# Talking Boris and a walwart?



## Death Wraith (Mar 23, 2006)

I'd like to free Boris from his addiction to batteries. He uses 4 AA batteries so I'm looking for a 6v walwart correct? Removing the battery compartment shows a red and black wire so I could wire directly in with a walwart? Could it be that easy? Does it have to be a regulated walwart? If so, how can I find that out?

DW


----------



## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

I prob do it incorrectly, however all my props have been- yep, it's that easy!


----------



## Doc Doom (Aug 28, 2008)

Make sure it is a DC wart. Otherwise you'll let out the magic smoke. Trust me I know. It should show 6VDC on the back.


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

Yes it's that easy. I use a 6vdc 800ma wall wort to run my Scary Terry servo boards which also run on 4 AA batteries so I think something in that power range will run a boris as well.


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

By all means use a regulated wart. Some unregulated warts can have voltages much higher than whats on the case.


----------



## CraigInPA (Sep 28, 2007)

I've found that Boris will tolerate as little as 5.5 or as much as 6.5 volts. I use a 9-12v DC supply and a voltage regular to get it down to 6v.


----------



## SpookySam (Mar 27, 2007)

I found a 5.9V charger for a Motorola phone. Do you think this would work for Boris?


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

Well I just tested a 6vdc 800 mah wall wort and looks like I screwed up my Boris. It was working with batteries as I was getting it ready for a prop and thinking about this thread I decided to see how it would work and oops, looks like it wasn't such a good idea! Not that it can't work, but for what it's worth this was my first and last attempt at powering these this way until I see someone have success with it as I only have 3 more left from the 17 I had at the end of last Halloween and I'm going to need them all! Hopefully they sell these again some day, the hack is easy and the effect is nice.


----------



## Bilbo (Dec 13, 2007)

Uneducated input here... I remember reading there are 2 kinds of Bori, you want to make sure you have the newer one if you are feeding it the 6 volts directly. The old one has one pair of batteries to feed the speaker, and another to feed the movement?? You would want to search the forums to be sure....


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

mroct31 said:


> Well I just tested a 6vdc 800 mah wall wort and looks like I screwed up my Boris. It was working with batteries as I was getting it ready for a prop and thinking about this thread I decided to see how it would work and oops, looks like it wasn't such a good idea! Not that it can't work, but for what it's worth this was my first and last attempt at powering these this way until I see someone have success with it as I only have 3 more left from the 17 I had at the end of last Halloween and I'm going to need them all! Hopefully they sell these again some day, the hack is easy and the effect is nice.


Did you check the actual voltage output of the wart? Many unregulated warts put out considerably more voltage that is stated on the case. This can easily kill the device, since batteries have a more stable output.


----------



## dynoflyer (Oct 8, 2006)

Just a thought, but have you tried rechargeable batteries? Newer ones, like Duracell, seem to last longer and can be charged 1000's of times. The chargers now can recharge them in as little as 15 minutes. Walmart sells them in the camera section. 

During the rest of the year you can use them in your camera.


----------



## Death Wraith (Mar 23, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the input! I have the newer Borii and a few 6v walwarts. So just how do I go about testing if they are regulated (although I'm pretty sure they are not)? I have a multimeter but not sure what settings to use. Oddly enough the 'net ain't much help....

DW


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Your DMM has a DC volts (DCV) range set. Set the DMM to the DCV 20 volt setting and connect the probe tips to the wart output plug. Polarity won't matter for this test - the DMM will display either +_n_ volts or -_n_ volts. If you get a value of 6 ± 0.5VDC then I'd say you have a regulated wart. If it's not regulated, you may see a value up to 9 or 10VDC.


----------

