Author Topic: just a though about batteries (Read 4808 times)

shadowkwarrior · « **on:** January 07, 2004, 07:05:34 pm »

hi ya\'ll, i own a sl 5500, and ive been wondering if it is possible to remove or modify the back battery cover on the zaurus and fit 3x Ni-Mh 2100mah AA rated at 1.2v for a total of 3.6v, can someone tell me if this would work and last longer than the built in 3.7v 950mah? cause i read that the spec on the li-on battery is ~500 charge cycles...and i often have to charge it twice a day, sometimes three, so its going to last <1yr, and also the AAs are much cheaper to replace. can someone confirm this would work? or is there something stupid that im overlooking? thanks

VeeDubb · « **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2004, 08:21:24 pm »

Well, whether or not this is possible, depends on how savy you are with electronics and shaping plastic. It\'s certainly \"possible\" though I would never even TRY to help someone do this because if you did it wrong, the best case scenario is a litle wasted money and likely as not, you\'d fry your Z.

My only advice is this. Yes, it\'s possible, but if you don\'t already know enough about electronics, battery pack building and shaping plastice, your Z is probably not a good place to learn, and you should make it seperate fromthe Z and test it manytimes before trying to modify the Z to use it.

I have seen people take the Z apart and with some wire and a soldering gun, change the order of the battery terminals so a larger capacity 5v battery froma particular motorola phone would work, but the same advice applies there. If you\'re not already adept enough to do it, the Z is\'nt the place to learn unleass you\'r a heck aof a lot wealthier than me.

avel · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2004, 02:49:32 pm »

quick

avel · « **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2004, 03:10:36 pm »

It will work if you have the positive and negative terminals setup right and don\'t go over 6v, (5.5v to be safe) which doesn\'t seem like you will. The only hard part I can see is shaping the plastic to hold the batteries in place securely. You could try soldering all three batteries together and extending the contact surfaces to mate with the Zaurus\'. You\'r biggest problem would be making a new battery cover. I tried fitting three batteries into my Zaurus and the best configuration I\'ve come up with is like this

pictu O
___ O O_____________
l___________________l <--- side view

The Zaurus battery cover will still fit if you cut into it so that at least 1/16\" of it is left, just enought for the battery cover tabs to slide in to the Zaurus. Then you could construct a box out of styrene (plastic) and glue that on the battery cover. The side with the stylus would have to be left open. Its feasible but will increase the bulk of the Zaurus. Or you could build one of these http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Other_Artic...Extender_02.htm or find a battery that has a higher mah rating.

Anonymous · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2004, 08:46:19 pm »

ah thanks, hmm i built the battery extender w/ a battery holder that included a switch from radioshack, and two 1N 4003 silicon diode running parallel to handle ]1amp , but is the diode really necessary? if i dont include it will it fry the zaurus or will it just revert to battery power when voltage drops? because right now the battery extender doesnt have enough voltage to charge and power zaurus at same time, it will only charge properly when the zaurus is off.. any ideas? i might go for the 3 AA idea, but have the wires and pack outside and taking out the li-on. but thats for later

shadowkwarrior · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2004, 08:46:53 pm »

oops forgot to login

VeeDubb · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2004, 10:47:34 pm »

Yes, it\'s needed. You must have some sort of protection. Anything else is a waste of time and may kill your zaurus. The best way is to use a larger set of matteries, 8volts or more and a voltage regualter to keep the output at a nice perfct steady 5v.

soycap · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2004, 11:06:54 pm »

I disagree with VeeDubb

Quote

but is the diode really necessary?

IMO, nope.

Quote

if i dont include it will it fry the zaurus or will it just revert to battery power when voltage drops?

I have been using packs with no diodes for about 18 month with no problem.
I just posted here the difference between doide and no diode at the bottom of this thread:

http://www.zaurus.com/dev/board/index.php?...topic=7055&st=0

Anonymous · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2004, 01:42:05 am »

hey soycap, quick question, is there any way to trick the zaurus into booting w/o li-on battery installed? ive done it by taking off battery cover, pulling out the battery and setting the soft switch to normal operation, i still need the battery to power up, but once on i can take it off...this is a real pain though and hopefully someone knows of a better way.

soycap · « **Reply #9 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:56:45 am »

No way that I know of or that I would be comfortable testing on a functioning unit, but VeeDubb mentioned:

Quote

I have seen people take the Z apart and with some wire and a soldering gun, change the order of the battery terminals so a larger capacity 5v battery froma particular motorola phone would work...

If you can get the internal battery connectors to support 5V (which some say it does by default, but it seems kind of sketchy to me) you may be able to bypass the charging system and wire the external connector directly to the internal connectors. I would not try this on a working zaurus, but it might be worth playing with on one that is already smoked..

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Author Topic: just a though about batteries (Read 4808 times)

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