MOD: 4511 & 7740 Power Functions AA Battery Box (Orange Switch)

[Luke_likes_Lego]

Hi Everyone,

Many PF users would be familiar with this battery box:

Pro's :

Takes AA batteries (6xAA should last longer than 6xAAA)

Cheap (about 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of the AAA 8x4x4 version)

I seem to have lots of spares

Cons:

Awkward shape

Too large to fit in the 'compartment' section of most trains

Not many studs

Anyway, as I had some of these battery boxes sitting around, and I wanted to convert my:

7740 12V to PF; and

4511 9V to PF

using the 9V motor with PF attachment, I have made the following attempts and shown the approach below with some pictures.

Please take note.... I'm not suggesting this is better or even equivalent to using the AAA or rechargeable battery box......

....just something I have done to make use of my AA battery boxes . Hopefully it might be useful to someone !!

4511: World City High Speed Train

New Carriage:

Tha AA battery box revealed:

Held in place by four pins in each end (and gravity):

And the flawless (get it? ) reason this battery fits :

7740: Inter-City Passenger Train

I'm not as pleased with the look of this one - which is a bit over utilitarian....but hey...on a practical level it does the job !!

Roof is modified in the front for the IR receiver and in the rear for the protrusion of the battery:

The switch is integrated into the pantograph, which slides into the three different positions (camera also shows my 1x6 black plate in need of a good clean ):

Removal is easy enough:

From the rear:

All the best. Please feel free to fire any questions at me. I have the lights working in the 4511 and my next project is to do the equivalent in the 7740.

Cheers

LLL

Edited November 19, 2012 by TheBrickster
Edited title as requested.

[Locomotive Annie]

That's really clever LLL. I particularly like what you did with the passenger coach and I can see myself doing something similar to that.

[Electricsteam]

Ha Ha Ha I like what you did with the passenger coach , It really got me when I first saw the picture but still amazing and I may do this also