The Abstracts of My Brain: The Lobster Pickleball Machine Power Chargers and Batteries

Saturday, September 2, 2023

The Lobster Pickleball Machine Power Chargers and Batteries

These are my personal notes. Apply at your own risk.

Note: Although the found label on the wall wart says 13V, at least one motor and the battery are all 12V which but one motor might be 12.5VDC. To be safe, I imagine it is probably better to under-voltage a device than overvoltage.

We went to sell the Lobster Pickleball Machine and could not find the power supply.

Standard Chargers

The information is a bit tough to find online. Even the machine itself does not list the power specifications which is unusual. After a lot of searching, I finally found a video showing the specs of the standard charger. As you can see, it says it is 13VDC or 13 volts DC and 1 Amp (1000 mA).

13VDC and 1A w/ Barrel Connector (source: YouTube video)

Standard Charger w/ XLR Connector

Specifications:

Input: 120 VAC 60Hz 16W

Output: 13VDC 1A

Model: DV-1280-5

Connector: Male 3-pin XLR or Male Barrel 5.5mm x 2.5mm (or possibly 5.5mm x 2.1mm; but 2.5mm felt snug)

Similar power supplies from many Chinese suppliers are about $15-$20 on Amazon but the reviews can range widely as to their effectiveness. At the time of writing, Lobster Sports sells the Lobster Standard XLR Charger for about $35. The website says this comes standard on all Lobster Pickleball Machines, like The Pickle, The Pickle Two, and The Pickle Champion and will work on any machine purchased since January 2009. The Lobster seems to come with both a barrel jack charging port and an XLR style connector port.

5.5mm OD and 2.5mm Male Barrel Connector

Premium Chargers

Premium charger from Lobster Sports currently sells for about $150.

Lobster 3-Amp Premium Charger w/ XLR Connector

Premium Charger w/ XLR Connector

As far as I can guess, the premium charger is likely 13VDC 3A, allowing the device to charge quite a bit faster. Also, the premium charger has trickle charge capabilities, which tend to be better for the health of battery and can stay plugged in all the time. The connector on these chargers seems to often feature an XLR-style male connector. One reviewer on Amazon said he had luck with a $30 similar option, the "SONEIL CHARGER 1206SX2 100-240VAC IN 12V 3A OUT 3 PIN XLR CONNECTOR POWER SUPPLY." Not sure if trickle-charge logic would make exact voltage more important.

Specifications:
Input: 100-240 VAC ~1.5A (MAX) 50/60Hz

Output: 13VDC(?) 3A (not sure on voltage but I assume it would be the same)

Model: ?

XLR Socket Replacement Part Model #E886

Battery

The battery inside the Lobster machines is a fairly standard rechargeable battery. Lobster Sports sells it for $85 and lists it as compatible with Elite One, Elite Two, Elite Three, Elite Four, Elite Five, Elite Five LE, The Pickle Two, and The Pickle Champion. These look similar to Power Sonic batteries which end up being a bit cheaper with similar specs.

Inside our machine, The Pickle, I found this battery, a Zeus 12v 9Ah. Lobster Sports sells this style battery for: Elite Freedom, Elite Liberty and The Pickle.