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Battery question — Parallax Forums

Battery question

SimEnzoSimEnzo Posts: 21
edited 2007-09-28 22:42 in Robotics
I have an electronic component that runs off 2 AAA batteries that are connected in parallel. I'd like to extend the battery life, so I'm thinking I could replace the AAA battery power with a battery back that uses a couple of D cell batteries wired in parallel. That should be ok since both AAA and D put out 1.5 volts, right? Many thanks for the sanity check before I power up my hack [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2007-09-28 21:30
    It should work, and you'll get up to 18X the capacity. Just be doubly sure that you battery back is wired in parallel and that the voltage coming from it is 1.5V and not 3V.

    -Phil
  • DgswanerDgswaner Posts: 795
    edited 2007-09-28 21:31
    There would be no voltage issues with using D Cell batteries. Hack away!

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer. - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster
  • SimEnzoSimEnzo Posts: 21
    edited 2007-09-28 21:37
    Great! Thanks for the confirmation & peace of mind [noparse]:)[/noparse]
  • David BDavid B Posts: 592
    edited 2007-09-28 22:42
    One thing to watch for - I went to buy a NiMH D cell a few years ago ago and saw a rack of them in a store. But when I picked it off the shelf, it only weighed a fraction of what I expected. It turns out that many of the NiMH D cells in stores are really AA cells in a D cell casing! The listed ampere-hours bear that out; those D cells are labeled with a rating similar to a high-end AA, 2200 mAh, where a real D cell is more like 10,000 mAh.

    I've never seen this trickyness used for alkaline cells, though.
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