Electronics Question Real Quick

[robertjuric]

Is there a way to make something to like take the place of batteries?

Ok here is what Im trying to do. I have a Palm Pilot M100, there is no way to charge the batteries unless I take them out and change them. So what I wanted to do, was either make a battery pack w/ a jack connected to it, so I could just plug it up and charge the batteries while keeping them in there. If I went that route, Id need some way to get a battery charge from my charger(you place the batteries in it), or make one that I can just plug up.

Or I could do something so that I would be able to use external battery packs(just an idea, I like the 1st better).

So what I really need is a way to to make, gah I dont know how to explain it. I need like a "fake" battery, to sit in the charger(if I dont build my own), so that I can pull the power from the charger into my battery pack.

Id also need to know, if I create a battery pack, and its charging at the same time the batteries are being used, will that cause any problems with the batteries or the palm pilot?

[redlaser666]

What kind of batteries does the palm take? are they Lithium batteries? What kind of connector does the charger have to connect to the batteries?

More info will help the creative process.

[robertjuric]

well it just takes AAA batteries, i can put whatever kind of batteries i want in it, but it has not built in charging thing, so when the batteries start to die, i have to take them out and swap them.

i want to make a way, where I dont have to take them out to charge them, maybe like solder(well not b/c that ruin the batteries), and wire a jack onto the edges of batteries, so i wont have to remove them everytime.

[redlaser666]

Your best option would be to connect an external battery pack in parallel with the internal batteries.
To do this you would have to find the + and - input in the palm device and wire a plug to them. This way when you have to change the batteries you can hookup the external battery pack and power the palm externaly.
That will give you twice the running time if you use the same type of batteries for the pack. If you use an external battery pack with AA bat, you can run longer on the ext battery pack. or you can just use the pack to hold the power while you change the internal bat.

Hope this helps out. If you have more questions please post them. I would be glad to help you out.

[robertjuric]

well I was wanting to do something like that. what I had more in mind was to turn the current batteries into a battery pack w/ an external jack, so I could charge them while they remained in the palm pilot.

[redlaser666]

That can also be done, but if you have a NIMH charger it only outputs 1.5V per bat port, because its designd to charge each baterry independently. In that case you would have to get a 3V (2x AAA bat) or 6V (4x AAA bat) charger.

It can be done that way, but would requre you getting a new charger. The other way is easier and you can use the same charger for both sets of batteries (internal and pack).

[robertjuric]

Ok, I see what your saying.

So on your idea, to wire a jack to the battery connectors in the palm pilot, and only plug up the external pack when??
See, I can have both batteries in at the same time b/c I might burn something out, and if there is anytime where no batteries are connected, I risk losing data.

What If I use my idea, but used like 2 seperate jacks? One for each battery? Or something like that?

[redlaser666]

You would use the external pack to maintain power while you change the internal batteries.

As long as you wire your circuit in paralell with the internal bateries there is no risk of burning anything up.

[robertjuric]

ok how would i wire it in parrallel? I cant really get into the body of my palm pilot b/c the screws are a really small star head. So anything Id do would have to be able to be done from the battery bay(i guess thats what you call it).

[redlaser666]

To wire the circuit in paralell you have to look at which side of the battery bay the two contacts are connected together. On the oposite end (if it uses just 2 bats) are the entry contacts. The one with the spring is the - ant the flat one is the +. Wire your female plug to those two contacts. On the battery pack wire a male plug. That is all, you can get everithing you need at RadioShack.

In all you need:
female plug
matching male plug
a 2 cell batery box (the pack)
some thin wire (20 - 22ga)
electrical tape or heat shrink tubing (better)
soldering equiptment if you want to make it permanent
a hobby knife to make a notch on the battery cover for the exiting wires.

E-mail me if you would like me to take some pics of what you would need to do. I can show you how to do it in pics.

attm,
Raul Lugo
[email protected]