Got tired of burning batteries with the frabill aerator...

[shnelson]

So now I plug it in overnight:

A simple $10 fix to this dilemma would be to pick up a fish tank aerator from a local retailer, but I wanted to see what I could do with some scraps I had laying around.

My aerator normally takes 2 D cell batteries, run in series for 3 volts total output. I found an old motorola cell phone charger with a 5 pin usb mini connection, which gave me 5vdc to work with. I also had a handful of spare N4001 diodes laying around (running 3 in series gives me ~2.6-3v under load). These guys will only set you back a few pennies a piece and can be found at your local electronics shop (or in my case, the junk drawer).

I spliced the wire open to find 3 leads: red, black and yellow. Yellow didn't seem to carry anything so I just cut it short, red and black gave the 5v I was looking for. I threw the diodes in line on the positive lead, doctored up some shrink wrap and finished it with some alligator clips.

If you try this yourself, you will see 5v coming from the leads when you throw a voltmeter up to them until you add a load, you should see it drop down below 3v (it will fluctuate, that's the nature of the diodes as this isn't really their intended purpose).

I've had this setup run for a few nights straight now with no adverse effects. Motor still produces plenty of air and hums along quite nice. The diodes will warm up a little bit, but they should never get too hot to touch. When it comes time to fish, my minnows are full of life and more than happy to go to work for me .

Hope someone finds this useful, though I know it is not typical for every ice fisherman to be packing a soldering iron I figured I would share my findings. You can also take a standard USB to 5 pin connector and splice that, giving you a true USB powered aerator .

[BartmanMN]

You come up with the coolest electronic fixes for these things. That is a great idea.

[beer batter]

Very nice Schnelson. I'm always trying to tinker with things to make them work better for my purpose.

Never knew diodes could be used to drop voltage like what you did. Isn't their main purpose to only allow current to flow in one direction? Is there a certain amount of voltage drop per diode, or how did you calculate what you needed for your purpose?

I assume you can still use the aerator with batteries for when you head out fishing - correct?

[McGurk]

Good fix, shnelly. One questions: Are you using diodes or resistors?

[hamms-scooter]

I have been looking at the frabil aerators and think they are nice... will be getting one for on the ice, but like you i dont want to lose my life savings on d batteries. Wondered if there was a wall plug in for it but now i see there is not. You made a nice mod to that one good job! I dont have the stuff for it so i think I will pick up a 6 dollar one for at home also.Nice pics thanks, shnelson

quick question: I see guys like Brian Brosdahl using these aerators on the ice, does it make much difference to have one in the bucket on the ice when they had it all night? Are they much more active? I will be getting both anyways i was just wondering for those of you that use them.

[DTro]

I love these posts, like you say, not your typical solution as you can get a cheap 110v air pump, but....you took what you had and made it work.

The USB option would be killer. You could run a bait tank off your laptop

So, do you now have to option to use either DC or AC?

[walleyeking]

I only use my aerator for about an hour or 2 a day.. I bought my last minnows on Dec 19th, and only a few have died. (other than those I used for fishing)Batteries last most of the season.

[McGurk]

On second thought, why not stop by your friendly Petsmart and pick up a cheapo 110 volt air pump, and use the hose off of your frabill aerator? Probably save the hassle of fabbing, and not be that expensive.

[shnelson]

I'm using diodes for this one, each one gives roughly a .7v drop for a combined total of 2.1v. I suppose resistors could aid in the same function, after all that is what they are for. They might run a little warmer than the diodes though, but you've given me something to test now .

I rigged it up with alligator clips so I could just connect it to the (+) and (-) terminals where the batteries normally go, when it is time to go mobile the clips come out and the batteries go in. It would be easy enough to wire in a permanent dc jack for the aerator so you can avoid the clips - but you want to be careful not to power it while the batteries are in place as they don't like that very much.

I've had my batch of minnows for the last two weeks, I give them a 50% change of water and put them on the aerator each night. I am able to run without it while I am fishing and they seem to get along just fine. It wasn't until yesterday where I started losing a couple, but I think that is because I let the water get a little dingey.

[shnelson]

On second thought, why not stop by your friendly Petsmart and pick up a cheapo 110 volt air pump, and use the hose off of your frabill aerator? Probably save the hassle of fabbing, and not be that expensive.

I think that is the most appropriate solution, only $10 and those puppies are designed to run 24/7 - Yes, I still question the integrity of my setup.. but I haven't started the garage on fire with it yet .

This little project is an indication that I have too much time on my hands...

[wolfman-k]

You are proving that idle time can be the Mother of Invention!

Good idea.

[FrontenacPike]

quick question: I see guys like Brian Brosdahl using these aerators on the ice, does it make much difference to have one in the bucket on the ice when they had it all night? Are they much more active? I will be getting both anyways i was just wondering for those of you that use them.

Big difference in minnow life and activity. Fish need o2 and when they have a good supply of it they stay much more active. Thus this transfers to once you hook a minnow on and use him as bait. When I'm on the lake and I see my minnows start sufacing and gasping for air, i turn my bubbler on for a few minutes. Once I get home I use a chepo bubbler from walmart that runs off electricity. You will notice a big difference in activity and die off.

[motley man]

Put that on the market

[ZEEK1223]

Um, can you repeat the part of the stuff where you said all about the ... things?