Upgrade AA Battery Pack

Project Description

The purpose of the project is to enhance the AA Battery Pack commonly used on the Baofeng UV5R series radios.

Areas covered in this project include:

- Preventing Contact Shorts.
- Prevent Battery Case Shorts.
- Prevent Battery pack from Opening under heavy use.
- Make it easier to identify terminal locations for easy battery placement.

All materials can be purchased at your local Lowes or Home Depot. This includes:

- Velcro
- Electrical Tape
- RTV Silicone Sealant
- Heavy Duty Glue

Below are the two areas inside the case that will be modified.

To prevent battery case shorts, this rail needs to be insulated. The bar shown below needs to be covered with electrical insulation tape.

The small gap shown by the two top arrow needs to have RTV placed between the metal contacts to prevent these from touching. Do not get RTV on the battery contact areas.

The bottom smaller arrows show the contact bar that will be insulated with electrical insulation tape.

Note that the tape is placed across both sides of the plastic railing covering the exposed metal bar. Run the full length of the bar and make sure the tape is full contact along the whole surface area.

Here is another view of the rail with tape fully positioned and bar completely covered. Insure that tape is completely flat.

When these battery cases will open if bumped hard with heavy weight batteries. A Velcro strap positioned around the case will prevent this from occurring.

The strap should have two equal sides and glued securely into position.

The Velcro strap will offer the additional hold strength required to prevent bump and spill battery issues.

The area shown in Red is where the Velcro glued into place. The strap should be glued with the soft side facing out.

Place a bead of seal along the strap edges after the strap is glued into place.

Cut off any excess overhang. The Velcro should be overlap across the front of the pack to give a full secure fit.

Note that the strap is flush and tight all around.

The next step is to isolate the top battery contact. This is done by applying RTV silicone into the contact area using a Q-Tip.

The area shown here is where the RTV needs to be applied.

The image below shows the RTV plug in place. Remember not to get it where the battery touches the metal contact.

Battery placement can be difficult in low light or fast response conditions. Using a white permanent Sharpie, make the inside of the case to avoid improper battery placement.

Here are two examples of the marked cases.

This shows the batteries in their final position. Note the dummy shunt placed in the middle due to the use of standard alkaline batteries.

The completed AA battery pack should look like this. Notice that the strap is flush and tight.

The completed pack is now ready to go into the field. Radio shown here is an Anysecu U/V 8R Tri-power 8W version.