Need help putting together AA battery pack

[DougNel]

I have a small LCD television that runs off a car battery or standalone SLA battery using a cigarette lighter adapter. I also have lots of AA Nimh rechargeables along with chargers. To increase portabilty I would like to be able to power the TV using the Nimh AA's. My initial search has not come up with an easy way to do this. I will need to get 12 AA's in series (to give me 14.4v) with the appropriate connections for the CLA and enough stabilty to carry around. I don't want to have to make a permanent pack because I don't want to dedicate the AA's only to this task, as well as to continue to use my current charging equipment.

Anyone have any ideas for me?

Thanks.

 

[carbonsparky]

Radio Shack has a nice assortment of battery cases for doing what you are talking about. You will need to use something like 3 4xAA holders. I don't think you will find one that holds 12, but it would not surprise me if someone else could point you to one.

 

[Brock]

I am also looking for a 12 AA holder, so far no luck. I ended up using 2 6AA holders and putting them in series to get the 14v. Actually I have 4 of them, so I have 24 AA's in my pack. I am running a 12v lantern with it, it runs fine with only 12 AA's but only runs about 1.5 hours, with 24 it will run 4 hours.

I did get 10AA holders that run most 12v stuff fine. You might want to go that route? I can't remember where I got them, but I did get them online.

 

[turbodog]

I made such a pack. Go get some pvc pipe. Cement a cap to one end (before cementing, drill a hole and run a small bolt through the cap to act as the positive terminal). Put a female threaded end on the negative end. Put another small bolt in the male piece that mates with it. This way you can adjust the tension by tightening down on the male insert. If one pipe to hold 12 is too long, just take 2 pieces and glue them side by side (mine only held 8 cells). I have pictures if you want.

 

[DougNel]

[ QUOTE ]
Brock said:
I am also looking for a 12 AA holder, so far no luck. I ended up using 2 6AA holders and putting them in series to get the 14v. Actually I have 4 of them, so I have 24 AA's in my pack. I am running a 12v lantern with it, it runs fine with only 12 AA's but only runs about 1.5 hours, with 24 it will run 4 hours.

I did get 10AA holders that run most 12v stuff fine. You might want to go that route? I can't remember where I got them, but I did get them online.

[/ QUOTE ]

I also already have a 10 AA charger/holder that works fine with most 12v applications, but the TV needs more than 12v to work properly. I was hoping that there was something out there that was not too jury-rigged and flimsy.

 

[Brock]

When I ran my lantern on a single 10AA pack it wouldn't start, but with 2 10 packs it did. I suspect the voltage drop from the start-up was too much for a single set. It did however start on the single 12 pack, so you’re probably in the same boat. The 10 packs have a 9v snap lead on them, so I just made up an adapter to 12v cig plug, it works great for charging cell phones and the like.

so has anyone seen a 12AA holder?

 

[georget98]

Acme makes a couple different 12-AA holders.

 

[lemlux]

georget98:

Thanks for the Acme link. I think I'll get a couple. Now I've got to decide if the 3 long by 4 wide or the 2 long by 6 wide configuration is best for various applications I have in mind.

 

[DougNel]

[ QUOTE ]
georget98 said:
Acme makes a couple different 12-AA holders.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the link, I have sent away for a catalog. Do you know of anyplace that would sell the appropriate CLA connection?

 

[Lurker]

Radio Shack carries an assortment of connectors.

 

[Floating Spots]

Is there any pringing info on these that anyone has yet?
Do they do small quantities?

Thanks,
Jon