Party Q on AC power


 

Greg Powers

TVWBB Super Fan
Like others, I've found that battery life on the Party Q is less than desirable. In my limited experience, Alkaline batteries will do an entire cook but are not reliable for a second, and rechargeable batteries don't like cooler temperatures. I am a functionalist, more concerned with results than appearance. I'm sure the wires coming from the battery pack could be tapped into fairly easily and would make a better looking setup.
I found a AC power supply in my bag full of old units that supplies 5V at 2.6A. I cut off the end, figured out the positive and negative and installed alligator clips. With the back removed from the battery compartment I can clip on the adapter and run the Party Q on AC.
I'll be doing a cook this weekend and will be doing further testing then.
 
Friday evening I put alkaline batteries in the PartyQ that had run about 6 hours previously, they lasted less than an hour. So I tried fully charged rechargeable batteries and they did not even light up the display screen. So I hooked up my adapter, and other than once when I stepped on a wire and pulled the alligator clip off it work flawlessly. So today I found some parts and put in a permanent AC adapter. The positive wire is soldered to the existing positive wire and the negative wire is soldered to the empty terminal of the switch. This turns the switch from an off/on to a Batt/AC, with on being battery and off being AC power. It does work both ways. I didn't take a picture of the inside but here is the finished product:
 

 

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