Why did the Super Scope eat up 6 AA Batteries so quickly?

[ACiD]

Just curious if anyone knew why.

[wiggyx]

Mine seems to last a good long time on a fresh set. Don't know what you tell ya.

[Aussie2B]

Does it? I can't claim to use it a ton, but I've gotten a good amount of play on a fresh, cheapo set. I ended up putting the batteries into other stuff before they ran out of juice. May as well use rechargeables these days.

[sloan]

I've always wondered if someone ever tried modding a Super Scope to run off an A/C adapter. Wouldn't seem to be that hard if someone were to try.

[Emperor Megas]

I never knew that they took batteries. They're wireless, then? I don't think I've never used one before.

Actually, you know, I may have played one briefly on a kiosk in Macy's back in the day, but I don't remember much about it.

[wiggyx]

I've always wondered if someone ever tried modding a Super Scope to run off an A/C adapter. Wouldn't seem to be that hard if someone were to try.

I haven't, but it would take about 5 minutes to mockup a mod like that. 9V @ 1.5-3A AC adapter would do it. I bet most everyone has an old cell phone charger sitting in a drawer somewhere with similar specs ;)

[jb143]

I wouldn't use a cell phone charger as a power supply. Li-ion battery chargers muck about with the current and such to charge batteries properly...not provide a continuous current to a load. But yeah, adding an AC adapter port to a Super Scope would be incredibly easy.

I'm guessing it's using a 7805 regulator (or something similar) to create 5V from 9V worth of AA's. A regulator like that typically needs 7 to 7.5 Volts to operate. That means that once each AA dissipates to around 1.25V then the Superscope is going to start acting like the batteries are going dead when they're really still at half capacity.

[wiggyx]

I wouldn't use a cell phone charger as a power supply. Li-ion battery chargers muck about with the current and such to charge batteries properly...not provide a continuous current to a load. But yeah, adding an AC adapter port to a Super Scope would be incredibly easy.

I'm guessing it's using a 7805 regulator (or something similar) to create 5V from 9V worth of AA's. A regulator like that typically needs 7 to 7.5 Volts to operate. That means that once each AA dissipates to around 1.25V then the Superscope is going to start acting like the batteries are going dead when they're really still at half capacity.

I was of the impression that the phones themselves regulate what power to take from the charger and when, not the other way around.

[jb143]

I was of the impression that the phones themselves regulate what power to take from the charger and when, not the other way around.

Many probably are but not all. You would certainly want to make sure of that fact first. They're also more likely to have a weird plug making it harder to find a suitable match for the mod.

[wiggyx]

I was just planning on cutting the connector off either way and making a faux battery pack with the adapter soldered to some leads that would make contact with the battery tray in the gun. How are you picturing the mod in your head?

[jb143]

How are you picturing the mod in your head?

Slick and clean :wink 2:

If I were doing it, I'd probably get a spare battery door and install a standard power supply jack in it. And then have that attached to a faux battery pack as you mention. Though maybe cutting a power supply cable would be better than drilling a hole in a battery door from a collector point of view.

Actually, a better idea would be to find a lithium-ion battery pack that fits and "mod" that instead. Still wireless and would last a lot longer.

[jperryss]

Does it? I can't claim to use it a ton, but I've gotten a good amount of play on a fresh, cheapo set. I ended up putting the batteries into other stuff before they ran out of juice. May as well use rechargeables these days.

I remember chewing through batteries on mine. But then again, I also remember forgetting to switch it off when I wasn't using it. Some type of power LED would've gone a long way.

[Shulamana]

I have seen a li-ion battery mod for one sometime in the past six months, but it was pretty messy and didn't fit neatly inside the Super Scope.

[wiggyx]

Slick and clean :wink 2:

If I were doing it, I'd probably get a spare battery door and install a standard power supply jack in it. And then have that attached to a faux battery pack as you mention. Though maybe cutting a power supply cable would be better than drilling a hole in a battery door from a collector point of view.

Actually, a better idea would be to find a lithium-ion battery pack that fits and "mod" that instead. Still wireless and would last a lot longer.

Clean is always the name of the game IMO. I'm not into hot melt blobs and whatnot. That's not how I do things either :D

Could always just make a pack with some AA Li-ion batts and some heat shrink ;)

I think I'm gonna have to make one of these up tonight. This sounds like a quick, fun project...

[jb143]

Could always just make a pack with some AA Li-ion batts and some heat shrink ;)

Gotta be careful with Li-ion's. They don't like to be charged in series. Also keep in kind that they are going to be closer to 4V per cell so you might not need to use 6. It shouldn't be too hard to locate a pre-made battery that would fit in there and meet the voltage requirements. Otherwise you should be able to make something that works really well and gets good battery life.

Let us know how it goes.

[wiggyx]

Gotta be careful with Li-ion's. They don't like to be charged in series. Also keep in kind that they are going to be closer to 4V per cell so you might not need to use 6. It shouldn't be too hard to locate a pre-made battery that would fit in there and meet the voltage requirements. Otherwise you should be able to make something that works really well and gets good battery life.

Let us know how it goes.

Hmm, didn't know that (about being wired in series), thanks.

I've got it mostly mocked up right here. It's a rough template at this point, and I'm just trying to figure out the best way to make the faux battery mount. I'm aiming to avoid cutting anything on the Super Scope. I have no desire to chop it up. Right now it seems like a plastic door/faux batt combo is gonna work the best, just eliminating the original door altogether. I'll post come pics in the morning.

[wiggyx]

Seemed like just making another door was the best route to go. There's no obvious way to run the wire through the door/opening without cutting the SS or the original battery cover. So, here's where I ended up tonight.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/5c70574e.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/0d9d3f89.jpg

Fits pretty well so far. I'll mockup the faux battery tomorrow and then make a revised prototype after I'm sure that everything fits and is working.

Off to eat a snack and take a nap.

[eggwolio]

Wow. That's amazing work. When you succeed, you should make some kits or even just sell these spare doors. Hell, I'd think there's a huge market for replacement battery doors for lots of things. If this is as easy for you as it looks, you might have a whole new side business.

[sloan]

Nice work on that battery cover. I would probably just drill a hole through that cover and hard-wire a spare A/C adapter right into the existing battery terminals and call it good. If the A/C adapter cord is long enough, then it will not bother me during game play.

[jb143]

Good job on that battery cover.


Hmm, didn't know that (about being wired in series), thanks.


Yeah, the charging can be be unbalanced. It can be done but you should use a charger designed for that specific battery configuration that takes charge balancing into account. This is especially true if you decide to use some parallel configuration for double the mAH. I think sometimes a balancing circuit is built into the batteries though, it just all depends on the specific cells and charger you chose.

Circuits using Li-ion's will also typically also have some type of over/under voltage protection built in. It might be something to think about since loosing too much charge can actually lead to it not holding a charge anymore. You can buy a small voltage protection circuit for fairly cheap, or I'm sure there a schematics for them out on the net.

[wiggyx]

Wow. That's amazing work. When you succeed, you should make some kits or even just sell these spare doors. Hell, I'd think there's a huge market for replacement battery doors for lots of things. If this is as easy for you as it looks, you might have a whole new side business.

Thank you. I can't imagine too many people would need something like this. But, I'd gladly make 'em if the price is right.

Honestly, I've found that many people don't understand what kind of work goes into one-off, hand-made items, so making money doing things like this is tough :/


Nice work on that battery cover. I would probably just drill a hole through that cover and hard-wire a spare A/C adapter right into the existing battery terminals and call it good. If the A/C adapter cord is long enough, then it will not bother me during game play.

Thanks. I think I'm going to make a false battery with the AC adapter hard wired to it. That way I can pull it out and not have to actually modify the SS itself by soldering to it or anything. My goal is non-permanent for this mod :)


Good job on that battery cover.



Yeah, the charging can be be unbalanced. It can be done but you should use a charger designed for that specific battery configuration that takes charge balancing into account. This is especially true if you decide to use some parallel configuration for double the mAH. I think sometimes a balancing circuit is built into the batteries though, it just all depends on the specific cells and charger you chose.

Circuits using Li-ion's will also typically also have some type of over/under voltage protection built in. It might be something to think about since loosing too much charge can actually lead to it not holding a charge anymore. You can buy a small voltage protection circuit for fairly cheap, or I'm sure there a schematics for them out on the net.

Thank you as well!

If I decide to make a battery pack at some point, you're the guy I'm gonna pester about getting it done right ;)

[jperryss]

Thank you. I can't imagine too many people would need something like this. But, I'd gladly make 'em if the price is right.

Honestly, I've found that many people don't understand what kind of work goes into one-off, hand-made items, so making money doing things like this is tough :/


I'm guessing that battery doors aren't the only thing you can make, right? :D

There may not be a ton of demand for these exact battery covers, but I'm sure "making small custom items out of plastic" could go pretty far if you could find the right item(s) to make and at a price that makes them worth your time.

[wiggyx]

I'm guessing that battery doors aren't the only thing you can make, right? :D

There may not be a ton of demand for these exact battery covers, but I'm sure "making small custom items out of plastic" could go pretty far if you could find the right item(s) to make and at a price that makes them worth your time.

That's just it, I've been making custom one-off stuff for a long time now. I was a vendor on a bunch of car forums offering retrofit headlights, custom brackets, custom lighting, etc. It's just hard to find people that understand what kind of work goes in to that sort of thing. Stuff like this.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/3-7.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/preview1.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/nostrilsample2.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/DSC01404.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/DSC01387.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/Retrofit/DSC00711.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/Retrofit/done-2.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/Retrofit/done-7.jpg


People tend to think that it should cost about a third of what I quote for custom jobs. I end up with a LOT of pms for quotes, and then a lot of replies filled with "???!!!"

[jperryss]

Understood. I should've assumed you've already been down this path, but I didn't, so apologies for that.

That is some nice custom work there! It definitely takes some time and effort to do it right, and I'm sure it can be hard to get across that you aren't an assembly line cranking these out by the hundreds. Unfortunately some sellers of unique stuff like this take full advantage of that fact and jack the shiat out of their prices because they're the only game in town and can get away with it.

I'll admit I've been in that position of "That's expensive!" but I've since grown to appreciate the efforts that go into making one-off stuff like this, even though (or maybe, especially because) my own fabrication skills are downright terrible.

[wiggyx]

I think almost everyone has been on that end at some point or another for various products and services. It's totally understandable that someone wouldn't know how much work goes into hand-made goods unless they've tried it themselves. It just sucks on my end because I may spend an hour of my time and effort mocking up desgins in Photoshop or Solidworks for a quote, only to have someone look at me like I'm crazy when they hear the estimate. It's forced my estimates down to a far less pleasant interaction. Usually goes like this:

"I want headlights like yours but with blue LEDs, blue pin striping, and halo rings. Can you show me what that would look like and give me price options for the TL projector, S2K projector, and E55s? Oh, also how much for ZKW lenses and a relay harness?"

My reply used to include a detailed illustration, labor and parts break down for all the options, and a cherry on top. Now, I usually respond "$1K or more. Still interested?". 95% of the time the answer is "no".