Rechargable A2?

Hi folks. Has anyone figured out a way to make an A2 rechargable? I know I might be able to use the Pila cells but what about the lamp? Will the regulator handle that problem? Also, anyone use Pilas in their L4 yet? Thanx...Gary

My L4 is runnin' on a 168B Copia right now...

As far as a rechargeable A2, workin' on it... Someone's bound to come up with somethin'...

The A2's battery housing is smaller in diameter, as such that the Copias will not fit...

Thanx FalconFX...What do you think about using the stock lamp with a Copia battery? As bad as it sounds, I'm not adverse to machining out the A2's body to make the Copia fit if there is enough material. Do you forsee any other problems? Guess I could simply wire the Copia up from outside the A2 or use a power supply on the A2 head for testing purposes.

If the L4 is any indication of the effectiveness of the Copias when it's in regulation, you should get an even performance from the A2 as well with the stock bulb (MA02). As the A2's bulb is rated at 6V, the Copias shouldn't flash it (the MN03 tolerates a Copia quite well, even though it's dim)...

I don't have much experience at all with machining, so I'd be the wrong guy to talk to about machining the ID of the A2 to accept a Copia. Although I would say there shouldn't be much to machine out, since if I were to really force it, I could get a 168B in, but it'll scrape the sides out. For reference, a 1/5A NiMH can still drop in, even though it's ever so slightly wider than a typical CR123 (probably by its own shrinkwrapping)...

Who knows, maybe even chiseling/sanding the insides enough could allow a Copia to fall in... I'd say, for testing purposes, you can just wire in a Copia or an external power supply from outside...

I have machining experience and a complete set of machine tools in my home shop. I'll measure the batt and ID of the A2 and see what I need to do. I'd hate to take the corrosion proofing off the A2, maybe I can take a few thou off the battery instead. My main concern was how the lamp would handle it. I'll set it up externally to test for run times before I do anything. Thanx again....

NP! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Gman and all,

The A2 has a thin plated sleeve within the Al battery tube which supplies a sensitive ground path to the electronics in the front of the unit. Boring this sleeve out is really not a good idea! This sleeve is why the dimension is tighter than the E series tubes. I think your success is unlikely, if not impossible. Sorry.

- Don

Thanx, I see that now that I looked. (I didn't really wanna take a tool bit to the thing anyway.) Besides, I was kinda confused about the batteries. I somehow got the idea one of those Copias was 6 volt and the different p/n between Copia and Pila threw me for a bit....my bad. I'll stick with stock or maybe try the 1/5 batteries.

The Copias and the Pilas are the same thing... Both have the A designation, and one uses B, while the other uses S for the same 168 batts...

All are 3.7V, and vary from 1000mah to 1800mah...