Wal-green after Christmas Sale

[Blinky]

I went to Wal-greens today and got this cool things to use for Samantha B-day
Christmas Theme ..
I was wanting to know if anyone here knows how to hack them to run on electric.?
I got 3 of these guys http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/Blinky_12/Junk%20File%20of%20Pics/pics%20posted%20to%20forums/Christmas2007071.jpg

1 set of these guys they play music and sing and have a 6' seperation cord so you can spread them apart
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/Blinky_12/Junk%20File%20of%20Pics/pics%20posted%20to%20forums/penguinsgingerbreadman005.jpg

and 2 boxes of these they are 10 prelite snow flakes
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/Blinky_12/Junk%20File%20of%20Pics/pics%20posted%20to%20forums/penguinsgingerbreadman007.jpg

I'm going to make a chicken wire duct tape igloo for them to stand on and sing but want to wire them for electric. Can someone help me please .?

at Home Depot I also pick up 24 boxes of Red and Blue light strands they had them marked down to a $1.15 a per box.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/Blinky_12/Junk%20File%20of%20Pics/pics%20posted%20to%20forums/penguinsgingerbreadman009.jpg

so now all I have to do is make the igloo and make the plywood penguins and the Season Greeting sign and the PVC trees and set it all up when the time comes.lol: yo va

[Sickie Ickie]

Are ya talkin' making battery powered into an electric plug in? If that's the case, it's simpler than you think.

[Blinky]

yes Sickie That is what I need , and I knew you are someone as smart knew how to do it.

[Sickie Ickie]

Well, find out how many volts (in batteries) is needed for your prop. This will be Direct Current since it comes from batteries.

Alternating Current comes from your wall.

So, you need a transformer to plug into your wall that converts the wall AC into your needed volts of DC .

You can cut off the end of the transformer, and connect the newly cut wires directly to the wires coming from the battery box of your prop. Make sure the positive is to the positive and the Negative to the Negative. Plug it in and Voila! Instant energy.

[Blinky]

Ok I understand that Sickie , But How do I tell how big a wall wart with out over powering it.?

[CaptnJackSparrow]

as long as the volts are correct... 2bats=3volts, 3batts=4.5volts, 4batts=6volts.. and the amperage/current is more than abt 150ma(millamps) you should be ok. If its more, thats ok too.

[Blinky]

Thank You Tj for explaining it . so others as well as myself know how to convert battery
power to electric. Thank You Sickie for all your help too.

[Sickie Ickie]

sky has it right on the money. :D

Most props use AA's. Those and other standard bats are about 1.5 ea.

Exceptions are out there, of course. One of the most familiar is the ol' rectangular 9v. :)

[Clarice]

Can you hook more than one battery operated decoration up to a single transformer? I have several battery operated Halloween and Christmas decorations that I would like to hook up to some kind of switchboard so that I could activate them individually or in groups.

[Frosty]

Are you wanting to do this so you dont have to go outside every night to turn off?

Another idea is to get some wire and and extend the the battery holder to inside your house you have to anyway if using a walwart. I would use battery instead b/c couple AA batteries are more forgiving. Well what ever way you do dont forget to heat shrink and weather proof your connections.

[Blinky]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Hacking
as Sickie and Skygodtj said using the chart he made you have to figure out how you want your lay out.
then a good place to get the wal-warts you need is here.
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category/815/Wall_Transformers.html
alot of those other people ( Haunters ) use them for that other Holiday ( Halloween ) too.to make things talk.. Just Kidding guys don't get mad I Love my haunter friends.

[Sickie Ickie]

Can you hook more than one battery operated decoration up to a single transformer? I have several battery operated Halloween and Christmas decorations that I would like to hook up to some kind of switchboard so that I could activate them individually or in groups.

Basically you'd be adding a switch to each toy and putting the switches on a box. All the wires running into the box would be called a snake, and can get pretty thick.

As for power going out, you could use one transformer and wire them parallel (like a ladder) if they all use the same voltage. If different voltages, you'd have to hook each transformers parallel to the power cord.