Comments on: Unitasker Wednesday: Battery eater

By: Madison

Madison — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:47:43 +0000

you can also recycle batteries at any Whole Foods Market!!! Go green and recycle! <3 mother nature

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:22:08 +0000

OK, I figured it out, the problem isn’t so much with the device which was designed by David Dear (see http://www.kikkerland.com/designers/dear.html). Most of what he designs is kind of kooky and whimsical. I think I will get his “Will Be Back” clock. The problem comes in marketers trying to come up with a purpose for the thing when the original idea was probably just to design something fun. So basically it’s a whimsical magnet that only uses leftover power from a ‘dead’ battery. Still, it’s a unitasker that I don’t need.

By: Rae

Rae — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:04:41 +0000

@ Johnny – Your comment was fantastic. Thanks!

By: John of Indiana

John of Indiana — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:59:51 +0000

Looks a little bit like some kind of electric Domo-Kun…
If you want something that really “eats batteries” and gives you fun at the same time, get one of those Air Hogs mini-helicopters…

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:31:06 +0000

@michi: If you really want to know which batteries to use, get yourself a multimeter, read the instructions, and you’ll be wanting to test every battery in the house for the fun of it. Good batteries will read >= 1.2 volts, like pmaage said.

By: pmaage

pmaage — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:03:28 +0000

@michi: No, it will not let you know which batteries you can use, since it will run on batteries that only have 0.5 Volts left. Most “useful” devices will quit when the voltage drops below 1.2 Volts. (+/- 0.1)
So your fresh batteries will power this thing and your dead batteries very probably will too.

By: michi

michi — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:26:20 +0000

Well, despite the description, I would find this pretty useful. I have a few batteries floating about in some drawers in my desk and I can’t remember which are fresh and which are dead.

I think I’m still in shock from the horrible look of the thing.

This delightfully unattractive device would let me know which batteries still had juice, without me trying out every possible combo of four and using some painful logic.

By: Lynoure Braakman

Lynoure Braakman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:09:10 +0000

http://www.instructables.com/i.....oule-Thief has instructions for making your own, and it’s much cuter and cuddlier. I think this has a task of working as a night light for a kid, or helping a person find their way through a dark room without waking up their spouse. Plus it is a doll.

By: Zoya

Zoya — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:35:28 +0000

Could be used as a night light in a toilet/kid’s bedroom as an alternative to plug-in light. Poor kids would be terrified .

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:40:47 +0000

Back in the days of nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries, they used to develop a memory if you didn’t regularly discharge them fully. In that case, this device is very useful, and doubled the life expectancy of those batteries.
It’s not a relevant issue for today’s NiMH batteries.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:21:35 +0000

Re: Adam

Ikea recycles non-rechargeable batteries in a bin in the lobby near the furniture pick-up area. If you don’t have an Ikea near you, call your streets department to see if they do a pickup. Usually they’ll do a pick up/drop off at least twice a year.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:34:58 +0000

As an aside, does anyone know where you can recycle non-rechargeable batteries? I used to save them to recycle but it became a mess as they began to corrode.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:20:56 +0000

If its also a magnet technically its a dualtasker right?! But if a devise does two tasks inadequately does that mean its adds up to a unitasker, or a terrible dualtasker?!

By: Margaret

Margaret — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:31:25 +0000

lol i actually have this. It amused me so much in the store… the hardest part was explaining it to the Security Guards at the air port!

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:48:03 +0000

You can’t ever drain *all* the charge from a battery, so why not stop when it no longer powers your devices?