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Pineapple Mk 4 Battery Options

crthomas24

By crthomas24
in WiFi Pineapple Mark IV

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abccbaabc Newbie

abccbaabc

Posted
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Hey guys what's up. Here's what I've been using to run mine. http://www.voltaicsystems.com/v60.shtml its great cause I can charge my laptop at the same time and it runs the pineapple forever. I'm also doing testing in my shop at work for a more affordable solution. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Later,

elmocrispers

That looks fantastic! However, I did found another product at their site that was a lot cheaper and that might be able to power the pineapple (non-tested); http://www.voltaicsystems.com/jetpack.shtml

What do you guys think, will it manage to power the Mark IV + USB on it's 7V setting?

Regards, Echonull.

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NotTheFed Newbie

NotTheFed

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NICE.. that looks like a much better one. (http://www.amazon.com/Voltaic-Systems-Universal-Laptop-Battery/dp/B006L4IP3I/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1) for those that like Amazon. I just ordered it. Now I guess I will have two batteries now. I am sure I will have other projects that can use the one I ordered last week. having the 12v output will mean I will never have to worry about it, and the footprint size is ok.

NTF

Ok.. right out of the box looks great. Comes with a TON of adapters. Plus it has the correct barrel cable needed.

http://www.doevil.com/pinebat2.jpg

very thin compared to the incredicharge, but a bit bigger foot print. Hard to tell in the pic, but is about half the height of the pineapple. (very flat)

bottom line, works. 12v 4a direct, PLUS the additional USB if needed for another device.16000mAh capacity.

this one will surely run the pineapple with any modem.

**update** so a test run with this.. without a modem (just the usb drive)....and it looks like the battery pack stopped after 2 hours. I wonder if it thought the device was full charged? unplug, plugged back in... pineapple started up. Might not be enough draw from just the pineapple\usb to keep it running.

NTF

Edited by NotTheFed
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g4hsean Newbie

g4hsean

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Are you certain it will provide 10v of output? I'm pretty sure those dual usb to single usb Y cables only increase the current, not the voltage. I don't mean to burst your bubble hfam, but I asked about this a while back: http://forums.hak5.org/index.php?showtopic=25049&st=0&p=192653

If this isn't the case, can you please share a link? I'd love to know how they do it! Basically to double the voltage from a battery source, you have to cross the positive and the negative (sounds weird, I know) - which works fine with two independent batteries, but when its coming from the same source (1 battery, 2 usb ports that are both connected to the one battery) it will just short circuit...which is bad. I just don't want you to fry your new battery pack

telot

Yup you are quite right. I am actually soldering right now and have found that a) you cant solder in series since sadly all power packs use the same common ground like on a normal motherboard. So sadly the only config you can get this to work in is in parallel. Parallel setup (correct me if I am wrong) will still supply you with the current needed to power usb devices through mark 4 anyways.

I also want to give a work of caution, for those of you buying battery packs out there make sure you are buying a battery pack that doesn't shut off if no communication between battery pack and usb device is made. I am having just that issue right now with a Naztech PB6000 6000 mAh battery pack. The only way to keep it working constantly is if i plug my iphone into battery pack.

If anyone knows of a workaround for my problem with battery pack shutting off feel free to post, thatd help me out.

Sean

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g4hsean Newbie

g4hsean

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Well, i kicked my battery pack aside and decided to go pro. The reason why i decided to switch off the usb battery pack i mentioned in my previous post is because, well it didn't last long enough when i had both the mark 4 pineapple , and my iphone running off of it at the same time. I instead decided yesterday to go out and hunt for a solution to my needs; as someone previously mentioned, you can use a small ups battery (AKA general purpose battery). With that fact i went out to my local battery expert and found a really cheap ~20$ US battery. Anyways long story short my battery has been running for 30 hours straight now and is at in my opinion 67% battery life still.

Hope this info helps you, and if you have questions regarding the battery i used, take a look at the link i posted below "My battery's life test".

If you guys want to find out the full battery life as i test it you can follow My battery's life test

Sean

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TomCat Newbie

TomCat

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The ham radio operator in me says power can be done cheaply... here's my take on an option for batteries, requires a little soldering, but you aren't soldering directly on the cells...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062242

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062218

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103614

Gives you 12 volts with 8 AA cells. To my understanding, the pineapple requires lower current at the higher voltage (as opposed to to 5V).

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PineDominator Newbie

PineDominator

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The ham radio operator in me says power can be done cheaply... here's my take on an option for batteries, requires a little soldering, but you aren't soldering directly on the cells...

http://www.radioshac...oductId=2062242

http://www.radioshac...oductId=2062218

http://www.radioshac...oductId=2103614

Gives you 12 volts with 8 AA cells. To my understanding, the pineapple requires lower current at the higher voltage (as opposed to to 5V).

exactly what I purchased at RadioHack:-p

with rechargeables you get just under 12 volts

Edited by petertfm
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tokatrash Newbie

tokatrash

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Hi all,

The question I am about to post have semi-already been answered in this thread - I would however like to be 100% sure before I try as the pineapple cost me like 150USD (after taxes to Europe).

So here we go.

Do I understand correctly that I can use anything from 5V to 12V to power my pineapple MK 4 and it will require the battery pack or PSU to supply a minimum of 1000mah actively?

Thank you very much for your help!!!

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g4hsean Newbie

g4hsean

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Hi all,

The question I am about to post have semi-already been answered in this thread - I would however like to be 100% sure before I try as the pineapple cost me like 150USD (after taxes to Europe).

So here we go.

Do I understand correctly that I can use anything from 5V to 12V to power my pineapple MK 4 and it will require the battery pack or PSU to supply a minimum of 1000mah actively?

Thank you very much for your help!!!

Yup as you mentioned it will take a voltage of anywhere between 5V - 12V just be careful when you get into the 12 volt territory since i hear of some people on the forum that fried their pineapple at around 12.4 volts. For the output current (Amps) using charger its maximum 1 amp at 12 volts, for a battery pack you would probably like to get as high of mAh rating as possible. The reason you want a high mAh rating is because it will allow you to run the Mark 4 on battery for longer. also note that the amperage rating of a wall charger does not equal the output amperage of a battery, ie. wall charger: 12 volt 1A != Battery: 12 volt 1000mAh. Therefore you don't have to worry about how high the mAh rating is for a battery just how high the voltage is.

I also want to clarify what the mAh rating is on a battery for you so like that you have a clear view of why the rating is not the same to a wall charger. The mAh rating is basically how much current is in the battery. If you take that rating and divide it by the amperage of whatever device you want to run off of battery you should get an estimate to how long you can run that device on that battery. On the other hand a wall charger outputs a fixed amount of amperage and voltage.

I hope I have answered your question and have nice day.

Sean

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webdirector Newbie

webdirector

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Posted (edited)

Hi guys which of these would be the best option for powering mk4.

option1

option 2

I find it hard to figure out amps

Richy,

I would take one that has 12V output the "mAh " tells you the battery pack will last longer the bigger the number is.

I am saying to use the 12V as if you at one point want to use a 3G dongel they have an issue running on only 5V as the USB port usually have.

You can read some posts here in the forum were people had issues with only 5V with 3G dongles connected to the pineapple and the pinapple running on only 5V battery packs.

Edited by webdirector
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Bergeend Newbie

Bergeend

Posted
Posted

Iv decided to go for option 2. should be with me tomorrow

Will update :D

RichyB,

Can you already give us an update?

I'm also looking for a good solution, and the incredicharge looks promising, but before spending money....

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ptrac3 Newbie

ptrac3

Posted
Posted

Hi guys i'm testing the Pineapple Mark IV with the cruzer USB 4gb on IncrediCharger 11000mAh and it last for almost 2 days with pineapple powered one i think..From 10 A.M to 17:00 P.M , it eats less then 10%..I'm really satisfied! : )

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PineDominator Newbie

PineDominator

Posted
Posted (edited)

can someone please clear this up for me, can i just use a cheap battery holder and solder on a dc power cable onto it? and is there any danger in undervolting the pineapple?

voltage needs to be between 5 and 12, do not go over, there are reports of hardware failure after slightly over 12 volts.

I use 8 AA 1.2V rechargeables in a custom battery holder from radiohack, outputs just under 12 volts when fully charged.

I know the hak shop is going to offer a battery solution, hopefully soon.

Edited by petertfm
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PineDominator Newbie

PineDominator

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other than the pineapple will not work is there any damage that can happen if there is not enough power going to the device . thanks i will order one of those

it would strain the electronics and could cause a lot of resistance from the amperage draw from to low voltage.

things like stability, rebooting, low wifi signal or no wifi, ect

in the past what I noticed with the mark 2 was when the 4 rechargeable battery's got low, BTW the voltage drops too, I noticed wifi would no longer work.

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telot Newbie

telot

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Good from-the-field knowledge petertfm! Thanks for the info

I always run my pineapple off of ~5 volts from USB - not batts. Ive done tests (you can search them out here on the forums) that show 5 volts does not at all effect the wifi range at all compared to 12 volts. The thing you have to keep in mind with batteries, is that the higher the voltage, the less amps your pineapple eats up. For example, a 12v battery with 1000mah (milliamp hours) will last waaay longer than a 5v battery with 1000mah. It's the amps that keeps your pineapple alive, not the voltage rating.

telot

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Ted Summers Newbie

Ted Summers

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Posted (edited)

Hello,

It's been a while now and I just wanted to know has anyone tried this (Anker Astro2 Dual USB 8400mAh) battery pack with the Mark IV? Does it work or not? I know spec wise that it should, but I would rather get a sure thing. Oh and does anyone have the amazon URL for the New Trent 11mAh battery pack.

Thanks

Anker Astro2 Dual USB Output 8400mAh External Battery Pack

http://www.amazon.co...d=2VHK8CEZNXAC7

Edited by Ted Summers
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PineDominator Newbie

PineDominator

Posted
Posted

Hello,

It's been a while now and I just wanted to know has anyone tried this (Anker Astro2 Dual USB 8400mAh) battery pack with the Mark IV? Does it work or not? I know spec wise that it should, but I would rather get a sure thing. Oh and does anyone have the amazon URL for the New Trent 11mAh battery pack.

Thanks

Anker Astro2 Dual USB Output 8400mAh External Battery Pack

http://www.amazon.co...d=2VHK8CEZNXAC7

I just purchased the astro3, should be here jun 18th

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