Sorry in advance if this isn't the right place to post this.
Now, I have been looking at my first saber for a long time coming now and it is getting steadily closer to being a reality. However, which battery settup is better? AAA or AA?
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Sorry in advance if this isn't the right place to post this.
Now, I have been looking at my first saber for a long time coming now and it is getting steadily closer to being a reality. However, which battery settup is better? AAA or AA?
Depends how many and of space.
Making a Li ion pack is far superior to AAA or AA. Do 2 x 18650s if room enough or 2 x 14670s (long AA size).
As per usual, I agree with Sunrider. :)
I've actually been touting the praises of Li-Ion cells since (ohhhh... I don't know...) 2005, but... what do I know.
There IS some kind of thread I posted somewhere here on TCSS regarding Li-Ion advantages vs. disadvantages... but... hmm, I don't know if the thread has been posted to for quite some time. At any rate, I can actually speak with even MORE perspective now, because... I have Li-Ion cells that have been running sabers I've made since 2005... and some of the original Li-Ion cells are STILL WORKING... still recharging! :)
When you think about how many times a week I've (generally) had the sabers in use... and you figure in run-times of ~2 hours for MOST people's sabers that are running (~2000-ish mAh Li-Ions and drawing ~1-ish Amps for the LED and so forth).... ummm... it's kind of a no-brainer. I would have made LANDFILLS FULL OF ALKALINES BY NOW... and been about 50% responsible for the alkaline waste in the world (heheh). Not to mention I'd be de-constructing like 25+ sabers all the time. Would drive me NUTZ... :/
What kind of a "jedi knight" is THAT?!?! ;) All being wasteful, inefficient with his time, and non-environmentally conscious?!!? Pffff. Weak. Yoda would agree not. :D
(heheh, I'm kinda kidding though--I mean, this was best for MY situation/situations! Other people may find rechargeable Li-Ions "too much" for their needs).
i would go with a single Li-Ion 18650 cell personally. i've not found too many setups that need more than that.
and Nova, i'm green! i recycle old camcorder and laptop batteries into my sabers and they normally recondition/revive/recharge perfectly healthily. ^_^ and i've found that a lot of the clearance camcorder batteries at the exchange are high output panasonic 18650 Li-Ions too! i got the last few of them for only 97 cents! ^_^
To answer the original question:
AA is better for runtime, i.e your batteries will last longer than AAA (larger cells, more capacity).
AAA is better for those sabers that just don't have enough room for the extra size.
So it depends on which you need more, space or runtime.
okay, so 18650 cells or AA's. gotcha!
I'm actually not a fan of 18650s in MHS hilts. They're too wide to put them side by side. I use 14670s in all of my builds. A pair of them wired in parallel will run a saber for 3 hours, with a sound board stacked on top to save space
Not trying to hijack, but on the same lines, are there battery packs for the 18650's or the 14670's? That would be convenient. I am not building in a recharge port for my first saber, and would like to be able to remove them for charging. A battery pack would help secure the batteries...
Thanks for the time!
CM
A pack can be made from parts here at the shop. Hint Hint ;)