Thanks for the information. I learned to solder building Heathkits with my dad decades ago. Basic to the technique was that there should be a good mechanical connection and that the solder was just to conduct electricity better. In terms of attaching your green wire to the reddish one, this would mean removing the red wire and stripping it back some. Clean the solder off the connector. Strip the green wire a little more and tin the end. Then use your needle nose pliers to turn the tinned ends into hooks. Hook both wires through or over the connector. Tighten the hooks with the needle nose. Then apply solder to these solid mechanical connections. It may seem like a bunch of extra work, but you get something much more robust and reliable.
If your gadget uses 3 or 4 AA or AAA batteries in series for 4.5V-6V it should work just fine powered from a cheap 5V USB phone charger or power bank. The "nominal voltage" of Alkaline cells is 1.5V but new batteries often start around 1.65V (1.2V for rechargeables) then produce usable power down to around 1V, so battery powered gadgets are designed to operate over a wide range of voltages as battery voltage starts high then drops with use. Just cut the end off a USB charging cable, strip the red(+) and black(-) wires then join them onto the battery terminals. Small gadgets with no moving parts usually work fine with cheap USB cables, but look for better quality thicker wire USB cables for higher powered gadgets with motors. Depending on the current (Amperage) requirements you may even be able to convert some gadgets requiring C or D batteries to USB, but they might require more power than a typical USB charger can supply. You can check power requirements using a multimeter.
Nice video! Just came across it because i was looking for new things for halloween! I would like to offer my solution for powering props which is less intrusive. First I got a hold of a bag of dummy batteries. They are plastic hollow "batteries" that have a wire in them connecting the positive and negative terminals. So for this prop you have, you'd get 3 aa type ones. Open one up, cut the wire in it, solder a USB wire to each terminal and close it again. Then you only have to make a small cut in the battery cover, stick 2 unchanged and one with the cables in and viola. To actually power the props, i go with 2 methods. One is to run a speaker wire by every prop that has 12V on it from a big PC power supply. Then for every prop, i connect a dc-dc converter to that to drop it down to around 5V. You lose some voltage over long wires so this way there's always enough power to get 4.5 to 5V Others i do have a USB charger, but i do add a 1N4007 diode in series to drop that power just a little so no magic smoke ever shows.
I love your comedy - i use two sets of glasses to read certain things too. 😂 I'm just learning how to use an arduino for the first time and your channel is great for that. I look forward to more mini tutorials.
Your videos are so great! I’ve been wanting to ditch the batteries on my props and power them through the season with a transformer. Thanks for making it so easy to follow what your do!
This is super helpful in what I've been looking for for a while now. Question for you, how do I decide what size wire that I need for these types of projects?
Great demonstration. While it is important not to feed more voltage than the circuit is designed to handle, it's possible (even likely) that a slightly higher 5-volt power adapter (which is usually much easier to find than a 4.5-volt one) would be fine in this case. Alkaline cells, like AA, are nominally 1.5 V, but a brand new one may be as high as 1.65 V, so three brand new batteries could give 4.95 V, and thus the circuit has to be able to tolerate that. Any circuit that runs from batteries either has parts that can handle some reasonable range in voltage or has onboard voltage regulation. So, yeah, don't connect a 9V or 12V supply to a toy or prop that typically uses three AA batteries, but a regulated 5V supply (which is super common in USB chargers) it probably fine. By the way, the connector on the wire from the power adapter is actually the female, and the screw-terminal one you're using is the male. I know, I know, it seems backwards. Though not entirely standardized, the convention is to have the positive voltage on the center connector, and that's the one that determines the "sex" of the connector. A barrel connector has more in common with a turducken than mammalian reproductive organs. I generally go with "plug" and "socket", but even those can be confusing.
Great video & info, thank you for that. Question though I probably messed up somewhere, it came on before batteries but in testing I messed up somewhere. Is there a way to diagnose what may be the problem. It doesn't come on now with the batteries. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
FOr the love of all that is holy: "it can take all the amps you want" is true, within reason. DO NOT do something like hook it into a truck battery. 800 amps @ 4.5 v assuming standard cheep proper copper wire = 12 watts of power = melted cheep electronics. Like literally melted. YOu will light those wires on fire.
What she meant was that the prop circuit will only draw the amount of current it requires to operate. Overvoltage is the killer if there is no regulator in the circuit.
Mi'lady, I like your simplified way of explaing how to do this conversion, but I am put off and a little leery of it because of how un-aware you seem to be of the other wire locations to your work. The blue wires getting burned and the circuit board wire which looks to be burned right at the circuit board on your second soldering job. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have known how to do this conversion without a lot of research, but maybe you could be a shade more careful? This may have been a fluke, so I will watch some more of your videos because I like your ideas, if not the execution. 🙂
Seriously, you need to find a way to bottle up your energy and sell it on the home shopping network or something. Love it!!
Thanks for the information. I learned to solder building Heathkits with my dad decades ago. Basic to the technique was that there should be a good mechanical connection and that the solder was just to conduct electricity better. In terms of attaching your green wire to the reddish one, this would mean removing the red wire and stripping it back some. Clean the solder off the connector. Strip the green wire a little more and tin the end. Then use your needle nose pliers to turn the tinned ends into hooks. Hook both wires through or over the connector. Tighten the hooks with the needle nose. Then apply solder to these solid mechanical connections. It may seem like a bunch of extra work, but you get something much more robust and reliable.
If your gadget uses 3 or 4 AA or AAA batteries in series for 4.5V-6V it should work just fine powered from a cheap 5V USB phone charger or power bank.
The "nominal voltage" of Alkaline cells is 1.5V but new batteries often start around 1.65V (1.2V for rechargeables) then produce usable power down to around 1V, so battery powered gadgets are designed to operate over a wide range of voltages as battery voltage starts high then drops with use.
Just cut the end off a USB charging cable, strip the red(+) and black(-) wires then join them onto the battery terminals. Small gadgets with no moving parts usually work fine with cheap USB cables, but look for better quality thicker wire USB cables for higher powered gadgets with motors.
Depending on the current (Amperage) requirements you may even be able to convert some gadgets requiring C or D batteries to USB, but they might require more power than a typical USB charger can supply. You can check power requirements using a multimeter.
Good stuff Rachel. I've done this little project a number of times. It's always great to see you and just "tinkering" on things.
Looking Beautiful as Always ❤
Great edit job, Rachel!
Hey Rachel, I’m more of a “watts” buffet guy! 😮Love your humor as always! 😂
Nice video! Just came across it because i was looking for new things for halloween!
I would like to offer my solution for powering props which is less intrusive.
First I got a hold of a bag of dummy batteries.
They are plastic hollow "batteries" that have a wire in them connecting the positive and negative terminals. So for this prop you have, you'd get 3 aa type ones. Open one up, cut the wire in it, solder a USB wire to each terminal and close it again.
Then you only have to make a small cut in the battery cover, stick 2 unchanged and one with the cables in and viola.
To actually power the props, i go with 2 methods. One is to run a speaker wire by every prop that has 12V on it from a big PC power supply. Then for every prop, i connect a dc-dc converter to that to drop it down to around 5V. You lose some voltage over long wires so this way there's always enough power to get 4.5 to 5V
Others i do have a USB charger, but i do add a 1N4007 diode in series to drop that power just a little so no magic smoke ever shows.
Great ideas!
I love your comedy - i use two sets of glasses to read certain things too. 😂 I'm just learning how to use an arduino for the first time and your channel is great for that. I look forward to more mini tutorials.
Your videos are so great! I’ve been wanting to ditch the batteries on my props and power them through the season with a transformer. Thanks for making it so easy to follow what your do!
Yaas! I'm putting up my first Halloween props up soon!
@@RachelDeBarrosLive tanks you great person
Love the video!! Would it be possible to run to different props off one controller ????
Your skills are awesome Rachel. Hello from Chicago.
This is super helpful in what I've been looking for for a while now. Question for you, how do I decide what size wire that I need for these types of projects?
Also, I have two identical props each running off three AA batteries. If I were to wire them together in parallel would that still be 9V?
Yes, you can wire them together in parallel and each would get 9V. As for wire gauge, usually anything 18 AWG or thicker is good.
Great demonstration.
While it is important not to feed more voltage than the circuit is designed to handle, it's possible (even likely) that a slightly higher 5-volt power adapter (which is usually much easier to find than a 4.5-volt one) would be fine in this case. Alkaline cells, like AA, are nominally 1.5 V, but a brand new one may be as high as 1.65 V, so three brand new batteries could give 4.95 V, and thus the circuit has to be able to tolerate that. Any circuit that runs from batteries either has parts that can handle some reasonable range in voltage or has onboard voltage regulation. So, yeah, don't connect a 9V or 12V supply to a toy or prop that typically uses three AA batteries, but a regulated 5V supply (which is super common in USB chargers) it probably fine.
By the way, the connector on the wire from the power adapter is actually the female, and the screw-terminal one you're using is the male. I know, I know, it seems backwards. Though not entirely standardized, the convention is to have the positive voltage on the center connector, and that's the one that determines the "sex" of the connector. A barrel connector has more in common with a turducken than mammalian reproductive organs. I generally go with "plug" and "socket", but even those can be confusing.
Love your video. Simple and easy to follow!!!!
This was awesome! Thank you.
You were saying Volt or amp! I much prefer a sastaining current!
Great video & info, thank you for that. Question though I probably messed up somewhere, it came on before batteries but in testing I messed up somewhere. Is there a way to diagnose what may be the problem. It doesn't come on now with the batteries. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
Can you wire multiple devices to the one outlet plug?
Awesome 👌 👏 👍
Your a cool person that is smart
FOr the love of all that is holy: "it can take all the amps you want" is true, within reason. DO NOT do something like hook it into a truck battery. 800 amps @ 4.5 v assuming standard cheep proper copper wire = 12 watts of power = melted cheep electronics. Like literally melted. YOu will light those wires on fire.
What she meant was that the prop circuit will only draw the amount of current it requires to operate. Overvoltage is the killer if there is no regulator in the circuit.
Since these are recorded as a live stream for members and then edited down, I do tend to get carried away with my explanations with the group 🤣
Mi'lady, I like your simplified way of explaing how to do this conversion, but I am put off and a little leery of it because of how un-aware you seem to be of the other wire locations to your work. The blue wires getting burned and the circuit board wire which looks to be burned right at the circuit board on your second soldering job. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have known how to do this conversion without a lot of research, but maybe you could be a shade more careful? This may have been a fluke, so I will watch some more of your videos because I like your ideas, if not the execution. 🙂
Lol😂😂u so funny make more videos 🥰🥰🥰
what halloween prop is that? peas and carrots
not bad now it needs the dog shit audio fixed