Lasivian
Hero Member
Whites XLT Li-ion battery upgrade, the finished product.
So a long time ago I modified an XLT to run on an external battery pack of D-cell batteries and used 8 rechargeable alkaline batteries in it. It was lighter on the wrist but heavy around the waist. It also gave me a shockingly long lifespan.
I did this by butchering one of the long-dead original rechargeable battery packs. I also paired it with an extension of the headphone cable so I wouldn't have to worry about yanking out my headphone line all the time. It wasn't the best work I've ever done, but it worked.
I decided recently to revisit this contraption now that I have Li-ion 18650 batteries available. They not only store more amp hours for the weight, but they hold a higher voltage for a longer time compared to other options.
Looking around at the existing battery trays for the 18650s, they, well, sucked. The leads were too small, and for the cost, they just didn't seem tough enough. So using my 3D printer I whipped up a little something instead. I bought battery springs for C/D sized cells and #8 ring terminals. I put the whole thing together with 18g wire and 4mm hardware. It's holding up quite well.
Since nobody seems to know what voltage an XLT can handle I got a buck converter (In a nice little case already) and set the output voltage to 12v. Since Li-ion batteries will maintain their voltage for 90% of their lifespan this should give me many, MANY hours of detecting on one set of batteries.
You might notice the voltage on the converter is 11.5 volts. I tested the output with a Fluke meter and found that it ran a tad high so lowered it until it read a clean 12v. The XLT shows it a tad higher, but perfectly acceptable. According to its own meter I could run 14 volts I suppose, but there seems no reason to at this point.
I put the units together with simple barrel jacks so I could remove and replace pieces as desired without cutting & splicing wires.
The batteries usually cost around $5 each. These are really good ones for the price: https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001980/6500700-authentic-panasonic-ncr-18650b-3-7v-3400mah
The parts on the tray and the plugs I used cost about $5 total, the voltage controller was another $8 here: DC-DC Adjustable Step-down Power Supply Module Voltage Current LCD Display Shell | eBay (I left the red buttons off so I can't accidentally change the voltage while it's stuffed in my little fanny pack.)
The Li-ion batteries, tray, and voltage controller weigh in at 11 ounces. By comparison, 8x AA alkalines weigh in around 7 ounces and 8x D batteries at a whopping 38 ounces.
What do you guys think?
Thanks!
So a long time ago I modified an XLT to run on an external battery pack of D-cell batteries and used 8 rechargeable alkaline batteries in it. It was lighter on the wrist but heavy around the waist. It also gave me a shockingly long lifespan.
I did this by butchering one of the long-dead original rechargeable battery packs. I also paired it with an extension of the headphone cable so I wouldn't have to worry about yanking out my headphone line all the time. It wasn't the best work I've ever done, but it worked.
I decided recently to revisit this contraption now that I have Li-ion 18650 batteries available. They not only store more amp hours for the weight, but they hold a higher voltage for a longer time compared to other options.
Looking around at the existing battery trays for the 18650s, they, well, sucked. The leads were too small, and for the cost, they just didn't seem tough enough. So using my 3D printer I whipped up a little something instead. I bought battery springs for C/D sized cells and #8 ring terminals. I put the whole thing together with 18g wire and 4mm hardware. It's holding up quite well.
Since nobody seems to know what voltage an XLT can handle I got a buck converter (In a nice little case already) and set the output voltage to 12v. Since Li-ion batteries will maintain their voltage for 90% of their lifespan this should give me many, MANY hours of detecting on one set of batteries.
You might notice the voltage on the converter is 11.5 volts. I tested the output with a Fluke meter and found that it ran a tad high so lowered it until it read a clean 12v. The XLT shows it a tad higher, but perfectly acceptable. According to its own meter I could run 14 volts I suppose, but there seems no reason to at this point.
I put the units together with simple barrel jacks so I could remove and replace pieces as desired without cutting & splicing wires.
The batteries usually cost around $5 each. These are really good ones for the price: https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001980/6500700-authentic-panasonic-ncr-18650b-3-7v-3400mah
The parts on the tray and the plugs I used cost about $5 total, the voltage controller was another $8 here: DC-DC Adjustable Step-down Power Supply Module Voltage Current LCD Display Shell | eBay (I left the red buttons off so I can't accidentally change the voltage while it's stuffed in my little fanny pack.)
The Li-ion batteries, tray, and voltage controller weigh in at 11 ounces. By comparison, 8x AA alkalines weigh in around 7 ounces and 8x D batteries at a whopping 38 ounces.
What do you guys think?
Thanks!
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