Sovereign XS voltage question

browndogwaswhite · May 29, 2025

Just picked up a Sov XS and found that the P O had inserted Energizer batteries at some point. Leaked, corroded and swollen to the point where the plastic battery holders were broken. Cleaned the clip on leads and bought the replacement holders (for 8 batteries), same as original.
Now to my question - the owners manual calls for NiCad, 12v, 600mAHr or more. Whether I stay w/ NiCad or switch to NiMH I can only find them with 1.2v each. In order to get the 12v that's called for I need 1.5v (1.5 x 8 = 12v).
Am I being too worried about the 1.2v versus the 1.5v?
Thanks for any help.
Steve

Treasure_Hunter · May 29, 2025

AA alkaline will work fine, just not the AA photo batteries (too hot). I had a Soverign GT. You can also get a rechargeabke NiMH battery pack.

OBN · May 31, 2025

You can run up to 12.6volts, and it should run good to 10.8 but then the alarm starts going off if it gets much lower...

I know on the sword model excalibur which both are related I ran 16.8, it did run hot..

Sand Swinger · Sep 6, 2025

I've been running a Sovereign Elite for the last 14 years, also used to own an XS-2a Pro, and XS-2. On the XS-2a Pro, I modded the battery compartment so that I could use LiPo rechargeable battery packs, like they use in RC model airplanes. I think they were Tenergy's as I still have the Tenergy charger along with a fire-resistant bag that I'd place the battery pack in while charging, just in case. You might want to check into those rechargeable battery packs as they should fit inside your XS. It's an easy mod as all you really need to do is to take 2 wires, attach to a plug that plugs into the battery pack, then solder the leads from those 2 wires to their respective + & - terminals/battery clips inside the control box.

I didn't make any battery mods to my Sov Elite, but I did switch from using Alkaline's to using Energizer Lithium's. Switching to Lithium's was like night & day. They're MUCH lighter than Alkaline's. I have my control box in a pouch around my neck (see profile pic), and it always felt heavy with the Alkaline's, but after switching to the Lithium's, the reduction in weight was very noticeable.

Also, Lithium's seemed to run full bore until they use up the last electron, lol. Alkaline's tend to get weaker & weaker, and once they reduce to a certain voltage, I think it's something like 10.6V or thereabouts, they'll stop providing enough voltage to power the detector. But the Lithium's provide full voltage until they have no more to give, then they'll abruptly stop, so you'll use far more electrons with the Lithium's than with Alkaline's. I would estimate that the Lithium's gave me a run time of at least twice the hours that the Alkaline's provided, probably more. I never ran the Lithium's in the detector until they died, I'd switch to new Lithium's after about 5 or 6 hunts, over 20 hours. Then I'd take the Lithium's I removed and would continue using them in my TV remotes, PC Mouse, etc., until they finally died.