Tesoro Tejon (and similar) battery questions

[HighVDI]

I use rechargeables for my AA machines. No they won't last as long as a set of alkalines, but I get what seems like unlimited charges out of them.
I use them for a hunt, then recharge before next hunt.
Or get enough for 2 sets and then you can run them longer without worrying about running dead in the middle of a hunt. However, I don't think you can kill a fully charged set in one hunt. I never have. And if you too them off when you get home or before going out again, they're always full.
Eneloop white (or special edition colors all besides black) say you can get 2100 recharges. That's like 40 years if charged once a week lol. So 8 years if you charge 5x a week or so.

Curious if you have a Tejon and run them. If so do you get the 8 beeps on startup?

 

[Stoof2010]

No tehon is one of the only models I don't have. I do have a DeLeon with similar setup for batteries as tejon.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Hello,

Nice modification!

Is your Dewalt battery pack 20 Volts? IMHO: the Voltage Regulator may need a heat sink to dissipate the difference between 20 V and 13 V. You could also use a 7812 voltage regulator, if heat sink is used. I have not done any power calculations as of this penning, nevertheless, I always heat sink my regulators.

Just a thought

Regards,

Doc

 

[Slim382ms]

Hello,

Nice modification!

Is your Dewalt battery pack 20 Volts? IMHO: the Voltage Regulator may need a heat sink to dissipate the difference between 20 V and 13 V. You could also use a 7812 voltage regulator, if heat sink is used. I have not done any power calculations as of this penning, nevertheless, I always heat sink my regulators.

Just a thought

Regards,

Doc

Yes I had to heatsink it. That is a lot of voltage drop. I just used a strip of aluminum an inch or so long by half again longer, along with liberal application of thermal compound.

I went with a simple LM317 circuit regulated at 12.5vdc. I think that’s 6 beeps, IIRC.

The only thing I don’t like about it is the size of the project box I used. It’s just a bit large for my taste. I’m hunting for another, more acceptable one now.

I’ll post pics.

 

[Slim382ms]

The battery meter is set to give indication of the battery pre-regulator since the Tesoro battery indicator beeps aren’t really useful anymore. It’s set up for a 5s lipo. I put the switch on the 20v side of the regulator as well so that the meter has a way to turn off.


As you can see, I used a cibola style forearm cup. The angle of the bottom of the battery ended up perfect for laying the detector down flat. It’s very stable.

Overall it’s still a work in progress. I need to change out that project box, and clean up the exposed wiring. I was worried about using anything larger than the small 1.5ah or 2ah ,20v battery, thinking the balance would be off with the weight. Surprisingly, it’s still pretty well balanced with a giant 5ah battery. Having said that, the 1.5ah and similar have plenty of juice and are still lightweight.

The great thing about this setup is that it’s full power for the duration of a charge, since the lipo never discharges below the regulated voltage. Also - the runtime is tremendous.

Oh and one final note- I would have used a 7812, but I just couldn’t squeeze that .5v extra out of it, lol I guess it’s just the hot rodder in me, lol. I mean come on, that extra .5v has to be good for at least and extra 4”, right?

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the very nice modification, looks great!

 

[Hot zone]

I use neutral and simply back off on sensitivity for too much chatter...