When lighting a model I try whenever possible to conceal the power source within the model itself (as opposed to running wires into a display base, for example). One obvious problem with this approach is that I'm occasionally unable to find room for a battery compartment within the model, or come up with an "invisible" means by which to seamlessly hide the battery access cover. One thing that might help alleviate these issues is a smaller battery, which brings me at last to my question...

I typically use 9V batteries for my generally simple lighting needs, but is there something smaller I could use that would generate a comparable power output? As you may have guessed I'm something of a novice when is comes to lighting and wiring, but there must be some sort of battery out there that would take up less room inside the model while at the same time generating energy comparable to a 9V...

You can get a 12v battery that is used in car alarm key chains, it's about the diameter of a "aaa" battery and only half the length. I think they are made by Duracell, I used to get them at Radio shack.
I'm not sure what they are rated at for milliamps but they are small enough that you could use more than one if necessary.

Didn't know about those... there seem to be two sizes of 12v miniature batteries, a23 and a27. The larger of the two, a23 is about 55mAh but a pretty swift voltage drop as it wears out. It seems they stack button cells to make 12V.

Compare the spec sheets for the 12V a23 and a typical 9V:
a23 (http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/a23.pdf)
9V (http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/522.pdf)

Looks like the 9V package has about 10 times the capacity. I guess it depends on how far it has to fly on its own power.

Would it be possible to use a a cell phone battery? I don't think they have very high voltage (3.6v?), but they are usually thinner than a 9v battery.

The other option might be looking into the type of rechargeable batteries used in micro r/c helicopters.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

All things considered, finding a smaller substitute for the venerable 9V may be harder than I thought.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

All things considered, finding a smaller substitute for the venerable 9V may be harder than I thought.

Hello Rob, It all depends on what kind of circuit your running, some custom jobs I have used micro RC lipo batteries, these are small & compact & rechargable. The run 7.3 Volts @ 800mA, dont last as long as a 9 volt but do save space. Call me if like if you would like some more info on this set up?

Thanks
Randy Neubert
VoodooFX
650-568-3400
www.voodoofx.com

Thanks, Randy. I'll be in touch.