Can you boost 3.6v to a higher voltage?

[Nothing Norml]

Ok, so i made an altoids box mod with a 510 connector a switch and a 3 aa battery box with on off switch.

Currently it new so i tested it with 3 regular old 1.5v aa batts and it works great, but with rechargeables that run 1.2v each battery so ill only be getting 3.6v. I want to use these regular rechargeables as they are much easier to find and i have shorter charge times.

so question is,

Can i boost 3.6v to a higher voltage say 4.5 or 5 and then use a regulator to get a constant voltage? many thanks.

heres some pics, in the first pic my second wire running from the switch to the center post of the atty is black wire but is positive, just only had a short black wire left to use.

Thanks,

NothingNorml

ps, this is only my 3rd mod n i have no previous electrical knowledge or soldering skill as you can see lol

 

[Kurt]

Others can jump in here. My first thought about this is...nice job!! In theory adding more batteries will increase your voltage, of course. That said, the regular batteries or Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries are not designed to take the high current load of attys, which for this one will be around 1.5 Amps. This drains the batteries very quickly, and will render your rechargeables dead and unable to recharge much sooner than in most AA devices. This is why people use Li-ion batteries, since the electrochemical battery material is much more stable to high current draws. You will drain your batts pretty fast using regular AAs. But it is a nice piece of mod-work, for sure!

 

[rolygate]

Yes this has been done, apparently with success: search in the Modders section for The Puck (which is the guy's username plus the name of his mod). He uses 4 x standard rechargeables, giving 4.8 volts, so there is no need for a regulator. The mod is constructed of two 4-cell batt holders back-to-back, with the batts in one and the switch etc in the other, so it's like a square block. He uses AAA cells but AA seems a better idea if you can get the 4 cell holder (or use 2 x 2). He also fits a variable-color LED to show charge voltage, so you can tell how the batts are doing.

It seems the crux of the matter is: do the batts perform as required? According to him these batts work fine, the charge holds up the same as Li-ion and the batts last as long, too. For some reason this type of mod is not popular. Not sure why, if it works.