Lighter power pack on a 5900 di pro sl

[Turboair]

Hello,
I would like to change power system on my White's 5900 di pro sl. I am looking for something ligther than c cells and should last longer. Any help? I thoUght about a lipo system, but the packs I saw erogate 7,1 volts, and donno if this could harm my detector. Any good mod? Thank you. Turbo

[DavidB]

You can make a pack by soldering 5 Ni-MH batteries in series(1.2Vx5=6V). Use AA for 2300 mah or AAA for lighter and 850 mah. You can solder a female plug on the pack and use fiberglass tape or similar to hold it together. Solder a male plug with wires to the detector batt. terminals. It is easy to solder jumper wires between these batteries, just sand the ends a little first. You need to use a smart charger to charge these. I made some with 10 AA batteries for my Sovereign and they last 3 times longer than the old ni-cad packs. Very economical in the long run.

[Turboair]

Thank you for reply, Favid.
I was thinking about something lighter.
Have a nice day.
Ale

[Turboair]

I thought to buy a battery pack like the one in the following link (and specific charger)

http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/fg3radio/

This batteries are less dangerous than lipo ones and erogate 6,6 V. Some are lighter than the original battery pack (350 gr.). The problem is that I donno if nominal 6,6V will damage my 5900 that needs only 6v...

Now, I would like to know how to check polarity of battery pack to do the mod. Maybe this procedure could work well:

Place multimeter probes on each side of the battery. If multimeter display reads a positive number, then the polarity on the battery matches the positive and negative probes from the multimeter. If display reads a negative number, then you need to switch the probes around on the battery. It should now read a positive number, and the polarity of the battery now matches the polarity of the multimeter probes; red is positive, black is negative.

Anyone can help?

Thank You.

Turbo

[Qiaozhi]

I thought to buy a battery pack like the one in the following link (and specific charger)

http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/fg3radio/

This batteries are less dangerous than lipo ones and erogate 6,6 V. Some are lighter than the original battery pack (350 gr.). The problem is that I donno if nominal 6,6V will damage my 5900 that needs only 6v...

Now, I would like to know how to check polarity of battery pack to do the mod. Maybe this procedure could work well:

Place multimeter probes on each side of the battery. If multimeter display reads a positive number, then the polarity on the battery matches the positive and negative probes from the multimeter. If display reads a negative number, then you need to switch the probes around on the battery. It should now read a positive number, and the polarity of the battery now matches the polarity of the multimeter probes; red is positive, black is negative.

Anyone can help?

Thank You.

Turbo

Have you looked at the cost? These are really expensive.

[Turboair]

Here in Italy no. 4 C Duracell cells cost € 8,32, rechargeable € 22,00 and are only 1,2V (and heavier than alkaline). A L.I.FE.PO. battery, 2100 mAh, costs € 29,60 and specific charger € 99,00, for a total amount of € 128,60. I could take 15 packs of alkaline duracell C cells with that amount. So it will be just a bit more than an year of detecting to amortize that cost.

Btw, I would like to know if this mod can be done:

a) If 6,6V will not burn my detector;
b) If 2100 mAh are enough for 6/8 hours of detecting;
c) if that procedure to check polarity is correct;

Thank You.

Ale

[Skippy]

Dont waste money unnecessarily on incompatible lithium cells. A fully-charged Li cell is usually 4.2 volts, dont believe the '3.3V' value.
Try and measure the current drawn by your detector - it's probably around 100 mA. Then choose a battery capacity based on how long you want it to run for. Example: the detector takes 80 mA. If you use 800mAh cells, you will have 10 hours runtime, and a very light battery (five AAA NiMH cells). Other 'industrial size' cells are available. If you are able to obtain these, you have the choice of other capacities, eg 2/3 AA, 5/4 AAA, and other exotica, also tagged cells, which makes soldering them easier.
Regards.

[Turboair]

Thank You for the advice, Skippy, I will give it a try.

[Turboair]

I have ordered a 5xaa battery holder, but I am not intrigued at all by this mod. Back to my original thoughts, those LIFEPO batteries are designed to fit in RC reicevers, that need a voltage reductor when using LIPO batteries (7,2v). This means that cannot have too difference from nominal voltage and reale one. In this link difference is clear:
http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/fg3radio/
Just food for brains.
Take r.
Turbo

[Turboair]

That link is down...
Not this one
http://www.hyperion-eu.com/products/...-FG305-2100-2S

[DavidB]

If you look on the schematic, the 5900 uses a 78s40 switching regulator designed for input voltages up to 40V. The output voltages from the regulator that operate the detector are +7.5V and -7.5V. The regulator senses the output voltage and adjusts the duty cycle to maintain the correct output regaurdless of what the input voltage is. The only part of this detector that uses the full input voltage directly from the battery is the audio output transistor Q3 (PN2222) that drives the speaker so a couple extra volts there would just increase the audio output a little and not hurt anything.

[Skippy]

You would be better off making a permanently soldered battery pack rather than loose cells in a holder, though I suppose for an experiment the holder is best, as you can re-use the cells.
Have you considered ready-made NiMH packs for radio-control receivers? They are available in 6 Volt 5-cell types, AA (2000 to 2700mAh),AAA(750 to 1100mAh), and even 1/2A(1600mAh). They are readily available on a well-known internet auction site, priced below 15 Euro's. Some of these weigh less than 125 grams. Chargers are cheap, you can even home-make a trickle charger easily.

[Turboair]

Usually I don't like Nihm batteries, because they are very sensitive to low temperature, lose power when stored, have not a gradual discharge when in use and can let you down. I ordered a battery holder because I have 5 energizer 2500 mAh nihm cells to try, so I follow the cheapest way. Today i've mounted a 4xAA battery holder and 4 alkaline cells. It works well, but donno how much power it drains during normal use. This pack weights 120 gr. What it is nice of lipo and lipofe batteries is that they can work a peak level for more time than nihm, can be charged in few minutes, maintain power when stored and have very pro chargers. Usually I do not believe that smart chargers for Nihm cells.
David, thank you for that information. This means that a lifepo battery could not damage a 5900 even if charged over nominal voltage. It would be nice if this 3d will take off, 5900 & 6000 series have so many users and these detectors weights a ton (combined with four filters is not so nice).
Take r.
Ale

[TC-NM]

Lighter power pack on a 5900 di pro sl

So Turboair what did you come up with your choice between NiMh vs. LiPo battery pack. I have the same dilemma, I also have a 6000 Di Professional (old blue box) using the 4-C cell. Are going to put the new battery pack into the existing opening in the control box or are you going to mount it on your belt?

Great stuff here!

Thanks,

TC-NM

[Turboair]

So Turboair what did you come up with your choice between NiMh vs. LiPo battery pack. I have the same dilemma, I also have a 6000 Di Professional (old blue box) using the 4-C cell. Are going to put the new battery pack into the existing opening in the control box or are you going to mount it on your belt?

Great stuff here!

Thanks,

TC-NM

I mounted a 5 Nihm cells battery holder. It is good and cheap. Now I wanna buy a smart charger with delta detection for NIMH batteries and install a secondary plug to put pack on charge.

If You would like to use a life battery U could install it into the existing opening. I hate the "moonlab" battery system. Life power system is just a bit too expensive.

Good luck!

Turbo