Hey guys,
I went to DragonCon last week and had a MAJOR ISSUE with one of our beloved BlueBaby 9v batteries. This was only my 3rd time wearing my modded V2s, and of course for the biggest audience. I was out in my costume for only 15 minutes, and my wife noticed the lights in my left shoe were off. When I lifted the foot, the lights came back on, but if I stepped back down they immediately went off again. This pissed me off
big time since I went to craaazy lengths when doing my modding/wiring a few months ago to make sure that nothing would pull or disconnect when wearing the shoes.
After fiddling a bit in the corner of the hotel lobby, I took them back to the room. After more prodding, it became evident that it wasn't my wiring at all, it was the 9v battery itself that was the problem. Any pressure on the case breaks a connection inside.
When you put a multimeter to the terminals, it shows 8.X volts, just like it should. When you squeeze the battery just a little bit, the voltage drops right down to nothing. Doesn't take much pressure.
Check it out: (this is how the battery was oriented in the shoe)
Just recently Jedifyfe posted a pic of the inside of one of these batteries, and it makes me wonder if one of the small ribbon-cables inside let go from its connection, but still works as long as no pressure is applied (see pic below). Another thought.... I wonder if one side of the battery is more susceptible to the problem than the other, as I had them installed in mirror image positions between the two shoes. If you press on the other side of the same malfunctioning battery, it keeps voltage no problem. And so far, the right shoe is still working fine.
NOTE: this is Jedifyfe's picture of what I assume is a perfectly functioning battery, and NOT a picture of my battery in question.