Could it be something like this? That has been cut down...I dunno haha cant think of anything else.

It looks like it was something either over or under a cluster of small batteries, maybe AA up to D size. I can't tell from pic because there is no size reference.
They might have been simply in storage or they might have been used to power something, although it would be unlikely to have so many connected in parallel. Normally you would just use a bigger battery.
So my guess is they were just in storage.
The remains of one of the batteries can still be seen in the pic foreground.
The centre rod is the centre electrode. If it's very old it will be a black carbon rod.
These old zinc - carbon batteries had a very corrosive electrolye in them so when they got old and leaked they could chew into whatever was surrounding them.

Im with buster and pweedas on this one Looks like a box of batteries.! Carbon rod kinda gives it away. Think the green maybe a copper vent ball?

Just don't stick it on a fire i doubt that its unexploded ordanance else it would have more copper and lead .but you never know. Just be careful how you handle it.

They look too long to be batteries???

I wouldn't trust an internet troll Muppet like me.

Be on the safe side.



www.defence.gov.au/uxo/



Actions on finding a suspicious item

If an Item is found - DO NOT TOUCH IT. This includes making any attempt to move the item to a 'safe' location.
Mark the location so that it can be found later. Coloured tape or paint make easily recognised marker material.
Inform the property owner, park ranger, prime contractor, site foreman or site supervisor of the find.
Inform the Police that a possible ammunition item has been found. They will instigate a request for Defence personnel to attend and dispose of the item.

AnthonyG said..

pweedas said.. I can't tell from pic because there is no size reference.

Approx size of individual part is 90mm x 25mm (see circled pic)

So that would make it a cluster of D size batteries.
So my guess is it was a box of D size batteries for a torch or something similar.
Probably it was a box of new ones which got forgotten, or sometimes people saved up old ones, because those old type regenerated a bit if you left them for a few days. Then you forgot about them and discovered a year later, they had leaked everywhere and threw out the whole box.

The same structure went right up to the old 1.5 volt PMG sized battery, about 3 inch diameter and 9 inches high, which were originally used for telephones but then went into wide use to power the filament circuit in old valve type portable radios in the 1930's to the late 1950's. They were made obsolete by transistor radios and so after that were used for glow plug power supply for starting model aircraft engines. Even that use was made obsolete by the small ni-mh batteries, so I don't know if they are even made any more.

pweedas said.. to power the filament circuit in old valve type portable radios in the 1930's to the late 1950's.

Thanks very much. I also posted the same question on the grey nomads forum and got this reply;

quote "Remains of very old 45V battery pack for valve radio" unquote

grey nomads are a great resource for technical questions.

cheers

busterwa said..
I wouldn't trust an internet troll Muppet like me.Be on the safe side.www.defence.gov.au/uxo/

Actions on finding a suspicious item

If an Item is found - DO NOT TOUCH IT. This includes making any attempt to move the item to a 'safe' location.

Mark the location so that it can be found later. Coloured tape or paint make easily recognised marker material.

Inform the property owner, park ranger, prime contractor, site foreman or site supervisor of the find.

Inform the Police that a possible ammunition item has been found. They will instigate a request for Defence personnel to attend and dispose of the item.

Nah,.. touch it all you like. It's 100 % definitely batteries., and so old that any electrolyte would have long ago been neutralised.

If you find anything else suspicious, remember,.. always ask here first.
If nobody here knows then it's almost certainly an alien artefact from an earlier colonisation of the earth. , and

Keep looking around, you might find the rest of Macroscien's solar powered cat.

DARTH said..

They look too long to be batteries???

They look like 'F' size to me.

hard to tell but they look more like zinc anodes.