r2
Enlightened
poor man\'s D-->4AA holder (or, I can\'t leave my new Blaster II alone)
I was just playing around with my new Blaster II and noticed that 4AA fit in the tube quite nicely. I put in 3 sets (12AA altogether) and kept them all lined up by sticking a pencil down one side. If the batteries are arranged:
AB
CD
A and D have the positive terminal pointing one way and B and C have it pointing the other way. The pencil goes on the edge between A and B. With a skinnier pencil I could probably put one down each groove, but it's not necessary. With one pencil there is no way for the AA cells to get out of alignment with one another. Coincidentaly, the length of the pencil (unsharpened including the eraser) is the exact length of the tube up the the threads where the tailcap screws on. I can screw on the tailcap with no problems and it all fits.
AA cells are shorter than D cells, so there is some room (about an inch) left in the barrel. All it needs is a couple caps to drop in to connect the terminals, one on each end. If the cap had a cutout for a pencil, the whole thing would work perfectly.
Note that with a 4AA arrangement if everything is connected in series you get both terminals at the same end. This could be convenient if the mod is designed for it, or we could do a bit more work to connect the negative terminal back to the tail. Something simple, like using a shielded wire to connect the two end pieces.
A nice arrangement for a 5W mod (which still wires both terminals to one end) would be connecting the two positive terminals at each end in parallel, and doing the same for the negative ends, and then connecting the joined positives to the joined negatives at one end. For those of you keeping score at home, that means everything at one end is connected (a washer with appropriate insulation would do the trick). This works out to 9V, the same as a 3xCR123 arrangement (a popular choice for 5W mods).
Changing the batteries is kind of a nuisance, but that's why it's a poor man's solution. Once everything is in place it should be quite secure for operating.
Anyone want to play with this idea some more? Making the two endcaps is the next step, but with about an inch to play with it shouldn't be too hard.
The business end of the Blaster II has a nub for the positive terminal on the D cells to connect to. If you use a washer in that end it conveniently leaves that nub exposed (don't forget insulation for the front, sides, and hole of the washer). Something stuck down the hole in the middle of the AAs would hit it perfectly. Make that something rigid and the right length and have it connect to the (more complicated) end piece at the tail end, and the spring in the tailcap should hold everything together.
Anyone have the resources to put together both end pieces? I'd love to pursue this further but I'm in the process of moving overseas and a lot of my stuff is in transit so I don't have any tools or anything else I need.
I'm determined to see 3D-->12AA and/or 2D-->8AA work instead of just 3D-->9AA and 2D-->6AA. It seems like such a waste when the space is there for another column of AA cells.
- Russ
I was just playing around with my new Blaster II and noticed that 4AA fit in the tube quite nicely. I put in 3 sets (12AA altogether) and kept them all lined up by sticking a pencil down one side. If the batteries are arranged:
AB
CD
A and D have the positive terminal pointing one way and B and C have it pointing the other way. The pencil goes on the edge between A and B. With a skinnier pencil I could probably put one down each groove, but it's not necessary. With one pencil there is no way for the AA cells to get out of alignment with one another. Coincidentaly, the length of the pencil (unsharpened including the eraser) is the exact length of the tube up the the threads where the tailcap screws on. I can screw on the tailcap with no problems and it all fits.
AA cells are shorter than D cells, so there is some room (about an inch) left in the barrel. All it needs is a couple caps to drop in to connect the terminals, one on each end. If the cap had a cutout for a pencil, the whole thing would work perfectly.
Note that with a 4AA arrangement if everything is connected in series you get both terminals at the same end. This could be convenient if the mod is designed for it, or we could do a bit more work to connect the negative terminal back to the tail. Something simple, like using a shielded wire to connect the two end pieces.
A nice arrangement for a 5W mod (which still wires both terminals to one end) would be connecting the two positive terminals at each end in parallel, and doing the same for the negative ends, and then connecting the joined positives to the joined negatives at one end. For those of you keeping score at home, that means everything at one end is connected (a washer with appropriate insulation would do the trick). This works out to 9V, the same as a 3xCR123 arrangement (a popular choice for 5W mods).
Changing the batteries is kind of a nuisance, but that's why it's a poor man's solution. Once everything is in place it should be quite secure for operating.
Anyone want to play with this idea some more? Making the two endcaps is the next step, but with about an inch to play with it shouldn't be too hard.
The business end of the Blaster II has a nub for the positive terminal on the D cells to connect to. If you use a washer in that end it conveniently leaves that nub exposed (don't forget insulation for the front, sides, and hole of the washer). Something stuck down the hole in the middle of the AAs would hit it perfectly. Make that something rigid and the right length and have it connect to the (more complicated) end piece at the tail end, and the spring in the tailcap should hold everything together.
Anyone have the resources to put together both end pieces? I'd love to pursue this further but I'm in the process of moving overseas and a lot of my stuff is in transit so I don't have any tools or anything else I need.
I'm determined to see 3D-->12AA and/or 2D-->8AA work instead of just 3D-->9AA and 2D-->6AA. It seems like such a waste when the space is there for another column of AA cells.
- Russ
