So, I stumbled upon this “expandable battery” idea the other day, and I thought, “Why not give it a shot?” I mean, who wouldn’t want a battery that can, like, grow when you need more juice? It sounded pretty futuristic, and I’m always up for a bit of DIY tinkering.
First things first, I needed to figure out what I was actually aiming for. I wasn’t going to build some super-complex, lab-grade battery. My goal was something simple, something I could probably cobble together with stuff I mostly had lying around. I pictured a setup where I could add extra battery cells to an existing one, increasing the overall capacity. Think of it like adding extra carriages to a train.
The Scavenging Begins
My first mission? Round up some batteries. I dug through my old electronics boxes and found a bunch of AA and AAA batteries, some rechargeable, some not. I even found a few old power banks that I’d forgotten about. Perfect! I figured I’d start with these, just to test the concept.
Next up, I needed a way to connect these batteries together. I grabbed some wire, alligator clips (those little clampy things), and a multimeter (to check voltages and make sure I wasn’t about to blow something up). I’m no electrician, but I know enough to avoid short circuits… usually.
Building the Beast
I started simple. I took two AA batteries and connected them in series – positive to negative, positive to negative. This basically doubles the voltage. I checked with the multimeter – yep, around 3 volts. Cool. Then, I added another pair, also in series, and connected that pair to the first pair in parallel – positive to positive, negative to negative. This keeps the voltage the same but increases the capacity (meaning it’ll last longer). The multimeter confirmed my readings, I was doing something right!
I kept going, adding more battery pairs in parallel. It was like building with LEGOs, but with the potential for a small, contained explosion if I messed up. Luckily, no explosions happened. I used the alligator clips to make the connections, which wasn’t the prettiest solution, but it was easy to change things around.
- Round 1: Two AA batteries in series. Success!
- Round 2: Added another pair in parallel. Still good!
- Round 3: More and more pairs. The voltage stayed the same, but my makeshift battery pack was getting bigger.
The “Expandable” Part
The whole point of this was to make it “expandable,” right? So, I made sure I could easily add or remove battery pairs. The alligator clips were key here. I could just clip on another set of batteries whenever I needed more power. It wasn’t elegant, but it worked!
I tested it out by powering a small LED light. It worked! And when the light started to dim, I just clipped on another battery pair, and it brightened right back up. It felt pretty awesome, I have to admit.
Of course, this is a super rough prototype. It’s not something I’d use for anything important. There’s no protection circuitry, no fancy casing, and it’s definitely not portable. But as a proof of concept? I’d say it’s a win. It showed me that the basic idea of an “expandable battery” is totally doable, at least on a small, messy scale.
My next steps? Maybe try using some battery holders instead of alligator clips. And I definitely need to learn more about battery management systems (BMS) to make it safer. But for now, I’m pretty happy with my little Frankenstein battery creation.