swallowing a post-1982 American one cent piece (97.5% zinc) can cause damage to the stomach lining due to the high solubility of the zinc ion in the acidic stomach." It also messes with your body's absorption of essential copper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc#Toxicity

So.... if the penny was in the lemon so long it mostly dissolved, that could be bad. OTOH kids eat pennies every day so this "damage" may not be severe. If the penny were just lightly acid-tarnished then the zinc investion would be quite small.

If you haven't done it yet, don't. If you did, and feel fine, don't fret.

[BubbaFet]

As my Italian-American grandmother used to say...
"When life hands-a you a dilemma, make-a dilemma-ade!"

[darron]

Meyb you could use a voltage doubler hahahah

i actually tried that, like from Geofex. no go... then i tripled it too. your best bet is to run them in series, but then also in parallel for more current.





BRingoC, you're hitting the nail on the head there! it actually makes as much sense talking about this than special capacitors and magic powder. people will side between lemons and potatos. i think lemons might give a bit more bight to your tone?

seriously, if potatoes give that bit more voltage it may be perfect for the maestro fuzz! can anybody suggest another low voltage low current fuzz? maybe with two transistors?

a boost would be cool, but i can't imagine a good 1.5V boost. maybe with heaps of feedback and clipping? or a darlington pair?


i hadn't heard of that limoncello before 9VDC.... but if i don't have to pull my still out of the garage then i don't think that it's challenging enough!
may make some marmalade or something though...

will you trade some limoncello for some germanium transistors or something? (:



make a potato boost. it doesn't do much, just like you'd expect from a potato. sounds really round though.... browns up your sound a bit...

has Aron moved this to OT yet? lol.... i had semi-serious intentions....

[mac]

A friend of mine may have tried this and then eaten the lemons afterwards. What bad things will happen to me him?

If you use a zinc coin and you eat the lemons afterwards your testosterone levels will increase. Your girlfriend/s will be very happy!!!    

mac