Any good do it yourself tutorials on how to build a laptop battery pack outa a buncha nihms or whatever?
- Thread starter 0roo0roo
- Start date
Shouldn't be too difficult if your used to making battery packs. Just some cells, tabs, and solder. I make 6 cell S/C packs for my R/C's. Making one for a laptop should be similar.
If it is using nicd or nimh. Don't know of any tutorials for laptop packs. But there are some related to R/C. Most of what came up when googling build battery packs. You would have to rig up some way of hooking it up to the laptop.
If it is using nicd or nimh. Don't know of any tutorials for laptop packs. But there are some related to R/C. Most of what came up when googling build battery packs. You would have to rig up some way of hooking it up to the laptop.
Unless you have some ancient laptop, most newer battery units incorporate circuitry and eeproms that provide identification, predicted service life, the number of charge-discharge cycles history, performance degradation and other information. Possibly you could salvage this from an unservicable old battery.
I was thinking he could make a 14.4V pack out of 12 nimhs. Rig up something so the + goes to + of laptop - to the -. Wouldn't look that good though. Have a laptop with two wires
coming out plugged into a battery pack next to it.
coming out plugged into a battery pack next to it.
Find out what voltage the laptop needs on its DC input (most use about 19 V - some dells use 20V) - I wouldn't fiddle with the battery itself or battery connection port itself - virtaully all modern laptops use 'smart' batteries, which have integrated CPUs for charge/discharge controlling, as well as failsafe protection systems. There would also be charging problems as the laptop may not be able to charge the battery because of capacity/chemistry differences.
To make the battery pack, just go get about 16 D or F cell NiMHs, solder them up in series, add a fuse, stick them in a box and attach an appropriate wire. This does leave a bit of a problem with charging, but by adding a suitable switch and a couple of resistors, it should be possible to charge it from the laptop adaptor in about 8 hours.
To make the battery pack, just go get about 16 D or F cell NiMHs, solder them up in series, add a fuse, stick them in a box and attach an appropriate wire. This does leave a bit of a problem with charging, but by adding a suitable switch and a couple of resistors, it should be possible to charge it from the laptop adaptor in about 8 hours.
This is one of the better topics I seen in a long time. I have also wondered the same thing in the back of my head and the answers have been great..
I like to thank the people who take their time to answer the topic!
I like to thank the people who take their time to answer the topic!
I made a battery pack for my lap top once.
The cost of a new battery was rediculas & it came in a plastic box that attached to the laptop.
So if I bought a new battery it would just clip on.
So destroying the old plastic battery case didn't matter.
I used a razor blade and parted the two glued halfs,
removed the old batteries,
drilled and installed a flush mount female socket for a 2 wire power male like on the end of a transformer.
You know those little 112v black boxes that plug into the wall and the long cord plugs into your phone or what ever.
Then from the female flush socket I soldered the + & - to the outlet for the laptop and glued it back together.
My lap top used 12v, so a car battery, or plug it into the cars cig lighter socket worked.
They make voltage adapters 12v to ? for different CD players and such.
But I took some thin pvc pipe that regular D batteries would fit in.
At 1 & 1/2 volt each I needed 8 batteries to make the 12v.
Cut two pieces of pvc to hold 4 batteries each,
Set them side by side & drilled a hole in the bottom all the way through & put in a thin bolt.
This was the electrical connection from one to the other and it held them together. (add duct tape)
Then a couple holes in the top & two metal rods going across the top with wires to the male plug.
Filled it with rechargeable batteries and charged it from the car's cig lighter when I was driving.
A cars alternator puts out about 14v to charge a 12v battery and it's the 2v difference that forces the electricity
through/into the battery.
For a test you can gather up all the D cell batteries that you can find.
Find a V shaped angle iron thingie and lay them end to end
They can be charged by car battery, 12 volts charges 6 of them at a time ok. (don't let them get hot)
Once you've got your battery count set for the input volts of your computer you can give it a try.
The exact voltage isn't as critical as you might think it is. You can always be off a volt or maybe 2 & worry not.
Low voltage is worse than a higher voltage for constant running.
But a lower voltage might be better for a trial so it isn't fried.
I found that below 7 volts my laptop wouldn't start or do anything
as if there was a voltage checker that only allow the laptop to start if there was ample electricity.
The rechargable D batteries I used were those yellow cadium ones that don't hardly weigh anything.
CAUTION if you paint your battery pack red and choose to use PVC end caps,
them thar freedom act home security guys will take your freedom.
Like a pipe bomb scare or something.
Once you've got your trial batteries layed out in the algle iron and charged
you can hold wires from them to the lap top's connectors and
give it a test before you actually buy or make something & commit yourself.
You know that those cadium batteries aren't exactly cheap when you buy in bulk.
I think I paid $20 or $30 at the time ? (a long time ago on a 386 sx 20 mhz)
The are probably a lot cheaper now though.
Once I got my old laptops plastic battery case back together, I found a black box transformer that supplyed
the right amount of voltage and use that in the house.
The original power supply broke so I used that for a year.
The original power supply had multi wires & sensors bla bla and apperantly it wasn't needed.
Remember this is just for information or humor and if you blow up your lap top, you are responsible, not me.
There's a million ways to do something wrong & my info is not complete fur sur.
A computer salesman will not advise making a battery pack. That kind of stuff puts em out of business.
Check your old battery pack for volts, amps, etc and try to make a match??????
Good luck
Bitdog
The cost of a new battery was rediculas & it came in a plastic box that attached to the laptop.
So if I bought a new battery it would just clip on.
So destroying the old plastic battery case didn't matter.
I used a razor blade and parted the two glued halfs,
removed the old batteries,
drilled and installed a flush mount female socket for a 2 wire power male like on the end of a transformer.
You know those little 112v black boxes that plug into the wall and the long cord plugs into your phone or what ever.
Then from the female flush socket I soldered the + & - to the outlet for the laptop and glued it back together.
My lap top used 12v, so a car battery, or plug it into the cars cig lighter socket worked.
They make voltage adapters 12v to ? for different CD players and such.
But I took some thin pvc pipe that regular D batteries would fit in.
At 1 & 1/2 volt each I needed 8 batteries to make the 12v.
Cut two pieces of pvc to hold 4 batteries each,
Set them side by side & drilled a hole in the bottom all the way through & put in a thin bolt.
This was the electrical connection from one to the other and it held them together. (add duct tape)
Then a couple holes in the top & two metal rods going across the top with wires to the male plug.
Filled it with rechargeable batteries and charged it from the car's cig lighter when I was driving.
A cars alternator puts out about 14v to charge a 12v battery and it's the 2v difference that forces the electricity
through/into the battery.
For a test you can gather up all the D cell batteries that you can find.
Find a V shaped angle iron thingie and lay them end to end
They can be charged by car battery, 12 volts charges 6 of them at a time ok. (don't let them get hot)
Once you've got your battery count set for the input volts of your computer you can give it a try.
The exact voltage isn't as critical as you might think it is. You can always be off a volt or maybe 2 & worry not.
Low voltage is worse than a higher voltage for constant running.
But a lower voltage might be better for a trial so it isn't fried.
I found that below 7 volts my laptop wouldn't start or do anything
as if there was a voltage checker that only allow the laptop to start if there was ample electricity.
The rechargable D batteries I used were those yellow cadium ones that don't hardly weigh anything.
CAUTION if you paint your battery pack red and choose to use PVC end caps,
them thar freedom act home security guys will take your freedom.
Like a pipe bomb scare or something.
Once you've got your trial batteries layed out in the algle iron and charged
you can hold wires from them to the lap top's connectors and
give it a test before you actually buy or make something & commit yourself.
You know that those cadium batteries aren't exactly cheap when you buy in bulk.
I think I paid $20 or $30 at the time ? (a long time ago on a 386 sx 20 mhz)
The are probably a lot cheaper now though.
Once I got my old laptops plastic battery case back together, I found a black box transformer that supplyed
the right amount of voltage and use that in the house.
The original power supply broke so I used that for a year.
The original power supply had multi wires & sensors bla bla and apperantly it wasn't needed.
Remember this is just for information or humor and if you blow up your lap top, you are responsible, not me.
There's a million ways to do something wrong & my info is not complete fur sur.
A computer salesman will not advise making a battery pack. That kind of stuff puts em out of business.
Check your old battery pack for volts, amps, etc and try to make a match??????
Good luck
Bitdog
Interesting .... but unless you're absolutely sold on building your own I think that Electrovaya's Electrofuel PowerPad should be considered. More performance, no muss, no fuss and considering the amount of time and effort (short of a electrical engineering class project) I wonder if it's worth it.
Electrovaya - click on PowerPad in Products link. Awesome.
Electrovaya - click on PowerPad in Products link. Awesome.
Electrofuel = An excellent concept but not for the finanically challenged folks on this board.
Unless you win the lottery...
Unless you win the lottery...
What about a solor panel ?
can you take apart your old dead battery pack, remove the batteries, hook up a flush mount female socket plug
on the outside, hook it up to where your batteries + & - were hooked up, & plug in a solor panel ?
How big would a panel have to be ?
Would it sit in the window & the cord run over to your desk ?
Do they produce enough power for normal room lighting to run the computer ?
It probably isn't a real good battery replacement solution for all conditions ?
It's just an idea anyway.
can you take apart your old dead battery pack, remove the batteries, hook up a flush mount female socket plug
on the outside, hook it up to where your batteries + & - were hooked up, & plug in a solor panel ?
How big would a panel have to be ?
Would it sit in the window & the cord run over to your desk ?
Do they produce enough power for normal room lighting to run the computer ?
It probably isn't a real good battery replacement solution for all conditions ?
It's just an idea anyway.
True. It's not cheap ... but considering that people on these boards will spend 400 bucks on a vid card or over 2k for a system or over 2k for a laptop ... a 300 dollar electrofuel cel battery pack that will extend your laptop life by 8-12 hours and recharges to 80% in 3 hours isn't that much really.
I've scribbled up a schematic for a super-cheap 'powerpad' clone based on NiMH batteries if anyone's interested.
Totally untested, and I've only spent 10 mins on it but it should work. Charging takes 14 hours from the laptop adaptor - and you should be able to use the laptop at the same time. No idea how long it will power the comp for but 8 hours would be a reasonable guess.
Schematic
Totally untested, and I've only spent 10 mins on it but it should work. Charging takes 14 hours from the laptop adaptor - and you should be able to use the laptop at the same time. No idea how long it will power the comp for but 8 hours would be a reasonable guess.
Schematic
No need for a NiMH battery pack. Here's exactly what you need.
http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=SLA-12V2-2
You can get a charger for it too for 10 bucks. The cord is 2$. The combo won't cost you more than 20$.
Solder on a DC jack. One wire positive, one wire negative. Should extend a laptop's battery for atleast 2-3 hours. If you want more, bring more batteries.
P.S.
If you want to fine tune the voltage in relation to your laptop's DC power requirements, add 2 AAs for every 2.5V over 12V it requires.
Also, I take no responsibility for frying your laptop.
What kind of DC in does it require? 12V? 14V?
http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=SLA-12V2-2
You can get a charger for it too for 10 bucks. The cord is 2$. The combo won't cost you more than 20$.
Solder on a DC jack. One wire positive, one wire negative. Should extend a laptop's battery for atleast 2-3 hours. If you want more, bring more batteries.
P.S.
If you want to fine tune the voltage in relation to your laptop's DC power requirements, add 2 AAs for every 2.5V over 12V it requires.
Also, I take no responsibility for frying your laptop.
What kind of DC in does it require? 12V? 14V?TRENDING THREADS
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