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View Full Version : Build your own battery pack???

i2iSTUDIOS
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 01:38
I see all these flash battery packs from the cheapest at $130 all the way up to $350.

Has anyone built their own for their flash using regular AA rechargibles? It can't be THAT hard...
samsen
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 01:40
Beware of frying up something...
Samsen
jj1987
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 02:53
Yeah, it might not be that hard, but one flash fried because an accident could ruin your chances of ever saving money by doing it.
René Damkot
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 04:53
Also, IIRC, the 'battery packs' are actually more than that: They feed the flash high voltage. I did make a battery pack from a lead cell for a Metz 45 once (used instead of the regular or NiCad cells). Worked fine, halved the recycle time)
i2iSTUDIOS
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 07:08
I see that Nikon makes a battery pack just with AA's they charge $130 bucks for it, it's just plastic, connectors, and a wire to the flash, that's it. It should be $40 at most.
René Damkot
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 09:58
I used to own one of those, SD-8, I think. It's 6 AA cells, and feeds the flash high voltage. You can hear the thing whine as the flash charges. Not just a battery holder...
RAitch
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 10:01
That's criminal... are you sure it's not Sony? ;)
Yeah, I'm thinking I wouldn't want to build my own power supply. Getting one of those 4 AA holders and soldering on an attachment head for running an MP3 player is one thing.... but for this, I'd stay away from DIY unless you REALLY know what you're doing... in which case you wouldn't be asking the question.
i2iSTUDIOS
17th of June 2006 (Sat), 11:17
oh, radio shack has battery holders ... :D

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062251&cp=&pg=2&origkw=battery+holder&kw=battery+holder&parentPage=search

I only need 9 volts (though I wonder if it could take 12V...)
dinoadventures
18th of June 2006 (Sun), 17:11
for the price it would take you to make a good one and a charger, you might as well get an Al Jacobs Black Box. It's pretty much everything you could ever want (unless you're looking for an accellerated pack) and it's super-cheap for what you get. If you break it, he'll fix it too. They last freaking forever. I've shot over 1200 shots on one without recharging it and it halves my recycle time too. That's worth my 100 bucks or so.