Soldering directly to button battery
john hamilton
intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place and solder
the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button battery.
Is the heat that I would need to apply to the button battery with the
soldering iron to solder to it, likely to make the battery prone to
'leakage' in the future? Or perhaps cause it to go bang at the time of
soldering? Thanks for advice.
brass monkey
"john hamilton" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
news:i504ql$77j$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Why can't you just replace the 2032?
brass monkey
"brass monkey" <a...@b.com> wrote in message
news:4c73a374$0$31618$c3e...@news.astraweb.com...
ransley
Put the battery in the freezer, and solder quickly. heat does shorten
their life.
Tegger
> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries,
> I'm intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place
> and solder the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button
> battery.
I think you'll find that the discharged button cell will suck the new AAA's
dry.
Also, the CR2032 is 3.6V. Three AAA's are 4.8V. I wonder what the voltage
jump would do to your equipment.
>
> Is the heat that I would need to apply to the button battery with the
> soldering iron to solder to it, likely to make the battery prone to
> 'leakage' in the future? Or perhaps cause it to go bang at the time of
> soldering? Thanks for advice.
Properly applied, the heat should do no damage. Some motherboard batteries
used to be directly soldered-in.
A better approach, if you want a hard-wired battery receptacle, would be to
unsolder the CR2032's battery-holder from the PCB, then solder the leads of
your newly-purchased AAA battery-holder to the CR's holes PCB.
--
Tegger
Dave Plowman (News)
Not a good idea to leave any flat battery in place. Just about any type
can leak. Also, it may try and re-charge off the new ones so drawing more
current than necessary.
--
*I'm really easy to get along with once people learn to worship me
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
George
Bob Villa
There are warnings about charging lithiums and having them explode. I
have never heard of it happening and have seen applications where they
were being charged and nothing happened. (they must be very toxic-you
need a label when shipping them)
jamesgangnc
I did this with a small clock mechanism. The button batteries were
going out too fast. I just soldered to the original tabs though.
AZ Nomad
I've soldered to batteries many times.
Heat a spot on the battery, leaeve a blob of solder.
Tin the wire with solder.
Reheat blob on battery, stick wire in blob, remove iron, hold very
still while it cools.
AZ Nomad
>I think you'll find that the discharged button cell will suck the new AAA's
>dry.
>Also, the CR2032 is 3.6V. Three AAA's are 4.8V. I wonder what the voltage
>jump would do to your equipment.
>Properly applied, the heat should do no damage. Some motherboard batteries
>used to be directly soldered-in.
>A better approach, if you want a hard-wired battery receptacle, would be to
>unsolder the CR2032's battery-holder from the PCB, then solder the leads of
>your newly-purchased AAA battery-holder to the CR's holes PCB.
Best approach is to replace the button cell. It'll most likely
have the same or longer life anyway as it is pretty much just the
shelf life that matters.
Those batteries typically last 5 years. 5 years from now the
motherboard is going to be so obsolete, that once more replacement is all
it might ever possibly need.
jamesgangnc
I missed that it was on a motherboard? I figured it was something
else that was using it up at a faster rate.
Jules Richardson
>> Those batteries typically last 5 years. 5 years from now the
>> motherboard is going to be so obsolete, that once more replacement is
>> all it might ever possibly need.
>
> I missed that it was on a motherboard? I figured it was something else
> that was using it up at a faster rate.
And obsolescence is one of those very vague things; we have no way of
knowing if the thing will be of no use to the OP in five years, and if it
is then maybe it does make sense to fit a battery holder.
cheers
Jules
Jules Richardson
> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries,
> I'm intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place
> and solder the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button
> battery.
Yes, they can go bang when soldering if you apply too much heat for too
long. Applying power to one probably isn't a good idea, either (you'd
basically be trying to recharge an no-rechargeable cell - I doubt it'd
outright explode or catch fire, but it might leak, and ever the vapours
from batteries can make a real mess of PCB traces).
Personally I'd desolder it - preferably cutting it from the PCB first and
then desoldering the legs that remain. What the device is would dictate
whether I'd fit a direct replacement, or a socket, or trailing wires to a
socket, or trailing wires to a holder to take AAAs etc.
cheers
Jules
AZ Nomad
>On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:12:30 -0700, jamesgangnc wrote:
>>> motherboard is going to be so obsolete, that once more replacement is
>>> all it might ever possibly need.
>>
>> I missed that it was on a motherboard? I figured it was something else
>> that was using it up at a faster rate.
>And obsolescence is one of those very vague things; we have no way of
>knowing if the thing will be of no use to the OP in five years, and if it
>is then maybe it does make sense to fit a battery holder.
Still run a pentium 2 from 1997? That's just two batteries ago.
Also: current draw is so low that it is self discharging that is the
primary concern. A AA battery isn't going to last any more than the button
cell.
The Natural Philosopher
> On Aug 24, 4:53 am, "john hamilton" <bluesta...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries, I'm
>> intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place and solder
>> the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button battery.
>>
>> Is the heat that I would need to apply to the button battery with the
>> soldering iron to solder to it, likely to make the battery prone to
>> 'leakage' in the future? Or perhaps cause it to go bang at the time of
>> soldering? Thanks for advice.
>
> There are warnings about charging lithiums and having them explode. I
Oh I have. Lots :-)
and have seen applications where they
> were being charged and nothing happened. (they must be very toxic-you
> need a label when shipping them)
They are not toxic, but they can pop nicely and start decent fires when
shorted.
Andrew Gabriel
Li polymer batteries are worse, but you can find exploding button
cells on Youtube if you look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te3oRB9rv8E
In the comments, someone said they had one explode whilst soldering it.
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
mike
make a dummy battery. A disk of double sided ecb material will work.
solder to the copper, shim for thickness.
Don't have a disk?
use a nickel and a dime with insulation between.
Depending on the socket, you may have to build up the
diameter a little with solder.
Jules Richardson
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:07:06 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
> <jules.richa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:12:30 -0700, jamesgangnc wrote:
>>>> Those batteries typically last 5 years. ??5 years from now the
>>>> motherboard is going to be so obsolete, that once more replacement is
>>>> all it might ever possibly need.
>>>
>>> I missed that it was on a motherboard? I figured it was something
>>> else that was using it up at a faster rate.
>
>>And obsolescence is one of those very vague things; we have no way of
>>knowing if the thing will be of no use to the OP in five years, and if
>>it is then maybe it does make sense to fit a battery holder.
>
> Still run a pentium 2 from 1997? That's just two batteries ago.
That's probably about the age of one of the firewall systems - it doesn't
need to be any faster (I think it's an AMD K6) for the job that it does,
and it's in a nice shoebox-sized case so can sit neatly on the shelf. My
main data-recovery system's a few years older than that, kept because it
does what I need (where modern systems wouldn't) and I have a few spares
for it.
My oldest machines are over 30 years old now, but as they don't even have
any kind of battery they're probably not relevant :-)
> Also: current draw is so low that it is self discharging that is the
> primary concern. A AA battery isn't going to last any more than the
> button cell.
As salty says, I think AAs would be worse (and AAAs worse still), but
maybe for the OP it's a convenience thing (I can never find one of those
2032's kicking around when I need it. Not sure sure about AAAs though, I
don't think I have a single thing that takes 'em)
cheers
Jules
AZ Nomad
fuck it. Just buy a few batteries.
I've never soldered to a button cell, but had no trouble with flashlight batteries.
mick
Is this a standard 2032 or one of those with 2 legs that stands on edge?
Just wondering, as it wouldn't be easy to solder onto the negative side
of a 2032 that's mounted in a holder. If you have to solder, why not
solder to the other side of the pcb and take the 2032 out? Far easier to
just change the battery.
The ones on legs are harder to get, but they are available. If you take
them out you get 2 holes to solder your wires into. (The right way
round...)
--
Mick (Working in a M$-free zone!)
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Filtering everything posted from googlegroups to kill spam.
newshound
"brass monkey" <a...@b.com> wrote in message
news:4c73a46d$0$31621$c3e...@news.astraweb.com...
And what if the old battery has low internal resistance, and shorts out your
AAAs? It probably won't be easy to solder to anyway, aren't they nickel
plated?
cl...@snyder.on.ca
<jules.richa...@gmail.com> wrote:
AAA batteries are almost unheard of in Europe and Africa - but for
some reason pretty common here in Canada.
We used to install AA battery cases for CMOS batteries way back when -
the standard CMOS battery then being a "custom" battery and quite
pricy. They were 6.6 or 6 volt, and the size of a 9v battery.
Tegger
news:9893489e-85b0-43c9...@x25g2000yqj.googlegroups.com:
>
> I missed that it was on a motherboard?
OP didn't mention that. I did. And only in relation to
permanently-affixed CMOS batteries, which were only brought up as an
example. I had mistakenly believed that the leads on such batteries were
soldered to the battery, but have since been corrected.
--
Tegger
Tegger
news:slrni77jrd.1...@ip70-176-155-130.ph.ph.cox.net:
> Best approach is to replace the button cell.
I agree. They're less than five bucks each, full-retail. And their voltage
is correct for the equipment in question.
--
Tegger
aemeijers
(snip)
> Still run a pentium 2 from 1997? That's just two batteries ago.
>
>
Got a stack of them in the other living room. Want one? I keep meaning
to load Ubuntu on them, and put them on the swap board at work for 30
bucks or so, as 'emergency backup e-mail terminals, for when you can't
get the kids off the real computer.' Perfectly adequate for that, or for
use as typewriters for simple word processing. Haven't checked lately to
see if they remember the date, but I have fired up computers stored for
3-4 years before, and they came right up and said hello.
--
aem sends...
aemeijers
I remember those! Zenith z-248 had those, except ours were the size of a
short AA. Purple, and made by some company in Israel. Hard to find in
civilian world, and damn expensive.
--
aem sends...
AZ Nomad
>AZ Nomad wrote:
>(snip)
>> Still run a pentium 2 from 1997? That's just two batteries ago.
>>
>(snip)
>>
>Got a stack of them in the other living room. Want one? I keep meaning
>to load Ubuntu on them, and put them on the swap board at work for 30
>bucks or so, as 'emergency backup e-mail terminals, for when you can't
>get the kids off the real computer.' Perfectly adequate for that, or for
Fuck it. I get P4 class machines for nothing from people who can't
run windows on them any more. Have a pentium-m laptop as a firewall
and a P4 Dell as an asterisk based home PBX. Total cost for both
machines? Zero.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
wrote:
Yes, those too. But MOST motherboards had a "battery header" that
allowed you to install an external battery. We even had a rechargeable
CMOS battery kit available that charged from a floppy drive connector.
Bob Eager
News to me. I keep quite a few AAAs 'in stock' and use quite a few. One
of my cameras (a cheap one) uses them. My old Palm Pilot uses them. Lots
of other stuff round the house.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor
Dave Plowman (News)
Bob Eager <rd...@spamcop.net> wrote:
> > AAA batteries are almost unheard of in Europe and Africa - but for some
> > reason pretty common here in Canada.
> News to me. I keep quite a few AAAs 'in stock' and use quite a few. One
> of my cameras (a cheap one) uses them. My old Palm Pilot uses them. Lots
> of other stuff round the house.
Like remote controls for TV etc? AA are too big for many these days.
Ever noticed that AAA normally cost about the same as AA, but are half the
capacity?
--
*It was all so different before everything changed.
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
The Daring Dufas
I've had flashlights/torches that use AAAA cells. They're kind of cute.
I have some LED lights that use two lithium cells that are smaller than
the AAAA,s and they have a little pin sticking out one end.
TDD
Tim Downie
> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA
> batteries, I'm intending to leave the old discharged button battery
> in its place and solder the leads from the AAA batteries directly on
> to the button battery.
Um, why?
Tim
Ade V
>
> Still run a pentium 2 from 1997? That's just two batteries ago.
>
Until quite recently, I was running an early '90s 486 in a live
environment. No idea when the CMOS batt went flat, it never got a
replacement.... there was about enough juice left (in the battery) to
survive a power off/on cycle without having to re-type the hard disk
parameters...
--
Cheers, Ade. http://meddlingmonk.blogspot.com
"Your face reminds me of a roadkill's arsehole. Certainly not on my list
of things to kiss." - http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com
Dave Plowman (News)
Ade V <sp...@solutionengineers.com> wrote:
> azno...@PremoveOBthisOX.COM did gone and wrote:
> >
> > Still run a pentium 2 from 1997? That's just two batteries ago.
> >
> Until quite recently, I was running an early '90s 486 in a live
> environment. No idea when the CMOS batt went flat, it never got a
> replacement.... there was about enough juice left (in the battery) to
> survive a power off/on cycle without having to re-type the hard disk
> parameters...
This RISC OS RPC is 1996, and still on the original battery. It's only
powered up when in use - so no more than a couple of hours a day on
average. And survived my last holiday.
But I really should change the battery as a precaution.
--
*Never kick a cow pat on a hot day *
john hamilton
"mike" <spa...@go.com> wrote in message
news:i512lc$t5l$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Thanks to all. Mike's suggestion of just finding disc/washer the same size
at the battery is a good simple solution. why didn't i think of that?
Removes the need to be worrying about leaking or explosions.
The reason to replace the button battery with a couple of AAA batteries in a
holder, is that the battery powers a very small Laser beam. It really eats
the batteries. My understanding is that if I use two rechargable batteries
and they are in series I'm going to get about 2.4 V total instead of the 3.4
V of the button battery. Am I right in thinking that this lower voltage
will not do any damage to the Laser light mechanism? If it is a bit dimmer
as a result, I dont mind.
Twayne
john hamilton <blues...@mail.invalid> typed:
> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA
> batteries, I'm intending to leave the old discharged button
> battery in its place and solder the leads from the AAA
> batteries directly on to the button battery.
Bad idea: How do you know the button won't become a load or short ckt down
the road? Don't use it. You probably can't get a good solder connection to
it, anyway - wrong materials - not solderable. Solder to the pins inside
where the wires connect to them.
>
> Is the heat that I would need to apply to the button
> battery with the soldering iron to solder to it, likely to
> make the battery prone to 'leakage' in the future?
A definite possibility since you don't mention heat-sinking and any level of
expertise of soldering skills. There's a lot more to soldering than just
melting the solder onto something. I'd give this about a 25% chance of
workng IF you have ever been taught about soldering, zero otherwise.
Or
> perhaps cause it to go bang at the time of soldering?
Depending on the condition of the button, where you heat it, how you heat
it, how you heatsink it, yes, it's possible. Especially if ą sides of the
battery get connected by a heat sink or solder-drip, whatever.
Why wouldn't you just buy another coin battery? They're cheap and easy to
swap out.
HTH,
Twayne`
> Thanks for advice.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
If it is a solid state laser (almost a given) it MAY NOT LIGHT at 2.4
volts. Many LEDs and lasers require 3 volts to light at all.
Robert Green
news:auhb76lqak4i01c15...@4ax.com...
Worse, still, many devices (like keychain LED lights) that run on button
batteries have no current limiting resistors in the circuit - they just
depend on the fact that button cells can't deliver enough current to harm
the electronics. If you wire in much bigger batteries many LED/laser
devices will fry after a few seconds of operation. BTDT.
--
Bobby G.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
I've never run across that issue and I've re-powered quite a few.
Just do NOT go to a higher voltage without a resister. If it's got 3
volt button cell, do NOT use 3 nicads (3.6 volts), just because 2
nicads (2.4) won't light it.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember cl...@snyder.on.ca saying something
like:
>AAA batteries are almost unheard of in Europe
Rubbish.
Robert Green
news:tj1d76pj3kv2daibo...@4ax.com...
I've seen it multiple times with little keychain lights powered by dual
(very thin) 2016 lithium cells (button cells are numbered according to
diameter and width: a 2016 is 20mm in diameter and 16mm thick. The
keychain lights have no current limiting resistor in place (they don't even
have spring switches, just the LED leads cut short to act as one with the
batteries inserted between them). Press on the case and current flows from
the leads through the battery and back. There isn't a simpler circuit in the
world. Wire an equivalent number of AA or AAA cells in place instead of the
two thin button batteries and the LED burns out in very short order.
I'm not the only one that's noticed this:
"Some lights take advantage of the cells limited current capacity and uses
this as the current limiter for the led, to save some components. . . .The
cheap version I have uses two 3 volt Lithium batteries to supply the led,
that has a maximum voltage of 3.5 volt. The only reason this works, is
because the batteries has a very limited current capability, but it is not
really the way to design for a long lasting lifetime for neither battery or
led."
http://www.lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20below%20AAA%20UK.html
"most keychain LED lights use the battery to limit the current"
http://www.allquests.com/question/3275585/Dead-LED.html
There aren't any components in the really cheap diamond shaped squeeze LED
keychain other than one or two (usually two) lithium button cells and the
LED itself. There's no sign of a current limiter anywhere, and the proof of
that is that when you upsize them from say two 2016's to two 2032's (from
70mAh to 200mAh), it delivers enough current to pop at least some of the
LEDs I've come across. If you go to 4 AA(A)s so that you have 6V in from
either source (4 times 1.5v to equal the lithium's 2 times 3v), a pack like
that can deliver up anywhere from 500mAh to 2800mAh. For devices depending
on the 70mAh capacity to limit current flow through the LED, it doesn't take
long.
IIRC, part of the reason for failure with higher capacity batteries is that
they are applying more voltage than the LED is designed for to gain more
light output, which increases the risk from a higher current source. Some
units with actual circuit boards "cheat" and use pulsing circuitry to allow
a 50% duty cycle to "spare" the LED. Such switching circuits are extremely
low power, so flashing the LED output can double the battery life. But
there are no circuit boards in the cheapies I buy. Never bet against how
cheaply the Chinese can make something. (-: Every time I've buy something
like a replacement oscillating desk fan, I am amazed that the part count and
assembly time is less every few years.
I assume we've just been looking at different keychain LEDs. The ones I buy
this week won't even be the same as the ones that come in next week. Now
there's a new technology that changes the ball game. I am buying ones with
solar cells built in - so far, so good - lots of variance between makers.
Momentary vs. multi state button, brightness, capacity, etc. The bright
ones need more frequent recharging than the dimmer ones but they seem to
last long enough for a walk up a dark driveway or reading a map. You can
get them from Ebay for under $3.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260609110456
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220635291042
The problem I have with ordinary button cell keychain lights is I sit on
them and they turn themselves on and self-immolate in my pocket. Hopefully
solar rechargeables will eliminate that problem.
--
Bobby G.
Mark Lloyd
> I've seen it multiple times with little keychain lights powered by dual
> (very thin) 2016 lithium cells (button cells are numbered according to
> diameter and width: a 2016 is 20mm in diameter and 16mm thick.
The dimensions above describe a much thicker cell. Perhaps the thickness
of a 2016 is supposed to be 1.6mm.
> The
> keychain lights have no current limiting resistor in place (they don't
> even have spring switches, just the LED leads cut short to act as one
> with the batteries inserted between them).
I've had one like that. It wasn't easy to change the battery (2 2016
cells). You have to remove 6 little screws (that stick to the screwdriver
and fall off in inconvenient places) and try to keep the remainder from
falling apart.
> Press on the case and
> current flows from the leads through the battery and back.
That "switch" never worked right. It was impossible to keep the light on
steadily for more than a couple of seconds.
> There isn't a
> simpler circuit in the world. Wire an equivalent number of AA or AAA
> cells in place instead of the two thin button batteries and the LED
> burns out in very short order.
I accidentally connected one on 12V once. There was a loud POP and half
the LED disappeared.
[snip]
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those who have
not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
cl...@snyder.on.ca
Friends who have been in Portugal and France 10 or 15 years ago could
hardly find AAA batteries for devices they took with them. Might be
different today. AAA batteries were virtually unobtanium in Zambia,
and not much better in Burkina Faso. AA was common - D was everywhere.
In Britland they had there own "torch" batteries that we never, or
seldom, see for sale in Canada or the US.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
<mll...@nothere.notstupid.us.invalid> wrote:
I guess I don't waste my money on $1.00 keychain lights - and the
Laser pointers I've repowered have never had a problem.
AZ Nomad
That only proves that places lke zambia, portugal, or god help you
france don't really exist.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember cl...@snyder.on.ca saying something
like:
>>>AAA batteries are almost unheard of in Europe
>>
>>Rubbish.
> Friends who have been in Portugal and France 10 or 15 years ago could
>hardly find AAA batteries for devices they took with them. Might be
>different today.
They've been absolutely common here for many years, but again, the
French market might have been different.
> AAA batteries were virtually unobtanium in Zambia,
>and not much better in Burkina Faso.
Back of beyond, not surprising.
> AA was common - D was everywhere.
>In Britland they had there own "torch" batteries that we never, or
>seldom, see for sale in Canada or the US.
Oh yes, there were some oddball sizes for 6V lanterns, cycle lamps, and
the like.
Steve Firth
> Friends who have been in Portugal and France 10 or 15 years ago could
> hardly find AAA batteries for devices they took with them.
Cobblers. Or rather, your friends couldn't have tried too hard. I've
been able to buy AAA batteries across Europe (Germany, Belgium, France,
Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal) for at least the last
30 years. In supermarkets, garages, tobacconists and hardware shops. And
of course your new claim that "friends" could "hardly find" AAA
batteries 10 to 15 years ago is hardly relevant to today or to your
stupid claim that "AAA batteries are almost unheard of in Europe and
Africa".
Try not talking shit and people might just stop laughing at you. Until
then, put down the shovel and step away from the hole.
Robert Green
news:iSSdo.169811$z%5.14...@unlimited.newshosting.com...
> [snip]
>
> > I've seen it multiple times with little keychain lights powered by dual
> > (very thin) 2016 lithium cells (button cells are numbered according to
> > diameter and width: a 2016 is 20mm in diameter and 16mm thick.
>
> The dimensions above describe a much thicker cell. Perhaps the thickness
> of a 2016 is supposed to be 1.6mm.
Perhaps indeed. (-: That would not be much of a button cell at 20/16mm.
It is, of course, as you point out, 1.6mm.
> > The
> > keychain lights have no current limiting resistor in place (they don't
> > even have spring switches, just the LED leads cut short to act as one
> > with the batteries inserted between them).
>
> I've had one like that. It wasn't easy to change the battery (2 2016
> cells). You have to remove 6 little screws (that stick to the screwdriver
> and fall off in inconvenient places) and try to keep the remainder from
> falling apart.
I began shopping for more when I realized that the frustration of dealing
with rebuilding them was greater than a $2 replacement with better features.
The newer solar ones are a great improvement and should outlast the old
button powered ones because they can recover from "sit on" accidentally
run-downs in my pocket. I am a "flashlight freak" because I know so many
people who've done themselves serious injury stumbling around in the dark.
I hang them off all suitcases, bags, keychains and even as the weight to the
pull-chain light in the basement (with a strip of glow tape).
> > Press on the case and
> > current flows from the leads through the battery and back.
>
> That "switch" never worked right. It was impossible to keep the light on
> steadily for more than a couple of seconds.
Unless you were sitting on it balled up your pocket. Then it worked
ine. )-: I prefer the ones that have slide switches in addition to the
pushbutton ones or some way to keep it on continuously. I've had them
clamped in my teeth when I needed both hands free, and managed to keep the
momentary pushbutton closed, but that incident (car electrical system total
failure on the side of the road) made me realize how important a "continuous
run" setting is on these things.
> > There isn't a
> > simpler circuit in the world. Wire an equivalent number of AA or AAA
> > cells in place instead of the two thin button batteries and the LED
> > burns out in very short order.
>
> I accidentally connected one on 12V once. There was a loud POP and half
> the LED disappeared.
I can imagine. Just like there are car "hot-rodders" and computer
overclockers, there's a small band of LED overdrivers determine to stay just
inside the explosion range.
> [snip]
>
> --
> Mark Lloyd
> http://notstupid.us
>
> "The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those who have
> not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Reminds me of a quote I heard today (paraphrase) "We know the details of the
lives of great historical figures thanks to the overactive imaginations of
so many scholars."
--
Bobby G.
notbob
> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries, I'm
> intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place and solder
> the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button battery.
As I understand it, batteries not only lose their charge, but in dying
they build up a very high internal resistance, also, so you don't want
to leave a dead battery in the circuit.
> Is the heat that I would need to apply to the button battery with the
> soldering iron to solder to it, likely to make the battery prone to
> 'leakage' in the future? Or perhaps cause it to go bang at the time of
> soldering? Thanks for advice.
As for the soldering thing, I jes happened to have an old cordless
phone battery I jes replaced. Looking at the old battery pack, it's 3
AA batteries linked together to a set of wires ending in 2 prong
connector. The battery group is linked together via small metal
strips about .010-.015" thick. As one other poster pointed out, they
are not soldered, but are spot welded, two little 1/32" spots about
1/16" apart. The wires are soldered to tabs spot welded to the
battery.
I was going to try and make this 3-battery pack, myself, but found a
replacement, cheap. If I had gone ahead with it, I would have used my
Weller soldering gun, it having enough heat to apply a quick blast to
the battery top withoutout overheating the whole battery ...or so my
thinking ran.
There's such a thing as taking DIY too far. Jes buy a new freakin' battery!
nb
Ronald Raygun
> On 2010-08-24, john hamilton <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries,
>> I'm intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place and
>> solder the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button
>> battery.
>
> As I understand it, batteries not only lose their charge, but in dying
> they build up a very high internal resistance, also, so you don't want
> to leave a dead battery in the circuit.
Did you mean to say "a very low internal resistance"? If so, the
conclusion (that you don't want to leave it in circuit) would make
sense, but as written it is illogical, unless you think he wanted
to wire the new battery in series with the old one.
My understanding is that he simply wants to re-use the old battery
as a connector by means of which the new batterty will power whatever
circuit the button battery did. This implies wiring it in parallel.
Thus to prevent unwanted excessive draining of the new battery by
the old one, the higher its resistance, the better. Of course it
may not have the same resistance in both directions.
It ought to perfectly OK to solder wires to AA-type batteries (I've
done it myself to rechargeables when I wanted to replace a welded
multi-pack for which a replacement was unobtainable). I'd be less
happy to try it with button cells.
On balance, I would advise against his cunning plan. He'd be better
throwing the button battery away and -if he really wants to replace it
with AAAs- soldering some wires directly to the button battery holder.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
<no....@localhost.localdomain> wrote:
>notbob wrote:
>
>> On 2010-08-24, john hamilton <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>>> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries,
>>> I'm intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place and
>>> solder the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button
>>> battery.
>>
>> As I understand it, batteries not only lose their charge, but in dying
>> they build up a very high internal resistance, also, so you don't want
>> to leave a dead battery in the circuit.
>
>Did you mean to say "a very low internal resistance"? If so, the
>conclusion (that you don't want to leave it in circuit) would make
>sense, but as written it is illogical, unless you think he wanted
>to wire the new battery in series with the old one.
>
>My understanding is that he simply wants to re-use the old battery
>as a connector by means of which the new batterty will power whatever
>circuit the button battery did. This implies wiring it in parallel.
>Thus to prevent unwanted excessive draining of the new battery by
>the old one, the higher its resistance, the better. Of course it
>may not have the same resistance in both directions.
The problem with nicad batteries is growing tendrils, or hairs, that
SHORT the battery.
Not sure about the failure mode of Lithium Button cells.
k...@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz
>On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:42:34 +0100, Ronald Raygun
><no....@localhost.localdomain> wrote:
>
>>notbob wrote:
>>
>>> On 2010-08-24, john hamilton <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>>>> I'm replacing a small button battery (CR 2032) with two AAA batteries,
>>>> I'm intending to leave the old discharged button battery in its place and
>>>> solder the leads from the AAA batteries directly on to the button
>>>> battery.
>>>
>>> As I understand it, batteries not only lose their charge, but in dying
>>> they build up a very high internal resistance, also, so you don't want
>>> to leave a dead battery in the circuit.
>>
>>Did you mean to say "a very low internal resistance"? If so, the
>>conclusion (that you don't want to leave it in circuit) would make
>>sense, but as written it is illogical, unless you think he wanted
>>to wire the new battery in series with the old one.
>>
>>My understanding is that he simply wants to re-use the old battery
>>as a connector by means of which the new batterty will power whatever
>>circuit the button battery did. This implies wiring it in parallel.
>>Thus to prevent unwanted excessive draining of the new battery by
>>the old one, the higher its resistance, the better. Of course it
>>may not have the same resistance in both directions.
>
>The problem with nicad batteries is growing tendrils, or hairs, that
>SHORT the battery.
"Dendrites", though they aren't the only failure mode. Dendrites are often
reversible, but will grow back once the process has started.
>Not sure about the failure mode of Lithium Button cells.
<...>
Twayne
coating and solder to the material underneath using a proper heat sink. If
that's a problem and sometimes it can be he switched to jewelers or one of
the many other types of solder available.
In news:iSSdo.169811$z%5.14...@unlimited.newshosting.com,
Mark Lloyd <mll...@nothere.notstupid.us.invalid> typed:
Robert Green
news:ugcg76tr4ktv8goo0...@4ax.com...
> On 27 Aug 2010 17:46:54 GMT, Mark Lloyd
> <mll...@nothere.notstupid.us.invalid> wrote:
>
[snip]
> >> There isn't a
> >> simpler circuit in the world. Wire an equivalent number of AA or AAA
> >> cells in place instead of the two thin button batteries and the LED
> >> burns out in very short order.
> >
> >I accidentally connected one on 12V once. There was a loud POP and half
> >the LED disappeared.
> >
> >[snip]
> I guess I don't waste my money on $1.00 keychain lights - and the
> Laser pointers I've repowered have never had a problem.
I like to root around to see what's good and what's not. F'rinstance, I
bought two different handheld LED projection clocks that display the time
projected on a dark ceiling. (Great for late-night time checks without
having to put on my glasses - a little penlight unit project digits almost a
foot wide. Both models were way under $5, but the "cleaner" looking one was
substantially dimmer than the other. I wouldn't think there would be such a
performance difference, but there was.
The handcrank rechargeables LED flashlights turned out to be pretty much
worthless - they seemed to work at first, and definitely responded to
cranking, but testing them out a year later shows them to be almost dead.
No amount of cranking puts out a decent amount of light. But I keep
trying - maybe someone will make one that actually works.
I'll admit I haven't repowered many laser pointers. What types have you
repowered? Button to AA or what? My impression of some of the new ones is
that they pull some of the same tricks - using higher than spec voltage but
interrupting it 100 times a second or so to keep it from burning out
immediately. I've been buying a lot of the high visibility green laser
pointers (the kind that can illuminate low level clouds and get you put in
jail if you shine it on the wrong people). The QC on these items is quite
variable, and once again, the switches are the weakest link. They are now
below $10 each, including shipping, from many Ebayers.
I've come to prefer the smaller 3 way units (flashlight, UV light
(counterfeit bill detector) and laser pointer just because they are smaller
and multifunctional. I also have a fondness for 5 way pens, (UV, laser
pointer, gooseneck LED flashlight, plastic tipped stylus and pen) although
their bad button design means I buy button cells by the hundreds to repower
then when I have put them away lit without realizing it. Still, a great aid
in many situations - the little gooseneck LED lamp is like having a third
hand to hold a flashlight.
--
Bobby G.