Big Freakin' Batteries

[xwingband]

Okies, I've gotten a few questions on batteries since I made a C-sized li-ion pack in killphil's saber. I really think they're useful because flashlight people are pushing capacity and all that good stuff.

So here I think we should have the one stop place for BFB (Big Freakin' Batteries)! I don't know about you but the possibility of running for hours on a single charge beats the junk out of 30 minutes of brightness. I'd rather run a III or K2 for 5 hours and laugh while still thrashing someone who's saber is already long dead. :)

So...

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3985

Barry! A FF sized li-ion set. 5000mAh of power. At 1.25" diamter this one is a beast! For the right saber it could kick butt and take names though.

CPF is being a pain so I'll add some of those later...

[xwingband]

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?p=2069089#post2069089

Those are the c-sized ones I used before.

This dealer also has a thread setup in the forum for other "normal" sized cells. I got some 14650's which are nice. They're longer than AA's but are the same diameter.

[Hasid Lafre]

A c sized battery would be nice but at 1.25" wouldent it be a bit diffacult to fit it in the mhs? how you gonna wrap the negative wire back up to fit thru the mhs?

[xwingband]

A c sized battery would be nice but at 1.25" wouldent it be a bit diffacult to fit it in the mhs? how you gonna wrap the negative wire back up to fit thru the mhs?

The FF's are 1.25".... 65mm long though. That's kind of the point, they're big! They're also 5000mAh so you trade size for the capacity.

The C's are 25500's. So they're AA length but 1" in diameter. They'll fit in most MHS parts no problem. So compared to 18650's in a stick they're much better. They're higher capacity (3300mAh vs 2400mAh) and shorter yet fatter. Shorter yet fatter is not bad though because you can't stack well on top of the 18650's anyway.

[Hasid Lafre]

Ok I dont think ya got it.

You know how on most batterypacks a wire has to move up the side of the battery/pack? IF the battery is the same or close to the same od as the mhs id then how you gonna fit it in the saber body with that one wire getting in the way?

Maybe if I had a pic or somethng to see how it would be done then yeah lets go for it.

[xwingband]

Well, MHS isn't the only way to get a saber done...

You either wouldn't use it in an MHS section or you'd have to do some custom work.

My thoughts are if it fit your design you could cut out a line in the MHS all the way through and cover it with a sinktube shroud. Be creative! Look ate the specs... I didn't post this to say it's the only way to go. I just wanted to present the option that you can get crazy runtimes if you work it out.

BUT again that applies to the FF's only. C's will fit even with wires in a MHS section no problem.

[Hasid Lafre]

Ok thats what I was wondering

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Of course, if you do a "Flange-type saber" like this:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/My%20Second%20Chrome%20MHS%20and%20Hardware%20Sabe r/2nd-MHS-hardware-saber-20.jpg
There'd be plenty of room for those Big Freakin' Batteries!

[Atomic]

Cool stuff. Just 1 of those C batteries could direct drive a LuxIII for quite a bit. I bet a C would fit into a 1.25 sink tube as well. Just think of the run times if there were two wired in parallel...

[Novastar]

Another solution to the whole "wires need to run down the side"... sand or grind down a portion of the inner diameter of an MHS.

Now sure, you can't really do that on CERTAIN MHS parts (such as the "grenade"-like grip one)... but... welcome to planning, design, organization & structure 101. :)

BTW, THANKS X-wing, this whole "C-Cell Li-Ion" is something I've been wanting to explore with a saber for some time. They even have a D-Cell!! Daaanng.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

So the C-sized ones in your second link would fit ok in most MHS parts but that same link says they are 3.7v nominal...I can see that working out fine for the dark side Lux IIIs that run 2.95v and the Cree which is rated at 3.7V but what about the light side Lux IIIs and K2s that are specified for 3.8 or higher according to the resistor chart here? Would they still work with the 3.7v C-cized cells and would it make a difference whether you were using resistors or drivers???

[xwingband]

You'd have to direct drive or make a 7.2V pack with them.

Obviously these aren't just "slap 'em in" batteries. You'd have to be thoughtful on their use and space.

[Novastar]

So the C-sized ones in your second link would fit ok in most MHS parts but that same link says they are 3.7v nominal...I can see that working out fine for the dark side Lux IIIs that run 2.95v and the Cree which is rated at 3.7V but what about the light side Lux IIIs and K2s that are specified for 3.8 or higher according to the resistor chart here? Would they still work with the 3.7v C-cized cells and would it make a difference whether you were using resistors or drivers???Funny you mention this... the short answer is YES, you can indeed power an LED that is rated at 3.8 or 3.9 volts forward... with a "3.6/3.7v" rated Li-Ion.

The long answer with the reasoning is:

* 3.6 or 3.7v "rated"... amounts to 4.2v REALTIME on a full charge
* from there, the voltage will slowly fall as the drain occurs
* you can do this "direct drive"--NO RESISTOR--with an LED that is "looking" for 3.7 to 3.9v.
* in the beginning, you will technically be slightly over-driving... but as minutes pass... normal/nominal... and as much time passes--less than nominal.

Using a resistor for a 3.7v Li-Ion batt to an LED wanting 3.8 or 3.9v... is just ridiculous and doesn't help--it actually HINDERS.

Finally--I have a Red-O Lux III with an FX board in a particular saber... and it runs SOLELY off of ONE single Li-Ion 3.6v 18650 cell. It looks just fine... in fact--I think it's one of the best Lux III red-Os I gots!! heheh... but... it *IS* being under-driven. So what though... it's pretty tough for me to tell visually. Honestly.

[Malaki Skywalker]

Speaking of BIG battery packs, I may have a question, if i make an 8AAA 9.6V NiMH pack, with 1800mAh, how long can I pull out the right current for a Lux V driven by a CF?

I saw the saber that Xwing done for Roys Blues and like the idea of a small pack powering a lux V, also seeing as space is a problem for my Infurious saber this will help, cheers :D

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

Thanks for posting this. These would be great in my Enigma saber. The way I designed it, I could use two of the c-sized ones and still fit a CF and speaker.

[Lord Maul]

Malaki, you'll be looking at around 2 hours of run time.

[Malaki Skywalker]

Malaki, you'll be looking at around 2 hours of run time.

Swheeeet! :p Cheers LM ;)

[xwingband]

Malaki, you'll be looking at around 2 hours of run time.

Yeah, probably a bit more. I don't believe there are 1800 mAh AAA's though. I've only seen 1000mAh as the max.

If I had the loving time I'd make an Excel sheet and do a graph of the current with the LED vs the battery discharge and make an exact prediction. At 9.6V that was 3V over the forward voltage on the V I used in Roys Blues' saber. The CF won't need 700mA in that config.

[Malaki Skywalker]

Yeah, probably a bit more. I don't believe there are 1800 mAh AAA's though. I've only seen 1000mAh as the max.

If I had the loving time I'd make an Excel sheet and do a graph of the current with the LED vs the battery discharge and make an exact prediction. At 9.6V that was 3V over the forward voltage on the V I used in Roys Blues' saber. The CF won't need 700mA in that config.

Here ya go X ;)

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-x-AAA-Rechargeable-NiMH-Cell-Battery-1800mAh-1800-mAh_W0QQitemZ310039806027QQihZ021QQcategoryZ64346Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[xwingband]

Since Maliki asked it and these so far are raw batteries I'll post it...

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN PACKS!

Now for li-ions ONLY do this with protected cells or account for the PCB protection! NiMH's are fine though.

NOTE: If you have the option buy tabbed batteries and you can basically forget what I'm about to post.

First when I get the batteries I sand the tops lightly. You do this so solder will adhere better.

Then I lay them out in config I want. Now to solder them you can buy battery bars, but screw it! I just cut some solid copper wiring.

It really helps to have a jig of some sorts to straighten and hold them while soldering. I put a bit of flux on it and solder away.

NOW: If it takes you more than a few seconds to flow on the battery you're doing something wrong. Maybe you're putting too much solder or maybe your iron is too cold. When it's not working this situation is BAD! The batteries will suck away the heat and this is REALLY bad for li-ions!

Other notes: Then I heat shrink or tape it up. Don't do anything too stupid like having exposed wires running down the side... if you know the make up of a battery only the top is positive, the other sides are all negative and exposed wires can cause shorts even with the protective sleeves they come with.

[xwingband]

Here ya go X ;)

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-x-AAA-Rechargeable-NiMH-Cell-Battery-1800mAh-1800-mAh_W0QQitemZ310039806027QQihZ021QQcategoryZ64346Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

huh... well color me surprised. I'd love to actually check that. They may be basing that on a low discharge value.

Ex: ER14505 (lithium primaries, non-rechargeable) are 2400mAh... if your max draw is 100mAh or lower. While ER14505M's are 2400mAh with a max of 1A.

[BlackDOG]

You'd have to direct drive or make a 7.2V pack with them.

Obviously these aren't just "slap 'em in" batteries. You'd have to be thoughtful on their use and space.

SO....get two, solder together with a pcb and you have 7.2 pack with 6600mah?

BTW this is going in "Redemption" with a CF v4 and a Green or RB K2.

Sorry if this is a doofus question, but Im taking antihistamines for my allergies and I am not thinking straight.

BD

[TroyO]

If I get what you are asking.,... your talking about the C sized cells?

With 2, you'd get:
7.2V at 3300 MA (Series)
or....
3.7V at 6600 MA (Parallel)

You don't get to double both voltage and amperage by wiring them together. :-)

[Eandori]

Those look like some generic Hong Kong product with no major company label. I'm a bit suspicious that they actually hit 1800mAh for each cell when Duracell and others are barely scratching 1000mAh for AAA and 2600mAh for AA's.

If I had to guess, I would guess that they are between 800mAh and 1200mAh and the company making them lied to sell them better.

[Malaki Skywalker]

Those look like some generic Hong Kong product with no major company label. I'm a bit suspicious that they actually hit 1800mAh for each cell when Duracell and others are barely scratching 1000mAh for AAA and 2600mAh for AA's.

If I had to guess, I would guess that they are between 800mAh and 1200mAh and the company making them lied to sell them better.

Thats what I've been thinking... but I'll get some for an experiment, and I'll contact the seller. Wonder what the answer will be :rolleyes:

[BlackDOG]

If I get what you are asking.,... your talking about the C sized cells?

With 2, you'd get:
7.2V at 3300 MA (Series)
or....
3.7V at 6600 MA (Parallel)

You don't get to double both voltage and amperage by wiring them together. :-)

Yeah...now that my brain is not wired in seires to my inflamed sinuses I realize that....


LOL
bd