Hobo Jungle

[rogruth]

I think I am already in too deep.
Just throw some dirt[not The Dirt]over what can still be seen.

[britbloke]

Unbelievable! They outlaw chemical equipment here? Jesus, you should have seen my lab when I was a youngster! Those were the days when you could buy all your explosive ingredients at the ironmongers and nobody ever asked you why you wanted a gallon of concentrated nitric acid!

There's an Arthur Ransome story, (Swallowdale?) one of the 'Swallows and Amazons' set in which one of the characters, Dick wants to find out if the specks of gold in his discovered mine are gold or iron pyrites. So he mixes up some aqua regia not realising that just about anything will dissolve in that!

Well that was me at age twelve, we had real chemistry lessons in school and I often went home and tried it for myself, like the fountain experiment which our teacher tried three times to demonstrate and it never did work properly. So in this country I'd have been up before the beaks, no doubt?

They probably wouldn't have much cared for my liquid fuelled experimental rocket motor either, Dad didn't, he had to have the garage roof re-tiled after it blew at full power, it was working fine till muggins decided to give it full throttle. Dad came charging down the garden (the garage was at the end of the back yard) saying "Christ! I thought a grenade had gone off"

Back in my youth you could still find leftover WW2 ordnance lying around all over the place, well, you know, when I say 'lying around' I mean in forgotten Nissan huts and depots that sort of place.

[healey36]

As a youth, the only thing I recall doing was throwing strips of magnesium into the toilet in my parent's master bath...my brothers and I used to love watching the results. My mother was typically outraged by such shenanigans. The old man...you better run for it...

Healey

[rogruth]

Mike,

"Nissan huts" = garage

[webenda]

Roger,

USAuns would call a Nissan hut a Quonset hut, although the ends are not constructed the same. Many were covered with dirt and used for munition storage.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Unbelievable! They outlaw chemical equipment here? Jesus, you should have seen my lab when I was a youngster! Those were the days when you could buy all your explosive ingredients at the ironmongers and nobody ever asked you why you wanted a gallon of concentrated nitric acid!

Not only the equipment, but the chemicals as well - meth labs for one come to mind. The list of restricted chemicals that I have to fill out forms to get for my labs is quite long.

Nitric acid, and you are surprised? Nitrating glycerol anyone??

Ammonium nitrate (fertilizer) is controlled and traceable now.....

So he mixes up some aqua regia not realising that just about anything will dissolve in that!

Just what some kid would do and end up in an emergency room........

Well that was me at age twelve, we had real chemistry lessons in school.........

A few years later for me - 2 years of chemistry with real labs in high school. Not sure if anything like that is available now - regulations, insurance, and disposal costs are beyond most school systems.

[webenda]

[rogruth]

Wayne,

To me the above picture could be a "what is it?".

So what is it/are they?LEDs?

[webenda]

Roger,

Twenty eight LED lights removed from a 28 LED flashlight purchased at Walgreens Drugstore for $3.50.

It was a rather nice aluminum flashlight too. I felt bad using it for parts for my trains.

[HONDO74]

Twenty eight LED lights removed from a 28 LED flashlight purchased at Walgreens Drugstore for $3.50.

Wow, less than 2 cents each for the LED's. How much do LED's cost if you buy them individually ??

So do you have an intended project for them ?

Robert

[webenda]

Robert,

Your math is a little off.

Individual LED prices are all over the map. I paid $1.10 each for Radio Shack 276-017 white LEDs. Radio shack also sells 276-1622, 20 LEDs for 21 cents each. I did not find any white LEDs in the 20 pack.

My first project is experimenting with them. I already blew up two of the Radio Shack LEDs. Those guys on CTT Forum that claim they run them on AC with no diode must be sniffing too much ozone. It doesn't work.

Second project is to put lights in cheap Lionel locomotives that came without lights. You might have already seen my Lionel 41 Army Turbine Switcher.

[rogruth]

I think Robert misplaced a decimal point.

[HONDO74]

I think Robert misplaced a decimal point.

Roger, come to think of it, I have a lot of misplaced decimal points.

Wayne, this will be interesting to see what you come up with for making these work. Please keep us informed.

Robert

[darsenau]

Individual LED prices are all over the map. I paid $1.10 each for Radio Shack 276-017 white LEDs. Radio shack also sells 276-1622, 20 LEDs for 21 cents each. I did not find any white LEDs in the 20 pack.

My first project is experimenting with them. I already blew up two of the Radio Shack LEDs. Those guys on CTT Forum that claim they run them on AC with no diode must be sniffing too much ozone. It doesn't work.

Wayne, if you are using two LEDs there is no need for the diode, you can wire them pos to pos and they will act as a diode foe the other.

[webenda]

Thank you Don. Two LEDs in parallel, anode to cathode, is very efficient with components.
Used on AC, both LEDs are illuminated whenever the LED voltage (or more) is reached.
Used on DC, there is automatic switching, illuminating only the LED in direction of travel.

TwoLEDmethodQ.png (13.7 KiB) Viewed 2119 times

P.S. LEDs are diodes.
P.P.S. They are wired Pos to Neg to act as diodes for each other.