How to Make an External Battery for a Canon S5
- 1). Buy four NiMH 1.2-volt batteries at an electronics or camera store. Take your Canon S5 along because you also need to buy a power jack that fits the camera's power socket, which is used with external power sources.
- 2). Place the batteries on a workbench with all of them facing the same way. You need to wire the batteries in a series because the S5 needs about five volts to operate. Although the combined voltage from the four NiMH batteries is only 4.8 volts, that is enough to operate the S5 because NiMH batteries produce more amperes than AA alkaline batteries.
- 3). Use a marker to label each battery. Number them one through four. Rotate battery two and battery four 180 degrees so that you have two positive terminals and two negative terminals at each end. This makes wiring in series easier.
- 4). Tape the batteries together tightly with electrical insulating tape. This will hold the batteries together while you wire them.
- 5). Cut two strips of AWG gauge 18 wire about 18 inches long and three strips 1-inch long with a small knife. Mark one of the 18-inch strips with a black marker and the other with a red marker. This identifies the negative and positive wires.
- 6). Use wire strippers to remove ¼-inch of protective plastic from the ends of both the long and short wires. This exposes ¼-inch of inner metal wire.
- 7). Cut five 1-inch strips of electrical insulating tape with a small knife. Place one end of the long wire strip marked in red on the positive terminal of the battery you marked "one." Cover the terminal with a strip of insulating tape and fold the overlapping tape over the sides of the battery so that the wire is securely in place. Place one end of the long wire strip marked in black on the terminal of battery four and cover it with a strip of insulating tape to hold it in place.
- 8). Place one end of a short wire strip on the negative terminal of battery one and attach it with a strip of tape. Attach the opposite end to the positive terminal of battery two. Attach one end of another short wire to the negative terminal of battery two and the opposite end to the positive terminal of battery three. Attach one end of another short wire to the negative terminal of battery three and the opposite end to the positive terminal of battery four.
- 9). Check that all the wires are held firmly in place. Use more insulating tape if needed.
- 10
Place the power jack on the workbench and unscrew the cover. Heat a soldering iron. Slide the cover over the two long wires marked red and black. Put the end of your soldering iron on the exposed end of the black wire and introduce the solder. Let the solder melt so that it coats the metal wire. Remove the soldering iron and let the wire cool. Repeat the process on the red wire. - 11
Place the black wire on the power jack's negative terminal. It is marked "-." Place the soldering iron on the terminal and wire and allow the solder to melt and fuse the two together. Remove the soldering iron and let the power jack cool. Repeat the process to attach the red wire to the power jack's positive terminal. Let the jack cool. Turn off the soldering iron and move it to a safe place. - 12
Slide the power jack cover down the wires once the jack is completely cool. Screw the cover back on the power jack. Insert the power jack in the Canon S5's power socket when you need to use your external battery pack.
