RoboSavvy Forum

External battery? --newb question

2006-09-04T20:41:48+01:00

You might not want to wire the packs in parallel. Doing so causes one battery to charge another and so on. Often times this is tough on batteries because each pack has a slightly different voltage when charged. With NiMH or NiCad batteries I don't think this will cause any major damage as long as the batteries don't get discharged too far. If you use lithium polymer batteries I'd be worried that this could start a fire.
Just don't leave you batteries in parallel when not in use or your not around to monitor them.

Statistics: Posted by Bullit — Mon Sep 04, 2006 8:41 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-09-04T19:27:37+01:00

Received my connectors from mouser.com. They are a perfect match. At first I soldered together a 5-cell pack but it was nearly 7v. Eventually I made three 4-cell packs (using two 6-cell sticks from RC cars) and it works superb. The 4-cells I’ve assembled have voltage ranging from 5.4v to 5.7. Made a few Y-cables so I can use all three packs at once, or individually while I charge the other packs with my RC charger. The best thing is my out-of-pocket expense is only the cost of the connectors. I bought in bulk of ten and it cost about $5.00 total.

It's great! Now I have uninterrupted power for my RN while I spend time trying to program a simple move. If one battery pack dies, I simply connect it to another while the other(s) are being charged with the RC charger. Yeeees!

Thanx all,
Zembot

Statistics: Posted by Zembot — Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:27 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-09-01T01:02:15+01:00

Zembot you should be fine without a regulator and a 6V NiMH battery. A regulator or power convertor is only necessary when voltage is greater then 6V. RN-1 (HSR-8498HB) servo motors can't handle much more then 6V.

Statistics: Posted by Bullit — Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:02 am

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-31T23:45:33+01:00

Hey you’re right kif. I plugged the 3-hole connector from my PC’s processor fan into my RN. The two outer pins line up perfectly.

On another note... maybe I’m getting a little off topic. After searching this thread, I’m still unsure about regulators. If I understand correctly, regulators are needed for LiPos and AC to DC converters? I shouldn’t need a regulator if I’m using an external 6v NiMH battery? Do I?

Statistics: Posted by Zembot — Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:45 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-31T19:47:48+01:00

One idea that I'm looking in to is using mobile phone battries.

there 3.7 lipos with 950mah and weigh 18g

link

two inline would give the the right V with a regulator. there cheap and you could have a couple charing walst the others charge I might buy 8

bren[/url]

Statistics: Posted by Robo1 — Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:47 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-31T06:39:00+01:00

hello zem ;

In french sorry

Pour ma part j'utilise un connecteur que tu trouve sur les PC ( un peu comme ceux des ventilateur de cPU), c'est un connecteur 3 pins mais tu le recoupe avec un cutter pour avoir que 2 pins et tu garde le détrompeur !!!

sinon regarde ici : http//www.radiospares.fr

Pour ma part J'ai un adaptateur secteur 6/6.5 V 2500 Ma ( regarde sur ebay il y en a) ou j'ai adapter ce connecteur , je le connecte A LA PLACE de la batterie du RN1 cela me permet de mettre au point mes routines

Salutations

Statistics: Posted by kif — Thu Aug 31, 2006 6:39 am

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-31T00:14:31+01:00

Thanks for clarifying mAh guys. That's what I thought, but I'd be kicking myself if I fried the RN and didn't ask.

Bullit wrote:
... if he can carry the extra weight which I'm a little unsure of.

Actually it's to have extra external batteries when I have it connected to the PC via a cable to the RN. I'm limited in my knowledge of robobasic. Yeh I know it's easy for everyone else . I'll use a fully charged RN battery just to program a simple move. The external batteries should give me extended PC time, which I desperately need.

Thanks all

Statistics: Posted by Zembot — Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:14 am

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-30T02:13:56+01:00

Just don't go over 6V and your robot should be fine with greater mAh. Your robot should run longer if he can carry the extra weight which I'm a little unsure of.

Statistics: Posted by Bullit — Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:13 am

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-30T02:13:04+01:00

The mAh rating translates to runtime for the most part. The more you've got, the better.

Statistics: Posted by bauermech — Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:13 am

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-30T01:36:34+01:00

Appreciate your help everyone. There’s no way I could have found these connectors on my own. I just placed an order at mouser.com. Thanks for the links Capt.

Now I have another related question. I was ready to order a RN battery to use with the new cable I’ve yet to create. Then I got to thinking… I have several spare C-cell NiMH battery sticks from my RC cars, which I rarely use. I’m confident I can disassemble and re-solder the cells for the correct voltage to use as an external battery. My concern is using 1600 mA cells for the RN? Does a higher mA give longer run time? Or will it fry my RN? The battery amp ratings don’t seem to matter with my RC cars (only voltage), but I definitely want to play it safe with the RN.

Sorry I’m still in the infant stage of learning. Thanks again all.

Statistics: Posted by Zembot — Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:36 am

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-29T16:06:17+01:00

Hi,

Thanks Pev ... after poking around with those part numbers I found that Mouser does sell'em and half the price of DigitKey! That's a US$0.28 savings per set!

Anyway, I found the data sheet for the style and it shows they come in different colors too ... White (natural) 1-PN, Yellow 2-PN, Blue 3-PN, Red 4-PN, Black 5-PN and Green 6-PN.

However, I couldn't find colors other than the white at either shop ... but somebody must sell'em ...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AMP/Tyco Connector Economy Power (EP) DataSheet .PDF file.

The Buy pages;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PINs @ Mouser

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do a Search on 1123721-1 for the PINs @ DigiKey

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . White or Natural color housing @ Mouser

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do a Search on 1123722-2 for the housing @ DigiKey

Statistics: Posted by CaptKill4Fun — Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:06 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-29T12:58:32+01:00

Zembot Welcome and sorry for the wrong info.Thanks for stepping in chaps.

Statistics: Posted by rep001 — Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:58 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-29T12:46:29+01:00

CaptKill4Fun wrote:

Hi,

The HV battery connector in the RoboSavvy shop is a 3-pin connector ... the connector on my RoboNova-1 is a 2-pin connector ???

There is anotehr connector in the shop too, but it still doesn't match the RoboNova-1 ???

What's the part number for this type of image of a RoboNova-1 Battery side connector?

Please see post above:

"The power connectors are made by AMP/Tyco and are in their Economy Power line.
The connector P/N is 1-1123722-2 and the pins are 1318912-1. Digikey has them. conn= A30501 pins= A30499."

I have checked these do appear to be current the Digikey part no's and AMP/Tyco part no's

Hope this is a bit clearer

Pev

Statistics: Posted by Pev — Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:46 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-29T12:05:26+01:00

rep001 wrote:
They are available from the savvy shop,and are called HV connectors just click on the online shop link under main menu left hand column.

Hi,

The HV battery connector in the RoboSavvy shop is a 3-pin connector ... the connector on my RoboNova-1 is a 2-pin connector ???

There is anotehr connector in the shop too, but it still doesn't match the RoboNova-1 ???

What's the part number for this type of image of a RoboNova-1 Battery side connector?

Statistics: Posted by CaptKill4Fun — Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:05 pm

External battery? --newb question

2006-08-29T10:59:29+01:00

BTW I agree with CaptKill4Fun, and have used the servo connectors on RC kit myself. My only caution on something like the RN-1 would be the current passed through the servo connector in a servo stall situation. If this is the battery connector this would be the current drain for all stalled servos so could be quite high. Anyway just a thought.

Yeah, it would probably work, but I believe the tracers on the board are pretty thin around the servo rail in comparison to the bat conector/charge/switch's. The amp draw can get up there. I'd be careful... especially since no one has actually tried it yet.
...likewise, just a thought.

Statistics: Posted by bauermech — Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:59 am