DPS-9000 Li-Ion Battery for A710IS

[sold2early]

I'm in the process of adapting a Digipower DPS-9000 to my A710IS, and I want to know how much voltage this camera can handle.

I'm doing this primarily because the flash recycle time is poor with NiMH batteries, and because I'm an engineer and I can't stand not to be messing with stuff. Although I'm a mechanical engineer so I know nothing about DC circuits.

Anyways, I first connected the battery using the voltage step down cable set to 3V (Since the input voltage on the camera is specified as 3.15V). This made no improvement in recycle time (5+ seconds). I then rolled the dice and switched it to 5V, and this cut the recycle time to about 1-2 seconds. This did not have any immediate adverse affect on the camera. I wasn't too worried because I used this battery for 4+ years on an A40 and for almost a year on a A610 camera without any problem, and I wasn't using the a step down cable with these so I was putting 7.2V into cameras that were calling for 4.3V.

So here's my problem. Having to use the step down cable stinks because it is big and clunky and there's no good way to mount it, but I'm nervous about putting the full 7.2V into the camera (230% of recommended voltage). Another option would be to splice several diodes into the cable to drop the voltage to 5V.

Does anyone out there have any experience with this? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks for listening.