How to make a rechargable battery pack?

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marioxb
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How to make a rechargable battery pack?

Post by marioxb » Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:29 am

Apparantly you can't search for "battery" here, so I appologize if this has already been answered. So there's this new third party Interworks controller for Wii that combines the Wii remote and Classic Controller into one. Problem is, that I heard it sucks, so I wanna try to make my own.

Any idea what I can use to make a 3V (aka 2 AA or AAA batteries) rechargable battery for it? I don't wanna have to change batteries ever and want it to be like the PS3 or Wii U Pro controllers that can plug into usb and charge.

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RDC
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Re: How to make a rechargable battery pack?

Post by RDC » Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:26 pm

No battery is going to last forever, so at some point you'll be replacing it no matter what you use.

The simplistic thing to do would be to just use a couple of Rechargeable AA/AAA batteries and build the charger into the thing. You can Google a pile of different battery chargers that work off a USB port, as well as homemade designs and just incorporate that into your controller.

Getting into Li-Ion or Lipo batteries means you can save a lot of space, but the charger needs to be made correctly for the specific type of battery used or they can be damaged and catch on fire.
Screwing up is one of the best learning tools, so long as the only thing you're not learning is how to screw up.
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marioxb
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Re: How to make a rechargable battery pack?

Post by marioxb » Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:33 am

Well, yeah, replaced as much as need be for devices like this with built in batteries. I haven't ever had to replace batteries in any of my devices that had built in recharable batteries so far.

Anyway, thanks for the advise! I will do some more research and see what I can come up with. For the Li-Ion or Lipo batteries, are there any specific kinds/ brands/ places to find them for projects like this?

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RDC
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Re: How to make a rechargable battery pack?

Post by RDC » Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:03 pm

Not particularly, and there are loads of places online that will have many different kinds, from some that just sell batteries to other hobby type places like RC cars/planes and such that have them as well. It will mainly depend on the amount of space you have to work with as well as how many mAh you're looking to cram in there, those are far more important factors than where to find one, or one close enough to those specs.

Those batteries can be found without the protection circuitry built into them as well, and those are the ones you do not want to get as you'll then need to add in your own before using them, and even with those types you still need to make sure the charger is made for charging that type of battery. You could just use a PS3 controller battery if you're going the Li-Ion route.
Screwing up is one of the best learning tools, so long as the only thing you're not learning is how to screw up.
Re-mappable Wireless 360 Controller - The CGnome

marioxb
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Re: How to make a rechargable battery pack?

Post by marioxb » Tue Jan 01, 2013 4:31 pm

Just bought this battery at Best Buy:

Rocketfish™ - DSi Power Shell with Rechargeable Backup Battery

(my BB has it for 99 cents). I don't have a DSi, but I bought this thinking it would work for my 3DS, considering they use the same charger. The battery doesn't fit, so I took it apart. Just wondering if I could use this in a project, if I solder on a charge port of some sort (probably mini USB). The way this one works is it acts as a second battery in the dsi. It goes in the slot of the dsi where the original battery would be, and then the original battery goes in a slot in this thing. Since it's designed in this way, it has no charging port of its own and uses the dsi charging port.

Wondering if anyone knows if I take a li-ion battery such as this and add solder a charger/ charging port will that charge it, or does it have to be designed to be charged in this way?

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