Sega Nomad Battery Pack

[133MHz]

Hey, great job!

[Bolognium]

I'm going to be taking a Greyhound home this weekend and have yet to find a battery solution for my Nomad. Would it be possible to wire 6 AA batteries together and then wire them to the terminals on the back of the Nomad?



I'm not sure how I would figure out which terminal is positive and which is negative, would that even matter? I'm going to hit up a small electronics store when I'm back in my hometown to work out a more permanent solution, but I'm still curious if this temporary fix would work.

Also, fantastic job, Keiffer. I'm going to attempt something very similar since it looks like it worked out very well for you.

[133MHz]

I'm not sure how I would figure out which terminal is positive and which is negative, would that even matter?

Yes, it DOES matter. Connecting it in reverse could damage your Nomad. In absence of an original battery pack, you could check which terminal is negative with a multimeter set on continuity test, one terminal should be tied to the tip of the AC adapter plug. Otherwise you could do a quick test, with the Nomad on with a game inserted, touch the wires from your battery pack to the battery terminals on the Nomad. If it doesn't turn on, you've got the wrong polarity. Reverse the wires and try again.

[Bolognium]

I'm not sure how I would figure out which terminal is positive and which is negative, would that even matter?

Yes, it DOES matter. Connecting it in reverse could damage your Nomad. In absence of an original battery pack, you could check which terminal is negative with a multimeter set on continuity test, one terminal should be tied to the tip of the AC adapter plug. Otherwise you could do a quick test, with the Nomad on with a game inserted, touch the wires from your battery pack to the battery terminals on the Nomad. If it doesn't turn on, you've got the wrong polarity. Reverse the wires and try again.

Now when you say turned on, I assume you mean switched on, but without power? If that's what you mean, why wouldn't that damage the Nomad like you said at the beginning of your post?

My roommate might still have his multimeter from his electronics course last year so I'll make sure to ask him about it before I do anything. If he doesn't still have it I'd like to try your quick test, do you think you could explain it in a little more detail?

[GMAN4737]

keiffer01,

i got an account here just to ask about how you did that battery pack, ime wanting to buy a sega nomad and it is very hard to get one becuase they are expensive, but how did you do that you should make a tutorial with pictures because if i get one ime going to have to do what you did thanks

[keiffer01]

*I AM NOT RESPOSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE MADE TO YOUR SEGA NOMAD! MAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK!



So here's a picture of the insides of the battery pack I made. The ac pin that you plug in the Nomad is like the ones you find on the sega genesis adapters (the ones with the yellow tip). Cut the ac pin (leave enough wire though to work with) and split the wire. Inside the wire are two wires; one green and one without any plastic on it. Once you get a hold of two battery packs like I did (i used one 4 AA and a 2 AA battey holder) glue them together side by side so they hold together and make a 6 AA battery pack. The battery packs I bought had an on a off switch on the back, so I took the switches out so I could have room at the top to solder the pins together. So if you have the same kind of battery packs, take the pastic shielding off at the top to then have a view at the wires. Take the power switches out,so the top would be empty. Now, the battery packs need to work together as one, so burn or cut a hole at the top side part  to have a hole the goes through both battery packs (I used a solderer to melt the holes in the plastic). Now, take a small wire (like the red one in my picture), pass it through the hole you made, and solder it behind the contact pins as follows;


Now, if you have a hole at the top of your battery pack, put the sega ac pin you splited earlier and put it in the hole so that you can see it in the top part of the battery pack. If you don't have a hole, just make one at the top.

Once you have the ac pin sticking in the battery pack, take the green wire and solder it here;


Pass another small wire through the hole you made and solder the wire to the other wire that comes out of the sega ac pin to the back of the pin like this;


Now once you've done all of this, make sure every thing holds nice and clean, and then add some batteries and close the battery packs up. Add some velcro on the back of the battery pack if you want, and put it on the back of the sega nomad, plug the ac pin, and test it. If it works, then ENJOY! if not well maybe you've done something wrong and better check back everything you did.

[133MHz]

Sorry if i'm getting it wrong, but it seems you're joining positive with positive. (second pic)

[keiffer01]

ohh man yeah thanks for pointing it out to me! I just noticed that too while looking at it! My sister was pressuring me to use the computer while i was drawing everything so I must have badly drew the pins connection! lol im gonna correct that right now... sorry my bad!

*FIXED IT*

[GMAN4737]

thanks but ime confused at why the battery pack would caus damage to the nomad its not like its being wired to the system it just plugs into the a c adapter port right?

[keiffer01]

Yeah I know but just incase some guy DOES break their Nomad in someway and starts blaming me for it well at least I had that phrase to say that I'm not responsible for their mistakes.

[GMAN4737]

lol ok could you use more than 6 batteries just out of curiosoty? if i do it i will probobly stick with the way you did yours thanks