Folks,
If you’re like me you are heavy in AA and AAA cells and rechargeables, and you’re light in 9v batteries (with none rechargeable). This may be a problem for our 9v devices.
I found a couple items that might be of some use:
Battery Holder for (8) AA with Standard Snap Connector : BH383
Philmore Battery Holder for (6) AA with Standard Snap Connector : BH363
This allows you to make a 9v battery with AA cells. The connector is the same as a 9v connector.
The good news is that this makes a great 9v battery, about 2500mAh compared to about 200mAh. It is inexpensive– the amazon price is high at $6. I just walked into Frys and bought these for $1.50 each. It makes a nice backup solution for 9v devices if you run out of 9v batteries. Also most 9v devices have a cable for connection rather than a battery “socket”, making these viable. It allows you to stay out of expensive 9v rechargeables and standardize more with AA’s. There MAY be some AAA versions of these holders that might fit in 9v spaces on the device, but I haven’t looked.
The bad news is that they won’t fit into the usual 9v space, making you have to duct tape the thing to your device, and they consume a lot of AA’s.
Keep the voltages in mind: 6 x 1.5v = 9v (alkalines) 8 x 1.5v = 12v 6 x 1.2v = 7.2v (nimh) 8 x 1.2v = 9.6v Using 6 1.2’s and 2 1.5’s in the 8-cell holder gives 9v exactly.
Apparently, 9v devices usually work with quite a wide range of voltages, although 9.6v is about max for them. The 12v one, although bad for 9v devices, might be otherwise useful.
Thought you’d be interested if you haven’t see these yet. – P.B.