Converting Z To Use Std Digital Camera Battery, Using std Digital Camera Battery in the Options

[Marty]

I am seriously thinking of opening my SL5500 up to perform some surgery on it in order to take one of the stock digital camera batteries that I can get easily and cheaply. The benefits are that I can stick an Li Ion 1800 mah battery in the Z which I can buy for about £17 to £20.

My current sharp battery the EA-BL06 is not holding its charge and is difficult to get in the UK. (I have found one place charging 49 Euro )

I have the instructions on how to open the Z , and although I wont know until I look at the PCB in detail I am assuming I will just cut the tracks to the two outside terminal posts of the battery connector and wire them in reverse.
This may seem "excessive" but trust me the battery thing is wearing me out.

Almost all the digital camera battery have the opposite polarity from Z and you can get battery with the exact same footprint as the EA-BL06 if not slightly smaller so they will fit with a bit of plastic packing if need be.

Anyone think of any reason why I cant use a (good) digital camera in this way - I mean from the battery standpoint . The only thing I'am worried about is a muli layer track that I cant get access to. If I find that I may have to desolder the connector and isolate the two end pins completely.
Since Sharp pulled out their's not a lot left here in the uk for parts and support for the Z SL5500.

[chrget]

I am seriously thinking of opening my SL5500 up to perform some surgery on it in order to take one of the stock digital camera batteries that I can get easily and cheaply. [...] This may seem "excessive" but trust me the battery thing is wearing me out.

Personally I do think that's even more than a bit excessive, especially since the same result can be achieved by modifying the batteries instead -- with a much lower risk of doing harm to your poor little collie

Almost all the digital camera battery have the opposite polarity from Z and you can get battery with the exact same footprint as the EA-BL06 if not slightly smaller so they will fit with a bit of plastic packing if need be.

I wouldn't know about 'Almost all', but I decided on an EN-EL5 compatible battery (originally for the Nikon Coolpix family of cameras) to modify and use in my Z. (If you read German, you can read up the details on that and have a look at the pictures here). Others have been using other batteries (e.g. originally designed for use in Nokia mobile phones) and did similar things. The user 'Lauter' has even turned this into a semi-(?)-commercial venture and is selling modified Nokia-compatible high-capacity batteries for use in the Z.

Anyone think of any reason why I cant use a (good) digital camera in this way - I mean from the battery standpoint .

None whatsoever. I've been running the Z on my modified battery for 3 months now, with rather satisfying results and no ill effects.

How will you charge it? If you charge the batt via the Zs chipset it will think it's a normal standard battery and always charge it less than it can handle? Just a thought.

Uhm, no. That's not the way contemporary battery charging circuits work

Best regards,
Chris.

[Marty]

I wanted to have much better battery life as possible and I could only get this with a much bigger battery so I decided to go down the modified battery route.

I've gone for an Energizer FLNP120 3.7 v 1800MAH.
It only cost £17.28 including tax(we call it vat in the UK) and shipping.

First thing I did was cut it out of the plastic case to get proper access to the contacts and to reduce it in size a little. (This is because its too tight a fit with the plastic case on).
You then need to tape the opposite end of the bare metal battery case with insulating tape as this end is going to take the new contacts.
Take some thin copper sheet (buy from a craft shop) and cut three copper strips
which you bend into a u shape and fit over the taped end for your new contacts.
Before you can tape the new contacts into place you need to solder wires from the battery contacts on the little exposed PCB on the other end of the battery (the pcb contains the charge protection circuit)

Position the newly wired contacts onto the taped end of the battery and tape them in position. Tape over the end of the battery with the pcb contacts and tape down the wires and you have a new battery. The tape and the new contacts will make the battery a snug fit in the z case - just be carefull your new contacts line up ok with the terminals in the Z.

Had I used the smaller 1000mah battery I'am sure I would be able to put the cover back on but the 1800 mah battery is about 10mm thick (even without its plastic case) so I had to make a new cover. I cut out a new cover from the copper sheet and insulated the inside with tape. I then taped it in position over the battery by applying (black) tape around the edges.

I see how this cover goes. Physically I think it looks fine.It has a little bulge at the back but not too bad. I may refine its looks later but I hardly notice it as it is at the back of the Z.I dont expect to have to access the battery for a long time so I am not worried about the use of the tape.

[esteeven]

I wanted to have much better battery life as possible and I could only get this with a much bigger battery so I decided to go down the modified battery route.

I've gone for an Energizer FLNP120 3.7 v 1800MAH.
It only cost £17.28 including tax(we call it vat in the UK) and shipping.

First thing I did was cut it out of the plastic case to get proper access to the contacts and to reduce it in size a little. (This is because its too tight a fit with the plastic case on).
You then need to tape the opposite end of the bare metal battery case with insulating tape as this end is going to take the new contacts.
Take some thin copper sheet (buy from a craft shop) and cut three copper strips
which you bend into a u shape and fit over the taped end for your new contacts.
Before you can tape the new contacts into place you need to solder wires from the battery contacts on the little exposed PCB on the other end of the battery (the pcb contains the charge protection circuit)

Position the newly wired contacts onto the taped end of the battery and tape them in position. Tape over the end of the battery with the pcb contacts and tape down the wires and you have a new battery. The tape and the new contacts will make the battery a snug fit in the z case - just be carefull your new contacts line up ok with the terminals in the Z.

Had I used the smaller 1000mah battery I'am sure I would be able to put the cover back on but the 1800 mah battery is about 10mm thick (even without its plastic case) so I had to make a new cover. I cut out a new cover from the copper sheet and insulated the inside with tape. I then taped it in position over the battery by applying (black) tape around the edges.

I see how this cover goes. Physically I think it looks fine.It has a little bulge at the back but not too bad. I may refine its looks later but I hardly notice it as it is at the back of the Z.I dont expect to have to access the battery for a long time so I am not worried about the use of the tape.