Wanted: B-40 vario with AA battery holder input

[Chris Behm]

Does anyone have a Borgelt B-40 vario that has the option for the 4x AA battery holder, in good working order?

We have club gliders that have mechanical varios, and no onboard battery that we would like to enable audio vario capability in.

I had a B-40 in my spares box when I bought my glass glider with an S100 in it, and we installed it in our best 1-26 and it works great. 

We would like to get 2 or 3 more of them if the price is right.

Kind Regards,

Chris Behm

N304DD

[Deane Williams]

You can buy AA (4) battery boxes at any electronics store or on eBay. Easy to wire to a switch and a B-40 (a great vario).

[Chris Behm]

Thanks Deane.

Yes, we are looking for the for the B-40 VARIOS, not the battery holders. 

We NEED the vario that has the 4 x AA battery capability (I'm not certain that ALL B-40's have that ability), as we do not have on board batteries in the club planes. 

I thought I was clear, but possibly not.....

Kind Regards,

Chris 

[Moshe Braner]

Some B40s have a 9V backup battery arrangement.  I wonder if those require a higher voltage and would not run on 4AA (6V)?  The little 9V battery is OK as a backup, but if you will always run it on its own batteries, the AAs are a better approach.  Although 6AA packs, which would supply 9V, are also possible to get.

[Frghtdg]

I have a B-40 you can have. Audio quit working and not sure it had the AA option. But you have to take the Sage vario with it. And two Dittle radios. And a 57mm winter altimeter. And a vacuum bottle. Plus a mystery box full of gliding items.

R

[christopher behm]

We'd love that, but I'm pushing for audio in the clubs 1-34, 2-32, and 1-26's, to get us out of the 1970s.....

Need the audio function!

Do you know what's wrong with it??

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From: rasp...@googlegroups.com <rasp...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Frghtdg <frg...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2026 8:16:00 PM
To: RAS_Prime <rasp...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [RAS_Prime] Re: Wanted: B-40 vario with AA battery holder input

 

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[Frghtdg]

Not a clue and understand. Do a little networking, find someone in the states to fix it. 

R

[Chris Behm]

Frghtdg-

Sent you an email on gmail and icloud.....

Thanks!

[Frghtdg]

Got it.

Cheers

[christopher behm]

Thank you Sir!!

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From: rasp...@googlegroups.com <rasp...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Frghtdg <frg...@gmail.com>

Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2026 1:10:23 AM
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Subject: Re: [RAS_Prime] Re: Wanted: B-40 vario with AA battery holder input

 

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[Jeff Stetson]

I have a B-40 running on a 9v battery. According to the manual, it will operate on anything between 6V and 16V. I prefer the 9V to a pack of AA's, first, it's more compact, second, 9V batteries are much less prone to leak. A downside it it's steel case will disturb the compass. Of course the magnet in the 8 Ohm speaker will disturb it even worse. 

It's a really nice, simple unit and a big step up from any mechanical vario/flask setup. A caution is that applying reverse polarity may damage the electronics. 

The manual is still available online here: https://www.borgeltinstruments.com/?page_id=180

[chris behm]

Either the 9V or 4x AA setup is fine; just need one that does not REQUIRE an onboard battery....

Thanks Jeff.

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[Steven Leonard]

Hey Frghtdg, did you get my email?  Might be interested in all the other mystery stuff.

Chris, do you need 57 mm or 80 mm, or don't care?  I might have a couple.  Need to check them out.  I have 2 40s and a 400 on the shelf.  All 80 mm.

Steve Leonard

[christopher behm]

Hi Steve. 

I'm pretty sure 80mm would be preferred, but I'll have to check at the club to see what size holes are in each plane. Good point and I should have thought of that originally. 

I'll get back to you when I find out. 

Regards,

Chris 

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[Jeff Stetson]

Chris,

A couple of other things to consider. Are you adding to or replacing the mechanical varios? If the latter, having the B-40 go dead in flight could become a safety issue. The only warning is "Low battery is indicated by the vario reading becoming unstable." I ran mine from ship's 12V power so don't know how long the batteries will last. You'll have to figure that out and come up with a plan for proactively changing them. A little cheap voltmeter on the panel might be useful. If battery life turns out to be problem, consider rechargeable types. The only type I've found to work well are the Panasonic Eneloop kind. NOT lithium, so it removes that concern. Certainly, mount the battery pack securely and in a location that's easily reached for battery renewal.

But, in every club I've been in, the biggest source of dead batteries are members, who, for whatever reason, will leave anything and everything switched on in the rush to put gliders away at day's end. The power switch on the B-40 is tiny and easily overlooked.

-J

[Charles Mampe]

For voltmeters, I have bought a couple different types from Amazon for cheap. You can run them off the source, they won't display until 3VDC, or add a source and then you need a switch. Draw is tiny, they're LED and readable in the cockpit and will show XX.XX on the display.

I have one in the -24e that will be at Perry and other contests. They are about 3/4" x 3" on the face and about 3/8" deep.

[christopher behm]

Thanks for the tips. 

We've already got things figured out. 

It's going to an addition to the static vario, not instead of, which would be silly for a club plane. 

No voltmeter is needed. No onboard battery as I said in the first post. 

 

We are just trying to get low time pilots, pre certificate, used to using an audio vario by sound, as a leg up before flying a more capable glider. 

And honestly, in my opinion, for the newer pilots just getting into thermalling, not just take offs, tows, and sled rides to landings, I think the audio is a LOT safer, allowing all attention to be outside the cockpit like it should be. 

Just this small addition should be a big step towards more advanced flying for our club. 

If we ever do add an onboard battery, we can hook up the Borgelts to that. 

Regards,

Chris

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