Hi All,

I have a particular requirement for a project which i am having some trouble designing.
Scope;
System is to be powered by 2 separate banks of 4xAA cells in series (lets call them Bank_A and Bank_B.)
The system must be able to operate in a series configuration (Bank_A in series with Bank_B), and have 'hot-swapping' capability to change the configuration on the fly to both banks in series with each other.

I have tried using a discrete approach with MOSFETs to either have the GND of bank B (lGND_B) to be connected to GND_A, along with VBAT_A and VBAT_B going to a common VBAT - giving a parallel. Then switching GND_B to VBAT_A, and VBAT_B only going to VBAT.
This method has proved to give very strange results and shorts...

Is there any good devices that could be used for this sort of application?
The system could take up to 10W on average, so relatively high power for a AA's.

Any advice or ideas for devices to use would be greatly appreciated.

This is my first post here, so look forward to being in the community and hopefully assist other with any issues!
Thanks!

 

Welcome to AAC!

System is to be powered by 2 separate banks of 4xAA cells in series (lets call them Bank_A and Bank_B.)
The system must be able to operate in a series configuration (Bank_A in series with Bank_B), and have 'hot-swapping' capability to change the configuration on the fly to both banks in series with each other.

Your use of series is confusing. If you have multiple battery sources for a common circuit, the sources would need to be in parallel.

What do you mean by "change the configuration on the fly"?

A block diagram of your proposed wiring configuration might be better.

 

Hi All,

I have a particular requirement for a project which i am having some trouble designing.
Scope;
System is to be powered by 2 separate banks of 4xAA cells in series (lets call them Bank_A and Bank_B.)
The system must be able to operate in a series configuration (Bank_A in series with Bank_B), and have 'hot-swapping' capability to change the configuration on the fly to both banks in series with each other.

I have tried using a discrete approach with MOSFETs to either have the GND of bank B (lGND_B) to be connected to GND_A, along with VBAT_A and VBAT_B going to a common VBAT - giving a parallel. Then switching GND_B to VBAT_A, and VBAT_B only going to VBAT.
This method has proved to give very strange results and shorts...

Is there any good devices that could be used for this sort of application?
The system could take up to 10W on average, so relatively high power for a AA's.

Any advice or ideas for devices to use would be greatly appreciated.

This is my first post here, so look forward to being in the community and hopefully assist other with any issues!
Thanks!

Your narrative description is extremely hard to follow. Can you provide a block diagram and/or schematic so we can understand the requirements?