12AA to 3D holder needed

[Fixmaster-J]

Hi,
Im looking for a "cheap" (DIY) battery holder for 12AA's in series that fits a mag 3D.
Or Are there better options that dont cost much. Ill need about 12-16V and at leat 3Ah.

 

[lctorana]

Re: 12AA to 3D

Solder 12 tabbed AA cells together.

Assuming you need 12 new cells, that costs nothing at all.

 

[Sabrewolf]

Re: 12AA to 3D

Solder 12 tabbed AA cells together.

Assuming you need 12 new cells, that costs nothing at all.

You can get the arrangement you ask, but not with the
capacity you are looking for with normal sized AA's.
You would need to go with 4/3rd sized AA's and a
tailcap bore to get the job done. the batteries can be
purchased at Batteryjunction, and with tabs i believe.
Just buy some heat shrink wrap that they sell, and
solder them all together.You may want to consider a
polyfuse just in case the battery pack is shorted or
overdischarged. They also have thermal fuses too.
Too much insurance is Never enough

 

[Mr Happy]

Re: 12AA to 3D

I can fit four AA Eneloops side by side in a Mag barrel, allowing me to fit twelve of them in a 3D light.

It is however a close fit, not allowing any extra room for shrink wrap around the outside. Therefore instead of making a soldered pack you need to fabricate an adapter to hold them in place. This can be done with some moderate workshop skills and a bit of ingenuity. A 12AA to 3D adapter is a little harder to make than a 9AA to 3D since due to the configuration of the cells both positive and negative poles end up at the same end of the pack, so some metal wire or rod is needed to get one terminal to the other end.

 

[Fixmaster-J]

Re: 12AA to 3D

I can fit four AA Eneloops side by side in a Mag barrel, allowing me to fit twelve of them in a 3D light.

It is however a close fit, not allowing any extra room for shrink wrap around the outside. Therefore instead of making a soldered pack you need to fabricate an adapter to hold them in place. This can be done with some moderate workshop skills and a bit of ingenuity. A 12AA to 3D adapter is a little harder to make than a 9AA to 3D since due to the configuration of the cells both positive and negative poles end up at the same end of the pack, so some metal wire or rod is needed to get one terminal to the other end.

Ive tried putting 4 eneloops in the barerel, and that fits.
Now i have to find some way to wire them all in series and hold them together. If i solder them together then i have to find a way to charge them all at once. I think making somekind of battery holder is the best option. So any suggestions will do.
Thank you all for the comments!
Keep them comming :twothumbs

 

[hopkins]

Somewhere here in CPF I read its a no-no to try to charge more than 2
NimH AA batteries in series.

Trying to do it to 12 in series would be a disaster of
overcharging on some, undercharge on others which during use would reverse
charge them (reverse polarize them...whatever the term?) if used for the packs calculated rated capacity.
So the difficult task of getting a hold of three "4AA-to-1 D cell" holders is the only real solution.

What kind of emitter will you be driving with 14.4volts?

+

 

[Mr Happy]

Oh no, you can charge 12 in series. You have to take a lot of care to select the 12 cells for equal capacity, and you have to keep the pack balanced in use, but it can be done. To do the charging you need one of the hobby chargers with an adjustable voltage output.

But if you don't need to do it often, it is simpler to use battery holders and charge the cells in sets of 4 or 8 individually with a cheaper consumer charger.

 

[sed6]

Hi,
Im looking for a "cheap" (DIY) battery holder for 12AA's in series that fits a mag 3D.
Or Are there better options that dont cost much. Ill need about 12-16V and at leat 3Ah.

You DON'T want cheap battery holders; here's why...http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=187547

Short version is cheap battery holders = high resistance =
Save cheap for your DX purchases and fauxtons. If you're building any sort of decent light, you need a proper power source. Your best bet would be to get a bored out mag from one of the modders and/or a custom battery pack from LuxLuthor. You've heard the saying, do it right or do it twice.

 

[Black Rose]

You DON'T want cheap battery holders; here's why...http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=187547

Short version is cheap battery holders = high resistance =

Whoa!!!! That's nasty.

 

[hopkins]

I couldn't do it. Not enough patience to do it right but always time
to do it over after clearing the rooms air of vaporized components:naughty:

 

[Fixmaster-J]

Somewhere here in CPF I read its a no-no to try to charge more than 2
NimH AA batteries in series.

Trying to do it to 12 in series would be a disaster of
overcharging on some, undercharge on others which during use would reverse
charge them (reverse polarize them...whatever the term?) if used for the packs calculated rated capacity.
So the difficult task of getting a hold of three "4AA-to-1 D cell" holders is the only real solution.

What kind of emitter will you be driving with 14.4volts?

+

No emitter.
A HID car bulb..