>> > Is my technically good 5 cell solution not acceptable?

>> =A0From a physical point of view if you use four cells you can get a
>> readymade holder in a variety of roughly cubiod shapes (personally I
>> tend to preffer the elongated square style). I don't think i've ever
>> seen a 5-cell AA holder for sale and if it did i'd guess a single layer
>> would be the only reasonable option.

>> =A0From a practical point of view batteries sold retail seem to come in
>> packs of 4 and multiples thereof. So a four cell soloution neatly uses
>> one pack of batteries. A 5 cell soloution uses 1.25 packs...

> Exactly!

I see nothing in the above which would discourage me from using it as
a solution in your application. custom battery pack and interesting
[tm]  shape or buying batteries other than 4 at a time would seem to
be well down the list of problems that you are liable to face. Ifthese
seem like major issues then you may not want to start on a switcher of
similar capability.

5 cylinders will stack flat reasonably well with 4 x North-South and 1
x East West, at the cost of 'a little customisation',

5 cylinders pack in a 3-2 truncated pyramid (not quite close packed)
or 2-2-1 in a square with bump or 3-2 with the 6th space that would
make it 3-3 (or 2-2-2) available for related stuff.

Whatever.

That said, the TPS63020 does look like a nice solution.



             Russell

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