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Re: AA Battery Hack

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In alt.hackers, The True Melissa  <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:
> Verily, in article <10v53au$2bvt2$1@dont-email.me>, did 
> buzz_mccool@yahoo.com deliver unto us this message:
> > A message in a bottle to whoever is still out there.

{wave}

> There aren't a lot in this group. I've seen a only a few messages over 
> the past year. There are a few still reading, but not enough to sustain 
> a conversation. 

Quite possibly people don't know the trick to post and that reduces
activity.

> > ObHack:
> > AA batteries that no longer work in my various remote controls
> > seems to work fine for quite a while in my bicycle's blinking
> > front and rear safety strobe lights. So I save up old batteries
> > and get a few more months use out of them.
> Huh, that's interesting. I guess those lights use less power. 

I expect the blinky-ness helps. Possibly they have "joule thief" type
circuits, which are ideal for squeezing the last bit of power out of a
battery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule_thief

> I find batteries work a little longer if I swap their places in the same 
> device. 

In remote controls, I find just moving the batteries can help. I figure
it has something to do with oxides forming on the contacts, but that is
an admitedly wild guess.

ObHack:

The local gas company was digging up the street recently to replace the
main and feeders. It caused a lot of traffic disruption. On one day of
the construction, a delivery truck choose to park partially on the
sidewalk in front of my house. No problem except that it ran over the
sewer vent cover and shattered the cast metal. These covers are square
lids five inches on a side. They sometimes have a single screw to hold
them in place. Without the lid, there's a significant hole in the
sidewalk, not likely to trap an adult foot, but risky for a dog or
someone walking with a cane. And someone here walks with a cane.

I went looking for a piece of metal big enough to cover the hole until I
could find a replacement. My first choice of a square electrical box
junction cover, since I have spares lying around, was thwarted by being
too small. Then, also in electrical I found a spare "loader" weight from
a lamp. These are weights designed to be incorporated into the base of a
freestanding lamp to lower the center of balance. Sometimes they are
cast, usually they have a cord notch, and always they have a center hole
for lamp pipe. This one is 3mm steel plate with a threaded center hole,
and about seven inches in diameter, more than enough to cover the hole
and more than strong enough to hold the entire weight of me (= not
insignifcant) standing on it. 

I cut out a piece of wood to loosely fit inside the sewer vent and then
bolted the plate to the wood. The wood plug keeps the lid centered, and
the sidewalk hole is no longer a risk.

It will will be a while before I make it over to one of the stores that
stocks the replacement lids and now I can really take my time about it.

Elijah
------
always strips discard lamps of parts for cobbling his own lamps

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Thread

AA Battery Hack Buzz McCool <buzz_mccool@yahoo.com> - 2026-05-26 14:29 -0700
  Re: AA Battery Hack The True Melissa <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 07:02 -0400
    Re: AA Battery Hack Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-05-28 05:15 +0000
      Re: AA Battery Hack The True Melissa <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 12:39 -0400
      Re: AA Battery Hack Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen@canonical.org> - 2026-08-28 16:57 -0300
      Re: AA Battery Hack Andy Valencia <vandys@vsta.org> - 2026-08-28 17:07 -0700
        Re: AA Battery Hack Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-08-30 02:53 +0000
          varnishing screen doors (was Re: AA Battery Hack) Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen@canonical.org> - 2026-08-30 12:33 -0300
            Re: varnishing screen doors (was Re: AA Battery Hack) Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-08-30 22:01 +0000

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