Make a Lead Battery

This two part video goes over the procedure for testing and inspecting lead acid batteries. A machine is required to test the battery itself. You can do the visual test at home, and then bring it to an auto parts store for the machine test part. Part 1 of 2 - How to Test and i ...more

Walt Barr shows you all the steps to test and recondition automotive lead/acid batteries on one video.

See how to power an LED with a lemon battery.

What happens when you need to build a fire, but you forgot your matches and lighter? What if you don't know the fire-plow method, the bow and drill method, or even the flint and steel method (not that you would have flint, because you forgot your lighter)? Watch this survival ...more

Save tons of money by building your own LED pen that works with a multitouch smart board / whiteboard. You'll also need a WiiMote (Wii Remote) to use in conjunction with your homemade LED pens that you'll be making in this video. To get started with this awesome project, you'l ...more

Learn how to make LED ice cubes with this tutorial! Steps: First take LEDs of any color and test it with a small battery. Then take a ice tray and a strip containing holes in which the LEDs can easily fixed. Now take Resin and Hardener solutions and stir them. Now place the LE ...more

Light up your world with these beautiful and easy-to-make illuminated LED balloons. You will need: 1 ten mm non-diffused LED balloon duct tape two CR2032 3v Lithium coin batteries optional: helium These LED balloons are awesome. Cool for parties.

Materials needed: Altoid mint tin, 9 volt batter and connector, switch, 7812 voltage regulator, 12 volt computer fan, carbon filter and 2 pieces of screen. Wire the battery connectors. Solder all of the following: Negative connector to the switch, wire to the switch, ground wi ...more

In this Electronics video tutorial you will learn how to build and use a tinyCylon kit. The kit contains a battery pack, a PCB, LEDs, resistor, a momentary switch and a screw. The long end of the LEDs will go into the square shaped contacts. Don’t push the LEDs right up to t ...more

Simple yet effective, capacitors come in a dizzying array of forms and materials, vital to so many circuits for storage, timing, and filtration - the mighty capacitor! In this installment of the MAKE presents series, Collin Cunningham explains - how to build a Leyden jar, how ...more

Warning: this video does not demonstrate the actual instructions for making this spooky Halloween LED light up pumpkin that blasts a truck horn. Check out http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/10/howto_tuesday_scariest_pu.html for more information and a complete build process. ...more

An emergency battery charger for your mobile phone comes in handy, but it's not the ultimate solution; once it's dead it's useless (what a waste). If you want to really get off the metaphorical grid, you can follow the steps in this video to construct a more robust circuit tha ...more

This two-part video introduces you to the breadboard, also called a protoboard, used to build electronic circuits without soldering. The first part of this presentation describes the features of a breadboard. The second video continues by showing you how a breadboard is used ...more

What's an LED Throwie? Watch this video and find out how to light up your neighborhood using colorful LED's and magnets! Yet another great idea for creating neighborhood art from Graffiti Research Lab. LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surf ...more

In order to make a retro wireless handset, you will need the following: vintage handset, a momentary switch, a resister, a Blue tooth headset, wires, a drill, and a blue LED and mount. Disassemble the blue tooth head set. Then, disassemble the handset. Remove all of the wires ...more

Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make a lithium thionyl chloride battery, which is capable of generating 2.8v with enough current to power a LED. Warning: Thionyl Chloride is EXTREMELY toxic and this experiment must be performed in a fumehood by an e ...more

Watch as Novastar and Gundamaniac demonstrate detailed wiring for a crystal focus board for Star Wars Lightsabers! Making your very own Jedi Light Saber may be a daunting task if you don't know what you're doing, but this four-part video tutorial will save the day from evil fo ...more

This detailed video series shows you everything you need to do to install an LED lighting gauge cluster in your Volkswagen MK4 (Jetta, Gulf, or GTI). Part 1 starts with disconnecting the battery, Part 2 has you remove the interior cluster, Part 3 you disassemble the instrument ...more

Richpin demonstrates how to test an alternator with a standard multimeter. First make sure that the vehicle's battery is fully charged. Take the negative lead of the multimeter and put it on the negative post of the battery. Place the positive lead of the meter on the positive ...more

The SSC P7 Flashlight is a tactical torch that's pretty bright at 900LM. But, it's totally possible to make it just a little brighter. The SSR-50 LED puts out about 1200LM. The MET Light, SSC P7 C can be modified with a new SSR-50 LED. Using the SSR50 LED, brightness will be ...more

OK master spy, it's time to get your lurk on. If you're going to be spying, you'll need to be able to spy at night. This video will show you how-to make your very own night vision goggles so you can keep up with your mark well after the sun goes down. You'll need a 9V battery, ...more

To make a glowing ice bulb, like the one in this how-to video, you need LEDs, batteries, wire, a balloon, and electrical tape. First, you connect the led to the wires. Then, you put the LED in the balloon, fill the balloon with water and freeze it. Once frozen, remove the ball ...more

What a unique bow. Your gifts will be beautiful under the Christmas tree. Materials you will need are: plastic wrap, hot glue, LEDs, scissors, pliers duct tape, glue gun and glue, toothpicks and 3 volt batteries. First you take the plastic wrap and cut it about 5 times the siz ...more

This video demonstrates a great way to take rust off of metal piece that are hard to clean by hand. You will need a plastic bucket, a wire hanger, and a battery charger. In the bucket mix one gallon of water and one tablespoon of washing soda. You can make washing soda in the ...more

Kipkay shows you how to make a magic lightbulb like the magicians use. Great practical joke or prank. All you need is a couple of lightbulbs, an LED and some batteries.

In this clip, learn how to make super powerful 9 volt LED flashlights using things you most likely already have around the house. You will make these mini-lights out of things like batteries and scrap wires. So, dig around in your garage and see what you can find to get starte ...more

In this video, learn how to make a Pandora battery with the original PSP slim battery. To complete this tutorial, you will need your PSP, scissors, electrical tape, an Exacto knife, and a lead pencil with an eraser. Note: In order to know which line to cut, the videomaker has ...more

In this video we manage to power a clock with nothing but two potatoes. In order to make this you will need two potatoes, a triple A battery powered clock, bare wire, galvanized nails, and leads, which you can find at radio shack. The clock is powered by the potato battery.

If you have an older battery charger and it works apart from having worn out terminals or frayed wiring, don't throw it away. Overhaul it with new wires, a plug and clip leads. This costs about $15 at the most instead of the $50 for a new unit. So watch this automotive repair ...more

Want to put some electronics into your terrain piece or diorama? LED lights are great. You can use tiny watch batteries, which are small and efficient. LED lights are cheap, they come in colours, and you can find them in all kinds of broken gadgets. Watch this instructional vi ...more

Here is a great project that teaches you how to make a wireless sensor bar for the Wii with just 2 LED lights and 2 batteries.

See how to do electrolysis of water with graphite (lead from a pencil). The positive side has oxygen bubble, and the negative side has hydrogen bubble. Just get a 9V dry cell battery.

This demonstrates how to wire a 555 timer chip for Pulse Width Modulation. Items used: solderless breadboard, 555 chip, 510 ohm resistor, 100k ohm variable resistor, 1 RGB LED at 20-25ma, wires, and 9v battery. And those vertical lines are what i mean in terms of what you can ...more

A basic instruction for electronic enthusiasts. I use an RGB LED and a 510 ohm resistor as I may change from 6 to 9 volts later, but with my LEDs i could go as low as 330 ohms. I sacrifice some brightness for the sake of longer life. To choose your resistor, the value in ohms ...more

Hack a car photo to be a really awesome decorative object for your home or office at a very low cost. It's also really fun to make! All it takes is a few LED lights and a 9V battery.

With the first installment of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" out, don't be surprised if you find yourself more than ever wanting to whip out a twelve inch phoenix feather wand and wrist twirl your way to defeating your own personal Voldemort. While this video won't tea ...more