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Going to make a battery pack for my Sovereign XS and need help.

Ron from Michigan

Ron from Michigan

Moderator
Staff member
While back I took a dead rechargeable pack apart from an old Sovereign XS and drew a diagram.Well a year latter I can't find my notes.Anyway this is the material needed to make a replacement.Needed 10 rechargeable AA batteries at least 2600 rating,plug connector,plastic tape,and wire glue,copper bridges.My question will the diagram in the photo work any pointer appreciated.Thanks Ron.
 
Not sure what you had with your XS , but my original , and my GT had only 8 batteries ....You have 10 showing here ......With 8 you will still have your + and your - the same way .......just take 2 batteries out ....... 8 x 1.5 volts = 12 V ...Heck , take em all out and run a light weight Lipo in there !!...Jim
 
I was wondering how one fits a lip pack in there..any photos?
 
Jim your Original had 10 in the rechargeable pack the same as the XS.The rechargeble AAs are 1.2V and times 10 =12V.The alkaline batteries are 1.5 which 8 of these will give you 12V.
 
My point to make an original rechargeable battery pack using AA rechargeable batteries should be inexpensive and not that difficult.The Minelab and Sunray pack of 10 AA s have worked very well in my Sovereigns.Here is my cost 10 AA 2600 batteries $7.50 female connector $3.00 tape I have $0.00 wire glue $5.50 solder for wire connector and wire and bridge I can make or have $0.00 total cost $16.00 to make a pack with these specs.
 
Maybe the pack that I had in my original was not the original pack ....?????.....I assumed it was because 8 batteries was all I used in my GT .......I remember only 8 batteries in the pack in the original ... ..... Anyway, if you can make a pack that cheaply , and you are happy with the performance , and don't mind the weight of 10 AA's , go for it ......

dbsmokey
Let me look and see if I even took any photo's of the Lipo in the Sovereign battery case ....If I don't have them , I know Critter does , and if he doesn't have them Kered has them too .......I'll look and get back to you on that ...Jim
 
Thanks Jim. I was just looking at the old charger/battery threads on this forum and wondering how people fit them into their Sovereigns.
 
Jim,I think the GT rechargeable pack has ten batteries also.I have never taken a GT or Elite rechargeable pack apart.Maybe Rick can weigh in on this question.
 
I got ahold of a bad pack and took it apart to see if I could replace them and found it has 10 cells that are shorter and fatter cells called 2/3 than the AA are so it will supply the 12 volts needed to run the Sovereigns. These are connected together in a series and go to a small circuit board where the charging port is. Also it goes to the clips of the battery pack that goes to the detector. I was able to find some Tennergy 2600 Mah batteries and tried replacing them as they had solder tabs on the battery, but didn't do too good as when i was putting the pack back together it shorted out and what a mess I had as it started on fire and melted most of the plastic.
It is real tight fitting battery's in the pack and everything has to be just right as i found out.
Now Ray on the XS battery pack I found a place the has them for the XS and the battery pack is a 2600 or 2800 Mah and think they are $32 so it was easier to buy them than try to find batteries with solder tabs and trying to build a pack. I took a XS2a and changed the battery to the XS style and it seems to work great.

Rick
 
OK OK OK !!!.....I know what it is that I'm confusing .....The operative word here is " RECHARGEABLE " pack !!.....I'm thinking "ALKALINE " pack, because THIS is the pack I used to make my Lipo pack from !!......DUH !!!!! ....... Sorry about that ...... I have not taken the "RECHARGEABLE " pack apart to see what's in there .....I left that one alone , and cut apart the "ALKALINE " pack ...... The alkaline pack is pretty inexpensive for these machines ....You can then wire in whatever you want ..... Nihm's, Lipo's, etc .........Sorry about that ......Jim
 
synthnut said:
OK OK OK !!!.....I know what it is that I'm confusing .....The operative word here is " RECHARGEABLE " pack !!.....I'm thinking "ALKALINE " pack, because THIS is the pack I used to make my Lipo pack from !!......DUH !!!!! ....... Sorry about that ...... I have not taken the "RECHARGEABLE " pack apart to see what's in there .....I left that one alone , and cut apart the "ALKALINE " pack ...... The alkaline pack is pretty inexpensive for these machines ....You can then wire in whatever you want ..... Nihm's, Lipo's, etc .........Sorry about that ......Jim
Click to expand...


So the Lipo pack fit into the alkaline battery holder? Which pack did you buy? From where? Thanks.
 
Rick,I appreciate the heads up.The plug in setup works much better than the drop in a much better connection.The good thing about these older Sovereigns the battery system are very simple.I'm going to be careful putting the pack together.I'm waiting for the batteries purchased off of Ebay 16 Double AAs chargeable for .01 and LOL 12.50 fro shipping to be delivered.
 
Jim,I made up an extra alkaline holder.If I can do it anyone can.The rechargeable battery packs for the older Sovereigns look very primitive bundled together wrapped in tape with the connector inlet on the top right side.
 
Yea, the stock rechargeable pack is ten Sub-A cells on a GT. Part of that reason is they are only 1000ma. Had they used MODERN nimh technology, meaning a 2500ma or higher cell, I bet they could have used 8 instead. So, if you are buying Sub-As then use ten, but if you are using regular sized AAs I'd use 8 so they'll fit and go 2500ma or higher. I believe all the GT packs are Nimhs where as some older Sovereigns used Nicads. Not only that, but I think some of the older Sovereigns used Sub-C cells, which are much bigger than even Sub-As. Make sure you know which is which when ordering if going that route. An alternative would be to use AAA rechargables. Main thing is if you plan to use the stock charger and charge port then you must replace them with the right type- nimh or nicad. They can be different size cells (AAAs, AAs, Sub-Whatevers), and they can have a much larger capacity, but they should be the same type that you are replacing...either nimh or nicad. That little circuit inside the battery pack where the charger plugs into is I think a primative charge circuit, so that's why it's important to match cell type. If you are using an aftermarket charger you could put either a nimh or nicad in there and then hitch your charger up to the larger battery leads (on a GT pack), or take out the little charge circuit and still charge via that connector. Not sure about the details of older Sovereigns. Mainly I'm talking GT here.

A good high capacity nimh 2500ma or higher is a great option, and if not using Sub-As or Sub-Cs they'd be much lighter than what's in there now. However, if you go lipo it's even lighter.

Whoever was asking about lipos. Dig up the huge Excal Battery thread and Kered posted some good pics of his lipo in his. I think he also posted it in the Sovereign GT Mods thread in the modifications forum. I never took pics of my lipo install but he did a great job. I think it was on the same Sovereign model too.
 
Thanks Critterhunter. I did look at that link yesterday, just not far enough into it. I found a picture. So, one does have to disassemble a lipo pack. Also, how does one easily print a whole thread? I would like to read through it without the computer, but haven't found a way.

Thanks.

Here is the link to the thread with pictures of Kered and CH's work: BatteryThread

I wish someone would pin these very informative discussions to the top of the forum for more easy access.
 
You're welcome. You don't take apart a lipo. You buy a 3 cell 750ma Rhino series pack or the 1450ma 3 cell series pack Kered is using and all you need to do is wire up a plug inside the holder for it to plug into. These packs will fit in the battery holder on a GT and also inside older Sovereign's with different style battery compartments.
 
Critterhunter,a couple of years ago I used 8 Double AAs 2650ma in the XS Sovereign alkaline pack.The max time I got after the first time out was about 4 hours and declined after that.The problem these AA batteries are 1.2V so 8 of these only give you 9.6 volts at max charge at the beginning and the Sovereign starts shutting down at 9 volts or just below.Again 8 alkaline AAs are 1.5V so with 8 of these you start at 12 volts which is a lot further away from the 9 volts needed to keep the Sovereign powered-up.My guess even 10 AA 2400ma would give you a start of 12 volts(1.2V x 10=12V) My goal is to make an inexpensive rechargeable pack for an older Sovereign that will last 12-15 hours before recharging.
 
I do wish people would loose the idea that AA rechargables are only 1.2v and no more, when they get that low they are almost discharged, its well proven and documented that Rechargable NiMh AA's last longer and are more efficient than alkalines. When charged they are more in line of 1.35-1.43v and hold voltage almost to the death, alkalines start dropping even before use from the factory 1.5v(measure some new ones and see)

If you have some, charge them and then let them sit an hour then meassure the voltage.
 
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