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Sov.GT rechargable batterys +AA 1.2V ?

D

deepdiger60

New member
I went out a purchased a rechargeable battery pack i figured it,s cheaper in the long run then a box or 8 AA,s the one,s i got are 1.2V they say they last about 11 hours under normal use these battery,s will be powering the Insight meter also, +AA 2000 mAh ,Minelab,s battery holder says use only 1.5 V AA battery,s my question is will it make any differance ?? . I charged the battery,s for 11 hours like it said to do . Thanks for any answers .Jim
 
it is less volts so it can't hurt anything, but the question will be how long will they last between charges. Please let us know how you make out with it Jim.

thanks, & good luck,

George
 
Thanks George i did not want to damage anything, i figure if i get a good 4 hours out of it i would be happy between charges it is just my back up power source those 80 to 100 acre fields take there toll on battery,s and me !!! :detecting: Jim
 
Jim,the 8 AA batteries rechargeables won't stay charged long enough,my suggestion look for a Minelab rechargeable battery and charger.Example the 8x1.2=9.6V you need 10x1.2 =12V you need 10 batteries.Been there and done that I used rechargeables AA ohm 2800s not enough to power the Sovereign up for more than four hours.This setup after each charge they will drop and leave you with only 2-3 hour hunt before you need a recharge.One other option to save money purchase another Minelab GT alkaline pack,Go to the shack and get 2 AAA and 4 AAA alkaline battery holders.These AAA alkaline pack can be taped together and soldered in series and fit into you GT alkaline battery pack with very little work.The AAA rechargeable batteries with a high ohm rating though will give you 20 percent less run time.Again the 8 AA recharge ables won't work well.HH Ron
 
I only use rechargeables in my MXT and GT, and only have Alkalines as backup in case I forgot a pack. Yes, they are lower voltage, but most detectors use a voltage regulator in the front end that drops the voltage down to what the detector actually requires, which is less than what the rechargeables put out.

I did not find any noticeable difference between alkaline or NiMH other than run times. I get about 20+ hours on my MXt and 15+ hours on my GT (Ron, not sure why you are only getting 4 hours out of yours?), which is more than enough for 3 5 hour hunts, or 2 8hour hunts. But because NiMH cells do not have a memory, it doesn't hurt to top them up after every hunt, which I do. I'm starting my 3rd year with the current set of rechargeables, so they have more than paid for themselves.

Another feature is that NiMH voltage will drop slightly from the start, but then level out and maintain a steady voltage until near the end. Alkaline actually decline steadily and will actually supply less voltage than the rechargeables during the last 40-50% of their life.

Voltage based on % of life remaining in battery.

[attachment 226505 NiMHvsAlkaline.JPG]
 
GPsnoopy,You are not correct with the Sovereign.Explorers as an example can use 8 AA rechargeable without a problem, fine at 9.6V and will keep enough charge so alkalines can be used as a backup, same for the White's DFX and MXT.From Experience 8 AA rechargeable batteries in any Sovereign won't last(learned the hard way) long enough.Suggestion use these batteries and log in your start and finish times and make your own conclusion,but have some alkaline batteries on hand because you will need them. HH Ron
 
The Sovereign needs the 12 volts to operate correctly, but notice many don't want to believe this and want to us the 8 cells for 9.6 volts which is fine for the Explorers, but not for the Sovereigns.
Some talk about voltage regulators which is mainly to take a higher voltage and reduce it to a usable voltage, but I don't feel Minelab would make a 12 volt pack for the Sovereign when a 9.6 would work and be less weight.
I remember reading many post years ago with people with their Sovereigns and all the problems they were having only to find out they were using 8 rechargeable in their alkaline packs, once they put the factory rechargeable or alkaline in the alkaline pack they worked good.
I feel the people that designed and made the Sovereign felt it takes the 12 volts to operate it correctly, so that is what I plan on using and those that feel the 9.6 will work they can go right ahead and use the lower voltage and hope they have no problem with their Sovereigns.
 
Ron and Rick. I will do that. You are most likely correct and I definitely do not want to give any misinformation so will verify my times. The GT I purchased last spring.
I posted from work, and after reading your reply, I'm thinking, "I'm positive I was getting those hours on the GT". But doubt started nibbling away at my crusty old brain. My MXT for sure gets those hours because I log the most hours on it for cladding (the GT hates our Canadian Steelcore coins) and I built 2 rechargeable packs for it, including charger jacks, and have tested it over 2 years of use. So when I got home, I grabbed my GT and checked what I had in the alkaline pack, and it was my Sanyo Rechargeables. But for the life of me, now I can't recall when I actually tested that pack, or was I using the factory pack, or did I use some leftover Alkalines the first few times. Darn this Oldstimer memory. I haven't been out since early November and still waiting for the snow to disappear up here in the far North.
[attachment 226523 Batterymod7.jpg]
[attachment 226527 BatteryGT.jpg]
 
there are nizn rechargeable batteries.... they are 1.6 volts...... I dont know if that is too much.......Does the sov have a voltage regulator to tame them down till they get weaker???
 
Thanks for all for the information :thumbup: i finally have a full weekend off i will try the new battery,s and see how long they last if needed i have 2 GT blue battery boxs fully charged sometimes we go on 3 day weekend hunts in the middle of nowhere and a long walk back to the truck to recharge , cant hurt to have as many battery pack,s possible , i think these rechar.bats will last at least 4 or 5 hours i will let all of you know by Sunday .HH Jim
 
On my wife's MXT I too use the rechargeable with no problem, the same with the Explorer and E-Trac as they are made for 8 cells of the rechargeable. I never tried them on my GT, but the older XS series that I tried it was from a half hour to 3 hours depending on the Mah. I had to try it myself to see what would happen and felt myself it didn't seem to preform as well as the factory 10 cell pack. When I had my Tesoros and the Troy Shadow X5 which used 9 volt batteries I also found out I couldn't use rechargeable in them either as the voltage was too low and the higher voltage ones were too long to fit.
 
If you are worried about the lower voltage of a nimh not giving good run times then there are other rechargeables out now that have 1.5 or 1.6V per cell. Somebody I saw a while back was running the 1.6V per cell ones in his Sovereign and not having any problems.

I believe I remember Kered was running 8 nimhs in his GT with no run time issues if I remember right.

A good high capacity nimh cell of say 2500ma or higher will have longer run times in most devices than a non-rechargeable battery off the store shelf. A good high capacity nimh will charge to a higher voltage than 1.2V. The main thing is that the pack needs to be topped off no more than a day or so before going hunting. If the pack sits on the shelf for weeks the voltage will sag.

My theory is that Minelab put 10 cells in the rechargeable pack because they were using ancient 1000ma cells. With that low of a cpacity they don't have much run time, so they probably stuck two more cells in there to keep the voltage higher during discharge. Also, that would help to keep the voltage higher even if the pack has sat on the shelf for weeks at a time.

The voltage regulator probably drops the voltage to something like 9V for the circuit board to run on. What that means is that it doesn't matter how high the input voltage is to the regulator, it's still only going to put out 9V to the circuit board, so there will be no increase in performance by running at a higher voltage. So long as the input voltage to the regulator is higher than it's cut off point (which would sound the low battery alarm) everything is fine. From memory I think the low battery alarm sounds off when the battery drops to either 10.2 or 10.5V. I only know that because I was checking the voltage on my 3 cell lipo battery I run my GT on to make sure the voltage was above 9V when the low battery alarm sounded. Lipos should never be drawn below 3V per cell.

The best way to solve this debate is for somebody to use 8AA 2500ma or higher nimhs in their GT and see how long of run time they get. The test would have to be done over no more than say 4 or 5 days of use. If they sit for weeks the test wouldn't be valid because the cells will lose charge over time. Like I said, I think Kered was running 8 nimhs in his GT with no run time issues if I remember right.
 
Here is a thread on those 1.6v cells...

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?22,1626738

Personaly I wouldn't buy the Minelab rechargeable pack for a few reasons. Reason number one is it's expensive. Reason number two is the charger for it is primative and takes a LONG time to charge a pack (20 hours on a dead pack). I don't even know if the light goes out on the pack to indicate it's charged (I never use mine). Reason number three is the pack is heavy. It's either using Sub A or Sub C cells....I forget, but either one of those is much heavier than an AAs, not only because they are heavier but because there are 10 in there.

If you are worried about the run time of 8AAs (remains to be seen...I bet 2500ma or higher would have a good run time) due to only using 8 cells, I'd look into the 1.6V cells above or one of the other 1.5 or 1.6V rechargeables that are now on the market. I think there are zinc based ones now that put out 1.5V per cell too. You can probably buy 2 packs of those cells and a good/faster charger and still save money over buying the Minelab rechargeable pack and the "charger" it uses.
 
Here is an 8 pack of those 1.6V cells on Amazon for $18. Not a bad price...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NJUJ16/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1/178-7622964-6260434?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=1BADXEDEKK4YS7B92A2W&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_i=B0029NZVZ0
 
Here's a one hour 4AA quick charger for these cells with 4AA cells for $18. I would just go ahead and buy two of these chargers and that way you can charge all 8 at a time. For $36 you are still cheaper than the Minelab pack and with longer run times than it...

http://www.amazon.com/PowerGenix-ZR-PGX1HRAA-4B-Charger-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B0029NZVZ0
 
The only concern I'd have about those 1.6V cells is that it might over heat the voltage regulator. Voltage regulators get rid of the excess voltage by converting it into heat which is shunted off by a heat sink they have on them. Like I said though, I think I read where a Sovereign user was using them without any problem. These regulators usually have a thermal overload switch in them, which means if you're lucky it will just stop working until it cools down. I'm going to see if I can dig up that thread where a Sovereign user was using them.

One thing about those cells versus nimhs is I think the nizn cells have less cycles per life time than a nimh. At least that's what it used to be but I haven't read up on these new cells to see if they have improved that.
 
Found the thread where the guy is using them in his Sovereign with no problem...

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?18,1650847,1650847#msg-1650847
 
After reading a little more on those cells I think I'd rather try 8AA high capacity (2500ma or higher) nimhs in the regular holder and see how long they last. I don't think I'd trust the excess voltage and the potential to over heat the voltage regulator. Those cells also seem to have a high failure rate and less cycle life than nimhs.

I've ran nimhs in everything from digital cameras to metal detectors in the past and had zero issues with them. In fact, my 2500ma Energizers give me more run time in my digital camera than an off the shelf non-rechargeable regular battery.

The only way to settle the debate is for somebody to run them in their Sovereign and see how long they last. If they've sat on the shelf for weeks the voltage may have sagged too low, but I would bet that if they have been charged that week you are going out they should give long run times. If anything you could throw them on a quick charger each time before you go out and that for sure (probably) would give you a full days hunt.

DeepDigger, you are only using 2000ma nimhs but are you up to the challenge of seeing how long of a run time you get out of them?
 
Found this message from Kered on using 8AA nimhs in his Sovereign...

"I have bee using 8x rechargables for years, you do get longer run times now as the AA's now come in greater capacities but the 1.2v is not the maximum capacity of these, when they get to 1.2v they are getting well down, fully charged you are more in the region of 1.35- 1.4v.

I have been getting much better run times on 8 x 2800mah rechargables compared to the factory 10x 1000mah rechargable pack(its new too) getting in the region of a 1/3 more runtime on 2800mah down to the low battery alarm. Untill this alarm warning sounds off the detector runs just the same with no loss of power etc, if better performance was gained by a full 12v or more I and many more would have a car battery hooked up in that case, its just not true.

What i will say is years ago with the first nicad AA rechargables that came out things were different but things have come a long way since then.

Another thing is you also now have the enerloop AA's that keep 80% charge up to a year on the shelf (only downbit is they only come in 2000mah on AA's at the moment but still a good amount compared to stock) which will help the infrequent users but its still better to do a topup charge the night before or while having breakfast on the day your going out."
 
Here's another message from Kered on using 8AA nimhs in his Sovereign...

"With 2800mah Ni-Mh batteries the sovereign elite and GT will work as long if not longer than the stock rechargable pack, I agree that you don't have the initial voltage of alkalines but high mah takes a lot longer to discharge and reach the cut-off voltage. I also use them in the explorer/etrac and whites dual field, not tried them in the F75 yet as it came with normal duracell alkalines that i have recharged a couple of times(yes normal alkalines can be recharged too), once they won't charge anymore i will try the ni-mh in that too, also got an alkaline pod for the excali en route so i will try that too and let you know."
 
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