Max Number of Components on a PF Battery Box?

[dhc6twinotter]

Hey all,

So, I'm working on a project, and I need you all's advice. I'm not sure whether I should use 1 or 2 AA battery boxes. Here are the total amount of PF components I will be using on my project:

-3 IR receivers

-2 XL motors

-6 m motors

-Control Switch

-LED lights (maybe)

The 2 XL motors will be doubled up on one of the IR outputs. 5 of the m motors will go to the remaining 5 IR outputs. The last m motor will be wired directly to the battery box via a switch.

3 of the m motors would not be used often...just in brief 2-3 second pulses and will have very little load on them. The 2 XL motors are drive motors and will be used often. The remaining 3 m motors will be used fairly often as well, one of which will have a fair amount of load to it.

I'm extremely tight on space, and my project is getting pretty heavy the way it is. I would prefer to get by on 1 battery box, but I'm not sure it would supply enough power.

Anyway, I'm kinda new to this PF stuff, and any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

Daniel

[Jetro]

The important question is not how many are connected but how many do you plan to use at the same time...

[dhc6twinotter]

The important question is not how many are connected but how many do you plan to use at the same time...

I would have 2 XL motors and 3 m motors running at the same time. Possibly lights as well.

[DLuders]

You're going to need 2 ea. AA battery boxes to power two XL and three Medium motors at once. From the guidance on http://powerfunctions.lego.com/en-us/faq/manymotors.aspx ,

"As a rule of thumb you can drive 2 XL Motors or 4 Medium motors at the same time. The Battery box and the RC receiver are overload protected, so driving too many motors will not damage anything. When overload protection is activated the Battery box or the RC receiver will cut of power

to the output until power consumption drops under the allowed value. To regain power unblock the motor or disconnect motors from the output. The power a motor consumes depends on the load you put on the motor. At a sensible load (what we call nominal load) the motor is most effective. If the motor is blocked it will consume a lot of power. The XL Motor takes about twice as much power as the Medium motor."

[dhc6twinotter]

That's what I figured. Bummer. Good info though. I think I figured out where to add a second battery box, but I'm going to have to do some rebuilding. I'm glad I asked now instead of later.

Thanks!