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[Articles Home]  [Add Article]  

Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:

from George Dowell, K0FF on November 20, 2011
View comments about this article!

Waste Not-Want Not -- Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:

Tired of those cheap, flimsy 9V battery clips from the supply house?

Make your own!

Next time a 9V battery goes dead, think about taking it apart to salvage valuable electrical components.

Usually even a cheap battery has a much better clip on it than the new clips have.

Solder your own wires, I use Teflon, silver plated #24.

The bottom blank plate and silicone cushion tops it off for a lifetime battery clip.

Not to mention, you made it yourself.

George Dowell, K0FF

Member Comments:
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Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KG4RUL on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
It would have been nice to see the finished product?
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by K2LGO on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
GREAT THINKING....
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by LU1DZ on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Good idea...
TNX
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by K9MHZ on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Isn't there a lot of nastiness inside a 9-volt battery?

I think I'd rather get a quality clip from Mouser.

 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by K8SOR on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
In my many years as a ham, I have done this many times when I needed a clip and didn't have one, and yes, these are usually better than the ones you buy. Unless the 9v battery has laid around dead for a few years, the inside should be pretty clean--just 6 small cells hooked together.
73,
Skip K8SOR
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by K4MC on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Most all 9 volt batteries are made up of six 1.5 volt AAAA batteries connected in series. If making a battery clip, dismantle a quality battery and you will end up with a very good quality clip.

To protect the soldered connections, I use a Devcon 5 minute epoxy rather than silicone. Mix up a small amount of epoxy and apply it to the soldered connections, then rotate it back and forth to keep the epoxy in place untill it sets. An additional step I take is to add a little red or black Testors model paint to the epoxy to give it a good color.

These home made clips are much superior to the ready made ones.

Wendell
K4MC
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by AB9NZ on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Lovely idea, thanks for the heads up Mr. Dowell.
de Tom, AB9NZ
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by WD8OQX on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
You could also cut (salvage) the plug out of an old device, most are just molded in the plastic. I've even had some that were like a separate part.

And... what you end up with are already wired!

(old smoke detectors come to mind)
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by WB4DX on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Great idea.
It dosen't take a lot to visualize the finished product.
2 bonuses here, yes you made it yourself AND it wasn't a piece of chinese crap purchased that would support their economy.
👍
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by W5ZIT on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
I recently repaired a Fluke 77 DVM that had been stored for a long period of time with the battery installed for a friend. It had corroded and eaten the mating terminal on the Fluke completely up. By polishing the remaining part of the terminal with a wire brush on a Dremel Tool, I was able to solder the mating terminal recovered from a discharged 9 Volt battery in place of the destroyed terminal and restore the Fluke to operation. The battery can still be replaced in the normal fashion after the repair.

73 - Jim W5ZIT
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by W7ETA on November 22, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
So obvious that I've never thought of it.

Many thanks for letting everyone else into your insight.

Happy Thanksgiving
Bob

PS: I prefer using mil surplus teflon coated wire also.
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KD2APS on November 22, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
I chuckled when I saw the title, because I have done this many, many times when I was a kid.

For those who want details, take the dead battery and put in a vise, lengthwise, so the long seam faces up. Take a hacksaw and gently saw away until the seam breaks. Open in up to see (typically) multiple 1.5 volt batteries inside, and reuse the connector by carefully soldering on a red/black set of wires. As a kid, I used some electrical tape for insulation in a pinch.

It's still a great idea, and thank you so much for posting it!

-- Jim
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by WA8MEA on November 22, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
I'm dating myself when I say this, but I used this trick at the tender age of 14 (1970).

I never said anything to anyone because I figured if a dumb kid could figure this out, it must be common knowledge among other experimenters.

Now I wish I would have taken the risk and posted this on Eham back in 1970. Dang it all anyway....

;-)

73, Bill - WA8MEA
http://HamRadioFun.com
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by G7MRV on November 23, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Ive been doing this for years. Duracell Procell are the best since they use the stack of AAAA cells, many cheaper batteries will be a wrapped stack of paste and metal.

The procells also have ends that are cup shaped, i have often built a tiny circuit in the bottom piece, filled both with hotmelt glue and joined them while still warm, forming a tiny little box that sits on top of a PP3! Simple circuits like flashing LED dummy alarms, signal injectors etc, can be done this way!

Also, they open up easily along the side seam (its just a rolled crimp) and i do that by gripping the corner of the seam with side cutters and rolling it back along the length of the battery.
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by K1CJS on November 23, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Me too, Bill. I've been doing this when in a pinch for more years than I should count--it's getting a little time consuming counting them today anyway!
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by N1ERF on November 23, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
This is a great idea. I could have used it many times in the past.

At work we use industrial alkalines. It seems that of the two kinds that we have recently used, the Energizer batteries were more solidly built than the Panasonic ones. The Panasonic's top plate is thinner and more flexible and the connections are riveted to the welded internal connections (flat wire). All cells are welded together (lower internal resistance).

The Energizer has a more rigid top with a better negative (-) contact (6-point contact instead of 4-point). The cells are all separate and rely on the compression of the top & bottom plates to the inner conductive wafers (flat wire type). For a new battery, the energizer cells are easier to extract and do not require cutting. They just fall out of the case.

In a pinch, all useful though.


Your results may vary!

John
N1ERF
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KD7ZRO on November 23, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Wow, I would have never though of this! I'll keep this in mind the next time a 9V battery goes dead around here. Thanks for the simple, yet very useful, tip!
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KC2VDM on November 23, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Nice Idea! Now I feel dumb for all the times I've gone to Radioshack for a connector!

-Alex
KC2VDM
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KL2TC on November 23, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Bravo! I have more dead nine volts hiding in junk drawers than you can shake a stick at! 73!
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by W8AAZ on November 24, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Or if you stack 9 Volt batteries in series to make B batteries for old radios or projects, you could cut the top in half and make connections for your stack.
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KC2WI on November 26, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
I just tried this with an Energizer. Split and peel open the meatal case, everything just falls apart. Simple.
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by N2EIK on November 27, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Brad, Then you have missed the point.
(No offense)

N2EIK


"RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip: Reply
by K9MHZ on November 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Isn't there a lot of nastiness inside a 9-volt battery?

I think I'd rather get a quality clip from Mouser. "

 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by N0CRS on November 27, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Been doing things like that for decades myself . Just
sit down and really think about the things you throw in the trash.
Alot of this comes from neccessity . Very little $$
when I was growing up .
My dad was a child of the Depression years . Passed it on down to us kids in the 50s and 60s .Mom too .
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KD8MJR on November 30, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Never thought of this, simply Brilliant!
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KB9ERU on December 5, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Outstanding. Nice tip!
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by W3TTT on December 8, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
There are two streams of ham radio tinkerers.

1) Do as much as possible to save a buck, recycle, reuse, salvage parts from old devices and so on.

2) By all the parts new from suppliers.


For years, I was in category 1. Now, at age 57, I have graduated to category two. I am getting rid of as much as possible from my pack rat collection of old parts, radios and so on. When I now build a project, it is either a kit, or I get everything new from a supplier. I can now afford $20 or $30 for a Vectronics or Ramsey kit, and $5 for a radio shack enclosure. And, announcing for the first time here, I have bought a NEW tranciever. I still home brew my antennas, though.
 
Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KE4ZHN on December 14, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
I can understand doing this in a pinch if you have no clips lying around...but isnt this why hams get the much deserved reputation of being terribly cheap? Somewhere out there is some ham who probably makes his own PL259's from salvaged trash they find in a dumpster. Some hams will put forth hours work to save on a $2 part not realizing how much their time is worth being wasted on these el-cheapo endeavors. Home brewing a rig,antenna or amplifier...bravo! Wasting time and effort making $2 parts....get real.
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by WA7DUY on December 19, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
I do not know about you but the 9v battery connectors that I get (made in China) are barely usable the first time, let alone stay together for more than one battery change. The method described here at least gives you a connector that does not come apart the first time it is used and is more rigid. It also mates with other 9v batteries properly whereas purchased connectors are too flexible and have to be made (flexed) to mate with the battery terminals. I have trouble getting cheap connectors to fit the battery! This is a good method.
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by N1ERF on December 20, 2011 Mail this to a friend!
Being the "Throw-Away" society that we have become, I don't have a problem with "cheap". I have a problem with "cheap quality". Planned obsolescence is designed in nearly everything we buy these days. Spending time scrounging is not a bad thing and we are not a lesser person if we are thrifty. The whole process of doing it yourself with what you have can be fun!

Side Note: There are plastic bodied replacements that are sturdier than the typical flimsy flexible battery clips out there. Sometimes they used them in guitar effects pedals. Higher quality clips are out there, but just hard to find, anywhere. With that in mind, I have several clips that need to be replaced... using the idea proposed in this thread.

/J

N1ERF
 
RE: Make Your Own 9-Volt Battery Clip:  
by KF6OCI on December 25, 2011 Mail this to a friend!


Thanks,

Dan
 
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