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battery question

Posted: Oct 23rd, 2013, 10:07 pm
by KBG
I am planning on using a 12 hot wheels rechargeable battery but 1 problem how can I connect as my power source. I decide as using a lead acid battery because I am going for on surface power because there is just no way I can fit batteries on my Rov. I am open to other power suggestions for the same price range.

Re: battery question

Posted: Oct 24th, 2013, 5:25 am
by a_shorething
I'm still new to this whole ROV thing but it seems the biggest problem with powering from the surface is this: If you pick a tether that has thin wires it doesn't provide enough cross section in the copper to maintain the original voltage all the way down, so you have a lot of power loss due to resistance (from thin wires). If you go with a honking big thick set of wires to reduce the resistance, you add LOTS of weight to the actual tether so your mobility and the length of the tether is negatively affected.

There is a delicate balance there and no matter how much you try, there is a trade-off somewhere.

I don't think anyone will be able to answer a general question like yours without more specific info like: How many amp-hours are in the batteries you listed, how deep do you plan to go (length of tether)? What is the wiring configuration you are planning to use? What is the gauge of the wire and number of conductors you plan to use.

There is a formula for calculating how much voltage you will have at the end if you know all of this stuff.

The buoyancy and flexibility of the tether are things you'd have to deal with based on those results.

Re: battery question

Posted: Oct 24th, 2013, 7:32 am
by KBG
I know that I will need like 3-4 amps down the tether on 16 awg wire and my target depth is 100 ft and with 12 volts I will be getting a little more volts down the tether than I need so my voltage drop is good I just don't know what type of battery's to go with for around $50 and I want around 2-3 hour run time

Re: battery question

Posted: Oct 24th, 2013, 4:35 pm
by jsut210
You could easily get a few of these batteries and wire them up in parallel for a pretty long run time. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sealed-Lead-Aci ... 1c3764c3c7 I have used the 7.2aH lead acid batteries for a ton of things and they're just great.

Re: battery question

Posted: Oct 24th, 2013, 4:45 pm
by KBG
Thanks I will definitely go with those but what about charging them

Re: battery question

Posted: Oct 24th, 2013, 5:06 pm
by jsut210
This is a more expensive one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-2Amp-Xtend- ... 3f28d6d1f3

You can easily get them cheaper from china if you don't mind waiting about a month for them to come. Like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-V-1250mA-Vol ... 5652396731

Re: battery question

Posted: Oct 24th, 2013, 5:22 pm
by KBG
Thanks for the help I am glad I am not paying 50 bucks + the charger
Now I will almost be cutting that in half