I was watching GB 2 this afternoon and grabbed a few screen shots because maybe I am seeing things. This bar doesn’t appear on the pack all the time. It comes and goes. Maybe this has been discussed ad nauseam already, but it is something I never noticed before so I thought I would bring it up.
Here are some shots showing the bar (or item) on the top/back of the pack that is above the padding on the ALICE bar.
Many apologies if this is common knowledge. It’s new to me and I want to know more about what it is. Thanks for any information that anyone can provide.
I wonder, cna that pack power method still be used today? I ask since I checked out a Makita tools display at Lowe’s and the battery design has changed a lot.
Oh, you can definitely power pack lights with them still, only problem is they are like 9.6 volts or something stupid like that, so you just need to make sure that it’s enough voltage to run your setup. Also, the improvements in batteries just makes it redundant to use these other than for cosmetics.
Makita makes these brand new still though, Home Depot normally has them for $30-$40 a battery, but they are slow to charge and they age don’t take a charge well. I had a drill powered by these and it was a pain in the ass!
I have 2 3000mah 9.6v Makitas wired in parallel running the custom lights and gbfans sound board in my semi-hero pack. My lights are running 100ma warm white LEDs which consume about 5 times the power of your average, run of the mill LEDs most people use in their kits and they still last all day at a convention! Plus, they only take about an hour per battery to charge! I actually like them better then using the lipo batteries I have in other packs. Most sound and pack light kits can work on a range of voltages from 9-12v+, so don’t knock the Makitas until you try them!
This gives me a lot to think about. Though I admit the CCTV battery looks good so I can plug my pack in, hang it up, and have it on as a night light display thing.
My experience is based only on using them for power tools. I’ll admit for their time they were great, but they do have their issues for them. I can remember using the old technique of freezing the batteries just to get them to keep a charge. That being said, I’m sure any rechargeable battery can have issues.
A definite plus would be that you could pop the batteries out really easy and not have to worry about your pack being plugged in all the time. Are you running brand new batteries Matt or used? Cause that might have been my issue as well, my tool set was hand me downs from my dad and uncle.
Im really sorry to bring this thread back to life but I figured I would ask in here rather than a new thread…
Im building a GB2 pack and I was thinking of powering my light kit with the Makita battery or both batteries. I read you said “Parallel” meaning. like this… but with 9.6V…
As long as I run the two batteries parallel I should be alright? Im trying to think how I will link the batteries together and how I will link them to the light kit? I guess rip apart the drill I would be getting with the batteries and running that connection to the kit?
To run them in parallel, you literally just need both Positive terminals on the batteries connected to the positive terminal of your electronics and both negative terminals on the batteries connected to the negative terminal of your electronics. The reason you would run batteries in parallel is if they are the same voltage but you just need the combined amperage of both batteries to extend the amount of time you can run your electronics (i.e. added their amperage together).
I believe in the originals they either cut out the socket from a tool or charger, or probably molded them. Someone here might know more on that, but the sockets were attached to an aluminum bracket secured to the back of the pack, and wide Velcro held the batteries in place.
