Hey guys,
Just a quick question. I picked up one of Exoray’s Pack lights kits and gun lights kits. Each came with a 6 “C” battery holder to power them. My question is, do I have to still use both if the kits are connected and used in conjunction? I know very, VERY little about volts, etc, so I’m just looking to not kill a rather pricey couple of kits. Any help?
I think that’s a BIG 10 - 4 ol buddy…I have the same light and sound kit. So total 12 C batteries and I think 6 D batteries for the sound…that’s a lot of weight…
-Trey
well… it’s not right unless it’s heavy, right?
As I understand it, a single 12-volt battery could do it all, but unless you really spend some money on it, it’s probably not going to be lighter than the C’s and D’s.
Yes, you need both packs or you can Y one pack and power both kits but your run time will be diminished…
You can of course use alternative batteries to give longer run times… One word of caution though ‘technically’ the regulator can handle in excess of 30 volts in but the more you put in the hotter it will get… Even the bump from 9volts to 12 volts creates significantly more heat… I would recommend anyone that goes to 12 volts get a heat sink for the regulator, they sell them at Radio Shack or you can simply take a coin or two and bolt it to the heat sink, basically any metal part to disperse heat, aluminum is best…
Then add a fan to it.. So it sounds cooler as well.
I know, that was lame 
Hey Exo just curious do you know what the draw is for each of your kits. Pack, gun, and sound? Im eyeballing 2 4000mah 11.1v lipo batteries for 15 bucks on eBay, but wasn’t sure if they’ll really last me long enough?
Off hand I don’t know the draw of my current kits…
I would use a second power supply for the sound just because…
One battery for both light kits and one for the sound…
The reason being is that the sound will surge the batteries, this can create ‘brown outs’ in the power circuit resulting in the light kits getting confused and performing erratically or resetting…
The 4000mAh batteries should be fine for normal conditions, but it’s still only about half the run time of the included ‘c’ cell battery packs with name brand alkaline batteries in there…
I fully understand all the weight issues and ease of charging issues and the will to find and use alternate battery sources but there is a reason I package and include the ‘c’ cell battery packs, they honestly perform VERY well when paired with my kits… To get comparative results with alternatives is generally costly and/or will result in the same weight issues… LIPOs are great all around but they are generally proportionally expensive, gel cells are cheap and work great but they have the same weight issues as traditional batteries…
So Exo one last question as I’m still trying to wrap my head around this battery power issue. If I were to use 6 of THESE BATTERIES with say your pack light kit would that be better or worse than using the name brand alkalines? I cant really find the stock mah rating of a single c cell battery to compare those rechargeable high capacity ones to.
Also what size and how many batteries will your sound kits need?
Good alkaline C batteries are generally rated about 8000mAh, realistically expect to get 75% of that as you should devalue any battery rating…
Also different types of batteries have different discharge slopes… Alkaline batteries generally discharge slowly in a gradual slope… NiCd, NiMH and LiPo generally push full and then fall off a cliff…
For my kits I offer up an independent battery pack for each kit, so for quick math
2 of the C packs offers up 16,000 mAh (8000 mAh each)
1 of the D packs offers ups 12,000 mAh
So all together as I sell the kits with good alkaline batteries you have about 28,000 mAh across the kits… To get an equivalent run time with a single power source you will need to match or better those ratings… This of course isn’t perfect math but it gives you and idea of where you need to head…
The biggest issue if you decide to use one central power source is that the sound will certainly draw the majority of the power… So total run time of the whole pack on a central power supply will pretty much be tied to what the sound is drawing…
Ok cool so 8000mah for a c cell that’s what I was looking for. I was definitley already planning on having the sound on it’s own circut. And just to explain a little more why I’m asking so many questions and working through different ideas is that I’m not even worried very much about the weight I’m really just seeing if I can try to have the same performance but be chargable so I don’t have to worry about opening the shells to replace batteries. It looks like I might just have to work with it in that respect though. I hope you know I don’t mean to question the logic or reasons behind you light/sound kit design… And thanks alot for your help Exo
I fully understand the logic behind a rechargeable battery system… But the initial cost factor to get equivalent results is quite a bit higher in most cases…
I don’t have Ex’s kit, mine is Proptronix, however both gun and pack kits are run off a single 9V rechargeable. If that’s the route you wish to take one I can recommend is the Lenmar DVDU923.
9 volts, easy to work with, easy to modify if you want, pretty light weight comparatively, li-ion, and affordable. I wish I could tell you how long it’ll last but I haven’t actually tested the longevity yet. It lasted me all Halloween night but really I’m not sure if it’d be long enough for something like a DragonCon event. I tried my hardest to find its big brother the DVDU9 w/ twice the juice but sadly they are no longer in production for some unknown reason to me.
Another item that I just saw on eBay which looks pretty identical is the Coby BP-420, it costs less. It’s another li-ion rechargeable that seems to do around 9v-12v.
Ah seems even Amazon has it for cheap, $20. Amazon.com
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Lenmar DVDU923 = 2556 mAh
About 1/4 the run time of the included ‘c’ cell battery pack…
Try here: http://www.oemreplacementbatteries.com/view.cfm/High-Capacity-Best-battery-1817.htm
-or here: http://www.z9electronics.com/LENMAR-DVD-U9-UNIVERSAL-p5863960.html
A little pricey, but the cheapest that I could find.
I bought this bad boy from vanns.com when they still sold them. Good luck!
