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This is the dead AA alkaline “rechargeable” battery set
from our
spotlight.
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We loved our waterproof, 1 million candlepower rechargeableWest Marine flashlight (retailed for ~$100+ USD). It’s great for spotlighting sails and lines on night
watches, dinghy rides back in the dark, and all sorts of other handy uses.
But after less than 2 years, it would no longer hold a charge.
“Charge it about 20 times
and that’s it!?!” Wayne fumed.
Even if we wanted to replace it, Wayne couldn’t find anything
like it here at Burnsco which is New Zealand’s West Marine equivalent.
So Wayne took
it apart to find out what the batteries were.
To his surprise and disappointment, they were AA
rechargeable alkaline batteries… 30-year-old technology, known for its few
available charging cycles, soldered together in a battery pack. Clearly, not designed to be replaced.
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NiMH AA rechargeable
battery, for wireless phone handset… and our spotlight! Source found on TradeMe, New Zealand’s answer to Craigslist + eBay + Amazon. |
Not one to give up easy, (read obstinate son-of a Bi*#H) Wayne
did some substantial research and decided that he could replace them with nickel
metal hydride (NiMH) batteries as the voltage was close. The local Whangarei battery experts were skeptical, (they
didn’t think the charger would work), nor did they carry the wire soldered AA
batteries Wayne was looking for.
Again, Wayne persisted. Maybe it’s his avionics (aviation electronics) background, coupled with a perverse
desire to stretch a dollar, especially given all the other “boat bucks” (a boat
buck = $1000) we had already forked over this year.
Looking on TradeMe, (New Zealand’s hybrid between
Craigslist, eBay and Amazon), Wayne found a place that had NiMH batteries with
the wire pigtails welded on for wireless telephone handsets that would work for
a mere $7 NZD (about $5USD). Of
course, the minimum courier cost in New Zealand is $10 NZD (>$7 USD).
Wayne removed the existing batteries, replaced the 6 alkaline
batteries with 4 NiMH while changing from 4.5 volts to 4.8 volts and wired them
into place.
Viola! For $15
USD (and a LOT of research), our awesome rechargeable West Marine flashlight’s
been resurrected!
It offered the perfect precursor for Wayne’s next electrical
challenge.
When our Honda generator* died, we bought a lightly used
replacement from a neighboring cruiser, Steve of Code Blue. Steve hadn’t used
the generator in years, which is why he was willing to sell it.
*We use a Honda 2000 generator when our solar panels or
motoring isn’t enough to satisfy our boat’s power requirements, usually due to
our biggest consumers of power, our refrigerator/freezer and our laptops.
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Wayne, justifiably pleased with himself
after resurrecting our West
Marine spotlight.
Once again, he’s
my hero!
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The generator featured an hour meter, which keeps track of
how many hours the generator has been run. It’s a helpful for keeping track of when to change the oil
and other servicing requirements.
However, that cool little $80 upgrade didn’t work either.
Why?
Because its battery was dead. Once again, Wayne did some excavation. It was a basic watch (button) battery,
potted in by the factory. Again,
designed not to be replaced. Once
it dies, you are supposed to buy a new meter. This time, Wayne was able to spend a mere NZ $4 for it
locally.
He then carefully chipped away the existing potting material,
popped the new battery into place, and sealed it back into place. Ta-da! For $4 (and this time a lot less research), this $80 feature
is alive and kicking.
Hah! They said
it couldn’t be done. Sheer obstinacy
made it happen. Hooray for small
victories, especially when we got slammed for over $10k US for repairs so far this
calendar year --and it’s only May!
This was written and scheduled for posting while we were still in New Zealand anchored off Opua (S35.18.772 E174.07.485), waiting for a better
weather window to our first major cruising stop this year, to Savusavu Fiji. Right about the time this posts, we expect to be setting sail, Friday the 13th of May, it will take us nearly two weeks to get to Fiji, at 1170 nm,
our 2nd longest
ever passage.
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This year's planned cruising route; 4,500 nautical miles (nm) or more. When we finish in Australia, we plan to sell our Pearson 365 ketch there. |
Last year, between December 2014 and November
2015 we sailed from Florida USA to New Zealand, over 10,000 miles. This
year, from Fiji, we’ll go to Vanuatu, New Caledonia and
Australia. After we arrive in Australia in around November,
completing another 4,500 or so miles this cruising season, we plan to sell our
boat. Then, it's back to work, somewhere.
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