AA battery Hack

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by darlene1029, Sep 24, 2007.

  1. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

  2. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    That's pretty wild. Is that true?
     
  3. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

  4. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

    I believe so, Dan said he saw it on TV. I thought it was bad to open them, guess I'm thinking car batteries.
     
  5. Burning_Monkey

    Burning_Monkey MajorGeek

    it's not so good to open up the AA batteries either. But 6 volt batteries are a composite battery where it is made up of smaller, easier to produce batteries. Just be warned that some times they are made up of a couple of 3 volt batteries and those are pretty much worthless anymore.
     
  6. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

  7. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

    Thanks, don't think I'll be opening anything :D just thought it was interesting to find out it was made up of something so simple.
     
  8. viper_boy403

    viper_boy403 MajorGeek

    that is awesome! i wonder how the life of the little ones are
     
  9. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    Probably not great, but at around USD $0.15 each, it's worth a try. Bazza

    ===

     
  10. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

    So you don't think they're the same as regular AA's?
     
  11. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Its not such a great hack IMHO you can only do it with really cheap batteries,in the UK I can buy 20 cheap AA batteries for £1=$2 while the really cheap large 6v or 9v batteries are still £3-4.

    As BM said alot of the time there are 3 large batteries and even if they are of AA battery size they arnt AA batteries they are AA sized 'cells',the only difference is the positive terminal doesnt protrude as high as on an AA battery which means it wont fit alot of devices.
     
  12. ItsWendy

    ItsWendy MajorGeek

    Last time I did it it was 4 D cels (or was that C, I think D). I can buy a 25 pack of alkaline AA for $5, a 4 pack for $1.50, from the Dollar store. Their numbers are a bit high, the prices you pay at supermarket isles.
     
  13. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    lol...I was thinking the same thing. They are freakin expensive in the US...about $5 or more for eight AAs. And that's at home depot.
     
  14. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    I'm pretty sure that you all pay a lot more than us for most everything, but my only experience is London. I live near New York City though and go there a lot and that's expensive. Dollar to pound, you all are paying twice as much as us. Of course the dollar is s&#t right now.
     
  15. ItsWendy

    ItsWendy MajorGeek

    Don't forget, we're talking alkaline, which is the chemistry of the battery, and is definately not recharable. Rechargables will cost more, just makes sense, quality has to be a lot higher. Remember the burning Dell laptop?

    I don't know what they would call them in Britain, but you have to have an equivelant to the Dollar store. It is true the alkilines might not be as good, but if you're in the ballpart they'll be good enough.
     
  16. darlene1029

    darlene1029 A Grand Lady- R.I.P. 06/06/2012

    I don't, what was that about, make shift batteries? :confused
     
  17. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    This thread encouraged me to dis-assemble my rechargeable torch (lantern actually). ;)

    I had dropped it and it ceased to work. I thought it was the globe (bulb to you lot :D ) but found it was a soldered wire with a broken connection.

    Gonna get it fixed, and also look a installing 2 x AA type batteries (with tabs) and a more powerful globe.:major Bazza
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2007
  18. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Pound store :D

    Kestrel thats not bad for rechargeable batteries,one of the best best deals I have seen are in the supermarket LIDL 4 2400mah NMHI AA for £2,they last 3 times as long as 800mah NICAD\alkali.
     
  19. ItsWendy

    ItsWendy MajorGeek

    Quality control issues at Sony, who burned a lot of people that used them as a wholesaler. Actually the number of defective batteries was extremely low, but that wasn't much consilation if your appliance caught fire. As I understand it they had ground metal as part of the battery, in some batches it wasn't ground fine enough and caused internal shorts. Since modern lolypoly batteries hold really high amounts of energy and an internal short causes it to all discharge at once the result is fire.

    Using the batteries with combat robotics we've seen them accidently punctured. Always makes for a good show and a sad robot builder. :D
     
  20. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    Took my old Gateway laptop battery to a Battery reseller today. Got a very helpful guy behind the counter (thanks Col) to prise off the top.

    Underneath we finally figured out 12 x 3.7 Lithium Ion Batteries in 3 groups of 4 to give 11.1 volts and 6400 mAH. Now all I've gotta do is find some reseller in Australia that stocks them.

    Got a lead in Townsville (220 miles, 355 kilometres approx.) away. Will ring them tomorrow.

    When the battery was designed (back in '99, or earlier) the 12 batteries were only around 540 mAH each. Nowadays I think they are a lot more powerful. Each battery is around 1.5 times longer than a standard AA battery (but with tabs), so it will prove interesting to track them down.
    Lithium Ion being the problem, :cry :( , not the size.

    I'd like to get the old Gateway laptop going again. I have ideas of using it as a jukebox, connected to my Hi-Fi stereo.

    Bazza
     
  21. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    It's an old laptop that I paid nearly AUD$6000 for in 1999, with all accessories. Top of the line then. XP Pro, P2/400, 256 megs of RAM IIRC. :D

    Got a $6000 bonus from the company I worked for at that time and blew it all . :)

    It will still run without a battery, on AC power, so I will check out battery cost versus proposed use and see if it is worth it. New Gateway battery is around AUD$300 due to 12 x 3.7 Lithion Ion's inside. Bazza

    ===

     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds