Ok, so I built this kit. It's very simple and I've made it before. You just have to solder wires to the geophone and plug everything in to the circuit (which is already built). This time around though, I decided to try something a little different by adding an on/off switch to the device. I bought this switch from Radioshack. I soldered a 9v battery clip to the switch and then also a wire to both the positive and negative ends. I plugged the wires into the circuit.
When I tested it out, it worked fine at first. But then when I turned it off, I noticed the 9V battery (an Energizer; I'll get to why that matters in a second) got super hot. So I of course unplugged it. Here's where it gets really weird. I tested it again later with the battery outside of the project box I had everything in thinking maybe connections were touching. The battery was fine, but this time around I used a Duracell battery. I plugged two different Energizer batteries in then and they both got hot while the Duracell remained cool. The only thing I can think of is that the Duracell battery that was ok I had used for other devices before. Could it have worked because it's not at full power while the Energizers were right out of the box? And if that is the case, would I just have to add a resistor onto the switch to make it stay cool?
When I tested it out, it worked fine at first. But then when I turned it off, I noticed the 9V battery (an Energizer; I'll get to why that matters in a second) got super hot. So I of course unplugged it. Here's where it gets really weird. I tested it again later with the battery outside of the project box I had everything in thinking maybe connections were touching. The battery was fine, but this time around I used a Duracell battery. I plugged two different Energizer batteries in then and they both got hot while the Duracell remained cool. The only thing I can think of is that the Duracell battery that was ok I had used for other devices before. Could it have worked because it's not at full power while the Energizers were right out of the box? And if that is the case, would I just have to add a resistor onto the switch to make it stay cool?