Battery options for DR Wreck 1 canister

My 2.9aH SLAs are on their last legs. I have two batteries, so a two-hour burn time is fine - my dives are never over two hours, and I always make two dives a day.

I had considered getting one NiMH, but I'm sure it costs X amount of dollars. I got these last two at a local battery wholesaler for about $25 apiece, so fifty bucks gets me four hours of burn time, as long as there's a surface interval in the middle (there always is).

Today I went by the battery store, and the 2.9aH is now rated 2.0aH, but the dimensions are identical. Maybe it's the same battery just rated more conservatively, but if it's truly 33% less capacity, the burn time would be only about an hour and twenty minutes each.

Does anyone know about the difference in rating?

On the other hand, I could always stuff a rag in the canister and use the NiMH from my slimline. I never use both canisters the same day. (I know what you're thinking, why not just use the Slimline? When I sidemount, I buttmount the Wreck 1.)

What would you do?

Russell

[crazyduck]

I feel your pain.
I have a MLS canister with a 10 watt HID and when that battery goes out… that is going to be a whirl of fun. I think that I have had that light and battery for 4 years!

I also have a mini-canister NiMH 10 watt HID light- but my girlfriend steals it, something about weight and size. She sticks it into her pocket- Not Fair!

I will be chasing this thread because I will be needing to do the same thing myself very soon.

I think that Diverite uses a piece of white PVC in the bottom of the slim line to take up the space. It’s in the manual.

Only difference for me with NIMH charges differently and the battery pack get pretty toasty. I am not sure of the memory differences for the charging.

If Sid sees this thread he is very good with this kind of thing.

Later, Andrew

The easy thing to do would be to wrap the Slimline battery in a rag and put it in the Wreck 1. The only problem is I then have no backup. I carry backups of everything in my trailer, even a drysuit, so that if I or a buddy have a piece of equipment fail, there's a spare. I recently sold my last two halogen canister lights, so I need new batteries for my Wreck 1 to have a true backup.

I double checked my 2.9s, and they are EXACTLY the same size as the 2.0s in the store, with identical posts in the identical place. I'm hoping someone will tell me they're the same battery, just rated more conservatively.

Russell

[DeWayne]

The easy thing to do would be to wrap the Slimline battery in a rag and put it in the Wreck 1. The only problem is I then have no backup. I carry backups of everything in my trailer, even a drysuit, so that if I or a buddy have a piece of equipment fail, there's a spare. I recently sold my last two halogen canister lights, so I need new batteries for my Wreck 1 to have a true backup.

I double checked my 2.9s, and they are EXACTLY the same size as the 2.0s in the store, with identical posts in the identical place. I'm hoping someone will tell me they're the same battery, just rated more conservatively.

Russell

Check the make and the stock number on them, could be the same battery or could actually be a lesser amperage. I have found them ranging everywhere from 2.3 - 2.9 under different brands, all the same but tested somewhat differently by each company who brands them. Being tagged at 2.0 makes me wonder if it mught truly be a lower amperage in it. Best thing of course would be to do your own burn test on them.

[normblitch]

The easy thing to do would be to wrap the Slimline battery in a rag and put it in the Wreck 1. The only problem is I then have no backup. I carry backups of everything in my trailer, even a drysuit, so that if I or a buddy have a piece of equipment fail, there's a spare. I recently sold my last two halogen canister lights, so I need new batteries for my Wreck 1 to have a true backup.

I double checked my 2.9s, and they are EXACTLY the same size as the 2.0s in the store, with identical posts in the identical place. I'm hoping someone will tell me they're the same battery, just rated more conservatively.

Russell

Russell,

Being technically accurate, ANY battery AHr rating SHOULD include what current draw the figure is based upon. AHr ratings are NOT linear over various ampere draw loads; Lead-Acid are PARTICULARLY non-linear, although AFAIK, all batteries suffer from this characteristic to some degree or another.

In your case, I suspect that the de-rating stemmed from the new figure being calculated from a higher current load...

73 de Norm KE4GAH

This is what I have gathered: The Powersonic batteries have more capacity than the Sealed Power brand. Their design is more efficient, so they get 2.9aH out of the same size package as the other company's 2.0aH (I don't know this for a fact, it's just what I was told). The local battery wholesaler doesn't carry Powersonic any more, maybe because the Sealed Power batteries are cheaper.

I found the Powersonics at www.arcade-electronics.com for $19.92 each, and with shipping, two will total $47.93. A few bucks' worth of terminals, fuse holder and wire, and I'll be all set.

They have a WIDE selection, so when your MLS battery takes a dive, I'm sure they can fix you up.

Russell

[normblitch]

This is what I have gathered: The Powersonic batteries have more capacity than the Sealed Power brand. Their design is more efficient, so they get 2.9aH out of the same size package as the other company's 2.0aH (I don't know this for a fact, it's just what I was told). The local battery wholesaler doesn't carry Powersonic any more, maybe because the Sealed Power batteries are cheaper.

I found the Powersonics at www.arcade-electronics.com for $19.92 each, and with shipping, two will total $47.93. A few bucks' worth of terminals, fuse holder and wire, and I'll be all set.

They have a WIDE selection, so when your MLS battery takes a dive, I'm sure they can fix you up.

Russell

another source for Powersonic's (and tech ref sheets) is ...

www.mouser.com

Good folks...I have NOT priced them against the vendor Russell cited above...

Norm

At mouser you have to buy 50 to get the price below $20.00. Thanks for the link, though.

Russell

[crazyduck]

You might want to try Digi-key, that’s who I purchased Panasonic rechargeable sealed lead-acid battery ton of batteries from. Made by Matsushita.

Plus if you have a part number- www.Findchips.com is a free search engine dedicated to electronics and chips I use it for work.

This is a shame really- I did a project for a company in Malaysia last year. We made battery back-up boxes for robot cells. The power would brown out and these back ups landed the robots with the wafers. Each box had 27 batteries and host of other goodies.

Later guys.
Andrew