eMate battery dead-ish - how do I make a new one?

[Pinstripes]

My eMate's battery doesn't really hold a charge anymore. I've heard of people using regular AAs instead ... how does one go about doing that?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Here you go: link

 

[Pinstripes]

Ah, great. Do you think this is possible with off-the-shelf rechargeable batteries and by someone who has no soldering experience?

 

[Kallikak]

Yes. The only thing is make sure you remember the polarity of anything you remove.

 

[Quadraman]

Ah, great. Do you think this is possible with off-the-shelf rechargeable batteries and by someone who has no soldering experience?

I have seen people using off the shelf rechargeables with the built in charger in the emate.

 

[MacMan]

The best way to do it is buy a long 4xAA battery holder (2x2 batteries, lengthways) from an electronics shop / website and transfer the old battery pack connector onto it. You don't even need to solder the wires, it is possible to use butt connectors or even simply twist them together and tape them. Then you can put NiMH AAs in and remove / change them whenever you wish. Much easier than fiddling about with soldering batteries together.

Note: you will probably need to lengthen the eMate's battery compartment a little by trimming off one of the plastic ends. It's pretty easy to do and doesn't affect the eMate's appearance at all, since it is an internal modification.

Here's a link to a pic of this setup that I made on my eMate:



With the 2700MAh cells I installed, my eMate can run for 30+ hours on a single charge!

 

[Kallikak]

If you get rechargeables with solder tabs, the soldering doesn't really involve any mucking about. I certainly prefer that to cutting the plastic.

 

[30pin]

One thing I am not clear on, is if you can still use the original Newton 9w power adapter? It's output is 7.5v -1.2amps. All the rechargable batteries seem to be 1.2v ? Or do you get one of the 4pack rechargers and take the batteries out of the emate everytime they need to be charged??

 

[MacMan]

One thing I am not clear on, is if you can still use the original Newton 9w power adapter? It's output is 7.5v -1.2amps. All the rechargable batteries seem to be 1.2v ? Or do you get one of the 4pack rechargers and take the batteries out of the emate everytime they need to be charged??

I still use the Newton charger and it works fine. The first time I charged my home-made battery pack I kept a close eye on the temperature and it stayed at the normal level for a charging battery.

 

[30pin]

Thanks Macman! That was what I needed to know!!