using 18 volt power drill battery

Well, a 7a, 12v gell cell is about $18 at Tower. Some of those drill nicads run $30-$40. The 12v gell cell will last longer between charges for that application, too.

And yes, 18v into a 12v device is not a good thing.

$5??? I'd be suspicious of it. Come on people, let's not buy an expensive charger like the Triton, or a $25 power panel, and risk them because we're too cheap to buy the proper battery to power them. Geez...it's like people I've heard of using soda bottles as air tanks for retracts. We strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Ever heard of "penny-wise and pound-foolish"?

Sounds like the people flying $2000 planes and bitching about paying the AMA $58 a year.

Go ahead, you know I'm right. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

Looking at the Tower panel, you might get away with it - the glow plug driver should be OK (just turn the knob down before you connect a plug for the first time) the starter and fuel pump will certainly work, but their lives may be shortened by the excessive current caused by the higher voltage. The only thing that might cause problems is the glow charger - it could supply too high a voltage for the glow starter and risk over-charging the battery, or the internal regulation may dissapate excessive heat and result in component failure.

The bottom line is, unless you understand how the panel has been designed, or know someone who does, you are risking blowing up something.

Again, you may get away with it, or the Triton charger may report that the input voltage is too high and refuse to operate, or a component may fail. I'd say the likelyhood goes in that order.

Apart from the risk of frying your gear, I'd be more concerned with the effective capacity of the drill battery - the cheap ones are unlikely to use particularly high-capacity cells, and therefore you might find it doesn't last terribly long between charges. 12v gel cells are pretty damn cheap these days, and provided you do charge it regularly, it's pretty hard to go wrong with one.

Add to the others the fact that the drill batteries are likely not any more than 3000mAh and you will be lucky to charge a few receiver packs before they give up. A 12v 8Ah gell cell is much better suited for short term use.

What he said. Small 12v batteries are so easy to find and care for, there's little reason to use something else.

You can certainly use the cells therein for purposes other than drills, but nicads like to be completely discharged frequently. It is probably worth a few extra dollars to locate a similiarly sized replacement lead acid battery. American Science and Surplus has a 2.3 AH lead acid battery for $5.95:

, but since the recommended battery from tower is 7 amps you would need 3 of the 2.3's to have the same capacity. And since it is 18 dollars (3 times the cost of the 2.3 amp battery) it would just be silly to put three of these in instead of one of the recommend one for the same amount of money.

Lucky you!

Unfortunately, north of the 49th Parallel, the sources of inexpensive lead acid batteries is limited to Canadian Tire and specialty battery houses. The battery that I used in my flightbox when I started cost me $15Cdn, the last replacement cost me $30 a couple years ago. I'm now looking at a replacement and I'm looking at $40 and up for the same battery.

Meanwhile, the Black-and-Decker outlet store is selling 12V drills for $30....

Well, maybe you'd be happier with multiple battery packs for your airplane and a chicken stick, or a generator (gas/pedal/wind?), or an extension cord for your cars cigarette lighter or ???

what do I look like, @#$%^ customer service?!? ;)

Now that you mention it. . . . .

Your 18 volt pack has probably 15 cells in it. Couldn't you open it and unsolder 5 cells.

I used to power my power panel with 10 old 1.2 volt sub C cells from my RC cars.

guess what I just realized that I have a 12volt sealed ell 1.500000 million watt spot light. this small battery can be used for powering the hobby stuff and I don't have t buy a charger or the battery I've got them .

whew anything to save a few bucks in this hobby and beat the aketing people makes the fun a lot more enjoyable

have fun !!!!

Heh, just double check the voltage, mine was actually 6 volts.

Along these lines, I was tring to revive a .19 enya V this morning. The chicken stick wasn't getting it, when I noticed my cordless drill was 12V. I dug out the old electric starter and clipped it to the cordless battery and of course it turned over just fine.

Of course the motor still isn't cooperating but that is another story, inconsistent current readings on the plug is probably a clue.

Ciao.

Ever thought of mounting the starter cone into the drill chuck?

It could be worth the experiment if the cordless drill has a "reverse" capability.

Speed of drill might be a problem if throttle is open much more than "idle".

Malcolm

The cheapest place I know of to get sealed 12v bats is alarm supply places. Last batch of 12v 7A I bought were about 8$ for the chinese or 12$ for the Yuasa brand. I also use them to replace UPS batteries. Well I just pulled the current ADI catalog down and chinese are 11.50$ and Yuasa are 14.50 about any size from .5A up to 85A is available for more money. They won't sell to the public but you may be able to ask a local alarm company to buy one and not have to pay shipping. Heck back before I found where to buy them I happened to come out of arbies about the time a fellow was getting in his truck I told him what I wanted and WHY and he wouldn't take any money for it He said something to the effect that they were expended when they hit the truck and just changed them as needed. Last Hurricane they were changing them with fresh batteries while the power was out to keep the alarms up, I don't know what they were doing with the good but dead ones...Just a thought.

LOL

Thanks Steve. With all the folks ranting about non modeling things, you have hit a high note by reminding me that I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and ALWAYS look for a cheaper solution FIRST. You found a good one!

You can go to Academy Sports and get a 12v, 7ah gell cell for $14. They use them to power deer feeders...

Steve