Wii Battery Power

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Animedude101
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Wii Battery Power

Post by Animedude101 » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:58 am

I was wondering while i was fixing my nintendo wii, like does anyone know how long the wii would run for on 8 AA batteries ( i think its 8 batteries for 12v)

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Post by bicostp » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:34 pm

Not very long. Remember, alkaline AAs generally hold less than 2 amps, and they don't work very well under heavy power loads.

Accoding to Google, the Wii's AC adapter puts out about 3 amps. Even in a perfect world where the numbers always work out in a linear way, my best guess is you'd get about 20 minutes of run time, if you're lucky. In the real world? A few seconds.

Can it be done? Yes. Should it be done? No. Judging by the prices listed at Target, it would cost about 20 bucks to run your Wii off AAs for an hour in a perfect world.

This is assuming, of course, that the set of AAs will be able to support the load. There's a good chance it simply won't start because the console wants too much power.

If you want a battery powered Wii, you're better off with a lead-acid battery (maybe for a motorcycle or lawn tractor).

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timmeh87
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Post by timmeh87 » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:52 pm

Lead acid? really? That would weigh as much as the wii itself.

Something like "C" or "D" sized batteries, rechargeable or not (but if they arent get ready to start spending $200/month on batteries) would probably work fine.
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Post by Electric Rain » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:08 pm

Why does everyone always go for NiMH? Go with Li-Ion! So what if they explode! :P

Seriously though, Alkalines = No. Go with NiMH or Li-Ion if you know what you're doing... Oh, and Kudos for the avatar. 8) Second best anime next to Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni.
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Post by grossaffe » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:38 pm

Electric Rain wrote:Why does everyone always go for NiMH? Go with Li-Ion! So what if they explode! :P

Seriously though, Alkalines = No. Go with NiMH or Li-Ion if you know what you're doing... Oh, and Kudos for the avatar. 8) Second best anime next to Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni.
Could you go into more depth about the differences between NiMH and Li-Ion?

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Post by kasar » Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:39 pm

"I think" ni-mh work better than ni-cd (more electrical power)

and li-on have more electrical power than ni-mh.

but li-on are dangerous and can explode if a protection circuit is not present (it can explode if the pack be shorted,overheated or overcharged),li-on s are also a little more expensive than ni-cd and ni-mh.

[better > crapper] (electrical storage)

li-on > ni-mh > ni-cd

[expensive > cheaper]

li-on > ni-mh > ni-cd


anyway here you got more detailed info info (I suck explaining ^^):

ni-cd and ni-mh
li-on


other interesting link

another one :D
Last edited by kasar on Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by Electric Rain » Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:39 pm

:| Sure...

They are two different battery chemistries, first of all, but I'm sure you're not asking about their chemical makeup.

Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries provide a much higher energy density than Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. A single Li-Ion cell is rated at 3.6/3.7 volts, whereas a single NiMH cell is only 1.2 volts. Li-Ions are typically used for small-sized high-drain devices like cell phones or MP3 players. NiMH batteries are used where small size isn't quite as important, but ruggedness and/or lower cost is.

Li-Ions are sensitive to more things electrically and physically, such as overcharging, extreme temperatures and vibration. As such, Li-Ion packs always have small protection PCBs built-in to them to help combat electrical abuse, where NiMH cells can be used stand-alone. When Li-Ions are abused too much, which sometimes doesn't take much, they have been known to explode or catch fire due to their volatile chemistry.

NiMH cells in the form of AAA, AA, C and D batteries are also used in place of Alkalines in high-drain devices such as some digital cameras and wireless video game controllers. In such devices, Alkalines may die too quickly and have to be replaced too often, which tends to be far more expensive than simply using rechargeable NiMH batteries that may run down quicker than Alkalines, but can typically be recharged hundreds of times. However, some devices that are made to run off of the 1.5 volts that an Alkaline produces may not run stably or at all with the 1.2 volts that NiMH batteries produce. Li-Ions are NOT backwards compatible with devices that use Alkalines or NiMH batteries in the shape of Alkalines (AAA, AA, C, D, etc.). NiMH and Li-Ion chargers are also not backwards compatible. However, as long as enough voltage is provided, NiMH or Alkaline batteries can be used in devices that are normally powered by Li-Ions. I have personally successfully used 3 NiMH batteries in place of a single 3.7 volt Li-Ion pack.


No, none of that was paraphrased. :P I hope that's the kind of information you were looking for... if not, I just type that (which I am very proud of...) all up for nothing. Image
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Post by Valium » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:06 pm

Don't forget that because of the Li-ions chemistry, they can be produced at any shape the manufacturer wants. Which makes them take up a lot less space over all than a NiMh battery pack of the same voltage.
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Post by Electric Rain » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:08 pm

Valium wrote:Don't forget that because of the Li-ions chemistry, they can be produced at any shape the manufacturer wants. Which makes them take up a lot less space over all than a NiMh battery pack of the same voltage.
That's true too... forgot that part. Image

By the way, we kind of strayed a bit from the original topic, so here's a page that actually helps answer your question.
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Post by tom61 » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:13 pm

A while back, someone posted about making a Wii portable and asked about what battery. The best answer I found was a battery pack intended to handle portable DVD players. Built in charging circuit, overload protection, etc. so no worries (well, very little) about it catching fire/exploding, along with small size and high capacity. The tradeoff? Cost, as it was well over $100 at the time. If that's within your price range (I'm guessing from the question about using AAs, it isn't) search for that post.

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Post by grossaffe » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:32 pm

Electric Rain wrote::| Sure...

They are two different battery chemistries, first of all, but I'm sure you're not asking about their chemical makeup.

Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries provide a much higher energy density than Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. A single Li-Ion cell is rated at 3.6/3.7 volts, whereas a single NiMH cell is only 1.2 volts. Li-Ions are typically used for small-sized high-drain devices like cell phones or MP3 players. NiMH batteries are used where small size isn't quite as important, but ruggedness and/or lower cost is.

Li-Ions are sensitive to more things electrically and physically, such as overcharging, extreme temperatures and vibration. As such, Li-Ion packs always have small protection PCBs built-in to them to help combat electrical abuse, where NiMH cells can be used stand-alone. When Li-Ions are abused too much, which sometimes doesn't take much, they have been known to explode or catch fire due to their volatile chemistry.

NiMH cells in the form of AAA, AA, C and D batteries are also used in place of Alkalines in high-drain devices such as some digital cameras and wireless video game controllers. In such devices, Alkalines may die too quickly and have to be replaced too often, which tends to be far more expensive than simply using rechargeable NiMH batteries that may run down quicker than Alkalines, but can typically be recharged hundreds of times. However, some devices that are made to run off of the 1.5 volts that an Alkaline produces may not run stably or at all with the 1.2 volts that NiMH batteries produce. Li-Ions are NOT backwards compatible with devices that use Alkalines or NiMH batteries in the shape of Alkalines (AAA, AA, C, D, etc.). NiMH and Li-Ion chargers are also not backwards compatible. However, as long as enough voltage is provided, NiMH or Alkaline batteries can be used in devices that are normally powered by Li-Ions. I have personally successfully used 3 NiMH batteries in place of a single 3.7 volt Li-Ion pack.


No, none of that was paraphrased. :P I hope that's the kind of information you were looking for... if not, I just type that (which I am very proud of...) all up for nothing. Image
That was more informative than I was hoping for, which is a very good thing. I never realized that the different chemistries came in different voltages; I was expecting the only difference to be in mAh. I could have really messed up something up with that if I decided to use Li-ions.

Sounds like NiMH are a good choice if you have room to spare (which I think my project, should I ever get the materials I need, will probably have).

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Post by ShockSlayer » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:34 pm

I reccomend Li-ions. Once you own and use a pair you will NEVER go back.

I've battery powered a wii, in all different ways. Li-ion is the best.

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Post by Animedude101 » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:55 am

yeah thanks for the replies i didnt expect so many people to debate about what batteries are better.....................

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Post by grossaffe » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:49 pm

ShockSlayer wrote:I reccomend Li-ions. Once you own and use a pair you will NEVER go back.

I've battery powered a wii, in all different ways. Li-ion is the best.

SS
what is the lifetime of Li-Ions compared to NiMH?

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Post by Jongamer » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:47 pm

grossaffe wrote:
ShockSlayer wrote:I reccomend Li-ions. Once you own and use a pair you will NEVER go back.

I've battery powered a wii, in all different ways. Li-ion is the best.

SS
what is the lifetime of Li-Ions compared to NiMH?
I Heard 5 Years and like 500 charges and depletions before you start seeing significant battery charge loss.

Plus isn't it true the Li-ions have less memory issues the NiMH?

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