Our team is in need of a battery (or two) and a quick charger. Ours were taken from us by our sponsor (including our last robot), and now we need some to demonstrate our old robot. They do not have to be legal, and can be old… please help our team out!
Thank You.
Hopkins High School Robotics (used to be the CogSquad)
*Originally posted by AJ Quick *
**Our team is in need of a battery (or two) and a quick charger. Ours were taken from us by our sponsor (including our last robot), and now we need some to demonstrate our old robot. They do not have to be legal, and can be old… please help our team out!Thank You.
Hopkins High School Robotics (used to be the CogSquad) **
Check your local directory or Internet for the nearest Exide distributor to you. Their part number for the battery is ES18-12.
I know that there is a place in Chicago that has the batteries. A motor-cycle shop might have them, they should at least be able to order them.
About the charger, a local Menard’s, Lowe’s, or Home Depot should have them. I know Menard’s had the same charger we used this year on 71.
-Greg The Great
I bought the same style of battery from a website last year to power the running lights on my HobieCat sailboat
I got mine for $48 - cant remember the place I bought it from off the top of my head
if you search on gel-cell or 18AH 12V batteries on the internet, you should be able to find online sales.
If you were a local team we would be happy to give you a pair of our older ones - but something to keep in mind - these batteries have a 3 or 4 year shelf life - so if someone gives you a couple old ones, they might not hold much of a charge.
I could help you with two batteries and a charger but I’m in California. We would need to get them back when you’re done. Shipping would be about $15-$20 each way by FedEx Ground which takes 4 business days. Let me know.
So what’s this about your sponsor taking your stuff?
Also, you can get battery chargers from auto parts stores and you might be able to find batteries at a motorcycle shop or in a computer UPS if you prefer to buy.
*Originally posted by KenWittlief *
** if you search on gel-cell or 19AH 12V batteries on the internet, you should be able to find online sales. **
Just as a note most ones the size we use are 17AH. Exide made special ones for us last year which are 18AH. I have never seen 19AH.
Sorry for two posts in a row but I didn’t want to edit because I thought you might miss it. So:
I found a place about 45 mins away from you that supposedly sells batteries. You might give them a call.
Complete Sales, Inc.
7475 North 15th Street
Oakdale, MN 55128-5512
[email protected]
Tel: 651-731-2923
Fax: 651-731-9238
I found the one I bought for sale on the Yahoo shopping site
Its a Universal Battery UB12180 - $40
search on UB12180 and it pops right up :^)
if you are going to demo your bot, I would get at least one or two new batteries.
www.allelectronics.com has the exact battery’s used at surplus prices, as for charger, go to your autoparts store and pick up a charger from them.
gotta watch those surplus places for lead acid / gelcell batteries
they have a limited shelf life, whether they are being used or not, around 3 to 4 years.
too bad those are the exact batterys FIRST uses
(only reason I revealed my secret supplier, was your case sounded quite needy)
what is the exact battery FIRST uses?!
i searched allelectronics.com and they dont list ANY Exide batterys
?!
I think your secret is still secret :^)
PS - last year FIRST gave us Exide EX18-12 bats - they dont show up anywhere on the web, except on the FIRST site in the team updates.
Well, we can’t help with the battery thing, we’re running on one as it is now. But I do have a question for team’s who’ve bought alternate chargers. I’ve heard teams have gotten charges that charge very fast, and I was curious if anyone could recommend any. Also, will FIRST allow you to use any charger, or just the ones supplied in the latest kit? I thought we could only use the kit chargers. At any rate, it’d still be good for off-season.
Last year you could use any charger as long as it’s charge rate is not higher than the kit charger - 6 amps.
Ah, ok. I don’t think we’ll worry about a different charger then. But we’ll keep in in our minds for later…
*Originally posted by KenWittlief *
**what is the exact battery FIRST uses?!i searched allelectronics.com and they dont list ANY Exide batterys
?!
I think your secret is still secret :^)
PS - last year FIRST gave us Exide EX18-12 bats - they dont show up anywhere on the web, except on the FIRST site in the team updates. **
actually, ur right they were the ones from 2 years ago, yugosuluvi or somthin (they must have sold all there yugosuluvi’s but they have replaced them with almost the same kind)
12volt 17amph, same as 2001
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=160400&item=GC-217&type=store
These batterys are legal for use as of 2003 also
(I had them cleared with FIRST admins)
Although it is 1amph less, you shouldnt see much of a difference, and as for a 2:00 match, it wouldnt make a difference anyways, and wont make any difference for a practice
I was rather looking for a team and their good graces to offer any thing they may have for free. We don’t have a sponsor right now, so money is tight for us. We need them to demonstrate our robot to sponsors, and to show off at Lego league events.
You should recieve a new charger in the kit of parts this year, along with batteries. So if anyone has an extra charger from 2002 (the slow chargers) or before they could give that would be great, same with the batteries.
Any help is appreciated…
If you don’t mind me asking, why the heck did they take your robot? 
yea, thats just cold, they must be really stuck up not to give you atleast one of the batterys…
They own the team… they have everything. We have our 2002 robot still, and are working on that to demonstrate…
Nope they won’t give us anything… and didn’t really give us anything when we were sponsored by them.
I say take 'em to court. Did they specifically have a contract that says anything you buy with money from them is property of theirs? I mean, when you sponsor a team it’s like giving them a donation to do what they want with it. What’s the point of owning everything the team bought because anyone (liek the sponsor) with the money could go buy the stuff without sponsoring a team. You see what I mean? Something just not right about that.
*Originally posted by sanddrag *
**Did they specifically have a contract that says anything you buy with money from them is property of theirs? **
Yes we signed a waiver that said anything produced was theres. Can’t really talk about this guys… or they will take us to court… and you can’t win against one of the largest military suppliers in the US. They’ve got tanks, guns, missiles, and depleated uranium.