Smart phone case lipo mod for Etrac

[cedarswamp]

1500 mah lipo mod for under $50.00 using a Outdoor Products smart phone case 1760p-clr.Gutted an old minelab battery pack that was getting week,and hard wired to the case with voltage check P.S. will provide details wiring diagram if interested,,,,,CEDAR

 

[cedarswamp]

Went out on a hunt tonight 2 hours 20 min used .3 of a volt from 12.5 to 12.3 results went well,,,,,,CEDAR P.S. The ring pull was at least 10 inches down the Merc.was about 8 inches between the foil and pulltab never gave a high signal 1219 in the same hole,

 

[amberjack]

feels good rigging up your own battery pack that works and has the detector running at full steam for cheap well done and thanks for sharing.

can you down volt the lipo's say the 7,2 volt pack to 6 volts at a full tank of juice?

just have a few AA battery detectors I want to run on the full volts as in 6 & 9 volts is it doable with lipo's ??

thanks for your help.

AJ

 

[cedarswamp]

I have a voltage regulator you can use get back with details latter,,,,.,CEDAR

 

[cedarswamp]

Heres a pic of the regulator:Buck converter step down moule Lm2596 dc-dc,I would use a 11,1 lipo adjust the pot to desired voltage output, and use a momentary switch on the input side to keep track of the lipo voltage you do not want to run the voltage down to low on lipo batteries,,,,,CEDAR

 

[cedarswamp]

regulator pic

 

[amberjack]

thanks Cedar,

stepping down from 11.1 to 6 volts to far? why not 7.2 to 6 volts?

thanks again!!

AJ

 

[amberjack]

I will probably use li ions anyway on the 6 volt detector and the lipo 11.1 on the 9 volt machine but in the mean time I have plenty of AA's till I get a good set up going on where I am going to put it (battery pack), seems like the hardest part after your help getting the step down....thanks for that big help.

AJ

 

[cedarswamp]

Listed on ebay input must be higher than the out put voltage dont try hooking up with out the regulator and make sure you measure the voltage after fully charged on the output side,Second dont try to charge a lipo with a standard charger it takes one rated to balance the cells herrs a pic ,CEDAR

 

[amberjack]

thanks yes will do all that , I have one of these https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-accucel-6-80w-10a-balancer-charger-lihv-capable.html detecting hey always some new toy to play with

thanks for the regulator and the inspiration to do something about getting rid of the AA batts.

AJ

 

[david.di]

Cedar,

Having done similar mods over the years to achieve an alternative external power supply for the Explorer/Etrac gen detectors. Apart from using Li-ion batteries, it's very much like what you’ve don. I was going to try using latter battery technology Li-ion but instead, I recently discovered these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Li-ion-battery-3-7v-18650-holder-for-Minelab-explorer-se-e-trac-and-other/282339707919?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D40804%26meid%3D97186c213c5940abb1746777dd9d1b92%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D282272054229

I have one for my DFX and Explorers/Etrac on order:

Thought about making my own, but cheap enough for me to buy instead.

David Di

 

[cedarswamp]

Actualy thats a better idea I have a charger for the 3,7 to have get one myself thanks dave di,,,,,,CEDAR

 

[cedarswamp]

Just read about the differences between lipo vs li-ion the latter suffers from degeneration when not in use think i will stick with lipo good idea still P.S. just ordered a new zippy 1500mah 11.1v compact it is thicker and will not fit in the cell phone case on this mod even though the dimentions were listed the same,,,,,CEDAR

 

[amberjack]

I have one of those li ion holders for etrac it works not as good as I would have liked as in getting it out but maybe mine isn't best like to hear what others experience with this holder?? I have had li ions for years that are still running !

I want to make packs for my gold racer and Russian detectors so the lipo's and converter look like a fun project will put up some pic's when it happens , thanks again for the inspiration.

AJ

 

[nge]

I bought two RnB lith/ion battery packs for my Etrac and Minelab Explorer II machines. They came with the re chargers. Best investment I ever made, I get average of 70 hours hunt time per charge. It only takes 2 hours for full recharge. NGE