Ever Ready Winner 120 mock-up

[SurreyNick]

My thanks go to the various forum members who contributed information and advice which helped me produce this actual size mock-up 120 volt HT battery for use with my Etronic WB430 battery operated receiver. In particular to Peter (marconi_pete) for his invaluable advice on the use of a Nixie Clock (step-up) Power Supply module and also to Tony (camtechman) for supplying me with the Clix split pin plugs.

I am reasonably happy with the result, even if the artwork isn’t perfect. Sadly I only had a few photographs (see pics 3 and 4) from an eBay auction of the original Winner 120 to go on to recreate the artwork. So, if anyone has an original battery and could scan the box or would alternatively be willing to sell it to me I would be most interested as I could then do a better job. Thanks.

Nick

[SurreyNick]

Just in case anyone is interested, here’s how it’s made:

The battery box is constructed of a balsa wood frame. The walls and base are of 1.5mm balsa wood sheet affixed to balsa struts. The base is double thickness and the battery compartment base is an additional double thickness. The wall cavities are strengthened with blocks of corrugated cardboard glued into place with PVA glue. This results in a lightweight, but very strong box.

The battery compartment has been designed to snugly fit thirteen 9 volt PP3 batteries connected in series with battery snaps soldered together. The end leads have male banana-plug terminals soldered to them and these plug into female counterparts embedded in the balsa wood posts each side of the battery compartment.

A wire is fed from these battery compartment terminals to each front corner of the battery box, where another female banana plug terminal is embedded thereby enabling split-pin battery terminals to be plugged in.

This design also allows for alternative power arrangements to be employed. For example a single 9 volt PP3 or a PP9 (which provides 4.5Ah instead of the standard 400-800mAh of a PP3) connected to a small step-up power supply module. These modules are readily available and some come with a trimmer resistor for convenient power adjustment.

The battery lid is made from a single sheet of 300gsm white card to which decals have been stuck using spray mount glue. Holes have been drilled by hand at each (dummy) voltage tap and then an additional (undrilled) piece of plain 300gsm cardboard has been stuck to the inside of the lid to replicate the original look. To complete the battery lid, holes are drilled through this plain sheet of card, one for the negative tap and one for the 120v tap. These sit directly above the female banana plug terminals of the battery box.

By employing a deep cardboard lid an authentic look can be obtained while hiding the gubbings from view. And if the box cover gets damaged a new one can simply be made.

Nick

[peter_scott]

Hi Nick,

The print quality looks much better than I would get from my printer.
What did you use?

Peter

[SurreyNick]

Hi Peter
Printed on an HP Officejet 6000 from artwork produced in MS Word.
Nick

[Andrewausfa]

Certainly looks a good effort, well done Nick.

Andrew

[batterymaker1]

VERY SHARP!!

[boxdoctor]

Nice one, Nick. Looks very authentic, and an ingenious way of making it too
Well done! Tony.

[Radio Wrangler]

Neat!

The printing looks sharper than the real thing. I had one in 1960 and seeing one is a memory trip.

There's room in one of those boxes for a small SLAB, a charger and a high voltage generator. Just lift off the outer cover to reveal a coiled mains cable for the charger. Have a hidden microwsitch so plugging a wander plug into the -ve post turns on the HV generator.

David

[SurreyNick]

Hi David
Could you elaborate further (in novice speak)? I'm intrigued by what you're saying.
Thanks
Nick

[David G4EBT]

The artwork and the overall result is first class Nick - can't believe you did it using MS Word, and without a scan, from just a few e-bay pics.

[Radio Wrangler]

Sorry if I was a bit too terse.

You quote 400 to 800mA-hours capacity for the little PP3 batteries. Stick thirteen of them in series and you have 120v and still have 400 to 800mA-hours at that voltage

Let's say 600mA-hours and 9 volts for each PP3. So we have 0.6 amp-hours times 9 volts times 3600 seconds = 19440 joules of energy in each PP3. A watt is a rate of flow of energy.... one joule per second. 19440 sounds rather a lot, but it means the battery would give one watt output for only 5.4 hours. There are a lot of seconds in an hour.

Thirteen batteries strung in series will give 117 volts. This is 0.6*117*3600 = 252720 joules and 1 watt from the whole lot at 117v will drain them in 70.2 hours, though you could probably get a radio to work longer as the voltage falls further. At a rough estimate of 2 watts (17mA at 117v) for a radio, the battery group would last about 35 hours.

Now let's throw the same maths at your PP9. Nine volts and 4.5 amp-hours is 4.5 times 9 times 3600 = 145800 joules. The little switch-mode voltage converter is going to be about 80% efficient so you'll get 116640 joules.... about half what your bank of PP3s would do, so the playing time will be halved.

So how about plan B?

You can get Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLABs) in all sorts of sizesand there are also some rather nice gel-cells around (General Electric 'Cyclon' cells)

I have a couple of 7.5 amp hour 12v lead acid batteries. That's 7.5*12*3600 = 324000 joules. Say 80% efficiency from the voltage converter and that's 260,000 or about 36 hours at 2 watts, and you can re-charge the thing from the mains. A long time ago I compared the price of electricity from the mains and from a small carbon-zinc cell. The cell was 9000 times more expensive! so rechargeable batteries have a lot going for them.

Inside the space of your 120v Winner, you could fit a battery of various types of cells. D-size nickel-metal hydride would be good and would be less worrying than the Sulphuric acid in lead-acid cells. And you'd get around the same capacity.

You can also make switch-mode voltage converters that reduce voltage, so the same battery could power the filaments of your set... reducing the battery life further, but they are re-chargeable, so that's OK.

You'd still have space inside that Winner to stow the charger and cable for re-charging your battery.

Once you're using re-chargeable batteries, there is a lot of current available. Take care. They can make stainless watch straps and bracelets go hot enough to lose your hand. Using voltage converters will allow you to have current limiting at the high voltage side of things.

And your gorgeous battery outer would fit over the lot.

David

[SurreyNick]

Thanks David

You weren't terse at all. It's just you're dealing with a novice so the more simple and detailed the explanation the quicker I can learn. It's not just laziness either. With a lot of posts on the forum I have to spend considerable time deciphering and getting my head around what is said before I can do research to understand it properly. Something as simple as an acronym; SLAB for example, I have to decipher first! Ignorance is not bliss )

Anyway, The good news is I understood this last post of yours Nice idea too. I might just try it when the bank of PP3s and PP9 die out.

I posted a thread a while back about the playing life of the 120v HT battery and various suggestions were made. So, based on that feedback I built this mock-up with the three power supply options shown. Now I can get a proper measure under strict test conditions. If anyone is interested I will post the results in a few months time - or perhaps even a year if they last that long! I will then look at other options, including yours.

I really appreciate the help and advice I get from forum members. It's a fascinating subject, and so many aspects of study too. Fab!

Thanks again

Nick

[SurreyNick]

Originally Posted by David G4EBT

The artwork and the overall result is first class Nick - can't believe you did it using MS Word, and without a scan, from just a few e-bay pics.

Thanks David. That's very kind of you.
I would have done it in Adobe Illustrator, but since stopping work I don't have a copy to use. I would recommend it to anyone though, even an early version, such as Adobe Creative Suite III. It's excellent.
Fortunately I am a very experienced MS Office user and can get a heck of a lot out of all the programs.They are capable of a lot more than people realise
Nick

[Radio Wrangler]

Hi Nick.

There's a very wide spectrum of people on here, from absolute beginners to those with countless decades of experience, so it's quite difficult to decide how to phrase things and what depth to go into.

I'm a professional designer, I spent 30 years at Hewlett-Packard designing test equipment, and the last 8 years have been spent designing radar devices to connect aircraft into anti-collision and air traffic control systems. There are some areas of electronics I don't know my way around, and also a heck of a lot of other areas beyond electronics where I'm at beginner level (if that!)

The stuff I learned wasn't hard and I'm certain that almost anyone else could do it if they had the time and the inclination. So I'm delighted if I can help anyone in the areas I know about, and I'm grateful for the help I get in areas where I'm just a raw novice.

Before the internet, there were books and magazines and you had to find a way to make things understandable for yourself. With the internet, things are easier, but you have to filter out a lot of twaddle that gets peddled around. There seems to be a theory that if enough people say something often enough, it seems to become true.

I do some serious photography and I avoid a certain software like the plague, it seems carefully designed to trap users and to force them to keep buying and buying the same thing over again. Don't they feel like involuntary blood-donors?

David

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by SurreyNick

Something as simple as an acronym; SLAB for example, I have to decipher first! Ignorance is not bliss

I must admit, SLAB is a new one on me too, though the context gave it away. I have come across VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid) which is a common type of SLAB

[SurreyNick]

Oops!
Sorry David. I wasn't having a pop at you. If it came across that way then please accept my apology.
Nick

[Radio Wrangler]

It didn't come across that way at all!

I'm now wondering why people now seem to think that I think....

David

[SurreyNick]

Just me being over sensitive and misunderstanding what you were saying David. Don't give it another moment's thought
Your knowledge, experience and input is most gratefully received.
Nick

[Station X]

One post moved to a new thread here:-

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=107410

[marconi_pete]

Originally Posted by SurreyNick

My thanks go to the various forum members who contributed information and advice which helped me produce this actual size mock-up 120 volt HT battery for use with my Etronic WB430 battery operated receiver. In particular to Peter (marconi_pete) for his invaluable advice on the use of a Nixie Clock (step-up) Power Supply module and also to Tony (camtechman) for supplying me with the Clix split pin plugs.

Hi nick
Nice work on the Replica winner battery. Those nixie PSU's do come in quite handy for making replica batteries. They also have a separate 5 volt tap which can be altered and used for the LT supply on many battery operated sets too.