Nick McKenny & The Crystal Battery
The Next Step
Following Nick McKenny's original interview on The One Network, questions poured in about his "crystal battery" — a modified lead-acid car battery said to produce usable output long after a standard battery would be considered dead. This follow-up video and set of notes was filmed to answer those questions in more depth.
At the time, McKenny was preparing a full instructional video covering the entire conversion process — including how to safely neutralize and clean out the old battery acid — to be released alongside a crowd-funding campaign supporting further testing and development.
Nick's Notes
A standard lead-acid car battery is built with thin lead plates designed for a short, high-amperage burst — good for starting an engine, not for sustained output. A deep-cycle battery, by contrast, uses thicker plates for a steadier draw over time. McKenny's process starts with a completely cleaned-out battery, with all traces of acid neutralized using baking soda and water, added gradually.
Into the cleaned battery, McKenny introduces a paste made from four ground and combined salts:
- Potassium Chloride (potash)
- Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom salt)
- Aluminum Sulfate (alum)
- Borax (soap)
The mixture is poured into the clean battery using a small vibrating table, built from a power sander, to help it settle evenly around the plates.
The Theory
McKenny's explanation centers on a galvanic reaction: when dissimilar metals are in contact, a voltage forms as part of the corrosion process. He believes the combined salts generate voltage on their own, while oxidation on the surface of the lead plates adds further output — with the plates behaving something like capacitors. In his view, this also explains why standard car batteries degrade with age: shrinking surface area and lead volume reduce the oxidation available to sustain output.
McKenny's longer-term goal was to move beyond retrofitted car batteries entirely — designing and 3D-printing a purpose-built case with alternating copper and magnesium plates.
Adapted from the original December 2014 write-up. Full original article and comments archived at Removing The Shackles.