BATTERY HOLDERS

I am looking for battery holders that hold nine NiMH Eneloop AAA batteries and fit a 3 D cell light without modification. I want to generate 3.6 Volts. I would like to be able to remove the AAA batteries to recharge in my MH C-9000 charger.

I found some Kdomain units that hold three AAA's and take the place of one D cell. They could be stacked to achieve a 9 AAA cell configuration at 3.6 Volts but they are apparently having reliability problems.

Could one of you enlightened flashaholics direct me to the right place?

You sound a little confused.


First off, I assume you want AA's and not AAA's.


Also, do you want your total voltage to be 3.6v, or for each 3xAA to D layer to be 3.6v, giving 10.8v total? I ask because the Kai adapters you reference are series adapters, which would give 10.8v in a 3D.


3xAA to D parallel adapters would give you 3.6v total, but are hard to come by of any quality, and It's been a while since I have seen one worth buying.

This kind of thing ?

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/182370

Marduke - Me..... Confused? :sigh: you are absolutely correct.

AAA was a typo. I did mean AA but other than that I am adrift here.

What I am trying to do here is power a P7 emitter, direct wired in a 2 or 3 D cell Maglight. I am trying to achieve 3.6 Volts using 6 or 9 AA Sanyo Eneloops. I like the Eneloops for their low self discharge, simplicity and safety. I also have lots of them as well as two MH C9000 chargers to keep them in tip top condition. If I have to use the D cells I will need another charger not to mention buying expensive D rechargables.

I have a Mag 11 that uses 6 AA Eneloops and figured, possibly incorrectly, that it must draw at least as much as the P7 so why not use them. I have received conflicting opinions about the AA's suitability in this application. So it appears that I need the answer to two questions.

1. Are the AA Eneloops suitable for powering the P7 emitter directly in either 6 or 9 battery configurations at 3.6 Volts?

2. If the answer is yes. Where can I get the battery holder that will accept the AA's, fit in the D cell Maglight, and give me an output of 3.6 Volts?

Thanks for helping me out here.

A D-size holder that will put three Eneloops in series to produce a nominal 3.6 V is available cheaply, for example, from Kaidomain.

For a holder that will put six Eneloops in the space of 2 D cells, or nine in three D cells, but still produce 3.6 V, it is more complicated. I'm not aware of a holder that will do that, but if one is available (for example from FiveMega), it will not be cheap.

You should also note that Eneloops in good condition will produce closer to 1.3 V than 1.2 V during discharge, so three in series will give you nearer 3.9 V than 3.6 V (even over 4 V when freshly charged). For direct driving an LED this may matter.

A 9xAA to 3D setup using fivemega's or Kai's adapters will give you 10.8v since they are series adapters. It sounds like you want 9xAA to 3D parallel adapters, which is harder to buy, but easier to make from scratch. Homemade, you could possibly even fit in 12xAA to 3D parallel for your 3D mag for 3.6V.

Mr Happy - Thanks for responding.

I have been told that the 3AAA to D battery holders from Kdomain are series oriented. A single with three NiMH rechargable AAA's produce 3.6V. If two are stacked they will produce 7.2V. Stack three and you get 10.8V. I looked at FiveMega's site and it appears to me that his battery holders are also series oriented. I sent him a PM today asking if he makes any holders that would hold 9 AAA's and produce 3.6V.

People are running the P7 on three D cell NiMH rechargables. Wouldn't they produce the same 3.6 to 3.9 Volts as three AAA NiMH rechargables?

Marduke said:

A 9xAA to 3D setup using fivemega's or Kai's adapters will give you 10.8v since they are series adapters. It sounds like you want 9xAA to 3D parallel adapters, which is harder to buy, but easier to make from scratch. Homemade, you could possibly even fit in 12xAA to 3D parallel for your 3D mag for 3.6V.

Click to expand...

Want to make one?????

shuter said:

Want to make one?????

Click to expand...

Not particularly.



However, if slightly shorter runtime doesn't bother you, you could use three of these until you find a better solution.

Edit:
Why not just use 3D NiMH? A quality adapter would end up costing near the same as a charger and 4 NiMH D's, and the NiMH D's would far outperform any adapter you could rig up in terms of voltage sag and runtime.

I do offer exactly what you are looking for, I normally make series adapters (10.8V for 9AA).... But I can make them parallel without much trouble, you can find more information in my sales thread... I only build parallel adapters by special request...

HOWEVER.... as much as I like to sell adapters, I don't see any REASON to use 9AA cells when 3 LSD D size NIMH cells from Thomasdistributing would have more capacity, and probably be cheaper than the cost of the adapter plus the 9AA cells... not to mention, you only have to deal with 3 cells to charge up, it's just so much simpler. There's no good reason to use 9AA cells in place of 3D cells when you want 3.6V.

Quote "Why not just use 3D NiMH? A quality adapter would end up costing near the same as a charger and 4 NiMH D's, and the NiMH D's would far outperform any adapter you could rig up in terms of voltage sag and runtime"

Marduke - I expected to pay $30 to $40 for a nice adapter. I looked at NiMH Low Self Discharge C & D batteries and the cost of four is $40 to $50. A charger is $60 to $90. I don't really have any other use for the C or D cells. I have many uses for the AA Eneloops and have lots of them.

I realize I will be giving up some runtime by using 9 AA's instead of three D cells but I "think" runtime would still exceed an hour with the P7. Dropping down to six AA's... I suspect the runtime would prove unecceptable.

mdocod - Your adapters look ok to me. What do you charge for a 9 AA to D cell parallel adapter putting out 3.6 Volts?

Same price as the series adapters in the sales thread, but I need some advanced notice, PM me if you want one like that, then I'll PM ya back when I have it ready to ship.

mdocod said:

Same price as the series adapters in the sales thread, but I need some advanced notice, PM me if you want one like that, then I'll PM ya back when I have it ready to ship.

Click to expand...

I'll take the plunge here. Your adapters appear to be just what I am looking for. I sent you a PM with an order for two adapters.

1 ea. 6AA>2D parallel adapter (3.6V output)
1 ea. 9AA>3D Parallel adapter (3.6V output)

Shipping address in Paypal info.

Thanks!!

Please cancel the 6AA adapter. As you pointed out it will only be 2.4V. Not enough for my needs. Sorry for the confusion. THANK YOU !!