Sega Nomad Battery Pack

[keiffer01]

So I got my Sega Nomad in the mail today and it is great! The only problem is that I don't have a battery pack so I can't play it on the road and have to plug it in a wall with the AC adapter instead. Is there anyone willing to sell a battery pack for cheap? Or how could I make one myself?

[133MHz]

I've never seen one in person but making your own battery pack is no big deal. In fact you could build one with today's battery technology (high capacity NiMHs) so it will last much longer than the original one!

[keiffer01]

Yeah thats a good idea But do you know if RadioShack would sell like little battery packs for 6 batteries? I mean like the casing to hold the batteries in. I could then put some velcro on the nomad and the battery pack to hold the batteries, and maybe solder a gensis plug to the battery pack so I can plug it in the AC port of the Nomad

[133MHz]

I'm not sure if they sell 6-battery packs, but you could always glue together three common 2-battery packs .

[nurd]

ON THE TOPIC OF BATTERIES


How do I power an N64 and a gamecube screen off of batteries?


What batteries do I used?

Benheck forums didn't help much

[133MHz]

The N64 is a power hog, it needs both 12V at 0.8A and 3.3V at 2.7A
The GameCube screen probably runs at 12V just like the GameCube itself.

I think your options are:
1) Use a heavy gel-cell 12V battery or a big bunch of NiMHs and a LM317 regulator to get 3.3V from it.
2) Use separate batteries for the 12V and 3.3V sections (you can get 3.6V with three rechargeable cells, and 12V with ten, making a total of thirteen batteries for the whole setup)

Option 2 is more efficient but more troublesome. With option one you could also run the whole thing from a car lighter plug, which would be the best since the setup is a power hog and won't run very long on standard batteries.



BTW, I've got a spare 14 inch TV, a homebuilt 100W inverter and a car battery. I use it to play GameCube & watch TV if the power goes out. It can run both things for several hours .

[satoshi_matrix]

I have a battery pack for a Nomad. I have a Nomad too. I could sell one, but it wouldn't be cheap as them things are rare

[keiffer01]

Well I just made one using a 4 AA battery case, a 2 AA battery case, a sega genesis AC pin and some velcro. I glued both the 4 and 2 AA battery cases together, moved the wires around in the casings so that both casings connect together, cut a sega AC pin and soldered it in the casing, and added some velcro on the back of the nomad. I'll take some pictures soon to show you guys how it looks like.

[Bolognium]

I'd love to see how you made your battery pack because I'm in the same situation.

I'd like to get a legitimate Sega one, but they really are quite expensive so the next best thing is making my own. What kind of life are you getting from your pack?

[NintendoKing]

I'd love to see how you made your battery pack because I'm in the same situation.

I'd like to get a legitimate Sega one, but they really are quite expensive so the next best thing is making my own. What kind of life are you getting from your pack?

Someone once told me that Sega Gamegear battery packs will work with Nomad. Gamegear and Nomad are both powered with 6 AA batteries.

[Bolognium]

I'd love to see how you made your battery pack because I'm in the same situation.

I'd like to get a legitimate Sega one, but they really are quite expensive so the next best thing is making my own. What kind of life are you getting from your pack?

Someone once told me that Sega Gamegear battery packs will work with Nomad. Gamegear and Nomad are both powered with 6 AA batteries.

Is that the weird cylindrical thing that plugs in through the DC plug? That'd be okay, but I was hoping for something that would attach to the back of the Nomad itself.

Does anyone know what the inside of one of these looks like? Would it be possible to somehow crack that open and throw some new rechargeable batteries in there?

[133MHz]

Would it be possible to somehow crack that open and throw some new rechargeable batteries in there?

Absolutely. In fact that's the first thing I'd do, since more than 10 years have passed, the cells inside any Nomad battery pack are pretty wasted, even if the pack was never or lightly used.

And as I said before, you can replace them with modern battery technology and get a lot more capacity than the original .

[Bolognium]

Yeah, I figured even if the rechargeable Nomad pack was still in its factory sealed package then it wouldn't be able to hold much if any charge. It's just that the rechargeable packs are selling from $5-10 whereas regular 6xAA packs are selling for $25 and up.

So if I were to buy one of the old rechargeable packs, I'd be able to transplant some new rechargeable batteries in. Although I'm still very curious to see what Keiffer cooked up.

[nurd]

This game place down the street has like 5 New ones.

I guess he payed 10 each, and they don't work, but he thinks he can get them to work again.

Ha wouldn't take my only money (35 cents) for one.

[keiffer01]

So here's how my battery pack looks! As you can see, it lays flat on the back of the Nomad and it isn't as thick as the original battery pack. It holds to the Nomad with some velcro, and it plugs in the DC plug. It's lightweight and it doesn't look that bad with the Nomad