Has anyone used NiZn batteries in their E-Trac?

[Atrus]

Greetings.

I usually use the standard 9.6V NiMH rechargeable battery pack that came with my Minelab E-Trac. I get good results with it, and for what little time I've had for metal detecting lately, I have never run it down. I've been told that using 1.5V AA alkaline batteries in the Slim Pack gives longer battery time, and (perhaps ?) better performance.

Yesterday I found some new, Nickel-Zinc AA rechargeables. They are 1.6V instead of 1.5V. They are very highly recommended for digital cameras, GPS receivers, and generally, anything that uses 1.5V AA batteries. Supposedly, they will outlast standard alkaline AA's, and NiMH by 2 to 1. They are also very highly recommended for equipment that has higher current drain. They work great in my digital camera, so I was wondering...

Has anyone tried using these batteries in a Minelab E-Trac? 8 of these new batteries in the SlimPack would supply 12.8V instead of 12.0V to the E-Trac. I would expect Minelab to have a voltage regulator on the battery input voltage, and wouldn't think that the extra .8V should cause a problem....but I don't want to try without asking first.

Mike, I tried calling you this morning. I'll try again a little later. If no one knows, Mike, can you ask Minelab for their official answer?

Thanks,

Jim

 

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[Woodland Detectors]

Re: Has anyone used NiZn batteries in their E-Trak?

Greetings.

I usually use the standard 9.6V NiMH rechargeable battery pack that came with my Minelab E-Trak. I get good results with it, and for what little time I've had for metal detecting lately, I have never run it down. I've been told that using 1.5V AA alkaline batteries in the Slim Pack gives longer battery time, and (perhaps ?) better performance.

Yesterday I found some new, Nickel-Zinc AA rechargeables. They are 1.6V instead of 1.5V. They are very highly recommended for digital cameras, GPS receivers, and generally, anything that uses 1.5V AA batteries. Supposedly, they will outlast standard alkaline AA's, and NiMH by 2 to 1. They are also very highly recommended for equipment that has higher current drain. They work great in my digital camera, so I was wondering...

Has anyone tried using these batteries in a Minelab E-Trak? 8 of these new batteries in the SlimPack would supply 12.8V instead of 12.0V to the E-Trak. I would expect Minelab to have a voltage regulator on the battery input voltage, and wouldn't think that the extra .8V should cause a problem....but I don't want to try without asking first.

Mike, I tried calling you this morning. I'll try again a little later. If no one knows, Mike, can you ask Minelab for their official answer?

Thanks,

Jim

Hi Jim.
Unfortunately, I have not tried them.
However, I know that for the machine to run properly, it should run at 12 volts for optimum performance.
I do not know what the effects would be pushing the voltage over.

If anything, this will create an interesting conversation topic.

Your request is being sent to Minelab.

My phone number is 828-242-5407
I never received a call. Did you call the 4-h office? Maggie said someone called up there and Amanda gave them my cell.
It's good to see your getting back into the detecting.
Mike

 

[stasys]

Re: Has anyone used NiZn batteries in their E-Trak?

check what voltage when is full charged. but i think it should be ok, but its just my point.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: Has anyone used NiZn batteries in their E-Trak?


Hey Jim,

This is Minelab's reply.

Hi Mike:



I wanted to follow up on this as I spoke with Ewout Kozel, Operations Manager, and he has informed me that we do not recommend use of any non-MineLab products as we cannot guarantee what we do not test and manufacture at Minelab. I have copied Ewout in case there are additional questions.

~~~~~~

It sounds like a "we don't know either" answer buddy

Sorry

 

[Atrus]

Hey Jim,

This is Minelab's reply.

Hi Mike:



I wanted to follow up on this as I spoke with Ewout Kozel, Operations Manager, and he has informed me that we do not recommend use of any non-MineLab products as we cannot guarantee what we do not test and manufacture at Minelab. I have copied Ewout in case there are additional questions.

~~~~~~

It sounds like a "we don't know either" answer buddy

Sorry

Thanks Mike,

That's pretty much what I expected, but aren't they contradicting themselves? They provide a battery case which holds eight AA batteries. How can they recomend that "non-Minelab" AA batteries are ok to use?

Bottom line is we don't know any nore than we did before I asked the question, and I doubt Minelab will cooperate with questions to their engineering team. I doubt that the extra .1V per cell will cause a problem, but I still don't think I'll use them without knowing for sure.

What I might do is use only SEVEN of them, and make up a "dummy" cell place holder for the eighth cell. Total voltage that way will be 11.2V. That's considerably better than 9.6V and still under the "max" of 12V.

Thanks for passing my question on to Minelab.

Jim

 

[Jeff In North Georgia]

I'm not using an E-trac but have an Explorer II. I bought these last fall to try and love them. I hunt most every weekend and have not had any problems.

When used after a fresh charge, my battery meter never even moves even on the long hunting days!

I use them in an alkiline pack and charge all 8 at once in the pack with a special charger. This way I don't have to take them in and out of the pack all of the time.

Here is a great deal on them:

http://www.shnoop.com/

GO GREEN! POWERGENIX 1HOUR QUICK CHARGER + 12 NIZN AA BATTERIES

[PGX1HRCH+ZRPGX-AA8]
Condition: Brand New

Retail Price: $89.98
MSRP: $89.98
You Save: $70.99

Shnoop Price:
$18.99 with FREE SHIPPING!
You Save: 79%


Jeff

 

[Atrus]

I'm not using an E-trac but have an Explorer II. I bought these last fall to try and love them. I hunt most every weekend and have not had any problems.

When used after a fresh charge, my battery meter never even moves even on the long hunting days!

I use them in an alkiline pack and charge all 8 at once in the pack with a special charger. This way I don't have to take them in and out of the pack all of the time.

Here is a great deal on them:

http://www.shnoop.com/

GO GREEN! POWERGENIX 1HOUR QUICK CHARGER + 12 NIZN AA BATTERIES

[PGX1HRCH+ZRPGX-AA8]
Condition: Brand New

Retail Price: $89.98
MSRP: $89.98
You Save: $70.99

Shnoop Price:
$18.99 with FREE SHIPPING!
You Save: 79%


Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks for your info. Those are the exact cells I have. I found mine in our local "Tuesday Morning" store. Found the fast charger and 4 cells for $12.99, and an additional 8-pack of cells for 9.99. That's a total of 12 cells & the charger for $22.98. WAY lower than MSRP. They also have additional 4-packs of cells for $5.99 I bought two sets, so I have two chargers, and can charge 8 cells at a time. They work great in our digital cameras, small radios, flashlights & GPS receivers.

I assume that you built your own charger? At what voltage do you charge, and how much current do you feed them? For how long? Do you monitor the charge cycle or does it have automatic shutoff?

I just took 8 cells out of the charger(s) and put them into the SlimPack. Fresh, no-load voltage measured 14.68V on the dvm. That's more than I will risk in the E-Trac. What is your freshly charged no-load voltage? I understand that the no-load voltage will settle down some time after they come out of the charger. I put them aside and will check the voltage in a little while, and will report back.

I still like the idea of making a dummy place holder for one cell, and using only 7 cells instead of all 8.

Jim

 

[WishfulThinker]

From the electronics world .....

If you are going to use other battery packs or combinations other than what the manufacturer recommends,
-- Build in a voltage regulator into the battery pack before the plug in connector. Depending on standby drain current (should be micro-amps) you may have to build-in a separate switch --- read that magnet on outside of plastic cover and reed switch in unit. Always try to generally match the voltage even if you have to chop up battery holder or add filler pieces to standard size plastic units, in order to accomodate fewer cells.

Just for info. had some devices that used button cells (watch/calc batteries) which lasted about 1 month, and outrigged D-Cells in holder to power forever. Yes, it will work.

 

[Jeff In North Georgia]

I'm not using an E-trac but have an Explorer II. I bought these last fall to try and love them. I hunt most every weekend and have not had any problems.

When used after a fresh charge, my battery meter never even moves even on the long hunting days!

I use them in an alkiline pack and charge all 8 at once in the pack with a special charger. This way I don't have to take them in and out of the pack all of the time.

Here is a great deal on them:

http://www.shnoop.com/

GO GREEN! POWERGENIX 1HOUR QUICK CHARGER + 12 NIZN AA BATTERIES

[PGX1HRCH+ZRPGX-AA8]
Condition: Brand New

Retail Price: $89.98
MSRP: $89.98
You Save: $70.99

Shnoop Price:
$18.99 with FREE SHIPPING!
You Save: 79%


Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks for your info. Those are the exact cells I have. I found mine in our local "Tuesday Morning" store. Found the fast charger and 4 cells for $12.99, and an additional 8-pack of cells for 9.99. That's a total of 12 cells & the charger for $22.98. WAY lower than MSRP. They also have additional 4-packs of cells for $5.99 I bought two sets, so I have two chargers, and can charge 8 cells at a time. They work great in our digital cameras, small radios, flashlights & GPS receivers.

I assume that you built your own charger? At what voltage do you charge, and how much current do you feed them? For how long? Do you monitor the charge cycle or does it have automatic shutoff?

I just took 8 cells out of the charger(s) and put them into the SlimPack. Fresh, no-load voltage measured 14.68V on the dvm. That's more than I will risk in the E-Trac. What is your freshly charged no-load voltage? I understand that the no-load voltage will settle down some time after they come out of the charger. I put them aside and will check the voltage in a little while, and will report back.

I still like the idea of making a dummy place holder for one cell, and using only 7 cells instead of all 8.

Jim

Jim,
I did not make my own charger. I use a MAHA (Powerex) MH-C777 and MH-C777 Plus. It's a "smart" charger with adjustable contacts. I charge through the round metal outputs on the pack. Unfortunately they don't make these any more. You may still be able to them on the web or find a used one on EBay.

A freshly charged pack reads 14.8 VDC. I checked them after letting them sit overnight and the pack read 14.4 VDC.

Jeff

 

[Atrus]

I'm not using an E-trac but have an Explorer II. I bought these last fall to try and love them. I hunt most every weekend and have not had any problems.

When used after a fresh charge, my battery meter never even moves even on the long hunting days!

I use them in an alkiline pack and charge all 8 at once in the pack with a special charger. This way I don't have to take them in and out of the pack all of the time.

Here is a great deal on them:

http://www.shnoop.com/

GO GREEN! POWERGENIX 1HOUR QUICK CHARGER + 12 NIZN AA BATTERIES

[PGX1HRCH+ZRPGX-AA8]
Condition: Brand New

Retail Price: $89.98
MSRP: $89.98
You Save: $70.99

Shnoop Price:
$18.99 with FREE SHIPPING!
You Save: 79%


Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks for your info. Those are the exact cells I have. I found mine in our local "Tuesday Morning" store. Found the fast charger and 4 cells for $12.99, and an additional 8-pack of cells for 9.99. That's a total of 12 cells & the charger for $22.98. WAY lower than MSRP. They also have additional 4-packs of cells for $5.99 I bought two sets, so I have two chargers, and can charge 8 cells at a time. They work great in our digital cameras, small radios, flashlights & GPS receivers.

I assume that you built your own charger? At what voltage do you charge, and how much current do you feed them? For how long? Do you monitor the charge cycle or does it have automatic shutoff?

I just took 8 cells out of the charger(s) and put them into the SlimPack. Fresh, no-load voltage measured 14.68V on the dvm. That's more than I will risk in the E-Trac. What is your freshly charged no-load voltage? I understand that the no-load voltage will settle down some time after they come out of the charger. I put them aside and will check the voltage in a little while, and will report back.

I still like the idea of making a dummy place holder for one cell, and using only 7 cells instead of all 8.

Jim

Jim,
I did not make my own charger. I use a MAHA (Powerex) MH-C777 and MH-C777 Plus. It's a "smart" charger with adjustable contacts. I charge through the round metal outputs on the pack. Unfortunately they don't make these any more. You may still be able to them on the web or find a used one on EBay.

A freshly charged pack reads 14.8 VDC. I checked them after letting them sit overnight and the pack read 14.4 VDC.

Jeff

After several days of sitting there, no load voltage from the pack is still 14.5V.


Jim

 

[sandnut]

I use them in my Safari, they work great. I found them at Amazon. Got 2 chargers with 8 batteries and I bought 8 extra batteries for just over $45 shipped.

 

[NGE]

I am using Sanyo Eneloop AA's, 1.5 volts each, 2700 ma.rechargeables. Got 8 for 30.00 from a company in Ct. 3 years on shelf, they retain 85% charge, same thing in machine (when not in use) They come to you pre-charged. I am going on 3 weeks of use in my Etrac (2 to 4 hours use each day) and still have not worn them down. New technology, they are Nimh's........NGE

 

[sandnut]

I use them in my Safari and in my Surfmaster. They work real good and hold a charge for a long time....

 

[ivanll]

I've asked the same question with regards to using NiZn battery cells in a CTX-3030................so far no usefull answer.
Use the amount of NiZn cells that make the same voltage as a fresh set of 8 Alkaline cells and all is fine.
The Li-Ion battery pack supplied with the CTX 3030 might be a hassle if air travel is needed, having an alternative battery option could save the day.

Same with Whites TDI's

ivanll

 

[wingmaster]

I don't have an E-trak but have ask the question to White's about using them and they said there's a voltage regulator built into the detector that will handle up to 15V, surely the E-trak has a voltage regulator built into it as well. You would think they would be able to tell you this info, its not like a voltage regulator built onto the circuit board is a trade secret or anything. Some of these over educated people don't seem to understand simple questions, so maybe you just need to ask if the circuit board has a voltage regulator built in and if so what are the specs(max/min) voltage. I've heard some of these cells can be as high as 1.85V after a fresh charge, so it would be nice to know what the voltage regulator will handle before using these batteries. Someone who knows a little about electronics could probably find that part on the board and do a little researching to find out what the max/min values are, the only problem with this approach though is if at any time during the manufacture they went with a different supplier for this part and might be a little different voltage parameters. HH