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Extend battery life

batteryhelp

Mar 15, 2012
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Mar 15, 2012
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Comple beginner here ok so bear with me...

I have an electronic device that takes two AA batteries, sadly it goes through batteries pretty quickly (no plug socket souce), so I was wondering it is possible to fit something that would allow me to connect more batteries at once and simply extend the life of it on an exponential basis.

Lets say it goes through one battery a day, can I fit 7 batteries to this device and would last 7 days without blowing the thing and me having to intervene to change batteries in that time frame?

Would a battery holder do this, I can do some basic soldering, but i need something pretty simple.

ON top of this, would I be able to connect the device (that takes two AA) batters to some kind of mains device, or are there adaptors out there that can power such low voltage devices without little intervention.

What connection would I have to make to the battery area as this device is not designed to work off. Any links or keywords I should be looking at to help with with my query, other than an electronics degree.

I prefer to play with the devices smart people make!

Thanks for any help!
 

GreenGiant

Feb 9, 2012
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You should be able to attach more batteries, in pairs, in series with the ones that you have there, the only issue that you will run into is if the device does not have a good current limiting system.

You should be able to get a small AC adapter that brings the voltage down to whatever is being supplied (somewhere either around 1.5 or 3 volts) that is limited to the current needed. (probably around 100mA to 1Amp) then you can find a plug that fits it, or snip the wires and apply it directly to where the batteries would connect to the device
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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Jan 21, 2010
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You should be able to attach more batteries, in pairs, in series with the ones that you have there

I think you meant parallel!

The other option is to get a battery holder for 2 D batteries. They hold a *lot* more charge than AA batteries.

Green Giant's observation about current limiting is valid if the device uses the battery impedance to limit current. Knowing what this device is would help us answer that.
 

GreenGiant

Feb 9, 2012
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I think you meant parallel!

The other option is to get a battery holder for 2 D batteries. They hold a *lot* more charge than AA batteries.

Green Giant's observation about current limiting is valid if the device uses the battery impedance to limit current. Knowing what this device is would help us answer that.

You are correct steve, I was thinking series with each other then pairs in parallel.
You'd think that since I work with batteries I wouldn't make those mistakes
 

kodiakfishaboy

Apr 6, 2011
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It shouldn't be hard to hook up the same amount of batteries,
but ones with a higher amperage.
 

cjdelphi

Oct 26, 2011
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Oct 26, 2011
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Comple beginner here ok so bear with me...

I have an electronic device that takes two AA batteries, sadly it goes through batteries pretty quickly (no plug socket souce), so I was wondering it is possible to fit something that would allow me to connect more batteries at once and simply extend the life of it on an exponential basis.


Thanks for any help!

Tasteless suggestion removed


ON top of this, would I be able to connect the device (that takes two AA) batters to some kind of mains device, or are there adaptors out there that can power such low voltage devices without little intervention.
Another tasteless suggestion removed


To answer your question (to the one who sometimes has to use batteries and sometimes does not which runs on 2 AA's ( Seriously!) you got a few options...

1. Get one of them universal adapter power plug pack thingies off ebay or search around for something which outputs around 3 - 6volts

2. Solder a couple of wires from the terminals (- battery and +) and connect them to an external cheap plastic holder which you could stick a couple of D cells (make sure they're in series, so careful which holder you get, or there wont be enough voltage to power the device ;) )

3. if you want to go completely Device Friendly, buy a Regulator which outputs 3v constant then you can use a lead acid battery if you choose :) .... plenty on ebay i use marcmart from hong kong takes a couple of weeks (which is quite fast considering) but he seems to supply quite cheap components quite well made (except careful on your polarity, get + and - wrong way round and things will go *poof* so invest in a cheap multimeter for 5 bucks if nothing else to prevent your regulator from dying, or better still learn how to wire up a diode to prevent reverse connect..

i've lost so many IC's due to careless reversal of wires :( thanks for turning this into a sad story for me.....

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Marcmart-AU/_i.html?_nkw=dc+regulator&submit=Search&_sid=1061893871

What do you think people, not bad prices huh ? :)
 
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