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Battery Eliminator Kits
Questions & Answers
If you don't see the answer to your question below,
feel free to e-mail us at Support@BatteryEliminatorKits.com, and we will do our best to answer your question.
Question: Can I power more than one electronic device with the wall
power adapters included in your battery eliminator kits and if so, how can I
determine how many more devices I can power, and what additional items I will
need to power them?
Answer: Yes, more than one
electronic device can be powered with the wall power adapters included in our
battery eliminator kits. The number of electronic devices that can be powered
depends on the power consumption of each device, and the total power output
that the wall adapter can supply. The power consumption of each electronic
device may or may not be labeled on the device, and most of our wall adapters
have the total power output listed on them. If everything is labeled, then
simply add up the power consumption of each electronic device and make sure
it's less than or equal to the total power output of the wall adapter. If
everything isn't clearly labeled, then it's kind of a guessing game. In this
case, just keep adding on electronic devices until they stop working properly
and then reduce the number of devices until they all start working again. You
may even want to reduce the number of devices by one or two more to give you a
little extra operating headroom. Our wall adapters won't be damaged by
overloading them like this because they are designed to limit the amount of
power, they can supply in order to avoid being damaged. In order to power the
additional electronic devices, each device will need its own active dummy cell
battery and the appropriate number of passive dummy cell batteries. These can
be purchased separately on our website. You will also need the appropriate POWER SPLITTER CABLES. We have 2-way up to 8-way POWER SPLITTER CABLES. You may also need POWER EXTENSION CABLES. in order to space out your electronic devices
and to power devices located some distance away. All of the connectors on our
active dummy cell batteries, POWER SPLITTER CABLES, POWER EXTENSION CABLES are compatible with each other making this an
easy to implement plug-and-play solution! Below is an example of powering
multiple electronic devices from a single wall adapter included in one of our
battery eliminator kits. This example is for powering 3 x flameless LED candles
where each candle uses 2 x D batteries. The wall adapter included in one of our
2 x D Battery Eliminator Kits has an output voltage of 3.3VDC and can supply up
to 1A of output current; therefore, the wall adapter can supply up to 3.3VDC x
1A = 3.3W of output power. Each flameless LED candle only consumes about 0.050A
of current (typical for a flameless LED candle) at a voltage of 3.3VDC;
therefore, the power consumption of each candle is only 3.3VDC x 0.050A =
0.165W. This means a single wall adapter can power up to 3.3W/0.165W = 20
flameless LED candles, so powering only 3 is easy. For this particular example,
you would need to purchase a 2D BATTERY ELIMINATOR KIT, 2 x D ACTIVE DUMMY CELL BATTERIES, 2 x D PASSIVE DUMMY CELL BATTERIES, and a 3-WAY POWER SPLITTER CABLE. POWER EXTENSION CABLES can be purchased as needed for your particular
application depending on how far away each candle is from the wall power
adapter and from each other.
Powering 3 x Flameless LED Candles That Use 2 x D Batteries from a Single Wall Adapter
Question: Can I use the components and wall power adapter included in
a battery eliminator kit to power an electronic device that uses a different
sized battery but the same number of cells, and if so, what additional
components would I need? For example, suppose I have a 2 x C Battery Eliminator
Kit, and I want to power an electronic device that uses 2 x AA batteries, can I
use the 2 x C Battery Eliminator Kit to do this?
Answer: Yes, you absolutely can! The required additional components
would depend on which battery eliminator kit you already have and what size
batteries are required in the other electronic device you are trying to power.
In the example given above, all you need to do is remove the AA Active and AA
Passive Dummy Cell Batteries from the hollow black plastic AA to C battery
converter dummy cases (see picture below). The AA Active and AA Passive Dummy
Cell Batteries can now simply be inserted into the electronic device that uses
2 x AA batteries! It's that simple. The reason you can do this without having
to get a different wall power adapter is because AA, AA, C and D batteries all
have the same initial terminal voltage of 1.5VDC (brand new and unused);
therefore, 2 x C and 2 x AA batteries both generate 2 x 1.5VDC = 3.0VDC, so the
wall power adapters that come with our 2 x C and 2 x AA Battery Eliminator Kits
are the same and rated at 3.3VDC@1A (3.3W). You may notice that this wall power
adapter's output voltage of 3.3VDC is slightly greater than the voltage
generated by 2 batteries (3.0VDC). 3.3VDC is within the acceptable range
required by electronic devices that use 2 batteries. The electronic circuitry
inside of devices that use 2 batteries is designed to operate at voltages
higher and lower than 3.0VDC. Generally, the maximum voltage is about 20%
higher than 3.0VDC which would be around 3.6VDC, but the exact value will vary
from device to device. The low-end operating voltage of a single battery has to
do with the battery's terminal voltage once it's totally discharged
(end-of-life) which is typically around 0.75VDC (half of its terminal voltage
when it's brand new); therefore, for 2 batteries, this end-of life voltage is 2
x 0.75VDC = 1.5VDC. Since our battery eliminator kits will always supply a
constant voltage, your electronic devices will always be operating just as well
as if they had a fresh set of batteries installed!
AA Active & Passive Dummy Cell Batteries Slide In & Out of AA to C Cell Battery Converter Cases
Question: Can I power multiple electronic devices from a single wall
power adapter if the devices don't use the same size batteries, but each device
uses the same number of batteries? For example, suppose I have a 2 x D
Battery Eliminator Kit, and I want to power an electronic device that uses 2 x
D batteries, another device that uses 2 x AA batteries, and a third device that
uses 2 x C batteries, can I use the 3.3VDC wall power adapter that comes with
the 2D Battery Eliminator Kit to power all three of these devices?
Answer: Yes, you can absolutely do this! The picture below
illustrates this application. The components needed in addition to the 2D
Battery Eliminator Kit are a 3-WAY POWER SPLITTER CABLE,
a AA ACTIVE DUMMY CELL BATTERY,
a AA PASSIVE DUMMY CELL BATTERY,
a C ACTIVE DUMMY CELL BATTERY,
and a C PASSIVE DUMMY CELL BATTERY. 
Powering 3 x Flameless LED Candles That Use 3 Pairs of Batteries of Different Sizes from a Single Wall Power Adapter
Question: Can I use
different wall power adapters other than the ones that come with the battery
eliminator kits? For example, the wall power adapter that comes with the 3 x AA
Battery Eliminator Kit has an output voltage of 5.0VDC. Can I use a wall power
adapter that has an output voltage of 1.5VDC, 3.3VDC, 6.0VDC, or some other
output voltage, and if not, why?
Answer: In general, the answer to this question is
"No", but this answer requires a little more information, so you can
better understand the possible consequences of using a wall power adapter with
a different output voltage. The voltage required by the electronic device can
be determined by the number of batteries it takes. Each battery generates a
voltage of 1.5VDC, so to determine the required voltage, simply multiply 1.5VDC
by the number of batteries (batteries are connected in "series").
This procedure is valid for electronic devices that use AAA, AA, C and D size
alkaline batteries. The graphic below illustrates the series connections and
voltages for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 batteries. As an example, suppose you have an
electronic device that uses 3 x D batteries. The voltage required by the
electronic device is 3 x 1.5VDC = 4.5VDC which means you would need a wall
power adapter that generates 4.5VDC. Almost all battery powered electronic
devices are designed to operate at voltages slightly higher than 4.5VDC and
substantially lower than 4.5VDC. A good rule of thumb for the high-end
operating voltage is to add 20%, so for this example, multiply 4.5VDC by 1.2
(20% higher); therefore, the high-end operating voltage is 1.2 x 4.5VDC =
5.4VDC. This means that electronic devices that use 3 x alkaline batteries will
operate from wall power adapters that generate output voltages of 5VDC which is
the same voltage supplied by USB power sources. The low-end operating voltage
for battery powered electronic devices is determined by multiplying the
battery's end-of-life voltage (voltage when it's considered dead) by the number
of batteries used. Almost all AAA, AA, C and D size alkaline batteries have an
end-of-life voltage of about 0.75VDC, so most electronic devices are designed
to operate at a slightly higher low-end operating voltage of about 0.8VDC per
battery. A couple of graphs illustrating the typical discharge curves for a AA cell
alkaline battery can be seen below. Notice that when the battery is new, its open-circuit
(no-load) voltage can be as high as 1.65VDC to 1.75VDC, and at the end of its
useful life, it has discharged down to about 0.8VDC. The typical discharge
curves shown below are for AA cell alkaline batteries for constant load
currents of 5mA up to 1000mA. For an electronic device that uses 3 x alkaline batteries, the
low-end operating voltage is 3 x 0.8V = 2.4VDC. Even though a 3-cell battery
powered electronic device might work at voltages this low, you really don't
want to use a wall power adapter that generates 2.4VDC, 3.0VDC or even 3.3VDC
because the electronic device might exhibit undesirable behavior such as
reduced brightness, slower speeds, lower volumes, etc. It's best to select a
wall power adapter that supplies an output voltage close to the high-end
operating voltage which was determined in this example to be between 4.5VDC and
5.4VDC, so a wall power adapter that supplies 4.5VDC or 5VDC would be a good
choice. Some electronic devices may actually have internal circuitry that
disables the electronics in the event that the input voltage is too high or too
low. This is done in order to protect the electronics from potential damage
caused by attempting to operate at voltages outside of its operational range.
Also, you want to avoid using a wall power adapter that has an output voltage
greater than the device's high-end operating voltage because the internal
circuitry may be damaged or even permanently destroyed. The table below
summarizes the voltages and recommended wall power adapter output voltages for
1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C and D sizes).
Typical AA Alkaline Battery Discharge Curves (Voltage vs. Time) for Various Constant Load Currents from 5mA up to 1000mA
Graphic Illustrating Series Connections for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 Alkaline Batteries (AAA, AA, C & D Sizes)
Table Summarizing Voltages & Recommended Wall Power Adapters for 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6 Alkaline Batteries (AAA, AA, C & D Sizes)
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