Biggest Baddest Lithium-ion Batt Pack Ever Made For Whites HP2900 mAh

I just ordered A Tenergy Li-Ion 18650 11.1V 2600mAh PCB Protected, connectors and charger for my whites v3i. The three cells will fit in the existing AA battery case for the md. (according to battery specs.) The batteries have not arrived yet....but they should fit.
 

When you get it post some pics. I am curious.

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I converted Whites V3i battery pack to use Li-ion batteries. I did not go into detail of every step of the process. My camera batteries were nearly dead. (It is a cannon power hog)
If you can solder, understand basic circuit wiring, you can make a Li-ion fit your MD. This mod cost (charger,connectors,battery)= $68 W/shipping . Thought it worked so well im gonna install Li-ion in whites rechargable pack as well.
The charge time is cut in half and my time in the field is amazing! I hunted all day for 7 hour with tx boost on. Voltage never dropped below 11v. Now i need to get Li-ion for my camera! Cheers!
 

By the way, since i already have the charger,the cost for just the batt pack is $26 for the other mod.
 

Congratulations... That looks really nice... That is what I mean, anyone can make a good lithium rechargable battery and it doesn't need to cost all that much.
 

Your right. I am very happy with the performance of these new batteries. The vid i posted was the wrong one. I have one that explains how. It is still loading on youtube. will have it up soon.
 

With all due respect RNB after making a comment about making false statements you stated of the Whites out of the box battery "Anybody that is using our Battery Pack will tell you how happy they are with this new technology running at 12.5 volts for days on a single charge instead of 10 volts for a couple of hours.." - My whites battery lasts longer than a couple hours so You too should not make false comments.
 

$150?! Ouch. I have a stockpile of AA NiMH's for all sorts of devices all around the house. I already have a charger that does 12 at a time. My detector came with a AA box and recharging once a day isn't that big of a deal. Something that handled holding a charge more reliably would be nice but I think you are pricing this out of the market. At $65 I would become interested, until then, will stick with simple AA's or look into purchasing my own lithium ion and converting a pack...
 

I bought 8 NiMH AA batteries off of ebay about 10 years ago. Soldered them up in my Whites case and they are still in use today. I think I paid around 25 dollars, but I am sure that there are people who do not want to solder anything. I think that it is understandable.
For some, Metal Detecting is not something to make, or save, money.
It is a hobby, and hobbies cost money.
 

I have both the 2200 and 2900 and car charger. They are the best!!! Alot lighter than standard battery packs. They do last for days in my v3i. Ive had a few whites rechargable packs and they are fine but dont last very long..
 

Nice video norbyx! Thanks,.. Do you have any similar solution to take the place of the stock White's $199 LiIon battery for the original TDI detector? As a side note, it seems like an even better solution to all of these battery issues would be the ability to use one of the many readily available modern tool batteries from Makita or Milwaukee, either through an adapter or better yet, if the detector manufacturers would just design the detector to accept a tool company battery as a selling feature.
 

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I found this review of the 2200 li ion pak I believe it to be honest as it was made by awell respected user on the forums take from it what u like cheers

noticed the $2000 plus dollar detectors that have been getting all the play on the forums lately are powered by Li Ion battery packs. Lithium-ion batteries are incredibly popular these days. You can find them in laptops, PDAs, cell phones, and now detectors. Whites is using them in the TDI detector.Here are the claims made for the Lithium-ion battery. They are a low maintenance battery, and don't have a memory problem, which means that you do not have to completely discharge them before recharging. They are generally lighter than other types of rechargeable batteries and they hold their charge because they don't have the self discharge problem that most NIMH packs exhibit. Li Ion batteries also operate at a higher voltage than NIMH batteries while being used. My research shows they should be good for 1000 deep charge/discharge cycles. These are general claims I found on the Internet.I decided to get the RB AW 2200 Li-ION battery and do a field test. These batteries will work in all Whites models that use the 8 AA packs. The first thing I noticed when I unpacked the box was the packs are bright red. The case is shaped so the pack can be removed from the detector, using your thumb and finger, without having to tip the coil in the air. This saves you from accidentally sticking the coil in the ceiling fan.My first test was to see if the AW2200 was lighter than my NIMH packs. I put the AW2200 mah pack on my scale and found it was 3oz lighter than my Whites 1800 mah NIMH pack. RB claims the AW2200 saves even more weight when compared to the Whites 2200 heavy duty pack. Since I don't own that Whites pack I could not test this claim.*This test is done. They are lighter than the NIMH. The second test I wanted to run was to see if there was a problem with self discharge. The Li ion packs are suppose to charge in two hours. In less than 2 hours the charger's red light changed to green and the pack had a full charge. I left on my trip but was disappointed to find I couldnt do any hunting. I checked the battery voltage today and it was 12.51 V. This was after 5 days of sitting.*This test will be on going but shows*they are definitely low self discharge.**I'm going to let this pack sit and check it after 2 weeks. That will be enough idle time for me. I'll post this result later.A second pack I loaded in my V3i to test how many hours it would run in my Spectra. It had a 12.51V starting voltage after sitting for 5 days. I will keep a log of running time until the battery quits and post the results.RUN TIME TESTBattery Charged and let sit for 5 days.First hunt lasted 4.25 hours. The starting voltage was 12.51v. The ending voltage was 11.23 v.The last test I want to perform is to see how much using the car charger can extent the run time of the pack. We all have to eat, so my test will be to use the charger for 30 minutes while taking a lunch break. I plan to do this test after I finish the first run time test.
 

For those of us that don't want or care to cobble up something and call it a battery, the RnB's are great. They work.
 

Can't believe I just read the entire pissing match about metal detector batteries. I say buy what you want to buy. Build what you want to build. Simple as that. Not sure I love someone joining a forum just to advertise their products but I guess it's an accepted practice.
 

The RNB is the first aftermarket Lithium Ion packs for detectors, we have had great results with them on both the Whites and Minelab detectors.
 

Well to clear up a couple things first RNB said you can use LI-ION until they are dead, well if you did they would never charge again. They have a cut off voltage on protected cells, non-protected go below that and good luck, second neither even brought up the protected mode board for the cells, if you use a smart charger then you only need either protected cells that cut off at a pre-determined voltage or a PCB board. Otherwise you run the risk of discharging the batteries to much, yes norbyx the buzzer was a nice touch but if you don't hear it on a windy day with headphones well to bad go bye another cheap battery pack. Not sure what the RNB has in it, TDI has a PCB board on the Pro and TDI. I wouldn't use LI-PO on any unit I would sale as its not safe you don't know how people will use it. LI-ION explode also so you have to be careful with them. But for yourself if you know the risks its your detector. And having worked with RC stuff and detectors for years as far as batteries go you get what you pay for. Like REG said most Li-Po or Li-Ion from China are junk fake cells with over reported mah some go so far as to hide tiny 800mah cells inside 18650 and call them 5000mah cells.
Last everyone should use the others knowledge if they are wise not just piss each other off, there was a lot of knowledge thrown around in these posts that could be useful to all. Never diss a product you haven't tried I know a lot of people that love the RNB packs, they couldn't solder a wire to anything so building your own is out of the question for them, so that is the spot that RNB fills not the DIY like norbyx or me for that matter. So to sum it up your all right pretty much just different opinions on how to go about it.
Another thing that bothers me is everyone keeps calling these 12 volt packs. There is no such thing as a 12 volt Li-Ion or Lipo pack, there all based on either 3.6 cells or 3.7 cells so its either 10.8 or 11.1 they will charge up to 12.6 or so but there still not 12 volt batteries as this voltage will drop in a hurry, it also was different to make one of these packs for a V3 and one for the TDI sl the V3 doesn't use near the amps the SL does and might last all day, but I can tell you the Tenergy aren't going to last all day in the SL I have used their cells in RC cars and they are always over reported on their actual MAH. I doubt you will get an hour with one of those packs. If your going to all the trouble making a pack at least use quality batteries.
 

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I have the hp 3100 battery wouldn't trade it for anything.vanzutphen
 

sutphin said:
I have the hp 3100 battery wouldn't trade it for anything.vanzutphen
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I'm with you sutphin. The thing lasts forever. I could not possibly outlast my battery on an all day hunt. Hell, it's only dropped below 12v once when I hunted all day. Lighter than stock, charge fast and last forever.
 

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