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bostitch42 September 10 2013, 06:11:10 UTC
Personally I wouldn't use AAs; you need 3 of them for a 5V fan, or 8 for a 12V fan; that's quite a lot of weight. There are really lightweight LiPo battery packs for 12V that will last a very long time powering just a fan.
If you do use AAs, be sure to remove them as soon as you're done suiting, and never leave them stored inside the head. They leak very easily, and you really don't want to ruin your head that way.

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lugiacollector September 10 2013, 06:39:59 UTC
Ohhhhh. So 8 AA's compares to using 1 9v battery? Would a 9 volt be likely to leak also? ^_^
Edit: Uh... I see that 1 AA is 1.5v and 1 9v is 9v XD lols i'm still learning.

*bows* Thank you!

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bostitch42 September 10 2013, 07:43:13 UTC
A regular 9V block is just as likely to leak as an AA, yes.

It's possible to run a 12V fan on 9V (as low as 5 to 6 V might even work), but it will lose a lot of it's power. And also produce less noise - find a combination that works best for your situation.
As long as you wire them serially (positive to negative pole), you can just add up the voltages of regular batteries.

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fyremoon September 11 2013, 22:47:55 UTC
A non-rechargeable AA battery is 1.5V, but a rechargeable is 1.2V. Something to bear in mind that multiple batteries may not give you the desired voltage.

You need 10xAA rechargeables to make the same voltage as 8xAA non-rechargeables.

The same goes for 9V batteries, where the rechargeable is a multiple cell version of a 1.2V battery so it can only provide 8.4V.

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fyremoon September 12 2013, 11:37:19 UTC
Something to also consider is the storage capacity of the battery. Each battery has a storage capacity measured in Ah (Amps per hour) or mAh (milliamps per hour) which tells you how long the battery will last depending on how heavily the battery is used.

A group of AA batteries are larger than a 9V battery so have more storage capacity and hence will last much longer.

LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries differ from conventional batteries because they are rolled out flat and are made from modern chemicals that allow them to store more. Each cell gives 3.7V and 3 cells give 11.1V, enough to comfortably drive a fan and a set of LEDs for hours.

However, unlike traditional batteries you have to handle LiPo batteries differently. They need their own charger and must not be exposed to excessive heat; short circuits or water because they will expand, get extremely hot and explode.

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