Last minute questions for the Bonaire trip...

[reefdiva]

At planeside they take rolling bags that normally fit in overheads of larger planes and if your backpack looks too big for under the seat they may ask for that as well. Those are usually not weighed for charge but are figured into the weight of the cargo. Sounds like you may also be able to swap out "light cannons" for smaller lights and leave some of your tools at home. Whenever we need emergency repairs to equipment we see Bruce at Carib Inn as he does great work at very reasonable prices. Please do remember to take any used batteries home with you if you are not using rechargables.

 

[divematt]

Thanks "dvrliz1",

That helps a lot. You see, if I can load up that small carry on (that gets checked at the plane) with all of the batteries for everything, it would save a ton of weight.

This brings me to another thank you to "rottielover". I pack two lights that use (8) C-cell batteries and two smaller lights that use (8) AA batteries. The two smaller ones go in our BC pockets for the day and are backups for the larger lights during night dives. All 4 of these lights are loaded up with batteries. We then carry a full set of spares (32) and a bunch more AA's (6) for the flash in my camera and the camera itself. It's an old yellow film camera called a Sea and Sea MX-10 with the YS40-A strobe. They use (6) AA batteries. So by the time I'm done, I've got (76) batteries with me. This does not include my girlfriends camera and batteries which only adds up to about 8 AA's.
I need to do the rechargeable thing and soon! I've only looked into the older Nickel Cadmium batteries that have the memory in them and only have 1.2 volts each which never added up to enough to give me a bright (8)C-cell flashlight. So I kept using alkalines. If the newer NiMH batteries don't have the memory and have a true 1.5 volts each, it would save me a ton of weight and money for both batteries and overweight charges.

Thanks to you too "reefdiva", I think I'll leave my dive tool kit at home on these Bonaire trips that involve these tiny planes with their weight restrictions.

I guess it doesn't pay to take the 3 lbs of Gatorade powder to make up the dive drinks either and just buy the stuff there.

While I'm at it, it may be time to look at those high dollar titanium first stages instead of the heavy chrome plated brass ones that most of us use, and maybe we should just buy all of our T-shirts over there as well. This might all just be a scheme to get us to spend our money in Bonaire!

Thanks everyone, I've gotta go and re-pack, I'm going to Bonaire tomorrow,
Matt

 

[reefdiva]

Matt --- TAKE the Gatorade!! You won't be able to find it there!! We always repack the powder into double ziplock bags and don't bother with the scoop. Another way to save on weight is to REALLY think about the amount of clothes you take. You won't need many!

 

[divematt]

Matt --- TAKE the Gatorade!! You won't be able to find it there!! We always repack the powder into double ziplock bags and don't bother with the scoop. Another way to save on weight is to REALLY think about the amount of clothes you take. You won't need many!

Thanks,

I'll take the gatorade, the clothes don't add up to too much, that's why I asked the collared shirt question. It's the darn batteries that are killing me. I'm cutting back on everything.

Matt

 

[rottielover]

If your leaving tomorrow I doubt there is time to get the rechargable's... Most of them come with little to no charge on them when you buy them, and it's normally recommended to "cycle" them first if your battery charger supports it (discharge and charge fully). It took me about a week to charge up all the battery's once I got them unpacked (I didn't check on the charger all the time, sometimes I left a set in there after they were done and didn't switch them right away), but then again my charger only does 4 at a time. AA's go really fast on it, couple hours from totally dead to 100% (I think, most of the time I put them in, leave to go do something else, and by the time I remember to check they are done). C cells take longer, they hold more "juice" (rated in mAh).

The C Cells I have are 1.2 Volts each, but they still run the 12V bulb in my Nemo lights.

 

[divematt]

If your leaving tomorrow I doubt there is time to get the rechargable's... Most of them come with little to no charge on them when you buy them, and it's normally recommended to "cycle" them first if your battery charger supports it (discharge and charge fully). It took me about a week to charge up all the battery's once I got them unpacked (I didn't check on the charger all the time, sometimes I left a set in there after they were done and didn't switch them right away), but then again my charger only does 4 at a time. AA's go really fast on it, couple hours from totally dead to 100% (I think, most of the time I put them in, leave to go do something else, and by the time I remember to check they are done). C cells take longer, they hold more "juice" (rated in mAh).

The C Cells I have are 1.2 Volts each, but they still run the 12V bulb in my Nemo lights.

I was hoping you weren't going to tell me that they were 1.2 volts. The flashlights (although have 8 batteries) are 6 volt, but two sets of 4 while in series to each other are in parallel to the second set of 4 for more current. So when you add 1.2 volts 4 times compared to 1.5, you get 4.8 volts compared to 6. I'm betting although your light works fine and lasts a long time, it's not as bright as one with (8) 1.5 volt batteries. To prove that, I measured some of the batteries that I took out of a flashlight that I chose to replace their batteries. They were only around 1.25 to 1.3 volts each and I didn't like how bright the flashlight was getting. If the flashlight used a true 12 volt bulb and the (8) batteries were in series, it would be even worse as adding up all of those 1.2 volt batteries would only be 9.6 volts instead of 12. That has to hurt brightness no?

Matt

 

[rottielover]

I was hoping you weren't going to tell me that they were 1.2 volts. The flashlights (although have 8 batteries) are 6 volt, but two sets of 4 while in series to each other are in parallel to the second set of 4 for more current. So when you add 1.2 volts 4 times compared to 1.5, you get 4.8 volts compared to 6. I'm betting although your light works fine and lasts a long time, it's not as bright as one with (8) 1.5 volt batteries. To prove that, I measured some of the batteries that I took out of a flashlight that I chose to replace their batteries. They were only around 1.25 to 1.3 volts each and I didn't like how bright the flashlight was getting. If the flashlight used a true 12 volt bulb and the (8) batteries were in series, it would be even worse as adding up all of those 1.2 volt batteries would only be 9.6 volts instead of 12. That has to hurt brightness no?

Correct the nemo is setup so that all 8 are in series for 12v (with alky's). And I was worried about the exact same thing as you are, that 9.6V wasn't going to work, or wasn't going to be bright enough. However, I put it too the test and got 8 alky's and 8 of my NiMH and set them side by side. I put the alky's in the flashlight, turned it on and then I took them out and put in the NiMH. I could not see any differenace.

So then I took my wife's nemo, and put the 8 alky's in mine, and 8 recharges in her's. I turned them both on and I could not see any visable differance. I had my wife look at them too and she too said she could not tell them apart.

I used freshly charged NiMH and fresh (bought them that afternoon) alky's.

I have not done any "long burn time" testing or anything like that yet. Maybe it's something I can do over the weekend.

 

[AlanWald]

If weight and cost is an issue, you get adapters made by Lenmar,
model # PROAA2C,which is "C" battery size case that you snap a rechargeable AA battery into to allow them to fit in "C" battery devices.

http://lenmar.com/details.asp?model=PROAA2C&product=electronics&type=accessories&manufacturer=

They also have D cell size PROAA2D,
http://lenmar.com/details.asp?model=PROAA2D&product=electronics&type=accessories&manufacturer=

You can get a package of 4 adapters for $5.00 plus tax at Fry's Electronics retail stores (better than on line prices because of shipping costs) at Fry's Electronics in in California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, and Indiana

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/frys-store-location.htm

 

[divematt]

If weight and cost is an issue, you get adapters made by Lenmar,
model # PROAA2C,which is "C" battery size case that you snap a rechargeable AA battery into to allow them to fit in "C" battery devices.

http://lenmar.com/details.asp?model=PROAA2C&product=electronics&type=accessories&manufacturer=

They also have D cell size PROAA2D,
http://lenmar.com/details.asp?model=PROAA2D&product=electronics&type=accessories&manufacturer=

You can get a package of 4 adapters for $5.00 plus tax at Fry's Electronics retail stores (better than on line prices because of shipping costs) at Fry's Electronics in in California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, and Indiana

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/frys-store-location.htm

That's pretty cool but the light would not last long using the AA's and I'd just have to take more AA's on the trip. I'm going to consider the rechargeable cells seeing that they seem to be just as bright even though they have the lower wattage. I'd like to hear how long they hold up. I've read that the LED bulb lights last a long time with one set of batteries and one set would take care of a whole trip. Oh well, until I fork out the money for new LED lights or new rechargeable batteries, I'll just have to pay the heavy luggage fees!

Thanks again,
Matt

 

[herman]

Some things to think about when choosing batteries. While it's true the voltage of a fresh alkaline batteries is 1.5V, if you look at the voltage curve you will find that they drop to 1.2V or less pretty quickly, within minutes and continue to decrease in voltage over a somewhat more linear curve after the initial few minutes. In contrast, NiMH do start at around 1.25 V but they stay at that voltage for almost their entire useable charge. What does this mean in light? For the first few minutes the alks will be a little brighter but shortly they will be about the same as the NiMHs and after some burn time, the NiMhs will be brighter and stay that way a lot longer. I have seen some reports of lights exploding due to off gassing of rechargable (hydrogen buildup). How accurate the reports are is questionable. Personally, I would go for the NiMhs if I intended to do much night diving.