iPower 9 Volts (was 2900 mAh AA rechargeables)

Hi Zachary,
I thought I'd start a new thread to make future searches easier.
Thanks for the field experience. Gluing the switch to the Li ion
position sounds like a good thing to do. The iPower charger will run
off 12 Volts which makes getting an emergency wall wart easier. In a
pinch, you can use the cigarette lighter socket cord. Getting iPower
to make a charger that is field rugged is probably not in the cards.
Perhaps one of the accessory outfits could repackage the electronics
and charge the appropriate price. A tougher wall wart can be
substituted as long as it has the voltage and current requirement.
Another possibility is to buy two iPower chargers ($35) and have
replacement wall wart, cord, etc. right there.
Best Regards,
Larry Fisher
Lectrosonics

On 27 Jun 2006 11:24:20 -0700, "Zachary Johnson Gramana"
<spam.TakeThisOut@hamhocks.net> wrote:

>I used 6 new iPower 9v's on a 20 day shoot and loved them so much I
>ditched my battery distrib. system and lost a pound off of my rig.
>They're a tight fit in my Lectro 185/187's, but I'll order some of the
>new series when they're available. Powering an FP-33 set to line level
>out and a condensor shotgun mic I could often get past lunch before
>really getting low on the battery meter (6 hours+). I would usually
>change at lunch as a precaution. The battery meter reads a little
>different than with the alkalines, since there is more usable current
>at lower voltages. At first I felt like I was running down too fast,
>but you'll soon get a feel for it. Having a voltmeter\multimeter
>nearby helps that process.
>
>I did have problems with the iPower charger. For an as yet unknown
>reason, the wall-wart stopped functioning after a week. I figured out
>that if I applied power to the middle thin plastic brick, then
>everything worked fine. I keep a C-clamp on it when I'm charging (and
>use a ground lift to space it out far enough from the wall). The
>location of the spot needing pressure is right in the middle of the
>brick, not in an obvious high-stress location. When I break down and
>buy a replacement, I'll probably bust open the wall wart to see if I
>can fix wire came loose. I just never have any luck getting wall-warts
>closed up again (without superglue or tape).
>
>Also, it's very easy to inadvertantly flip the switch on the side from
>"Lion" to "NiMH/NiCD." This happened to me once at roughly the same
>time my wall-wart trouble started, though that may just be
>co-incidence.
>
>In short, someone could make good money building a charger suitable for
>field use.
>

Hadn't thought of gluing the switch. Brilliant!

Despite my comments, I found the charger to be pretty solid. I like
its very light, very compact nature for being a 4 slot fast charger. I
like the cigarette light option as well, since there's always a
recharge option available (and no inverter/dirty power issues). But
really, I'm just too cheap to buy a new wart...yet. Plus, I like that
it uses some kind of IC instead of a big, heavy transformer. Those
warts seem harder to come by.

One other field note about the iPower 9v batteries. It may seem like a
quibble, but the little plastic terminal plugs that come on the
industrial alkalines don't stay put in the iPower 9v batteries. The
terminal diameters on the battery are just a hair to big so they fall
out. I just use some tape instead, but that seems to lack the eligance
of the terminal plug. I wonder if a similar problem might not arise in
other electronics that use a snap power connector.

As an aside, the charger asks for 13.5v at 1.0 amp. I would assume
that is for a full load of four batteries plus some wiggle room. Those
small $50 solar panels at the auto-parts store output around 13v,
around 250mA. I wonder if there is just enough pad for the voltage
regulator on the charger, and if that would at least work for one
battery at a time. That would be a nice power supply for those of us
who cover Hurricanes. Or who just want to advantage of free power. I
might have to rig up a cigarette lighter cup and give it a try.
Although I think the panels have some charging-related circuitry, so
maybe not.

Larry Fisher wrote:
> Hi Zachary,
> I thought I'd start a new thread to make future searches easier.
> Thanks for the field experience. Gluing the switch to the Li ion
> position sounds like a good thing to do. The iPower charger will run
> off 12 Volts which makes getting an emergency wall wart easier. In a
> pinch, you can use the cigarette lighter socket cord. Getting iPower
> to make a charger that is field rugged is probably not in the cards.
> Perhaps one of the accessory outfits could repackage the electronics
> and charge the appropriate price. A tougher wall wart can be
> substituted as long as it has the voltage and current requirement.
> Another possibility is to buy two iPower chargers ($35) and have
> replacement wall wart, cord, etc. right there.
> Best Regards,
> Larry Fisher
> Lectrosonics
>
> On 27 Jun 2006 11:24:20 -0700, "Zachary Johnson Gramana"
> <spam.RemoveThis@hamhocks.net> wrote:
>
> >I used 6 new iPower 9v's on a 20 day shoot and loved them so much I
> >ditched my battery distrib. system and lost a pound off of my rig.
> >They're a tight fit in my Lectro 185/187's, but I'll order some of the
> >new series when they're available. Powering an FP-33 set to line level
> >out and a condensor shotgun mic I could often get past lunch before
> >really getting low on the battery meter (6 hours+). I would usually
> >change at lunch as a precaution. The battery meter reads a little
> >different than with the alkalines, since there is more usable current
> >at lower voltages. At first I felt like I was running down too fast,
> >but you'll soon get a feel for it. Having a voltmeter\multimeter
> >nearby helps that process.
> >
> >I did have problems with the iPower charger. For an as yet unknown
> >reason, the wall-wart stopped functioning after a week. I figured out
> >that if I applied power to the middle thin plastic brick, then
> >everything worked fine. I keep a C-clamp on it when I'm charging (and
> >use a ground lift to space it out far enough from the wall). The
> >location of the spot needing pressure is right in the middle of the
> >brick, not in an obvious high-stress location. When I break down and
> >buy a replacement, I'll probably bust open the wall wart to see if I
> >can fix wire came loose. I just never have any luck getting wall-warts
> >closed up again (without superglue or tape).
> >
> >Also, it's very easy to inadvertantly flip the switch on the side from
> >"Lion" to "NiMH/NiCD." This happened to me once at roughly the same
> >time my wall-wart trouble started, though that may just be
> >co-incidence.
> >
> >In short, someone could make good money building a charger suitable for
> >field use.
> >