Lithium Ion batteries for HaloB loaders

[lhamilton1807]

Months ago I picked up some Halo B loaders (not v35) in a Craigslist purchase. I absolutely loathe the idea of using throwaway batteries and it would seem the Halo does not like being used with 6x 1.2v NiMH rechargeable batteries. Almost right out of the gate I got low battery lights, and it wouldn’t feed.

So I’m looking at another option: I have a crap ton of 18650 batteries pulled from old laptops. Three of them fit with room to spare in the Halo battery compartment, and all I believe is needed would be a regulator that can handle the needed amps to bring the voltage down to 9v from the 11.1v that three of these would output. A 3D printed harness would make battery swaps easier.

Anyone know of the current draw for the Halo? I have some batteries that were pulled from power tool packs, but they tend to have lower capacity than healthy batteries from laptop packs (which conversely have lower output).

[Chuck E Ducky]

That would solve one of the issues with that hopper it destroyed batteries! When I was playing every weekend I spent more in batteries keeping that thing spinning than I did for its replacement hopper.

[lhamilton1807]

Yep, but if I had a bunch of pre-charged 18650 cells I could go all day with quick swaps in between rounds. They’re still great loaders for loaners/backups as far as performance goes - 20bps+ is more than anyone would need.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Oh absolutely their battery efficiency was their biggest crutch.

[rawbutter]

I get that you're trying to reuse stuff you already have, but there's an easier/better way to do this (in case you can't get your method to work).

1. Buy one of these double 9v battery connectors to replace the AA battery harness.
2. Buy some 9v rechargeable batteries.
3. Use a paper towel or a little piece of foam to keep the batteries from rattling around.

I've used this set-up for years in a Halo, and I'm still using it in my Prophecy. You get faster speed and longer battery life with two 9v batteries, and they're the same weight as 3 AA batteries. You just have to remember to charge the batteries a few days before you play. Most rechargeables won't hold a full charge for more than a few weeks.

[lhamilton1807]

I had thought about using those, but had assumed the low output (8.2v) wouldn’t be enough to power the Halo. With the high capacity of those batteries it might just be worth it though…

[rawbutter]

It's been a while, but I think I used the double 9v setup in a Halo that used four AA batteries, not six. But don't batteries in series add their voltage together? AA batteries at 1.5v, so six would give a total of only 9v. If you instead put two 8.4v rechargeable batteries in there, you should get 16.8v. Am I right about that?

I'm also not sure if the Halo batteries are connected in series or parallel, but this website seems to suggest that in either case, you should be good. You're either getting 16.8v or 8.4v when you only need 9v or 1.5v.
https://lithiumhub.com/series-vs-par...t%2012%20volts.

[zinger565]

I can second the idea of using two rechargeable 9vs vs AA's. IIRC, those battery packs are connected in series, so it's looking for 9v from the AA's.

A single 9v typically has too much voltage drop under the load of a Halo, but two in parallel tends to work just fine, or at least it does in my prophecy, even set to max settings.