Help with dry cell

[VanHalen]

O K I finally have completed a half decent dry cell. It consists of 7 Lowes 304ss blanks with plumbers pack gasket. I did my first test a bit ago and didn't get at all what I was looking for, and my water turned this nasty green color. My reservoir is a milk jug with a high and low valve, the high not submerged, connected to the dry cell with a high and low valve. I ran for about 5 minutes and saw about 3 bubbles. I didn't check amps, my meter was malfunctioning. So here's some questions-

A. I applied a test light and saw that from each side(+ and -), the first 4 plates had juice. Is this because of a short, or is this showing my concentration of electrolyte isn't strong enough(I had quite a bit)?

B-I only see production from one end plate, and can see a little from the neutrals. Why is this?

C-My cells turned the water greenish, is this normal and they just need to be conditioned?

D- Any other info that I can get is well appreciated.

Thanks in advance, VanHalen

-Think Ill go read painless's thread again while I'm waiting, maybe find some answers there...

[Painless]

I'm going to guess that your electrolyte wasn't strong enough, I dropped using the plumbers pack for that reason. The gap is too big for a dry cell.

When I used the plumbers pack I needed about 6 teaspoons of KOH in a 3rd of a gallon of water.

You will have much more success using PVC shower pan liner 0.040" thick as gaskets.

[VanHalen]

Wow I didn't figure it make that much difference, but I'll take your word. Ill pick some up this weekend and see how that goes. Thanks :)

[Painless]

Wow I didn't figure it make that much difference, but I'll take your word. Ill pick some up this weekend and see how that goes. Thanks :)

I shared the same surprise when I discovered that, you'll find the shower pan liner in Lowes in the plumbing section, you can either buy it from the roll or they do a huge piece for about $28.

Keep your plumbers pack though, I use mine between the end plates and the non-producing edges so I can see the water level in the cell.

[hitf]

The green **** in the water is coming from your metal, I had the same problem once and found that the steel I was using wasn't stainless. I guess that yours is not either, I don't think that Lowes sells stainless. Althought I'm sure they can order it.