is buying a power pack really a neccessity? cause i dont want to buy one if not needed
it isn’t a necessity, but in the long run it will be cheaper than buying a new set of aa batteries every time they run dead
hah I wish i bought one from the start when i got my starter kit half off at radioshack. Stupid AA batterys will only last like half an hour of running. deffinatly get it
thanks guys
an alternative is to get rechargeable AA’s, but I think the powerpack is a worthy investment compaired to the rechargeable AA’s.
if you have R/C car battery packs, a 7.2 runs the robot, and a 9.6 runs the transmitter.
like everyone else is saying, it is almost absolutely necessary to get the power pack, in my opinion. i first got the starter kit like a year and a half ago when it first came out i originally used the batteries (rechargeable). Although the batteries will work, it just isn’t woth it since you cant run them for as long as the power pack.
In the instruction manual it says to get non-alkaline batteries. Why do you need non-alkaline? Are they bad for the robot?
I went to radio shack and instead of the “kit” for vex which is still like $40…
I bought 2x 7.2v RC battery packs for ~$10 each and a kit which came with 1x 9.6v battery for like $20 + a second 9.6v battery for $10. You can find them even cheaper at a hobby shop. They are nothing special, simply standard 7.2v (or 8.4v if you want!) and 9.6v packs.
Also, you could just get AA NiCD / NiMH batteries… but you’ll need like 12 or 14 of them.
can you buy more batterys and charge them on the vex charger
The Robots need Lots of Current.
Ni-Cad batterys have lots of Current avalible in them (plus they are Rechargable)
Alkaline Batterys can not output the Current you need to run for long periods of time…
So the “bottom line” is, AA Alkaline Batterys will work, but you will discharge them faster than you would Ni-Cad AA Batterys. But the Ni-Cad battery packs for the Vex have more Current capacity than the Ni-Cad AA Batterys, so they will last even longer between recharges.
I have used recycled 6 Volt Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLAs) and recharge them with a Sears 6-Volt/12-Volt battery charger. Just make sure you use the 6 Volt battery and power setting on the charger.
I just took the Vex battery holder and soldered a Red (+) wire and a Black (-) wire to the corresponding terminals of the battery holder and crimped two lugs to the battery ends, so that I could re-use the Vex power plug. This modified battery pack is capable of powering your Vex servos and motors for hours!
Alarms, computer UPS power supplies are sources for these batteries. In fact if you find an old UPS at the recycling station, you can open it and use it to recharge the 6 Volt SLAs.
You can buy more batteries as long as they will be able to supply your robot and controller with enough power. In other words, you will need 9 volt batteries. They also have to have a plug that will fit into the charger. These batteries aren’t hard to find and most of them use the same universal plug as the VEX.
well…it is more effective beccause you do not have to charge a ron of small batts. they take only…like 30mins. to charge…
The PIC processor should work fine, but IIRC the Motors and Servos use the Full 7.2v from the Ni-Cad Batterys. The Motors and Servos will work, just SLOWER than normal.