I'm stumped! Help!

[Terabyte2007]

This may be a stupid request to some, but what the hell is this? I was sorting a box of spare parts I received from someone and came across several of these. They do not seem to have any resistance, don't respond to light or heat, have no capacitance but have a Red and Black wire which indicates possible polarity???

Help!!!, not critical but curious...

[Alana]

Colour and that trace on dark side may suggest its some sort of photocell. Try to mesure voltage while its lit and while its dark.

[Terabyte2007]

Colour and that trace on dark side may suggest its some sort of photocell. Try to mesure voltage while its lit and while its dark.

I thought it might well be also, but there was no resistance. It was essentially and open circuit. Tried light, dark, etc...

[BravoV]

Set your meter to Volt or mV mode instead of resistance mode.

[Terabyte2007]

Set your meter to Volt or mV mode instead of resistance mode.

Tried that, nothing. But gave it a go again, and I get nothing but a few uV of random noise. No change to thermal, light, etc.

[kxenos]

They are probably peltier plates. It makes a voltage differential, into a temperature one and vice-versa

[Terabyte2007]

They are probably peltier plates. It makes a voltage differential, into a temperature one and vice-versa

Ahh yes, a possibility... I can test them for this. Cool, thanks!

[liquibyte]

I have a peltier and I don't think that's what this is.  Maybe a flex / pressure sensor?

[Terabyte2007]

Just tried the temp dif, another fail!

Placed about -10 on the one side and heat on the other and no change.

[Terabyte2007]

I have a peltier and I don't think that's what this is.  Maybe a flex / pressure sensor?

I'll look into that also. I can't believe I am spending so much time on these, I guess it's just the mystery!   

[Terabyte2007]

Not a flex or pressure either. Damn, oh well.

[jolshefsky]

I'm going with the safe bet: "broken".

It looks a lot like an old solar cell to me, but that doesn't mean much.

If you flex it, does it make a voltage? Then it might be a piezo element...

[Terabyte2007]

I'm going with the safe bet: "broken".

It looks a lot like an old solar cell to me, but that doesn't mean much.

If you flex it, does it make a voltage? Then it might be a piezo element...

Flexing does nothing. I am thinking "Broken" too!

[SeanB]

You might need a lot of light on it, like direct sunlight while measuring both resistance and voltage to see if it is a photocell. Some are pretty poor at operating unless they are illuminated by noon sun.

Edit, what you might have there is a single cell emergency battery, try dipping it in a salt solution, a teaspoon of salt in a glass of cold water and dip the cell in it and it should generate about 1V or so at around 1mA, enough to operate a clock mech or charge a capacitor to run a flasher. Clue is an expiry date of 2022..

[Terabyte2007]

You might need a lot of light on it, like direct sunlight while measuring both resistance and voltage to see if it is a photocell. Some are pretty poor at operating unless they are illuminated by noon sun.

Yeah, I tried it directly with my 3k lumen torch and got no response. Unfortunately, the weather sucks here right now, and we have noooo sun! I'm starting to lose interest, I have to decide when to just throw in the towel since they were free! 

[Jon86]

Maybe a piezo, try hitting it quite hard?
It could be anything really, probably some weird custom part for a specific product. Where did you find it?

[Terabyte2007]

Maybe a piezo, try hitting it quite hard?
It could be anything really, probably some weird custom part for a specific product. Where did you find it?

I was given a large box of misc components, and these were found. I never seen anything quite like these before, and I have seen thousands of components in my time.

[Rick Law]

This may be a stupid request to some, but what the hell is this? I was sorting a box of spare parts I received from someone and came across several of these....

Help!!!, not critical but curious...

Yikes!  Looks like an NSA listening device to me...

Have you said anything "interesting" near it? .......... What?  You said THAT! ......... Get your financial records ready; Watch for letters from the IRS; an audit is coming...


Sorry, couldn't resist...

[Stonent]

I almost want to say some kind of antenna for something where they're not worried about distance or bandwidth.
Or some kind of capacitive touch strip.

[SeanB]

Try dipping it in a salt solution. I thought later and edited to say it might be a battery, seeing as it has an expiry date in the region of 2022.

[TheBay]

Some form of moisture sensor?

[Skimask]

I was going to say fluorescent light is practically useless on solar panels.

[Terabyte2007]

Yikes!  Looks like an NSA listening device to me...   

[Terabyte2007]

This is certainly a mystery. I can usually identify a device using all my test gear within a very short time, but this one eludes me! After thinking a bit about it last night, here are my thoughts:

- Aluminum Plate (Negative or Black Wire, Possibly a ground plane )
- Small conductor strip with solder mask or epoxy coating of some sort. (Red wire tied to small conductive strip isolated from the metal plate, Antenna of some sort?)
- No Voltage
- No Current
- Not Light Sensative
- Not Temp, Flex or Vibration sensitive.

I am thinking Antenna. Without doing the exact calculations, the length would probably place it in the 3-5GHz range depending on 1/4, 1/2 or full wave. This is my last experiment today with this hopeless little device. I am going to check it with my BK FC on the 50OHm input and see if it has any resonant response. It may, just because it is a crude exposed wire with a ground plane which may not prove anything, but the curiosity has got the best of me on this one.

[SArepairman]

salt solution


or

measure capacitance change? it could be a sensor which outputs capacitance.

or use a electrometer. it might be gigaohms.