Alt Power Supply

[cachenut]

I have noticed over the years that both Whites and Minelab detectors work much better when the batteries are very new. I get an extra 4 to 6 inches and the signals are crisp and easy to hear.

So I want to construct an alternate supply for my minelab explorer.

I am sure I can modify the current battery case and detector to take a plug in cable and run this to a hip mount battery cell. All I need do is to add the battery plug into the back of the battery case and punch the right sized hole in the rubber cover that clips over the current setup. This means buying a rubber cover and a new battery pack for when I use real batteries.

Now with this done I only need to worry about the type of power cell to use. I believe this means volts and amps but I do not know what amperage or volts to ask for.

This is my big question?

Now with AC equipment amps are not important. I can run a hair dryer or a computer for that matter on an 80 amp circuit or a 10 amp circuit. It doesn't hurt a thing. I just have to meet the minumum required.

Voltage on the other hand is very important. On a 220 volt circuit a lightbulb burns real BRIGHT for about 10 minutes and then blows. Sometimes it goes right away.

But how about DC exquipment. Is voltage and amperage as important or unimportant?

I dont want to burn up my Explorer!!!

Now rechargeable batteries do not cut it.

The copper tops are labeled MN1500 and 1.5 volts. I believe thats 1500 millamps. So with 8 you get 12 volts and 12000 milliamps or 12 amps.

When new the batteries seem to generate 12.6 volts at the back of the battery case. As measured by my cheapo voltmeter. And I expect some more amps too but I could not measure it.

My question for you guys is what voltage and amperage can I safely run into my minelab Explorer?

Is 20 volts better? Is 13 volts the best I could do? Do I need to use only 12 volts and 12 amps?

What gives the extra inches, volts or amps?

I plan to buy a sealed wetcell of relatively small size to mount on my belt. Then I can recharge it ever so often. There is a wide selection now because of all the devices like UPS for computers that use them. An alternate might be two of those coleman lantern batteries the small ones if they were of proper voltage.

I might need to put some sort of electronics in the battery path to adjust the voltage if it is too low. With modern advances I think this just requires a small chip or something.

So if you can answer these questions or enlighten me please let me know. Or if you know someone who might please give me an email and I will contact them.

Your fellow Gopher. cachenut..

 

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[GuANu]

well i wouldnt run more than 13.5 volts through any 12v device... unless of course the electronic device had a voltage regulator built into the circuit that would allow you to run a higher voltage and the machine would regulate it to a 12v current... many electronics have this just as a safety measure.. i know on my xterra the book even says the machine will warn you when its over-volted and wont run... so using high voltage batteries would be rejected by the machine.. my suggestion would be to make a backup battery pack rather than a in-line pack.. or if you do want inline, i would suggest parallel them in a way you use more batteries, with the same voltage.. since when batteries used in series run to 12v, you would need to work it out so you use more batteries but equal out the voltage... much like a golf cart does... it has 8 12v batteries in it, but some are set up to have 12v accessories...

hope this helps somewhat..

G

 

[cachenut]

They make 100s of different sealed wet cells now at a variety of voltages for UPS backups etc... I thought I would just buy one of those at 13 volts or whatever the optimum but safe voltage is. Then there is the issue of amperage. Would the extra amps effect the explorer?

What is the best voltage?

Right! series not parallel. Thanks for the help.

My best guess would be 12 volt and any amps but I dont want to guess with a $1200 machine.

 

[GuANu]

yes, guesswork on expensive machines is not a good thing, the machine will use the amperage it requires, so i dont think that would be an issue.. under-amping would be a bad thing more than the extra amps to be available for it.. which is why you see less depth as the batteries get used, amps draw down and the machine cant draw the power it needs to operate at full capacity..i work in car audio, and thats the reason for when we install an amp, you need the right wire for the amp, if a amp draws XXX amps, and you set it up with a wire that cant transfer that many amps, the wire gets hot and can melt.. the way we describe it is if your house was on fire, would you use a garden hose or a fire hose... the machine will draw the amps required... so dont under-amp it =) definately wait for more opinions, i'm just one, maybe someone is more technical and can give you a deeper response...

hope this helps too

G

 

[cachenut]

Thanks for the advice. I am still collecting info to make it work.

Thanks again!

 

[cachenut]

What I learned

Well from reliable sources I get the preferred voltage for the Exp II is 12 volts. The detector can pull about 1.5 amps at startup but normally pulls about .11 during operation and pulls .13 when it sees a target. They also said when using the speaker turned up it can use .3 amps to run. Use the backlight and you likely get a little more.

Yes several people told me it has a voltage regulator inside. This is the first I heard it steps it down to 9 volts. Others said it reduces it to 12 volts.

Run too high a voltage in and I think it will burn up the regulator.

I have a "small" sealed wet cell battery that they say produces between 12 and 13 volts for the first 8 hours when fully charged. It is a 1.3 amp battery for 20 hours. This should be fine.

I worry about voltage though. Would 13 volts for a sustained period hurt my explorer/regulator or would it be okay. Coppertops go up to about 12.6 for a while when brand new and then drop. If I dont fully charge it I should get less than 13. Of course the wet cell battery numbers are what they advertise and in practice it might be a little different.

One person adamantly said any voltage over 13 volts would damage the Explorer and void my warrenty. He also said newer Lithium Ion batteries had too high a voltage (over 13) and would certainly damage any Explorer detector. Said I should only use Minelab batteries or alkalines. I doubt what he said cause of the way he said it. Any opinions?

What about adding a voltage regulator outside the machine?.