Steve,
I'd suggest considering that , if you don't mind the weight, purchasing
replacement sealed lead acid batteries from a local electronics supply stor=
e
one notch above radio shack and giving them your old batteries for recyclin=
g,
would remove several DIY challenges and may be a bit greener than it appea=
rs.
While there are toxic losses in the process, recycling of lead acid batteri=
es is,
thanks to the car batteries you mention, a large (hopefully still domestic =
and
therefore regulated?) industry. The nearly universal pattern of moving batt=
ery
production to mainland Asia does raise questions.
U.S. infrastructure for recycling (as opposed controlled domestic disposal =
or
dumping them overseas) NiCd and NiMH batteries appears to still be quite
limited and battery designs focus on operating life and cost rather than
recyclability. Lead and cadmium are more toxic than nickel, but it too is n=
ot a
desirable element for release in quantity (i.e., NiMH is not free from disp=
osal
issues).
If you choose NiMH, you will need a different charger (though faster rechar=
ging
will be possible). It will also be important to be aware of the faster
self-discharge rate of this chemistry (several percent/day depending on
design). Leaving them on the shelf over the winter will put them at risk of=
damage from excessively severe charge depletion.
Bill R.
> Hi everyone --- I'd like your sage advice about powering my trusty DA-P1.
>
> When I got ready to fire it up a few days ago (Cardinals have been
> singing here in S Ohio for several days) I found that the internal Ni-Cd=
> no longer holds a charge and my remaining external lead battery (from
> EcoCharge) has similarly given up the ghost. These circumstances aren't
> really unexpected; I've changed my car's battery at least once since I
> bought the EcoCharges.
>
> Rather than getting more NiCd or lead batteries (both pretty expensive
> and also requiring special disposal ---and being "green" is a
> significant consideration for me ---) I was wondering about hooking
> together 6 NiMH D cells and somehow managing to plug the recorder into
> them.
>
> The internal NiCd that came with the recorder is listed in the Tascam
> manual as 7.2V 1.4 Ah. and runs the thing for 90 minutes with phantom
> power on.
>
> >>>Am I correct that 6 D cells rated at 1.2 V and over 3000 mAh will
> probably do about twice that when (connected end to end)? That is, V's
> add and A's dont?
>
> Assuming that this scheme should work in principle, I have the problem
> of "getting the electrons into the recorder". The power connectionon
> the DA-P1 is a special plug I've seen nowhere else. Its rectangular in
> cross section and has 3 holes (connections) in it. The battery I'm
> imagining has 2 wires (connected to + and -).
>
> >>> Any ideas on how to accomplish my connection? I could snip off the
> plug that came with the ecocharge batteries, but would still need to
> know how to determine which holes get connected to which wires (+/) and
> what to do with the third connection which I presume is a ground of some=
> sort. (But wearing boots, I'm not grounded anyway?)
>
> >>>Finally, assuming all of the above considerations pan out, I'd
> appreciate/suggestions instructions/useful leads on how to go about
> actually putting these parts together in a
> sturdy-yet-compact-and-reliable container that I could carry into the fie=
ld.
>
> I can't express how weak my understanding of both the electrical
> considerations and the actual hands on stuff required to build and
> connect things is --- especially compared to what most everyone in this
> group seems to know and know how to do. So you can't possibly go wrong
> by telling me elementary step-by-step kind of stuff!
>
> THANKS IN ADAVANCE for any and all suggestions and instructions you can
> offer. If this sort of topic is too boring for posting, I'd appreciate
> emails anyway and will later summarize what I learn and describe what I
> actually do and how it worked.
>
> Steve P
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