Power to the Super Rebound

Some days ago I bought a Tyco Super Rebound at eBay. The Super Rebound is a toy, it's a remote controlled car driven by a rechargable battery.

The car is really fun. But because the car is used and the batteries are old, the capacity of the batteries do not last long. I needed to recharge often. I thought about buying a new battery pack. The thing is that the battery pack is very special. I got a shock seeing the prices, around 29,-$. I took a look at the batteries and found out that these things are poor nicad types. The capacity is rather low and nicad batteries are likely to have the memory effect. Then I took a look at the charger ... oh no, it was one of those cheap and simple constant current chargers. These beasts kill the batteries!

So I decided to buy some nimh batteries with mre than 2500mAh capacity. More as twice the capacity of the original ones. To keep the batteries in good shape I also bought a charger that works with delta voltage charging. Using this charger it is possible to charge the batteries in short time without destroying them.

You need:
- soldering iron
- cutter
- proxxon (or dremel)
- glue

BTW. the "Reading Man" is one of my greatest supporters! He always knows how to do things and he tells me .. ;-)

Step 1: Removing the old cells

First of all you needed to break the plastic case of the battery pack. I don't like to dremel .. I like to proxxon .. ;-)
Cut the case along the side and cut deep enough so that you can see the cells inside. Do only cut the main plastic case not the cut the hinges. Because you can not cut the case complete the rest has to be done by putting a screwdriver in the slit and break the case. Be careful but steady ;-)
Take out the batteries and remove the wires.

Step 2: Preparing the new battery pack

Now solder the new battery pack. Soldering of batteries is not the easiest task. Be shure not to put to much heat on them. Batteries don't like that. Use short soldering time, work slowly and let the batteries cool down.

All batteries need to be put in series. We like to get 7.2 V out of six batteries with 1.2 V each.
Put attention to the polarity of the batteries and the connectors. On the plastic case you can see a small + and a small -.
The new batteries fit exactly into the case. I used AA size batteries, NIMH with 2700 mAh capacity and 1.2 V cell voltage.

After putting everything back into the case, close it. Pay attention to the small guiding slids!
Fix it with glue.

Step 3: Modifying the charger

As you can see in the picture, the charger is a really cheap module. A real batter killer! The only thing that is worthy is the case, because the special battery pack for the Super Rebound fits exactly into it.

To be shure that no one ever puts the charger into the power socket ... I cut of the pins. Now I can lay it on a table beside of the new charger.
I removed the cheap charging parts and soldered some wires on the contacts to connect the new charger.
The new charger is connected via a small power plug. On the picture you can see a test setup. I did not have a power plug by hand ...

After charging I put the new battery pack into the car and ... whow ... more power than ever!

Comments

[ralf-instructables]

I have decided to modify my rebound for the use of lipo-accus - I've just modified an old rebound accu so that I could put a 2s 1300mah lipo in it. Works flawlessly.

[rc trucks man]

I find this website quite good for batteries, chargers, radio equipment etc, very reasonably priced:
www.nitrotek.co.uk
Maplin is quite good for most things (not radio equipment)but can be a little expensive
rc tanks fan

[frickelkram]

By the way ... is someone out there who added white LEDs to the car? I try to add the LEDs so that the "light" goes on while driving forward (whatever direction forward is ... ;-). Think of what to do if the car turned upside down ... is there a need to add a sensor that can detect where actually "forward" is ??? Then add another pair of white LEDs and use these as front lights? ). After adding the white ones it would be nice to add red ones in case of stopping the car ... brake lights :-) After that also yellow ones could be added to show the direction in case of driving in circles ... ohhh I should'nt think of that ... there seems to be no end ... ;-)

[zack247]

if you havent found a solution yet, get some of those cheap glass lightbulbs from cheap dolar store toys. they look like small glass bulbs and can have voltage run in either direction so they would be perfect for attaching to the motor directly. you may need a resistor though.

[somethingsaurus]

I have one of these cars too.  Unfortunately, I lost the remote.  Any advice on how to get that project off the ground would be good.

[jongscx]

Buy another RC tank, rip the control circuits out and transplant them...

That, or look for someone selling just the remote. These usually used only one or possibly two different frequencies (that's why you could never race your friends with the same kind of car), so buying another one would probably work.

[SlugFest23]

Also if you are after a few cheap parts you can contact some of the main RC sites for spares. I got some parts for RC Tanks here. Good luck!

[the gizmoman]

Instead of nimh try using lipo batteries they are lighter and more powerful then nimh

[jongscx]

And also explode if charged incorrectly... I think his objective here was just to return the toy back to working condition with what he had on hand or at least improve it without taking that much effort.

Yes, LiPO would be a lot better technically... but he'd have to buy new cells, a battery mgmt system, and a charger or at least design the last two...

[rapidprototyping]

Wally

[joeofloath]

I had an origianl rebound. I found it after 10 years in the loft, and rebuilt it with an 8 cell ni-cad pack from another model (original was 5 cell). It went about 25mph, was indestructible, and would climb anything. It got boring when I bought a hobby grade RC though (as well as one of the motors slowly dieing and it driving in lazy circles), and I chucked it.

[stunami]

Wow! I've been wondering about how to go about this exact same thing with my RC motorcycle! Thanks!

[beackmaniax]

cool !
how much does it last without recharging?

[marko9871]

HI... I just found original Rebound 4x4 in my closet. It was there for some years and i remember that battery was rly bad and i stoped using it... After some time on google i found that artcile and its rly great... But i have problem... My Rebound have difrent type battery (chek image). Does someone know if the are 6AA bateries inside to?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/717P2Z1BTML._SL500_AA280_.gif

PS: bad english :)

[fishgish509]

thats not bad english

[electronicfreak22]

Is it possible to destroy alkaline batteries when you solder them?

[frickelkram]

Yes, it is! Try it and you'll find out that they have less capacity. If you store batteries in "worm" places they also lose capacity. Put a battery on the backseat of you car. Drive around in the sun. After some days the battery is empty.

[_soapy_]

He means "warm".

Self-discharge is an issue with most batteries. Higher temps cause it to happen faster, and some batteries lose all charge if allowed to get below 0oC.

Least self discharge

---

Non-rechargable Lithium Iron (10 year shelf life)
Rechargable Lithium ion (over 1 year with no noticable effect)
Alkaline (about 4 years)
NiMh (not sure, a few months?)
Sealed Lead-Acid (about 3 months)
Lead Acid (About 3 months until dead)
NiCd (often a few weeks!)

---

Most self-discharge

Comments and corrections welcome!

[frickelkram]

Yes ... "warm" not "worm" ... ;-) What about LiPo batteries. I thought about taking some of them but I think they are to difficult to handle for my 6yo son. Are there chargeres available that make it possible to handle them as easy and safe as NiCd or NiMh?

[arikyeo]

most problably...no. Just buy a Canon camera battery NB-4/5L (dat's LIoN not LiPo) and get the external charger and wire the charging terminals of the charger to any male jack that supports it and wire the terminals of the battery to a matching female jack. It worked for me and I did dat cus' I got the set when I traded in my old camera for a new one and forgot to include the battery pack set. Luckily Canon did not run a big chase with me over it. :-}

[_soapy_]

Not that I know of. I don't really know much about these highest powered batteries (weight-for-weight). I'd advise looking at the micro-flier websites, as the very small light aircraft guys run these batteries very hard, and demand the best from them. I've seen quite a few explosions from them being abused, both in charge and discharge, though. Probably not something for your 6yo to play with!

[theRIAA]

nice clean up there... if i was gona mod an electric car i would probly just tabe some extra batteires on it.... *flashback*, OH YEA, once i had one of those super tiny RCs and i taped 2 AAs on the side and wired it up (like 3 times the volts), it went SUPER FAST!!!!... so naturaly... i took the AAs off straped a 9-volt on top, wired it directly to the motor and batery, adn DAMN!!!! it DID DOUGHNUTS ON CARPET!!! it was INSANE... then... i sment burning and it didnt woek anymore D:

[arikyeo]

dat did happen to me once. I wired a 2CR2 battery onto a R/C car which was supposed to use only 2xAAAA batteries and it shorted out and turned into a greeeeeeeaaaaat display of a multi-coloured light show!!! :-)

[frickelkram]

sounds straight .... ;-) I prepared the car for my littel son, and he should be able to use the toy easy.

[arikyeo]

Wont it short out the car? Ive tried it, changing form the default batteries(600mAh, niCd) to mine(2700mAh, NiMh).It worked for a min., thenthe car was so hot it stopped working!!!

[FRIO ECUADOR]

Hey! nice work, I'been working too with mine. I'm adapting the super rebound tx/rx with another r/c vehicle. I'd like to ask you a small favor. Recently unmounting the rx I've just cut the antenna and now I don't know where is it supposed to be soldered on. It would be very nice if you can check your rebound and help me. thanx!

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I try to get rc cars with normal AA batteries so I do not have to do things like this.

[sadunpererarules]

haha. The tyco rebound is the best RC car ever made! i had one when i was 7 about 8 years ago. did u know it is waterproof?, trust me...it is

[Myself]

Soldering to batteries is a good way to kill them, you got lucky! Search for "capacitave discharge spot welder" projects on the net. If you rebuild a lot of battery packs you might want to build one of these.

[frickelkram]

Here is a link where Bruce took a detailed look on soldering versus welding.
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/bhabbott/straps.html

[frickelkram]

I know, that soldering of batteries is dangerous. You have to be quick during soldering not to destroy them. I did that many times .. and yes .. some of the batteries where destroyed. It would be much better to take the ones with the soldering tails on them. But I found only batteries that where a little bit thicker than the ones I needed, they did not fit. I decided to take the risk ... But after all, you're right.

[arikyeo]

Just use wire glue!!! It works!!!

[Punkguyta]

I bought a similar car, except it was one of those ones with three wheels, one big inflatable green one. It was really cool, but I agree, the chargers they include with those things are the shitterz. I should do this to mine.

[SlimJim]

Reading Man? That looks more like "Bill Dotreeb" from King of the Hill. Cool instructable.

[Punkguyta]

I'd agree

[frickelkram]

I don't know where the man comes from ... I don't know his real name. For me it's the "reading man". I never saw the film, but I'll buy me a copy and have a look at it. Thank's for the hint ...

[icanryme2002]

its not a movie and hes to thin to be bill dotreave

[frickelkram]

Finally I found out ... He is a figure sold by Bullyland. Today the colors are others than the ones of my old figure. He has no name, only an article code ...
http://www.spielzeug-guenstig.de/schleich/__Bully%20Passagier%20sitzend%20%20ohne%20Bank%20__B59362_2__03.06.html

[evmatthew]

What makes you think the old batteries you removed were NiCd instead of NiMH? The Super Rebound was the first of Tyco's toys to make use of the then-new TMH pack, which is supposed to contain NiMH batteries. They just get tired after a few years. Great instructable! I now plan to do this to several of my TMH packs! (I have many of them!)

[frickelkram]

Hi evmatthew, you're right. They could be NiMH also. I just guessed, but after your posting I checked the old ones. There is no sign on them that tells anything about the battery type. Is there a measurement method to find out what sort of battery they are? There is no way to find out using electronic measurement methods, as far as I know. Is it possible to open the batteries and find out by simple chemical testing?