FF/Battery pack question

Okay, I have most of the ingredients to do a 12 volt pack using rechargeable AAs.  My question is, when using NiMH rechargeables, the individual cells are 1.2v, and 10 makes 12v.  If I forget to recharge them, and need to use regular AAs, is there anything to worry about?  10 regular alkaline AAs would be 15v, as each cell is 1.5v.

It "looks" like the FF that I have chosen is rated for 10-17v (Eagle Cuda 350).  So I should be on the upper end of safe voltage with 10 regular AAs, right?

Cheers,
Madoc

You should be ok within that range

Ditto steelheadr.

I don't know what the max current draw for the 350 is but the Cuda 250 max draw is 250 mA. If you are looking at using AA's, then get the highest matched milliamp-hr rated ones you are willing to purchase, rechargable or not. This will give you the most run time until you reach the point that the output voltage can no longer power the FF.

Jay

Cool, thanks for the input.

I picked up 2700 mAh cells - I wanted 2900s, as I know they are out there, but evidently aren't stable enough for Batteries Plus to be selling them.

I was worried that I would have to add a switch to the battery pack - I am setting it up as an 8+2, as it appears that 10 cell holders don't exist in Portland - and I was thinking that I would have to set the switch between the 2 cell and the plug so that I could set it so that I could use the 8 pack and not have an open circuit - but my soldering skills are about 20 years rusty, and anything to simplify.

Before I decided you use a brick for power, I was going to wire 2 6 cell holders in series. They are available at radio shack.

Jay

I was going to go for a similar setup as your describing, ended up just buying this 7 amp hour surveillance video battery (looks similar to a motorcycle battery), I got it for $10 bucks down the road at this battery shop. Has been working out excellent for me so far, I just throw it in a dry bag and call it good, I've gotten 15+ hours of use so far between charges with no problems.  It's not this exact one, but same demensions/weight

1.9" x 4" x 5.5" @ 5 lbs

Ah the old AA's vs Gel Cell debate.

Basically, the AA system is lighter and you can easily replace the batteries with disposable ones from a convience store if you forget to charge them the night before. 

Gel cells are a bit heavier but can last a bit longer and have less wiring and soldering that can go wrong.


         

I was going to go for a similar setup as your describing, ended up just buying this 7 amp hour surveillance video battery (looks similar to a motorcycle battery), I got it for $10 bucks down the road at this battery shop.

I've gotten 2 SLA from friends who had them laying around and both are toast, so I'm looking for a Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area walk in source for such a battery (Sealed Lead Acid).  Was the battery shop a local shop or a national/regional chain? 

I was going to go for a similar setup as your describing, ended up just buying this 7 amp hour surveillance video battery (looks similar to a motorcycle battery), I got it for $10 bucks down the road at this battery shop.

I've gotten 2 SLA from friends who had them laying around and both are toast, so I'm looking for a Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area walk in source for such a battery (Sealed Lead Acid).  Was the battery shop a local shop or a national/regional chain? 

A little south of you, but Fry's will have them.

-Allen

I've gotten 2 SLA from friends who had them laying around and both are toast, so I'm looking for a Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area walk in source for such a battery (Sealed Lead Acid).  Was the battery shop a local shop or a national/regional chain? 

Ya the first one I had my dad gave me, worked great the first time, but at the end of the day it started dying.  I'd turn it back on and get another 5 minutes out of it, then the display would start to flicker and I'd just cycle through the different screen brightness settings and getting a little more out of it.  Kept doing that for 30 minutes or so.  Apparently you aren't to completely drain those batteries... Complete drain =

I'm down just south of Portland, all I can remember of the shop is that it just said "batteries" on then outside it's on SE McLoughlin Blvd.  The batteries normally go for around 20-30 I believe, but these were on the shelf too long or something random, working A-ok so far.  I think maybe I'll stop by and see if they have any left, maybe grab myself another and I can snag one for anyone that wants if they still have them.  If you can hold out until the rockfish/ling cod classic or whatever.

Ya the first one I had my dad gave me, worked great the first time, but at the end of the day it started dying ... Apparently you aren't to completely drain those batteries...

I had the same experience.  First charge seemed good.  Held voltage okay over the short term but showed a 40%/month decay rate.  After the first full charge it would not take a full charge back to 12V.  

I'm down just south of Portland, ...  I think maybe I'll stop by and see if they have any left, maybe grab myself another and I can snag one for anyone that wants if they still have them.  If you can hold out until the rockfish/ling cod classic or whatever.

Thanks, but don't pick one up for me.  I need it fully charged and ready to go next week for a few day fishing trip.  

A little south of you, but Fry's will have them.

Thanks.  Over a given week I range regularly from Snohomish to Renton to Seattle to Lynnwood.  I'll be doing S 405 tomorrow, so can swing by Fry's.  For a high-tech store they seem to have a lot of problems with their website - it is always -r-e-a-l-l-y- -s-l-o-w- .  

Look for a Batteries Plus shop near you - that's where I pick up most of my rechargeable batteries.  Looks like there is one in Everett
http://www.batteriesplus.com/store_locator/state/WA.aspx.

Prices are decent, and all of the sales staff at the one near me actually know what they are talking about (inventory, uses).  Battery geeks.  Who knew?

I'm going to throw my pack together today, using FFTW's layout.  pulled a few muscles in my neck and back this morning (brushing my hair, of all things).  So I need something that doesn't involve lifting a kayak this morning.

i got this kit at Cabela's in Lacey  : http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036388018049a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCHFEAT_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=battery&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1  being as the Cuda 350 draws 240mah max, i should be able to run it for 30+ hours on a single charge.  i still have to mount the transducer then i'm off to the races.

Bobby

When in Rome Portland...You have to use the right words..Deer feeder battery or alarm system backup battery.

PSR:
I found brand new 7 amp hr SLA's at Fisherman's Marine for $25 (BTW: 7 ah = 7000 mah= a few days of run time).

A "good" source of used sla's are facilities/maintenance offices (think hospital or university physical plant). They often are required to cycle out batteries from alarm systems, etc. according to a maintenance schedule and sometimes have serviceable batteries that have to be disposed of.

Again, for me the cheapest, easiest, non-rechargeable route (read: "you can get this one at the 24 hour Fred Meyer along with your license at 4 am on your way to Picnic Point") is two 6 volt non-alkaline lantern batteries. No soldering, just hang the negative spring of one to the positive spring on second battery and connect the FF to their respective remaining terminals and for <$5 you can have a good 2-3 days of fish TV. If you pop for the alkaline, you should get at least 4 days out of them. Not terribly eco-friendly though.