Home made battery caddies!

So last night I had posted and asked you guys the best way to carry a few batteries. Well, tonight I will show you what I've came up with. As I hate waiting on things to ship to me and im impatient I improvised. I've got two very convenient small carriers I've made from altoids tins. I will see how these work for me for now then I may go on to order a real plastic case or something. I don't need a lot of batteries as both my two lights I usually travel with have a fairly good run time but it's always good to have back up batts. One fits 2 aaa and one 123a and the other 2&2. I have duct taped the insides with a couple layers all around the internal edges to keep any sparking or draining from happening. I also have foam at the top and a small cardboard piece taped up and stuck between the 123a's to keep them in place and safe. Everything is quite snug due to the foam and cardboard so there is no real rattle or anything of that nature. For any of you wanting a simple small carrier these seem like they'll hold up. The altoid smalls are still made so you can find those tins but the gum container is old and been stashed away for a few years, not sure it's still made. Anyway, on with the pics! And a couple lights for size comparison, Surefire e1e/d lego and a Maratac aaa.

You did a nice job there. I bought a balistic nylon segmented carrier though as my bicycle rattles quite a bit.

Nice job and a great way to store some batteries. The only thing that gives me second thoughts is that the tins are metal and therefore conductive.

Bob

Thanks guys, and Bob I have lined the whole interior with a couple layers of duct tape so I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that I'll be safe.

as long as the duct tape isn't conductive! :devil:

Oh lord. Well this is just store bought cheap black duct tape not the expensive old style stuff with aluminum in it lol. I think I'll be ok!


EDIT--- I believe the black "duct tape" I used is actually just a black 3m vinyl tape. Meaning it should be an insulator and I am A-okay! Can be seen on the inside of both tin lids, not really duct tape at all if my tape knowledge is up to par

Looks like a nifty solution. As long as you protected from shorting.

I lined some with some thin leather. Just to store other stuff. I just cut the leather with a razor, sprayed some adhesive, then stuck it. It worked pretty well. Plus a lot quieter.

I came up with a storage fix myself recently. I've acquired a fair collection of 18650s and wasn't happy with any of the initial ways I came up with to store them. Quite a few of them travel with me, and I'm a bit anal about organizing things.

So I came up with this:



The blue case is for 12ga shotgun shells. Without the little silicone battery tubes, they rattled like a very rattly thing indeed. With them, the useless little loops were too big. So the loops went, and they fit nicely while making no noise. Plus with the tubes, they're ready to grab and go without worrying too much about where I toss them in my bag. One case provides two full sets for my TK75 w/extension tubes (more runtime than I've ever used in one go, so that works), plus a spare. The other two cases are theoretically for powering a contraption I'm collaborating with someone on; if it actually ever happens, I'll post about it somewhere here.

jal said:

I came up with a storage fix myself recently. I've acquired a fair collection of 18650s and wasn't happy with any of the initial ways I came up with to store them. Quite a few of them travel with me, and I'm a bit anal about organizing things.

So I came up with this:

The blue case is for 12ga shotgun shells. Without the little silicone battery tubes, they rattled like a very rattly thing indeed. With them, the useless little loops were too big. So the loops went, and they fit nicely while making no noise. Plus with the tubes, they're ready to grab and go without worrying too much about where I toss them in my bag. One case provides two full sets for my TK75 w/extension tubes (more runtime than I've ever used in one go, so that works), plus a spare. The other two cases are theoretically for powering a contraption I'm collaborating with someone on; if it actually ever happens, I'll post about it somewhere here.

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NICE! As a sporting clays sorta guy, I like that one! May have to steal the idea from you.

Tex.Proud

Not exactly home made, but repurposed/recycled anyway...

https://flic.kr/p/F6FsoK

The tube is reasonably water resistant... Probably not IPX8, but enough to survive a drop into a puddle, or some rain. There's a little bit of battery rattle, but not enough to bother me personally. If it did bother me, an oring in the bottom of the tube would take up the ~1mm of extra room nicely, and improve water resistance as well.

The plastic will conduct slightly, though not enough to cause a noticeable short. Just insert the battery with the negative end toward the yellow cap, and the wrapping covering the edge of the negative contact will prevent any drain from occurring.

jal said:

The blue case is for 12ga shotgun shells. Without the little silicone battery tubes, they rattled like a very rattly thing indeed. With them, the useless little loops were too big. So the loops went, and they fit nicely while making no noise. Plus with the tubes, they're ready to grab and go without worrying too much about where I toss them in my bag.

Click to expand...

Very clever! I do something similar for alkaline* AA and AAA storage, found just the right MTM cartridge cases to hold 50 of each.

Just curiously, did you try a 20-guage box? Nominal diameter is 0.685", or 17.4mm; since those boxes always have some slop, 18mm⌀ cells might fit snugly.

Personally, LiIon cells I typically store in PowerPax holders, but except for the 12xAA model, capacities are limited, and DAY-um the 18650 size is pricey.

(*Oh, I own plenty of Eneloops too, but The Love O' My Life doesn't like to be bothered with rechargeables, and the stepson has been known to treat them as disposable, so I keep alkyleaks around for them, and they do NOT touch the Eneloops.)

I did not try a 20-guage. Truth be told, I haven't shot a shotgun since my teens, and after it occurred to me, just picked a size more or less at random as an experiment. (Figured if it didn't work, I'd find something else to do with it.)

tex.proud said:

NICE! As a sporting clays sorta guy, I like that one! May have to steal the idea from you.

Tex.Proud

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How much do those little silicone tubes run price wise?

jal said:

I did not try a 20-guage. Truth be told, I haven't shot a shotgun since my teens, and after it occurred to me, just picked a size more or less at random as an experiment. (Figured if it didn't work, I'd find something else to do with it.)

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Just as well. After my post, I went looking for 20-gauge shel cases, to no avail. Everybody seems to use one size for 12-, 16- and 20-gauge. If I happen to stumble across one, though, I'll have to give it a try!

jake7878 said:

How much do those little silicone tubes run price wise?

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Sorry for the slow reply. Those tubes go for about $1 each at places like irmbatteries.com in small quantities. I bought a lot of 100 from an Alibaba supplier for just over $40, ended up receiving 102. (Yes, that's rather a lot of batteries. I'm building a device that runs on 24 and will run in rather harsh conditions, so copious piles of batteries are indicated.)

jal said:

Sorry for the slow reply. Those tubes go for about $1 each at places like irmbatteries.com in small quantities. I bought a lot of 100 from an Alibaba supplier for just over $40, ended up receiving 102. (Yes, that's rather a lot of batteries. I'm building a device that runs on 24 and will run in rather harsh conditions, so copious piles of batteries are indicated.)

Click to expand...

Um, 24x 18650s? You sir, are a madman. I hope we get to check it out at some point.

I like the little Coghlans match containers for my 18650s, they are pretty much custom made perfect. And i dont usually need more than one backup for the two lights i carry. I was trying to find a good solution for 10440s and 10180s. I like the little tin can deal, made me think of Camel Snus (little pouches of chewing tobacco) cans would be good, they have a rubber seal inside so they might be somewhat waterproof. So i tested it out and AAAs fit sideways just perfectly in the container, it can pack 6 of them. And DEFINITELY a good reminder on the lining with duct tape bit, just testing the size with a buttontop that has a pround (-) end, it got a little warm and i thought "wow that could have been bad"
Great idea, thanks for sharing.
Since i am obsessed with lightweight, i made a little container out of a fat soda straw (melt one end shut, roll and clip the other end) for backpacking, but the chew tin will be perfect for the extras that stay home.