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« on: May 01, 2025, 12:07:18 pm »
Okay, I did it, I replaced the battery of one of my Astro Slides. Thanks for pointing us to a suitable battery! I used a BL-N3150Z:
- keep away all metal parts (tools, jewellery etc) in order to avoid shorts
- open the device with a suitable opening tool (plectrum) as described by cam1965
- remove a lot of screws (those holding down the battery and the battery connector). There seem to be two types of screws (at least two different colors)
- don't forget to put away the screw driver in order to avoid shorts
- unplug the battery connector from the device
- remove the battery along with its frame
- measure and remember the polarity at the battery connector (IIRC, the side far from the battery is plus) without causing a short (measure that the outside of the connector)
- carefully pull the battery from its frame (trying hard not to bend it) and carefully pull the flat flex cable through the opening in the frame
- unwrap the tape (kapton and otherwise) wrapped around the battery protection board (BPB)
- desolder from the BPB the sheet metal that connects the battery to its BPB. Avoid tearing the sheet metal
- remove the outer black cover of the replacement battery (the one which says that warranty is void if label is removed)
- unwrap the tape (kapton and otherwise) wrapped around the battery protection board (BPB) of the replacement battery
- measure the polarity of the conductors of the replacement battery and mark the plus and minus conductors of the replacement battery as such (or remember what's what)
- desolder from the BPB the sheet metal conductor that connects the new battery to its BPB. Try hard to avoid tearing the sheet metal
- insulate the NTC on the Astro Slide BPB (ie, the component at the center) with multiple layers of kapton tape. Unfortunately, the distance between the conductors of the replacement battery is smaller than that distance of the conductors of the Astro Slide battery, making the plus conductor of the replacement battery touch the NTC which is connected to ground. A short must be avoided here by all means
- fold the plus conductor of the replacement battery twice to form a Z such that the two connectors can be soldered to the B+ (plus) and B- (minus) pads of the Astro Slide BPB, respectively
- you might want to connect the flat flex cable to the device to see where the connectors have to be soldered onto the BPB such that the flat flex cable doesn't bend, but avoid letting the battery conductors touch anything
- solder the plus conductor of the new battery to B+ and the minus conductor of the replacement battery to B- of the BPB
- wrap the BPB along with a bit of the battery in multiple layers of kapton tape
- if you're paranoid (like me), measure the voltage at the connector and check for correct polarity as noted above
- put the new battery into the Astro Slide and connect the battery connector to the Astro Slide (do not yet put in any screws -- you'll want to be able to quickly remove the connector if there's magic smoke)
- try turning on the device. Continue if successful. Otherwise, don't blame me
- somehow mark how the frame has to be put onto the battery such that the battery will have the position it now has (ie, without bending the flat flex cable)
- unplug the battery from the device
- carefully put the flat flex cable through the opening of the frame
- put the frame onto the battery as marked above (such that the flat flex cable won't bend). The adhesive tape still sticks to the frame rather than the old battery, at least it did for me. If not, use new double-sided adhesive tape rather than trying to pull it from the old battery
- put the battery with frame into the device and plug the connector into the device
- put back all the screws
- test
- snap on the case
Sorry, no pics as I thought that Astro Slide was my only working camera (I forgot about my second Astro Slide). Perhaps next time, for the other device.
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