Duane
Well-Known Member
So while wiring up my dash gauges and thinking ahead on the rest of my wiring,
I decided to get out my eliminator practice tree as part of my wiring plan in the race car is to be able to use my actual steering wheel transbrake switch wired into the practice tree.
I went to start studying the connections on the tree to figure out the wiring.
I usually have been using the tree running on 4 C size batteries. I noticed the battery health gauge was showing my batteries to be low but the unit was still functioning perfect. A quick check with my voltmeter showed the batteries actually measuring 1.2 volts. Hmmm 1.2 x4 is 4.8 volts and the unit still works. Usb voltage is 5.0 volts.
And so the wheels started turning.
I had a female usb cord already. A quick check on google showed the red and black wires are red is power and black as ground, the other two are data which I did not need.
So I took the back cover off the tree and got out the soldering iron and my dremel.
The pics are self explanatory. I have many Ryobi tools and rechargeable batteries.
Some of those tools also have a usb port. The pic of the tree plugged into my Ryobi Bluetooth radio will be my in the trailer setup.
Listen to the track broadcast on FM while taking a few practice hits all running off a Ryobi
Rechargeable battery.
This newest version of the eliminator has two distinctly different power inputs and draws very little current. The tree can be powered off ac, 12 volt dc, 4c size batteries and now usb. The modification does not interfere with the ability to still use C size batteries because of where I put the usb cord. I cannot say if this mod will work on older versions of the tree, but works perfectly on the newest one.
The voltage gauge as expected reads that the batteries are low at 5 volts, but it is still high enough for the unit to operate just fine. Perhaps other will find this useful.
I decided to get out my eliminator practice tree as part of my wiring plan in the race car is to be able to use my actual steering wheel transbrake switch wired into the practice tree.
I went to start studying the connections on the tree to figure out the wiring.
I usually have been using the tree running on 4 C size batteries. I noticed the battery health gauge was showing my batteries to be low but the unit was still functioning perfect. A quick check with my voltmeter showed the batteries actually measuring 1.2 volts. Hmmm 1.2 x4 is 4.8 volts and the unit still works. Usb voltage is 5.0 volts.
And so the wheels started turning.
I had a female usb cord already. A quick check on google showed the red and black wires are red is power and black as ground, the other two are data which I did not need.
So I took the back cover off the tree and got out the soldering iron and my dremel.
The pics are self explanatory. I have many Ryobi tools and rechargeable batteries.
Some of those tools also have a usb port. The pic of the tree plugged into my Ryobi Bluetooth radio will be my in the trailer setup.
Listen to the track broadcast on FM while taking a few practice hits all running off a Ryobi
Rechargeable battery.
This newest version of the eliminator has two distinctly different power inputs and draws very little current. The tree can be powered off ac, 12 volt dc, 4c size batteries and now usb. The modification does not interfere with the ability to still use C size batteries because of where I put the usb cord. I cannot say if this mod will work on older versions of the tree, but works perfectly on the newest one.
The voltage gauge as expected reads that the batteries are low at 5 volts, but it is still high enough for the unit to operate just fine. Perhaps other will find this useful.
