[shadowopal]

Howdy all. I've got a really nice voice modularot that I'd like to work into my costume. The problem is, it runs off a wall wart (no battery power option) I have some batteries and a chrager that I picked up for another project. But, I figured I'd see if I could somehow make an adaptor to allow me to use these batteries to power the wall wart. So, here's the battery I've got:
Parts-Express.com:Yuasa/Genesis 12V 5Ah Sealed Lead Acid Battery | yuasa genesis sealed lead acid seal lead acid computers computer alarms alarm ads ac 12v

And here's the stats of the wall wart in question:
Harmon Pro Group
Model: ps0913b-120-b
mfg: p/n:ss41-090-1300a
Input:120v`60hz 18W
output1:9v`1.3A at (a plug symbol)
output2:3v`0.1A at (a socket symbol)
CLASS 2 TRANSFORMER
CSA FILE NO:183200

I'm fairly new to wiring and electronics. So, please take it slow. Thanks in advance. Let me know if you need more info.

 

[Otaku]

Hmmm. Does the voice modulator use both of those voltages (3VDC and 9VDC)? Sounds like you could use battery packs to run the device. If both voltages are used, a 9 volt and a 2AA pack would do the job. If you try to use that 12 volt battery you described, the device is likely going to fry - the voltage is too high.

 

[shadowopal]

I believe the socket output is not used. I'm not sure why it's even in the plug at all. I can't figure out for the life of me what i'ts used for. But, anyway So, assuming I'm using the 9v and the 2AA. How would I wire that up and how to I connect the packs to a soekt to allow the wall wart to plug into it? I know that I cannot just cut the wall wart off and wire the batteries directly. I asked the tech people that and they said there's something in the wall wart itself that is necessary for it to function. Which I can verify because I originally tried using a non-company specific wall wart with the same amperage/voltage and the modulator wouldn't turn on.

 

[Otaku]

Interesting. If the wart is necessary to operate the device you may need to carry the battery as well as an inverter. Could get pretty heavy. Anyone else got some insight on this?

 

[shadowopal]

Inverter is a new word to me. What's that? and how much do they weigh? It's been recommended in other spots that I use a Computer Back up battery. But, I don't think it will allow enough time to make it worth it and the ones I've seen are very heavy.

 

[shadowopal]

Okay...so I looked up Inverter on google and this puppy popped up
Xantrex Power Pocket Powerpack 100 watt - DonRowe.com

How would this do? Any idea how long the battery pack would last? If it'll do like the ad says with the laptop working for 2-2.5 hours, I think I found a winner. I can just have a spare charging to get me through the night.

 

[compoast]

Here's a nice cheap inverter.

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

You would have to have a cigarette lighter adapter of just wire it direct to the battery. Great little inverters, I use them in the car for my plug in wall wort phone charger so I don't have to buy the expensive car version.

In your specs on the wall wort it does not say DC next to the output voltages so simply using a battery for your modularot may not work. The wall wart may out put 9v and 3 V AC.

All you need is a 12 volt battery strong enough to run the inverter but light enough to carry.

Andy

 

[billman]

I highly doubt there is some special do-ma-hicky in the wall wart to make it function (would not be cost effective). More than likely they are referring to the fact the wall wart which is a inverter (converts 120v to a lower voltage) is needed.

Another way to check for sure is to open up your device and check the circuit board. By the way I would not cut the wallwart anyway....you might need it. Make a another plug that is wired to the batteries.

Do you have any info. on the modulator you are using?? We could help more with this info.

 

[Otaku]

Yeah, I'm skeptical, too. Electrons are electrons, it shouldn't make a difference where they come from. More info on the device is needed.

 

[compoast]

More than likely they are referring to the fact the wall wart which is a inverter (converts 120v to a lower voltage) is needed

A wall wart is not an inverter. A wall wart is a transformer that takes 120 Volts AC and drops it down to a lower voltage, additionally it will often change the AC to DC. An inverter takes DC and changes it to AC.

Electrons are electrons, it shouldn't make a difference where they come from.

It makes a difference if they are running AC or DC and if the voltage is high or low.

If you know little about electronics Shadowpal, like you say you do mixing AC and DC and different voltages could fry your Modulator. Play it safe, use the wall wart connected to your modulator and power it from an inverter connected to a battery. Not to step on any toes here but I'd hate to see you fry something.

 

[Otaku]

Electrons are electrons, it shouldn't make a difference where they come from.

It makes a difference if they are running AC or DC and if the voltage is high or low.

Indeed it does. My comment assumed all things being equal - AC/DC, equivalent voltage and current. I can't think of anything that the factory wart would be doing except close regulation of the voltage and/or current delivered. It would be helpful to get a bit more info about the modulator.

 

[Hooked_on_Scares]

shadowopal, do you have a link to your modulator? Or photos of the input to the modulator and the wall wart? Harman makes the modulator? That's interesting.

Having to hide a modulator, wall wart, inverter, and battery big enough to supply the inverter all night is going to add up inside a costume really quickly.

- Hook

 

[bradbaum]

It's no fun until you let the magic smoke out!



+ --------------------[ 7809 ]------------------> +9VDC
12V | |
Lantern | [ 7803 ]--|-----------------------> +3VDC
Battery | | |
- ---------*------*-----*------------------------> GROUND

 

[shadowopal]

Compoast said:
"If you know little about electronics Shadowpal, like you say you do mixing AC and DC and different voltages could fry your Modulator. Play it safe, use the wall wart connected to your modulator and power it from an inverter connected to a battery. Not to step on any toes here but I'd hate to see you fry something. "

I do indeed know next to nothing. I'd much rather play it safe.

Billman said:
"Another way to check for sure is to open up your device and check the circuit board. By the way I would not cut the wallwart anyway....you might need it. Make a another plug that is wired to the batteries."

I'd rather not open the modulator up. I paid too much for it to mess it up and I use it for other things.


Hooked on Scares said:
"shadowopal, do you have a link to your modulator? Or photos of the input to the modulator and the wall wart? Harman makes the modulator? That's interesting."

I'll post pics here tommorrow. But the product is a digitech Vocal 300 found here DigiTech® Vocal 300 .


Hooked on Scares also said:
"Having to hide a modulator, wall wart, inverter, and battery big enough to supply the inverter all night is going to add up inside a costume really quickly.
"

Not a problem. The costume is a 9'tall grim reaper costume and I've got plenty of space in the frame work. Weight is kinda a factor. But, I'll be taking breaks. So, not really. I'd ideally like to not put more than a few more pounds in the mix. But, I can do 10 pounds extra and still carry the costume ( I did a test with sacks of flour.)

Has anyone taken a look at the inverter/battery combo I posted? If that will work for even 2 hours, I can buy a few and be happy.

Thanks for all the help guys you rock. I'm feeling very positive about finding a solution....well....you guys finding me a solution.

 

[Hooked_on_Scares]

From specs on their website...
9VAC, 1.3 A power supply (included)

You need 9 Volts AC. Batteries, as well as most wall warts, are DC output. Unforunately, as Rube Goldberg-esque as it is, it looks like you'll need the inverter solution.

Try to get the smallest one possible (small wattage). They are probably fairly efficient at converting the power, since they are switching converters. The voice processor consumes '10 Watts', which is surely a maximum. Assuming a 12v battery, and ~75% efficiency in the converter, you'd consume about 1.1A from the battery. You can use this to estimate how much battery you'll want (or how many). So, for example, if you got a 4AH battery, that's 4 Amp-hours... 4AH / 1.1A = 3.6 hours of use. Of course, these are just guestimates Maybe Otaku can check my math and assumptions.

- Hook

[Edit] - hmm... there's also the wall wart to take into account. Maybe shave another 10% off of the efficiency estimate. n = 65% translates to around 1.3A from the battery (or 3.1 hours).

 

[GrimShady]

Tell us more about the wall wart that you "must" use. It should should have a voltage and current rating on it and whether its AC or DC output.

The purpose of a walwort is to convert line AC power to some lower DC voltage. Unless there more to the story, you should be able to use some combination of batteries to power your device. The batteries will be wired directly to a connector that is just like the walwort connector and that will plug into your device.

Oh, I see I didn't read far enough...if the walwort puts out AC then your kinda screwed for using it mobile unless you do the inverter thingy as HOS described but I dont know of any inverters that put out less than line voltage??? If you want to chance ruining your device you can open it up and find the rectifier circuitry inside where it converts it to DC again...I'm sure it truly runs on DC inside.

Howdy all. I've got a really nice voice modularot that I'd like to work into my costume. The problem is, it runs off a wall wart (no battery power option) I have some batteries and a chrager that I picked up for another project. But, I figured I'd see if I could somehow make an adaptor to allow me to use these batteries to power the wall wart. So, here's the battery I've got:
Parts-Express.com:Yuasa/Genesis 12V 5Ah Sealed Lead Acid Battery | yuasa genesis sealed lead acid seal lead acid computers computer alarms alarm ads ac 12v

And here's the stats of the wall wart in question:
Harmon Pro Group
Model: ps0913b-120-b
mfg: p/n:ss41-090-1300a
Input:120v`60hz 18W
output1:9v`1.3A at (a plug symbol)
output2:3v`0.1A at (a socket symbol)
CLASS 2 TRANSFORMER
CSA FILE NO:183200

I'm fairly new to wiring and electronics. So, please take it slow. Thanks in advance. Let me know if you need more info.

 

[compoast]

this is not that hard

View attachment 5638

Here I took a 12 volt battery ( the large thing with FM-18 on it) and hooked it up to the Harbor Freight $9 inverter (the bluish purple thing) then plugged a wall wart (the black thing with the cord) into the inverter, the cord coming out of the wall wart then plugs into your modulator. (I had my cell phone plugged into the wall wart cord till I remembered I needed it to take the picture, but it was connected and charging)

The weight of the inverter and wall wart is minimal, less than 1 pound. Your battery is smaller and lighter also. Positive from the battery goes to the center of the cigarette lighter style plug. Negative goes to the side contact. Here I used alligator clips. If you do it be sure to make good connections and shield the wires so there is no chance of shorting out the battery.

This really is not rocket science, if you have any problems email me.

 

[bradbaum]

I think you should build a tesla coil to transfer the AC voltage wirelessly (in lightning bolt form) to the costume, then you can use transformers to step it down from there. don't forget to build the faraday cage into the costume.

 

[shadowopal]

I think you should build a tesla coil to transfer the AC voltage wirelessly (in lightning bolt form) to the costume, then you can use transformers to step it down from there. don't forget to build the faraday cage into the costume.

You know...that was my first thought and I may go with that .

 

[shadowopal]

From specs on their website...
9VAC, 1.3 A power supply (included)

You need 9 Volts AC. Batteries, as well as most wall warts, are DC output. Unforunately, as Rube Goldberg-esque as it is, it looks like you'll need the inverter solution.

Try to get the smallest one possible (small wattage). They are probably fairly efficient at converting the power, since they are switching converters. The voice processor consumes '10 Watts', which is surely a maximum. Assuming a 12v battery, and ~75% efficiency in the converter, you'd consume about 1.1A from the battery. You can use this to estimate how much battery you'll want (or how many). So, for example, if you got a 4AH battery, that's 4 Amp-hours... 4AH / 1.1A = 3.6 hours of use. Of course, these are just guestimates Maybe Otaku can check my math and assumptions.

- Hook

[Edit] - hmm... there's also the wall wart to take into account. Maybe shave another 10% off of the efficiency estimate. n = 65% translates to around 1.3A from the battery (or 3.1 hours).

Thanks HoS. That helps quite a bit. and if I can truly get 3 hours off each battery, I'm golden.

Compoast said:
"this is not that hard

Attachment 5638

Here I took a 12 volt battery ( the large thing with FM-18 on it) and hooked it up to the Harbor Freight $9 inverter (the bluish purple thing) then plugged a wall wart (the black thing with the cord) into the inverter, the cord coming out of the wall wart then plugs into your modulator. (I had my cell phone plugged into the wall wart cord till I remembered I needed it to take the picture, but it was connected and charging)

The weight of the inverter and wall wart is minimal, less than 1 pound. Your battery is smaller and lighter also. Positive from the battery goes to the center of the cigarette lighter style plug. Negative goes to the side contact. Here I used alligator clips. If you do it be sure to make good connections and shield the wires so there is no chance of shorting out the battery.

This really is not rocket science, if you have any problems email me."

Thanks Compoast. I might give that a try. I'm still a little fidgity about building something like this especially if there's something built that does it already. I don't want to fry my modulator (does this word make anyone else giggle with memories of Marvin the Martian?).

BTW, I forgot my camera today. So, I can't post pics of anything today. Does anyone still need pics of anything related to the project for information?