Battery Voltage?

[Falco]

Is it better to use 7.4V for the N64, or 14.8V? I've that it runs fine on either, but is there an advantage to using a higher voltage? I ask this only for the sake of saving money. *whistles*

[collinE]

we usually use 7.4 because it's the right voltage for the PSOne screen and it just so happens it works for the N64, as well. If you use a 14.8v battery, you just have to step it down for the screen or find a 12v one.

[Falco]

So there's no added battery life to be had with extra voltage, other than if the cells are wired in parallel?

[thewise1]

It would add extra life if the n64 12 volt line can take that. But it would be a bigger battery anyway.

[Falco]

Another question, about the PCB. When it has "[certain number]Amp Limit" in the stats, is that the largest capacity that my battery pack can have, using that PCB?

Such as, "3.5A Limit" on the PCB, I can't use a battery pack above 3.5Ah?

[timmeh87]

Ok slow down.... what?

14.8v would probably go in the 12v line ok, but you are definitely losing power the higher you go on the voltage. I dont know how much power goes in the 5V line but you'd be wasting 350% more power at 7.4, thanks to the 7805. Im not sure how the pth08080 (or whatever) regulator likes 14.4v, you should definitely look at the datasheet on that, it would probably loose some efficiency as well at higher voltages.

Anyways how will using a 14.8v battery save you money... ? If you found a really cheap 14.8v battery pack you could probably just rearrange it into a 7.4v one.

The current limit on the PCB is probably the maximum current it will allow before it cuts out. "mA" and "mAh" are completely different things and it is meaningless to compare them. Their relationship is Ah = A * h (somewhat obviously), where h is time in hours. An analogy is speed and distance. They are related by time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milliampere-hour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That article is kind of poorly written.

[Falco]

Thanks, that's a point that I never thought of, although I already decided to only get a smaller pack.

When I said saving money, I meant that I wanted to get a 7.4V pack instead of a 14.8V pack if the larger voltage wouldn't be any better, since I was thinking about getting a 4 cell pack but didn't want to spend the extra money.

And thank you for actually clarifying the difference between A and Ah... to be honest there are a few things I don't know, simple or not, about this stuff. (Obviously.) So that means that the Amp limit on a PCB puts no restriction on the Amp-hours of the battery?

[samjc3]

So that means that the Amp limit on a PCB puts no restriction on the Amp-hours of the battery?

yep. as long as your n64 isnt pulling 3.5ah through the pcb, you are fine. although, one thing that does change with bigger batteries is charge time. it starts taking lots of hours after awhile.

[Falco]

Thanks. Now I just have to find an affordable charger and I can order some batteries.