What The FX Pocket Chrono Should Have Been - Rechargable

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douger said:
real barrels now? i got few guns they all got barrels
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Yeah normal gun barrels with enough material to support their own weight, not some thin tubing that requires a bunch of orings in a barrel housing or layers of carbon fiber tubing over it to stop the droop or regular POI shift. You remember when FX gave you a new .22 impact for free and you sold it almost immediately because in your words "it's not my thing." Well the fx barrels aren't my thing. I do like the rest of the gun though.
 
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heavy-impact said:
I hate buying disposable batteries and I've heard the FX pocket chronograph really eats the AAA money wasters so I modernized it.

I desoldered and removed the 6 battery connectors from the main pcb and removed the plastic battery tray portion from the case and battery compartment cover with a rotary tool. Insulated the back of the pcb with a foam sheet and wired in a 124050 3200mah Li-Po battery pack with integrated bms and added a charge port.

Capacity for three AAA Duracell batteries in series is 970mah vs 3200mah for the Li-Po pack so I'll have about triple the run time now and be able to recharge at least 1000 times.

The battery cost me $8.70 delivered from virusland. FX could've had them built this way for about $2 more per unit. FX stopped including the tripod base also so I had to 3D print one.

Link to battery pack. Link to 3d printable bipod base file

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Great Idea.
 
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heavy-impact said:
I hate buying disposable batteries and I've heard the FX pocket chronograph really eats the AAA money wasters so I modernized it.

I desoldered and removed the 6 battery connectors from the main pcb and removed the plastic battery tray portion from the case and battery compartment cover with a rotary tool. Insulated the back of the pcb with a foam sheet and wired in a 124050 3200mah Li-Po battery pack with integrated bms and added a charge port.

Capacity for three AAA Duracell batteries in series is 970mah vs 3200mah for the Li-Po pack so I'll have about triple the run time now and be able to recharge at least 1000 times.

The battery cost me $8.70 delivered from virusland. FX could've had them built this way for about $2 more per unit. FX stopped including the tripod base also so I had to 3D print one.

Link to battery pack.
5.5x2.1mm charge port
Charger / AC adapter
Link to 3d printable bipod base file

View attachment 206609View attachment 206620

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You did an amazing job with this! Did you just drill a hole in the side and insert the charging port? It’s hard to see in your pictures.
 
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BOOMBBQ said:
You did an amazing job with this! Did you just drill a hole in the side and insert the charging port? It’s hard to see in your pictures.
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Yes and this is the only good spot for it. I wanted to do USB-c but it would've been more complicated due to the footprint of available ports at the time so I kept it simple. When it comes to tools I'm a firm believer in form follows function.
 
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1shooter said:
I prefer replaceable rather than built in as batteries can go bad and tool less is best
Like to see common batteries like aa,aaa as I have those around. I use Rechargable eneloops and try not to use the chrony too long as its for testing and confirming but I prefer shooting…
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If a built in battery goes bad you change it just like the expensive throw away batteries that definitely go bad after a few hours. This li-po pack isn't built in though. I could literally swap this battery in two minutes but I'll never have to since it's good for thousands of cycles each lasting 4x longer than the best throw away batteries.
I guess there are some who prefer to ride a horse since cars can go bad.
nut[1].gif
 
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+1 on replaceable batteries, just should be batteries that make sense, why the pocket chrono do not have a 18650 battery i will never know.
There are also more square solutions for various cameras,,,,, without it have to be a raw 1 or 2 cell lipo pack in the nude.

I must admit though these batteries like seen in Gopro cameras or my own Osmo action camera + way more action / palm /dslr cameras, well never impressed me.
I would gladly take a slightly larger and heavier action camera to get a replaceable 18650 battery with 3-3500 MAH VS the 2000 or so batteries you get in them today.
Also i would feel more at ease with a round screw in with a coin lid VS the hatch on some "waterproof " cameras today.
 
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Nice hack!

If I had a new FX Chrono and didn't want to chop it up until the warranty was over, I would just use AAA Lithium rechargeables. I use rechargeable AA AAA and AAA NMH and Lithium batteries in all my stuff that requires those sizes. A good rechargeable AAA or AA will last several years. The charger I use will recharge NMH, NiCad, Lithium and also standard alkaline batteries. Once my remaining rechargeable NMH batteries are toast I will stick with just Lithium.
 
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My FX chrono is of the first batch shipped here in the US and it took me a year to realized that after about half battery life the chrono was becoming erratic and inconsistent, until I put new alkaline in. Lasted about two weeks with my test work. I started using rechargeable lithium's and get 4 times the use between charges. Inconsistent and eratic went away as well. The linier power delivery of the lithium is a key reason. Paid for themselves many times over.

Patrick
 
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