My 5-in-1 was eating batteries about every two months, so after reading many posts on this forum, I decided to mod my device for AC/DC.
First, I found this AC/DC Xmer that I purchased for another purpose about 10 years ago, but never used it.
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Second, disassemble the 5-in-1 by removing the four Phillips head screws from the bottom. Once inside, slip off this black cover, revealing the inner workings of the 5-in-1.
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Third, note how the batteries are wired from the box to the PCB. The black wires are jumpered for a common (-), but the red wires each carry 3v to two individual terminals on the board.
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Fourth, we need to jumper the two red (+) battery leads to provide a common 3v source from our Xmer to the two terminations on the PCB.
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Fifth, cut the Xmer wires as far out as practical, test the leads with your multimeter, and tape the (+) lead so you will know which is which when you start soldering. Put a small hole in the battery box cover and fish your wire through from the outside in. (Xmer to the outside.) Tie a loose knot on the inside of the battery cover. We'll use this later to take the pressure off the wire inside the 5-in-1.
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Sixth, solder the (-) lead from the Xmer to one of those black tabs from the battery box. This is tight soldering, so pick the easiest one to get to. I prefer not to solder on the PCB because I don't want to screw that board up with my soldering. Next, solder the (+) lead from the Xmer to one of the red tabs from the battery box. Pick the easiest one. After I did this, I plugged in the Xmer (make sure it's set on 3v) and used my multimeter to make sure I had 3v between each of the two red connections on the PCB and the black connection. If not, better check your soldering.
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You guessed it, seventh, put things back together. Black cover over the board. Pull the slack from the wire into the battery box, tighten that knot so there will be no pressure from the wire on the solder joints, and snap the battery box cover back in place.
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Eighth, you need to find a way to keep the wire from interfering with the wind direction vane. I used this little wire holding device I found in my junk, drilled a tiny hole in the bottom of the housing and screwed it in. Note that I used a little electrical tape here and in the battery cover hole to make sure the wire doesn't rub through. I made a mistake here by placing this wire over the hole for assembling and disassembling the 5-in-1. I'd put this someplace else if I did it again.
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Ok, finally, plug it up and use a fan to spin it up for a test on the bench with your battery backup display nearby.
My 5-in-1 is mounted on a 3/4" conduit at the eve of my garage. So, I secured the small wire from the unit to the Xmer with a few pieces of electrical tape and took the Xmer to the gable under the eve. Then I plugged it into a 50' extension cord that I stuck through the gable vent, and pushed the extension cord and Xmer flush with the gable vent. I put the extension cord through a hole in the ceiling of the garage and plugged it into the AC.
It's been on line for about 24 hours now and seems to be doing well, except for the higher than ambient temperature readings that I've learned are typical of some Acurite units (read about that on others posts).
