asimov
09-06-2005, 11:50 PM
Hi guys.
I just thought I would share this battery mod with you all....
'I accept no responsibility for any injury/s to any person/s as a result of using information in this article'
The motor drives on my refractor were originally the DK-3 12volt system, but I had a spot of trouble with it & so I opted to exchange this for the older 6Volt synta model. It takes 4 D size cells to run it. This became some-what expensive swapping them out every 3rd or 4th night. I fiqured a 6V car battery would be more suitable for me. The last time I bought a 6V battery, they were something like 20 to 30 bucks....yes, I found out they've gone up in price since 1976! :ashamed: Now, me being the kind of guy that I am, I'm not paying 80 odd bucks for a 6V battery.
So I made my own out of a 12V battery that had one dead cell in it anyway, & was due to be thrown out.
As most of us are aware, a 12V battery is made up of six cells @ 2 volts each..The battery in question had 1 dead cell on the negative end of the battery, so I wasn't going to use that part of the battery. I needed 3 good cells in parallel. I just counted out 3 cells starting at the positive end and cut it at the appropriate place with my trusty lil' hack-saw....:scared2:
Now, BEFORE I cut the battery in half, there was a few things to be done...SAFETY GLASSE'S & GLOVES were donned .... I then drained the battery of all the sulphuric acid into a plastic bucket. Then washed the battery out a coupla times with water. I DID NOT use a power tool to cut it...A hack-saw is fine, & being plastic I was cutting, it didn't take but a few minutes.
I did notice after cutting right threw the plastic, it didn't come apart....that's because it's still joined by a lead terminal, which I had to locate,[see pic for the location] & cut threw that too. It then just literally fell in half. I then stripped out the lead sheets in the end where I cut & ended up with a nice clean plastic wall with a lead..negative terminal sticking out.
I then re-filled the battery with the old acid & charged it with my 12/6V charger. Iv'e stuck a volt meter on it & it's dead on 6V. Now I just have to work out what size in-line fuse I need to hook it all up to the drives.
In theory, one could make six, 2V batteries using this technique...or three 4V or......
Naturally, if one needs a 6V battery, you dont go out & buy a new 12V & cut it in half! But in my case, I just made the best of what I had at the time.
I just thought I would share this battery mod with you all....
'I accept no responsibility for any injury/s to any person/s as a result of using information in this article'
The motor drives on my refractor were originally the DK-3 12volt system, but I had a spot of trouble with it & so I opted to exchange this for the older 6Volt synta model. It takes 4 D size cells to run it. This became some-what expensive swapping them out every 3rd or 4th night. I fiqured a 6V car battery would be more suitable for me. The last time I bought a 6V battery, they were something like 20 to 30 bucks....yes, I found out they've gone up in price since 1976! :ashamed: Now, me being the kind of guy that I am, I'm not paying 80 odd bucks for a 6V battery.
So I made my own out of a 12V battery that had one dead cell in it anyway, & was due to be thrown out.
As most of us are aware, a 12V battery is made up of six cells @ 2 volts each..The battery in question had 1 dead cell on the negative end of the battery, so I wasn't going to use that part of the battery. I needed 3 good cells in parallel. I just counted out 3 cells starting at the positive end and cut it at the appropriate place with my trusty lil' hack-saw....:scared2:
Now, BEFORE I cut the battery in half, there was a few things to be done...SAFETY GLASSE'S & GLOVES were donned .... I then drained the battery of all the sulphuric acid into a plastic bucket. Then washed the battery out a coupla times with water. I DID NOT use a power tool to cut it...A hack-saw is fine, & being plastic I was cutting, it didn't take but a few minutes.
I did notice after cutting right threw the plastic, it didn't come apart....that's because it's still joined by a lead terminal, which I had to locate,[see pic for the location] & cut threw that too. It then just literally fell in half. I then stripped out the lead sheets in the end where I cut & ended up with a nice clean plastic wall with a lead..negative terminal sticking out.
I then re-filled the battery with the old acid & charged it with my 12/6V charger. Iv'e stuck a volt meter on it & it's dead on 6V. Now I just have to work out what size in-line fuse I need to hook it all up to the drives.
In theory, one could make six, 2V batteries using this technique...or three 4V or......
Naturally, if one needs a 6V battery, you dont go out & buy a new 12V & cut it in half! But in my case, I just made the best of what I had at the time.