Battery Pack With Sovereign

[RELIC_HUNTER]

I just bought another Sovereign [ orginal ] now I have two of them.This one has the rechargeable battery pack and I want to change it where it will use the standard AA,battery holders.Anyone know of someone who can convert this over.I have no idea how this is done....

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Relic hunter,the Sovereign will work better with the rechargeable battery pack.You can put alkaline batteries in as a backup while the rechargeable battery is low or being charged.The pig tail and the two AA alkaline battery holders can be bought from Kellyco.I have seen these battery holders at Radio Shack.By the way a couple of seasons ago I tried using rechargeable 2650 batteries in the alkaline pack and recharge.After the first charge I got 8 hour with the 8 inch Tornado coil installed after the second recharge I could only get no more than 3.5 to 4 hours before the death squall.I think the Sovereign works better with the rechargeable battery use the alkalines only as a backup system.

 

[HighPlainsHunter]

The NiMH rechargeables will work fine on the Sovereign, but you need to use 10 cells instead of 8. The Sovereign just doesn't work long with only 9.6v from 8 rechargeables. The problem is finding a flat 10 cell holder that will fit the battery cavity of the Sovereign. You could use a remote 12v gel cell in a belt pack for extreme duration.

Good hunting,
HighPlainsHunter

 

[kered]

The newer sovereigns, ie elite and GT work longer with 8 x 2800mah good quality rechargables than they do with the original pack. I have never seen a rechargable that only gives 1.2volts when fully charged,(although they are marked that way) more in the region of 1.35-1.4v and having a larger mah it takes a lot longer for them to discharge and drop to the average cutoff at 9.5 -10v.
Also rechargables take 3-5 charges to reach full capacity.

 

[Art (NWOH)]

I remember some time back reading on some other forum(s) about people rigging up extra batteries to boost the operating oltage and get more depth. Don't know if it worked or not, or if a few guys fried their detectors.

Some guys replaced their batteries long before they were shot, because they did not want to lose a bit of power.

Here, we are accepting lower voltage as long as it still works.

Interesting isn't it.

HH

 

[Rick(ND)]

It is true the newer nickle hydrides do have to be woke up by recharging 3 or 4 time to get it to take the full charge.
The batteries when testing under a load are 1.2 volts while testing with a multi meter will show the 1.4 volts and even 1.5, but they are 1.2 volts under load which is running it too low from the 12 volts it needs to run correctly.
I never tried it on my GT, but on the Elite I did try putting 8 of the 2600 Mha made for use with higher drain items like the digital cameras and my Elite didnt last too long before I got the low battery alert. These same batteries work great in my Explorers, but not for the Sovereigns. The Sovereigns are designed for 12 volts operating while the Explorers are made for 9.6 volts. It would be nice if someone made a 10 cell holder for the Sovereigns as they would last quite a while with some of the newer batteries. Sun Ray used to make a battery for the older XS and XS2 that would last close to twice as long as the stock battery, but it too had 10 cells in it.