[NTLK] My Cannibal Battery Tray

[Woody Smith]

When I modified a battery tray to recharge I found that the parallel guides at the bottom of the battery pack silo put a lot of pressure on the pack.  I used a very sharp narrow wood chisel to pare them away.  When I re-celled a battery pack with larger NiMH cells I carefully sanded material away from the pack to accomplish a fit.  I used sterated (mineral soap) paper so I could see rubbing points (woodworking store).  I found a half shell re-cell much less trouble.

Woody


On Mar 24, 2013, at 6:45 AM, Forrest <newtonphoenix at mindspring.com> wrote:

> Congratulations! My hat is off to you, I didn't think it could be done.
> 
> Now, if there was a way to eliminate the nylon cord....
> 
> You deserve a spot in the Newton Hall of Fame; once we get around to building it. ;)
> 
> Thanks,
> --Forrest
> 
> (Just so you know--the NiMH battery packs I have rebuilt [five of them] also don't have the "lid" on them.)
> 
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> 
> On Mar 23, 2013, at 7:01 PM, Dana Gray <dalexgray at mac.com> wrote:
> 
>> Dear NewtonTalk Users,
>> 	I tried 3D printing a battery tray on Shapeways, but they couldn't do it.  My Newton came with a dead battery pack and I found an earlier thread where someone showed a battery tray he built out of an old pack.  Not being inclined to give up easy I tried making my own tray out of my battery pack.  I thought I would share my experience here incase anyone wants to try.
>> 	I don't have a rotary cutter, so I took my hobby knife and jeweler's saw to the pack.  I split the pack along the seam and chopped up the top into parts I thought I would want to glue back on.  Once I had the cells and thermistor out I took some springs from an 4xAA pack and put them in the case.  I soldered one spring to the metal plate that makes the negative terminal of the pack.
>> Tray with the springs in place: http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/5840/img0286kr.jpg
>> I ended up only putting a little piece of the "lid" back on.  The batteries are a tight fit, but they didn't pop out like I had feared.
>> Tray with the batteries loaded: http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1061/img0287eel.jpg
>> Voltage checked out: http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/90/img0288ve.jpg
>> I'm so clever! http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/3514/img0289ir.jpg
>> I ended up drilling two tiny holes in the battery tray and looping some nylon cord through.  This helps a lot for getting the tray out.  I cover the cord with a little electrical tape.  http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4096/img0290x.jpg
>> Best Regards,
>> Alex
>> 
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