YouTuber powers a desktop PC with 192 AA batteries
A desktop PC doesn’t necessarily need to be plugged into a socket. YouTuber Uwos Lab powers his computer with 192 AA batteries and is even able to run the system stably during a stress test.
Latest from the ‘ «’ category: funny sh*t I saw on the internet»: Three homemade wooden boxes full of AA batteries are powering a desktop PC at Uwos Lab. The 192 alkaline cells are enough to boot up the system, put the processor under full load and run a game.
In his video, Uwos Lab shows how he built the battery boxes and then puts the unusually powered PC into operation.
Originally, the hobbyist had bought 400 batteries for the experiment. He ended up needing less than half that number. He distributed the batteries he used across three homemade enclosures, each containing 64 batteries. Recesses in the wood hold them in place, whilst contact surfaces and clips connect them to one another.
However, the setup carries risks: the batteries, connected in parallel, can deliver a high current in the event of a short circuit. Faulty contacts or overloaded wires can become very hot in such a situation. You should therefore not attempt to replicate this experiment without the relevant specialist knowledge.
Eight batteries produce twelve volts
An AA alkaline battery has a nominal voltage of 1.5 volts. Uwos Lab connects eight cells in series to achieve the 12 volts required by his PC. He then connects several of these series in parallel. This keeps the voltage constant whilst increasing the current and capacity.
Source: Uwos Lab / Youtube
The YouTuber does not use an inverter or a conventional PC power supply. Instead, he connects the battery pack to a DC-ATX adapter. This converts the DC voltage supplied into the voltages required by the motherboard and the other components.
The computer used is based on AMD’s AM4 platform. There is no separate graphics card in the system. There is also no internal drive. The operating system boots from a USB stick. Uwos Lab does not provide any further details about the processor or the other components.
«Hannah Montana Linux» undergoing a stress test
In keeping with the absurd setup, the YouTuber has opted for «Hannah Montana Linux» as the operating system. Released in 2009, the distribution is based on Ubuntu and features a visual style inspired by the Disney series of that time.
Source: Uwos Lab / Youtube
Uwos Lab then puts the processor under load using the programme «stress-ng». The utilisation rises to around 98 per cent. During this, the voltage drops from around 13 volts to just under 12 volts and subsequently remains at this level. The PC does not crash during the test. In addition, the YouTuber launches the free retro game «FreeDoom».
After half an hour, Uwos Lab concludes the documented test. The batteries are not yet flat at this point. He suspects that the computer could continue running for at least another hour, but does not check this.
This is already Uwos Lab’s second attempt to power a desktop PC using standard batteries. An earlier setup using 9-volt zinc-carbon batteries failed after just a few seconds. This time, using AA alkaline batteries and the DC-ATX adapter, the computer ran stably at least during the half-hour test.
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