I HATE AAA battery remotes! Best way to adapt to AA?

GunsMadeAmericaFree · Nov 14, 2024

For the past month, we have looked for our missing Roku TV remote. I moved the couches, looked under all of the furniture, under EVERYTHING nearby. I even went around the house 5X, in case it might have been carried into another room.

I finally gave up, and started looking for a TV Roku remote that used AA batteries. I just couldn't find one - their focus seems to be on making the remote as thin as possible. I absolutely hate AAA batteries, because they only hold about 40% as much energy, but typically cost the same as AA batteries. Plus, I've already invested in loads of AA low self discharge NimH rechargeable batteries.

Anyway, I'm trying to think of the best way to adapt these to use AA batteries instead of AAA. I could use a dremel tool to widen up the opening on the back, and then 3D print another back cover. Or, I could simply get a plastic 2 AA battery holder, wire it into the existing contacts, and then 3D print a cover that incorporates that. I'm thinking that might be the quickest and easiest route. Can you think of any other options?

Steltek · Nov 14, 2024

You'd also have to adapt the voltage. Probably not worth the effort. Especially when you can get 48 AAA batteries on Amazon (AC Delco branded) for $12.20+tax.

The Phillips remotes on this page advertise Roku compatibility and both use AA batteries. Whether they would meet your needs, though, I have no clue.

sandorski · Nov 14, 2024

Might want to search Temu for such a thing that would do that. Seems too niche though.

mindless1 · Nov 15, 2024

GunsMadeAmericaFree said:
I absolutely hate AAA batteries, because they only hold about 40% as much energy, but typically cost the same as AA batteries. Plus, I've already invested in loads of AA low self discharge NimH rechargeable batteries.

Fabricate some bulky odd shaped thing that you're frequently holding to use? It does not seem worthy of spending time on that result, unless the remote is very voltage-needy and won't work well with AAA LSD NiMH... if it will, just buy a pack of those?

balloonshark · Nov 15, 2024

You should be thankful they don't take button cell type batteries.

Just get a set of 4 LSD AAA batteries and keep two in the remote and two on standby. It's going to be cheaper than any other possible solution.

WelshBloke · Nov 15, 2024

Universal remote? Are they still a thing?

My TV remote has a little solar panel on the back and a usb C socket to top it up. I very much approve!

BoomerD · Nov 17, 2024

Steltek said:
You'd also have to adapt the voltage. Probably not worth the effort. Especially when you can get 48 AAA batteries on Amazon (AC Delco branded) for $12.20+tax.

The Phillips remotes on this page advertise Roku compatibility and both use AA batteries. Whether they would meet your needs, though, I have no clue.

Voltage wouldn’t change. Both AAA and AA batteries are 1.5v.

OP, your only workable option is to replace the remote with something like a universal remote.

GunsMadeAmericaFree · Nov 18, 2024

Ok, so I've bought several redundant remotes so that I can experiment on one or two of them. I think my solution is going to be using a 2 AA battery holder, then hook the wires up to the existing remote. Then I'll have my son 3D print a new back for the remote that will incorporate the AA battery. Since we have loads and loads of 3D filament, and we already have lots of lsd AA rechargeable batteries, the cost of the plastic battery holder would really be my only cost to do this.

BoomerD · Nov 18, 2024

GunsMadeAmericaFree said:
Ok, so I've bought several redundant remotes so that I can experiment on one or two of them. I think my solution is going to be using a 2 AA battery holder, then hook the wires up to the existing remote. Then I'll have my son 3D print a new back for the remote that will incorporate the AA battery. Since we have loads and loads of 3D filament, and we already have lots of lsd AA rechargeable batteries, the cost of the plastic battery holder would really be my only cost to do this.

Seems like a lot of work for minimal benefit…but have fun.

jamesdsimone · Mar 9, 2025

AAA batteries are the worst. I hate them. It's even worse when they use them in flash lights.

mindless1 · Mar 10, 2025

jamesdsimone said:
AAA batteries are the worst. I hate them. It's even worse when they use them in flash lights.

Depends. I hate 3 x AAA lights (if they aren't sized to also take 1 x 18650 and then I'd just do that instead), but some of mine, even my most EDC in everyday situations, used to be an ITP A3 that took 1 x AAA, I had the titanium version, and aluminum, then there was a promo for Thrunite TI3 V2 where they were giving them away for shipping cost, and I bought 4, and have been EDC'ing that ever since.

The difference is that things in my pocket that I EDC, compete a lot for pocket space, and my pants take the wear as well with holes forming from either my flashlight or pocket knife in one pocket they are both in, so everything is chosen carefully for it's space/weight vs benefit.

With that trade-off, I find AAA ideal. I do have Li-Ion chargers that can do 10440, but in this very small form factor light, it would overheat and drop down to a lower light output level quickly with a 10440 Li-Ion. I seldom need large burst of light, a little goes a long way, plus I have a lot of LSD NiMH, so no need to wait to recharge the battery when it's low, just swap in a spare that's already charged.

Ken g6 · Mar 10, 2025

I use a universal remote on my Roku TV. I can also use the app as a remote, but I find that somehow less convenient.

But you may have to search for the code for the TV (meaning hitting a button a whole lot of times before it responds.) When you do find the code, write it down in a lot of places!

manly · Mar 10, 2025

Looks like they transitioned to AAA (and then rechargeable built-in) a couple years ago for their remotes.

You could buy an older remote that still uses AA, but they seem a little pricey. I.e. Roku RC-EL3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126871548383

My Roku Ultra from 2019 came with the "Enhanced Voice Remote" (RC463). It has a headphone jack for private listening, but in practice this feature is all but unusable because it drains the batteries way too quickly (makes sense considering Bluetooth audio). Otherwise, it works great with rechargeable NiMH batteries that last a few months per charge.

Re-reading the OP, I have no idea how AAA batteries are the reason the slim remote is permanently lost? Who the heck wants a AA battery harness dangling off the side of their TV remote? 🤣

Red Squirrel · Mar 11, 2025

Do you just hate it because it's small and easy to lose or because it's harder to find the batteries? You can buy rechargeable AAAs. That's what I did. I have a bunch of AA and AAA's so that covers most bases. I keep them in a battery organizer box so they're all together. Also have various adapters for C and D cells.

If you just want the remote to be bigger then glue a piece of wood to the battery holder or something, so that it slides on and adds more bulkiness to it.

mikeymikec · Mar 11, 2025

My strategy with batteries is that I keep a minimal amount of non-rechargeable batteries for emergencies only, which get swapped out when the rechargeables for the device in question have slow-recharged.

Slow-recharging NiMH - I found with my beard trimmer that slow-charged NiMH batteries last several times longer than fast-charged ones. The beard trimmer with fast-charged batteries used to work for maybe 3-4 sessions, but with slow-charged batteries it's been months since I last recharged them.

mindless1 · Mar 11, 2025

^ That's going to depend a lot on the quality of the charger, the current levels it offers, and what levels you define as fast vs slow.

I usually want about C/3 charge rate for AAA and AA NiMH, which I'd call a happy medium if the charger is designed to use a lower rate to top off cells after hitting the Delta -V cutoff threshold for the higher rate, which can gain another 8% or so if the higher was C/3, or more than that if C/2. I don't really care about that last 8% though.

Some of the nicer chargers available today, have a capacity test function so you can see how their different charge rates impact capacity of same cell, as well as compare capacity of different cells.

manly · Mar 11, 2025

mikeymikec said:
My strategy with batteries is that I keep a minimal amount of non-rechargeable batteries for emergencies only, which get swapped out when the rechargeables for the device in question have slow-recharged.

Slow-recharging NiMH - I found with my beard trimmer that slow-charged NiMH batteries last several times longer than fast-charged ones. The beard trimmer with fast-charged batteries used to work for maybe 3-4 sessions, but with slow-charged batteries it's been months since I last recharged them.

I'm no expert, but something else must be going on if the charge rate is influencing the runtime by 3X.

mindless1 said:
^ That's going to depend a lot on the quality of the charger, the current levels it offers, and what levels you define as fast vs slow.

I usually want about C/3 charge rate for AAA and AA NiMH, which I'd call a happy medium if the charger is designed to use a lower rate to top off cells after hitting the Delta -V cutoff threshold for the higher rate, which can gain another 8% or so if the higher was C/3, or more than that if C/2. I don't really care about that last 8% though.

Some of the nicer chargers available today, have a capacity test function so you can see how their different charge rates impact capacity of same cell, as well as compare capacity of different cells.

Wow that's rather fancy for charging lol. Is C the listed capacity in mAh ?

mikeymikec · Mar 11, 2025

The fast charger I have has the following stats written on the back:

2xAA DC3.2V 1050mA
4xAA DC3.2V 525mA
2xAAA DC3.2V 525mA

Slow charger (charges via USB):

Output DC 1.2V 2A
AA 500mah*1 (or, 2, 3, 4)
AAA 250mah*2 (or 2, 3, 4)

My beard trimmer uses 2xAA.

mindless1 · Wednesday at 11:31 AM

manly said:
Wow that's rather fancy for charging lol. Is C the listed capacity in mAh ?

Sort-of. With top and 2nd shelf brands, C starts out as the listed capacity in mAh, but once you get to 3rd shelf brands, they tend to over-state capacity so if you can't test them, nor find a trustworthy 3rd party source for their true capacity, then I just wouldn't buy them.

Then there's the factor that the lower the quality, the more their capacity goes down with each recharge cycle, and also the internal resistance rises, even with the high capacity cells from esteemed brands like Eneloop Pro. Charging at a lower rate then gets more charge into them before overheating.

The result is that the ideal charge rate goes down over time, but to add to the complication, even many fancy chargers only offer tiers of charge rate, so you are left picking the charger rate available that is closest to C/(n) rate you want, which in some ways un-complicates it too.

For example with one of my chargers, the rates offered are 300mA, 500mA, 700ma, and 1A. This is per cell, does not differ based on # of cells charging or their size or chemistry.

When each cell is put in, I just hit a button to cycle through these choices. AAA NiMH I'll set for 300mA, and AA for 700mA. If the AA are older, I'll set those at 500mA.

1A I only use for medium to larger Li-Ion cells like 18650, or sub-C or larger NiMH and NiCd. There were some sub-C in the market that I'd charge at less than 1A but I am thinking of those I had in the past which were high-discharge type tool battery cells which can handle higher current. I used to want to balance charge on those when rebuilding battery packs for tools, but in recent years I no longer rebuild NiMH or NiCd packs.

Back to the core relevance to this topic, for devices that use AAA cells, once the LSD NiMH cells are not providing acceptable service per charge, instead of bothering to recharge at a lower rate (which I do have really old chargers that can do, but aren't very good at Delta -V end of charge detection at low rates), I just replace them.

Last time I bought some, Amazon Basics Pre-Charged (LSD) 24pk AAA were about $14 after a coupon. Seems like a lot of AAA cells but someone gave us some of those LED Christmas candle lights and they use 3 x AAA each, plus after a coupon, a 24pk barely cost more than a 12pk.

dr1337 · 2025-03-17T23:07:40-0400

I actually have quite a few AAA powered gadgets around and I never have an issue with my rechargeables. Either way the hyperbole in this thread is funny, from people not understanding battery voltages to people exaggerating 3D printing costs.

What I really wanna know is, did OP ever actually make a modded remote?

I HATE AAA battery remotes! Best way to adapt to AA?

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