soundabout - 2010-01-29 14:19
As we know, over time that damn Aiwa PB-S5A rechargeable battery loses its ability to hold a decent charge. I was thinking, with all the new rechargeable battery technologies in production, are there any 3-volt rechargeable batteries (maybe for a cell phone or other device) or 1.5-volt (x2) rechargeable batteries that can be physically configured (stacked, glued together, etc.) to fit into the battery cavity of most Aiwa units which require the 3-volt batteries like the PB-S5A? If anyone wants to make a functioning, rechargeable prototype, they could probably sell it on this forum. Maybe even a bunch of small non-rechargeable watch batteries from Radio Shack. Then, the lovely Aiwa units could work without using the cumbersome twin AAA external battery holder. Maybe I’ll hit Radio Shack tomorrow and find some watch batteries to do a prototype test. Thoughts?
you can give it a try but don't start a fire. i had an old sears roebuck short out and melt down the bottom 1/3 of the player. the energy had no where to go so it heated the plastic up till it melted like taffy. when you are done i would pull the batteries out till i found out there was no shorting or overheating problems.
quote:
Originally posted by soundabout:
As we know, over time that damn Aiwa PB-S5A rechargeable battery loses its ability to hold a decent charge. I was thinking, with all the new rechargeable battery technologies in production, are there any 3-volt rechargeable batteries (maybe for a cell phone or other device) or 1.5-volt (x2) rechargeable batteries that can be physically configured (stacked, glued together, etc.) to fit into the battery cavity of most Aiwa units which require the 3-volt batteries like the PB-S5A? If anyone wants to make a functioning, rechargeable prototype, they could probably sell it on this forum. Maybe even a bunch of small non-rechargeable watch batteries from Radio Shack. Then, the lovely Aiwa units could work without using the cumbersome twin AAA external battery holder. Maybe I’ll hit Radio Shack tomorrow and find some watch batteries to do a prototype test. Thoughts?
Watch batteries are a great idea --- each ones voltage is 1,55V - any progress / success ?
I was thinking about this just the other day. How about two AAAAA cell batteries harvested from the inside of a 8.4v PP3 NiMH battery? They should be about 6.4mm in diameter and hold about 200mAh each giving 2.4v total. Next task would be then to get some way of keeping them together and making contact with the internal connector pins.
Never heard of AAAAA cels ???? They would be too large for PB-S2/3/5 -- max 5mm diameter allowed.... PB-S4 would be possible, but is not so interesting as there are more of them working yet and some models can be used with AAA cels too.
The last time I wrote on this site, I said that the PB-S5A gumstick could be bought at Partstore which sadly, is wrong. I bought one of the last ones from them about 2 yrs. ago and now I, like all of you PX-557 owners, am having to use the AA battery adapter because I sold a "brand new" HS-PX557 in the box with everything from Germany except the battery which wouldn't hold a charge. I then sent my "new" gumstick with the sale, thinking that I would be able to buy another from Sony. MY MISTAKE! I love this walkman because the sound is a step above most walkmans but it's a shame that an alternative ni-cad or lithium gumstick is not available for it. If anyone has a solution for this, I'll be the first to buy it. It could be permanently installed and the quick charge feature of this walkman could keep it charged over and over again for a long time. Most gumsticks are about 1.2V which is not enough to run the 557. Where are you Sony????
i called sony the other day hoping to find something somewhere. i have a 557 which doesn't get the use it should. i also have a dead #5 battery. the nice lady said parts are no longer available after 7 years. us poo folks can't replace everything in the house every 7 years. i have a 1998 sony VCR and a panasonic tv from 1999. i will probably get 20 lashes for this type of behavier no doubt.
Wouldn't be great if we could talk a Chinese battery maker to produce an exact copy of the PB-S5A in nicad or lithium instead of the old tech lead acid from Aiwa! They'd have to make it with both terminals at one end just like the Aiwa so it would work. I'd be first in line to buy it and I also think there are many potential customers out there! Since Sony bought Aiwa, I think they really dropped the ball. I bet they threw away hundreds of these!
I have to admit defeat trying to locate a AAAAA cell from a NiMH PP3 battery. Although they are used in some batteries, short of contacting manufacterers in China directly, locating the correct PP3 containing them is difficult.
Instead I have now turned my attention to the humble NH14-MH. Through a bit of research, it turns out this is a F8 prismatic NiMH type battery. (http://www.rechargeable-battery-review.com/faqs/consumer-battery/rechargeable-battery-sizes.html) I have now ascertained that the F4 type is exactly half the size of the NH14-MH measuring roughly 5.6x16.5x31.5 mm. It has a nominal capacity of 400mAh per cell. Finding them singularly is tough, but I have found that they are used in cordless phones manufactured by Uniross as a 71H (BC102002) and thus quite widely available.
Next steps ... Order a 71H battery pack, bust it open and "make" a NiMH PB-S5.
Was looking for one for my Aiway HS-JX3000 for a long time already.
Someone was selling an Aiwa including 3 of those batteries. Contacted the seller and she had already sold it but she managed to convince the buyer to let me have one of them. She said it does charge properly so if all is well I should have my Aiwa working again soon
Guess you should try and look for a cheap one on Ebay that comes with a battery that still works.
Are the dimensions of the 2V Aiwa PB-S5A (and its' brethren) the same as the Sony NH14-type batteries?
I don't own an Aiwa unit myself, but the challenge of finding a workable battery solution is the kind of thing that interests me, so I'd like to look into this further.
Since I have both here in front of me, this is what I measured. The PB-S5A is slightly larger than the sony or panasonic.
PB-S5A: 2 5/8"-long
11/16"-wide-tad wider than this measurement
7/32"-thick
Sony NH14: 2 9/16"-long
5/8"-wide
7/32"-thick
quote:
Originally posted by heiff:
Are the dimensions of the 2V Aiwa PB-S5A (and its' brethren) the same as the Sony NH14-type batteries?
I don't own an Aiwa unit myself, but the challenge of finding a workable battery solution is the kind of thing that interests me, so I'd like to look into this further.
As plop sorted out, an F4 prismatic cell is 1.2v and half the height of an F8 cell.
Stack two of these and you've got a nominal 2-2.5v, and I would guess you could use the regular charger. As plop mentioned, they're difficult to hunt down - I think largely because they're both uncommon and because everybody seems to call it something different.
Sanyo HF-C1U
Varta 3055954
Interstate ASC1245
I've found two different sets of dimensions:
33.7 x 15.9 x 6.6 (mm)
35.5 x 17.0 x 6.2 (mm)
This place lists them for $4.25 ea, and it's listed as "in stock".
http://www.accountwizard.com/c...nk=item&value=HF-C1UNow someone needs to be bold and order a couple to try it out! I have the spec sheets for both the Varta and Sanyo versions if anyone wants them.
Well it's been a while since I've looked into this thread, but I've just put some money down for a couple of these battery packs
That should hopefully yield three DIY PB-S5 batteries. Admittedly I am slightly concerned that the extra 0.4 volts may affect the delicate electronics, so I have been looking at making a simple voltage regulator to ensure that only 2.0 volts reaches the circuitry. When the batteries turn up I'll test in one of my "junked" walkmans to see how it fares with the additional voltage.
Using the supplied Aiwa charger to charge the new NiMH battery may not be a sensible idea, as it was originally designed to charge lead acid batteries. Instead I have been looking at smart battery chargers used for charging batteries for BB guns or RC toys. These chargers are designed to auto detect voltage in any given NiMH battery pack, and switch off when the battery pack is fully charged. Something which the Aiwa charger does not do. There is potential for the Aiwa charger to over charge and maybe cause the battery pack to explode or catch fire!
The spec sheet for these batteries lists the voltage as nominally 1.2v, but when freshly charged, the output can be as high as 1.5v.
So there's a case to regulate the voltage in some way, but on the other hand, the variation in output voltage is a characteristic of batteries in general, and I would expect that to be true of the original battery as well.
By way of example, Sonys that use the 1.2v gumstick batteries typically use a 1.5v AC adapter.
Hi guys-I've measured my PB-S5A in mm and here is what it measures. 68mm-X17mm-X6mm. Hope this helps. When I got it, it read 1.2V. After leaving it on the charger for a very long time, it read 2.3V. However, when I stuck it in my HS-PX557, the battery strength lights on the front were flashing back and forth but I couldn't get the walkman to run-it just flashed and the transport inside clicked perhaps trying to set. I charged it at 3V thru the walkman and then tried it again. I was able to run a cassette tape for about 35 minutes before it started flashing again however, it would actually get to the end of the 45 min. tape then stop. It would not autoreverse-not enough power. It seems to have very little reserve. I guess I'm lucky to get it to work at all! One little problem I've thought of with a possible conversion is the terminal placement of the Aiwa battery. They're all on one end and these batteries you show look like the Sony or Panasonic gumstick terminal layout. Also, 2 of these batteries together look to me to be a bit too long perhaps. If you figure something out, let me know. I would really like to avoid using the AAA battery adapter!
i think you guys are on the right track. i am of the opinion that trying to gerry-riging one together is a great learning experience and very interesting it's not the best way to go. isn't there someone in japan who was connected with aiwa's LEAD ACID PROBGAM. i.m sure this was fairly new to them also. wouldn't it be great if someone who knew somone could make a connection. i seriously doubt they are going to gear up to make a few batteries. it would barly be peanuts to them but the technology and equipment may still be around. that sure would cut the corners from a very difficult endevour. i don't knowbut isn't there someone out there who is that person many of us are looking for. i would love to pop any kind of battery in there and power it right up. out of curiousity,what was the life span of a well maintained origional battery and why do they die so fast after lack of use. i am amaized at how long some of these cadmium batteries can live.
How tightly do the PB-S5A's fit into the battery compartment? Cassettefiend brings up a good point about the unusual location of the terminals. A 2-cell assembly would need to be shrink-tubed together, and that could make for an awfully tight fit, maybe too tight when you consider the additional mods for the terminals.
Rerooted, from what I know of lead-acid batteries, I suspect the lifespan of one of these was never all that great. Lead-acid batteries like being fully charged all the time, and don't like being run flat, or worse, being left flat for a long time.
A car battery is a good example: you deplete only a little bit of the charge when you start the car, but the other 99.9% of the time the car is either off (with only a very tiny trickle current for clock or body management ECU), or it's on and charging the battery. The car's battery lasts as long as it does because you don't really cycle it much at all, it's just in a state of full charge all the time.
A walkman, on the other hand, has a much more severe duty cycle, so "normal use" is giving those lead-acid batteries a pretty good beating!
Interesting posts! I did try a 1.2V gumstick in my 557 just as an experiment however, I realized that it was not strong enough to operate the 557. However, the positive terminal on the panasonic gumstick matched the positive connector in the 557 however the negative terminal did not, of course. What I did was remove a very small amount of the plastic wrap on the gumstick up in the corner next to the positive terminal. I think the entire metal sheathing around this gumstick is actually the negative side, so all one would need to do is solder a very small tab onto it so that it lines up with the negative connector inside the 557. The Aiwa negative tab can also be bent to touch this. This could possibly solve the problem of terminal placement. BTW, there is actually space up near the Aiwa cassette connectors to do this without any other extreme modifications.
quote:
Originally posted by heiff:
How tightly do the PB-S5A's fit into the battery compartment? Cassettefiend brings up a good point about the unusual location of the terminals. A 2-cell assembly would need to be shrink-tubed together, and that could make for an awfully tight fit, maybe too tight when you consider the additional mods for the terminals.
Rerooted, from what I know of lead-acid batteries, I suspect the lifespan of one of these was never all that great. Lead-acid batteries like being fully charged all the time, and don't like being run flat, or worse, being left flat for a long time.
A car battery is a good example: you deplete only a little bit of the charge when you start the car, but the other 99.9% of the time the car is either off (with only a very tiny trickle current for clock or body management ECU), or it's on and charging the battery. The car's battery lasts as long as it does because you don't really cycle it much at all, it's just in a state of full charge all the time.
A walkman, on the other hand, has a much more severe duty cycle, so "normal use" is giving those lead-acid batteries a pretty good beating!
Ok, just to update everyone. The Uniross 71H battery packs arrived. As guessed, inside each pack were 3 400mAh F4 prismatic NiMH batteries soldered together in series. I have charged them up. This took a bit time to get them back to a reasonable capacity of about 380 mAh. I suspect this was down to them being in storage by the retailer for a very long time. Rated voltage when fully charged is ~1.4 Volts. What this means is that the combined initial voltage of two batteries in series is about 2.8 Volts! Standard operating voltage would be closer to about 2.5 Volts. Not quite sure if I want to put that into a circuit that is expecting to accept 2.3 Volts at a maximum. Anyone here have any thoughts on whether there ought to be any voltage regulation at these kind of values?
The nominal voltage of a lead acid cell is 2v and a nicad cell is 1.2v which would make it 2.4v which is typically what you would get under load (ie. when playing a cassette). So in the end we're talking about 0.4v of a voltage difference. That probably won't be a problem but it's worth testing it on a walkman you don't mind damaging.
If you did use the internal charger for charging these new nicad batteries then all that would happen is they will be under charged as the charging circuit on lead acid batteries stops at 2.3v per cell. A nicad charging circuit looks for a peak voltage and then when the nicad battery is full it's voltage starts to drop and at the same time the cell starts to heat up, that's when the charging stops. This type of nicad charging circuit doesn't use a specific peak voltage but waits for the peak and then a dip, other simple nicad charging circuits just trickle charge indefinitely at a low current that's why the instructions say not to leave the item on charge for more than 24 hours.
Anyone have a picture of the original battery? This discussion has me intrigued.
BIG DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT ADVOCATE THE REPLICATION OF THE WORK THAT I CARRY OUT HERE IN THIS POST. SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO REPLICATE WHAT I DO AND FAIL, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY ALONE FOR CARRYING OUT CHECKS TO ENSURE THAT THERE ARE NO LOSSES TO LIFE, LIMB, PROPERTY, EARNINGS ETC. Everyone,
It has been a while since we've all chatted about the PB-S5A. Well I've been extremely bored today and decided to do a bit of soldering. I had previously ordered a National Semiconductor LP5951 from Digi-Key so decided to solder it onto a piece of stripboard and see how well it performed with regulating voltage down to 2 Volts. On its own the LP5951 was quite able to deliver 2.1 Volts from the 2.6 Volts being supplied, however once I coupled this onto a junked HS-JX707 it failed to power up the solenoid inside.
Since this was a junked unit, I then decided to connect up the two F4 NiMH batteries directly to the unit.
As you can see above, the JX707 is quite happily playing the radio and also running the motor (in reverse). I measured the voltage and it was just over 2.5 Volts.
No smoke was seen emanating from the JX707 at anytime
The next step will be to adapt the two F4 batteries so that they slide into the battery compartment and are also able to be easily charged off an airsoft smart charger as a pair or singularly from a standard NiMH smart charger such as the Technoline IC8800.
Well, I really must be bored today. Solved the problem of what to do with the batteries.
It involves running a line from the negative connection from the PCB to the battery door and allowing the positive to just connect to the positive connector on the PCB.
I've also taped together the batteries into a 2.5V battery pack, so it looks like I'll need to get the
airsoft smart charger to charge these or have the hassle of disassembling the battery pack every time I want to charge it singularly.
YAY
HS-JX707 with NO external battery box all powered up
BIG DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT ADVOCATE THE REPLICATION OF THE WORK THAT I CARRY OUT HERE IN THIS POST. SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO REPLICATE WHAT I DO AND FAIL, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY ALONE FOR CARRYING OUT CHECKS TO ENSURE THAT THERE ARE NO LOSSES TO LIFE, LIMB, PROPERTY, EARNINGS ETC.
Thats GRAND news. Now all have to do is figure how to adapt terminals to work with PB-1 and PB-S4 See my above photos for the more difficult closer terminal contacts.
What is each of the F4 batteries rated at? Do you think 2.5 volt will also be safe on the older model Aiwa's.
John,
The F4 NiMH batteries are rated at 1.2V, 400mAh each. On that basis I think the NiMH are going to last a tad longer than a 300mAh PB-S5A, and on top of that they also have a more consistent discharge voltage which may affect the battery indicator on more modern devices as these are calibrated for lead acid batteries.
It shouldn't be too much of a challenge to fit 2 F4 batteries into the caddy replacing the original PB-1. As for the PB-4, I think that one may be more tricky to achieve.
It is hard to say how close the tolerances are for a given circuit board. But do bear in mind that even a fully charged lead acid battery is closer to 2.3V, so who is to say. But I will also add that fully charged a NiMH cell can be as high as 1.4V, which would give the NiMH battery pack a starting voltage closer to 3V!
Hi Plop
Great work on the mock-up, truly GREAT WORK!
Please check your PM.
i am curious,,,how long did you run your mock-up battery in the play cassette mode ? did the battery generate any heat ? great job for sure. i have a 505 and a 557. wouldn't it be cool to shed those sidecars. my cheapo aaa rechargeables only last a few hours. i am talking the real 50 cent rechargeables.
Just ordered 2 of those cels.
They are 35.5mm - I am surprised they fit in yet since they are a bit larger than the PBS.
Question:
If you use the units with standard AAA or AA batteries, your get 3V. What is the difference between using AAA/AA or a PB pack ? Is each one of them using a different circuit ?
I would say there is absolutely, absolutey no problem at all using 3V instead of 2V. On the contrary I suppose the unit will work better, at least this is what I see on using AAA instead of the PBs.
quote:
Originally posted by Eingang:
Just ordered 2 of those cels.
They are 35.5mm - I am surprised they fit in yet since they are a bit larger than the PBS.
Question:
If you use the units with standard AAA or AA batteries, your get 3V. What is the difference between using AAA/AA or a PB pack ? Is each one of them using a different circuit ?
I would say there is absolutely, absolutey no problem at all using 3V instead of 2V. On the contrary I suppose the unit will work better, at least this is what I see on using AAA instead of the PBs.
I don't think you've ordered F4 batteries. Mine are about 31 mm in length. The dimensions you have given are for F5 batteries. Please see the
link I previously posted.
The AAA batteries have a voltage regulating circuit located within the battery box to normalise the voltage down to around 2.0V which explains the supply difference in voltages. Hooking up a voltmeter will confirm this.
Ok there seems to be some doubt as to the sourcing of F4 batteries. I have done a cursory check on Google for the Uniross 71H battery pack where you can farm 3 F4 batteries from each pack, and here are some of the cheapest (in no order of recommendation)
4.99 GBP UK + Europe delivery
4.99 GBP UK + Europe delivery
5.99 GBP UK + world delivery (Except Ireland)
6.99 GBP UK only (Free delivery and price matching)
The smart NiMH charger can be bought from
here They ship to UK and rest of the world. Or alternatively you can search your local country's websites for similar products with the appropriate mains voltages.
Please note my disclaimer in my previous post.
Dear Plop ! Thanks for the advice... just cancelled the deal and ordered otherwise...
If there is a circuit within the battery box it could be possible to take it out and somehow put into the unit ?
I did consider this oprion initially but then I thought, why sacrifice a perfectly serviceable battery box to try and shoe-horn the circuit board into the internals of the unit?
Not saying you shouldn't, it just seems a waste of a perfectly good and irreplaceable part for an experiment. Your next issue then is how to incorporate the additional circuitry into the already tight space inside the device? Do you break out the circuitry?
quote:
Originally posted by rerooted:
i am curious,,,how long did you run your mock-up battery in the play cassette mode ? did the battery generate any heat ? great job for sure. i have a 505 and a 557. wouldn't it be cool to shed those sidecars. my cheapo aaa rechargeables only last a few hours. i am talking the real 50 cent rechargeables.
In the first photo where the JX707 was playing the tape in reverse mode, the battery was soldered directly to the PCB at the battery contact points. Since I had only previously been charging the F4 batteries singularly on a Technoline IC8800 (aka
iCharger BC900 ) I didn't want to drain them completely so have not conducted a test from full to drained. However I will say that I did not notice any build up of heat for the 10 minutes it was running in playback mode. I will post up my findings when I do so.
How much capacity do your AAAs have? I bought a bunch of cheap NiMH AAAs from ebay that were rated at 1200mAh but I have tested them and found that they are <1200mAh around ~1000mAh. These are good for 7-8 hours on the radio. I very rarely listen to tape from my JX707.
Yes, I have to admit the battery boxes do look ugly and kind of go against the aesthetics of the sleek designs of these units.
quote:
Originally posted by plop:
I did consider this oprion initially but then I thought, why sacrifice a perfectly serviceable battery box to try and shoe-horn the circuit board into the internals of the unit?
Not saying you shouldn't, it just seems a waste of a perfectly good and irreplaceable part for an experiment. Your next issue then is how to incorporate the additional circuitry into the already tight space inside the device? Do you break out the circuitry?
Well, if that´s all... would you try if I send you some boxes ?
The circuit board from the battery box is quite bulky so even if you were to donate one to me to experiment, it would need to be butchered into a smaller size (or pieces) and somehow space located to accommodate it. I suppose it might be possible to locate it underneath (between the PCB and mechanical parts) assuming there was even space for that.
But consider this. Would you be wanting to do such a major modification for each device you own just to not have the battery box?
@ plop
Just opened one box up. It´s the type used with JX505. You can easily screw it up and take a look without destroying it. What do you say ?
By the way .... here are all PBs I know and own, except PB1:
If anyone of you has a PB1 left or a seperate charging station just for PB4s , please let me know. Perfect thing would be a universal charger for all PBs with some high voltage peak button just to try a reanimation.
PS: The PB2 is 450mAh
Impressive collection of batteries.
Can I ask that you take a picture of the battery box circuit board (front and back) that you have taken apart from the 505 with a ruler next it to get a sense of the scale? I know the circuit board from the JX707/PX1000 one is quite bulky, so it would be interesting to see how this one compares.
You want a serious universal battery charger well you got one
here main page . A touch pricey, but you get a lot of charger for your money.
Okay, will take some pics tomorrow, it´s too late now....
btw. those are not all I own, what I meant was they are of each type a single one. Those are all I have:
Now THAT is truly monumental.
OH MY GOD... DOUBLE OH MY GOD!! That is beyond a increadable achievment. Dont even want to think how many Aiwa players you had to buy to acquire that level of batteries.
I am curious why you have focused on such a unique area to collect ESPECIALLY when this type of chemical technology completely fails over time and can not be charged or used any longer. I always found that Aiwa's especially the more modern ones using a 2 volt instead of all others using 1.2 volt allowed a much better amp section and sound due to higher voltage.
Well, not necessarily. We might construct a pulse charger. I read an article some years ago about it and some of the patents see the broad daylight in car battery chargers that use pulse instead of constant current to revitalize the acid sealed batteries. The sulphate turns from liquid to solid matter around the metal plates inside the battery and it prevents the acid form interacting with the metal which dimisihes capacity and eventually kills the battery. But it is reversible and I was able to revive my UPS battery - it is a huge 24V battery but it worked and now at least I have a partial capacity so I don't have to buy another UPS. There are people on this forum who are way more experienced than me in these matters and they might think of something.
Thanks Eingang for taking the time to bust open a few battery boxes and to take pictures of them.
It looks like the best candidate would be the battery box from a 505 as it does look to be the most compact.
I have uploaded an edited schematic from the JX707 service manual showing only the components required in the circuit board (PCB) to keep. Suffice to say, only the electrolytic capacitor is not required. This is good news, as it is also the most bulkiest part of the component inventory on the PCB.
The next question is whether to mount the stripped out PCB directly into the Aiwa or somehow fit it temporarily between the battery connectors and the battery pack? Both options have their advantages and disadvantages.
Fitting it to the Aiwa would mean that you'd need enough 505 PCBs to fit each unit that you'd want to convert, but would be the easier solution.
Sandwiching the board between the battery contacts and battery pack, may require streamlining the existing PCB even more to allow it to fit.
Dear Plop !
Giving up one battery box for one unit would be no problem at all. You lose one box but you win the new battery solution. A low price.
But .... would the normal 2V PBs still be usable ? And - would an average man like me be able to do that work ?
The final and perfect end-user solution would be some kind of battery box or linkage or whatever to klick in the F4 batteries and recieve something just to put in the unit same as any PB.
It is really impressive you suggest streamlining the PCB. If you are able to do that you are really advanced....
Eingang,
You raise some interesting points.
> Giving up one battery box for one unit would be no problem at all. You lose one box but you win the new battery solution. A low price.
True, but it still seems counter-intuitive to dismantle a perfectly good irreplaceable battery box (OK it may seem irrelevant if you have loads of them but to other people who only have one or two it would seem crazy). Especially since it seems possible to run the Aiwa with only the two F4 batteries.
Although it does still eat at my brain that the original electronic designers would have went to the trouble to add the additional circuitry to regulate the voltage closer to 2.0V.
> But .... would the normal 2V PBs still be usable ? And - would an average man like me be able to do that work ?
Yes, but that depends on how the modification is carried out. If modification is carried out requiring break out of the battery contacts to divert it to the hidden circuit board, then it would need modification back to allow previous operation. Technically this could be quite a major task to undo, and doubtful whether you'd want to be doing so often or even want to modify your most prized Aiwa example.
If however it is possible to streamline the circuit board such that it can be positioned between the battery contacts and the F4 battery pack, then it would only need to be removed before the PB battery is inserted and requiring at most only to dismantle the Aiwa to get to the battery compartment to remove it.
> The final and perfect end-user solution would be some kind of battery box or linkage or whatever to klick in the F4 batteries and recieve something just to put in the unit same as any PB.
I agree. There is a small amount of space that can be utilised since the F4 batteries are slightly shorter than a regular PB battery, which (with space permitting) would allow the temporary fitting of the circuit board in between.
Plop !
Guess we both agree implanting an additional circuit board ínto a unit is no option.
Did you ever open up a PB battery ? Could be dangerous... toxic content, is it ? Of course an original box would be perfect.
Other idea: Would you be able to make a new, super flat circuit board on a (transparent) foil ? I mean to transfer the boards layout to a foil PCB which could possibly packed onto the prismatic cels yet ?
Even the 505 box PCB is way too large to fit in between contacts and cels....
Got 3 F6 cels today with a pack. If I put two of them into a opened 707 and push it, ca. 5-6mm space is left. Not too much, don´t you think ? THe PCBs small edge is 7mm and the long one 11mm.
Making a new PCB would be necessary.
Of course we could just concentrate on creating a box and forget this voltage adjust thing...
What do you say ?
Eingang,
> Did you ever open up a PB battery ? Could be dangerous... toxic content, is it ? Of course an original box would be perfect.
I would not ever consider dismantling a sealed lead acid battery. There is lead and sulphuric acid inside (one is highly toxic and the other very corrosive), plus once dismantled how and where am I going to dispose of the contents. In this environmentally aware era we can't just throw this stuff into the trash.
> Other idea: Would you be able to make a new, super flat circuit board on a (transparent) foil ? I mean to transfer the boards layout to a foil PCB which could possibly packed onto the prismatic cels yet ?
I guess this could be done, but I don't have the expertise, tools or materials to fabricate a flexible circuit board.
> Even the 505 box PCB is way too large to fit in between contacts and cels....
> Got 3 F6 cels today with a pack. If I put two of them into a opened 707 and push it, ca. 5-6mm space is left. Not too much, don´t you think ? THe PCBs small edge is 7mm and the long one 11mm.
This is where streamlining the PCB might make it fit. There are a number of items on the board that can be removed. ie the electrolytic capacitor, the 2V power adapter, and the connector to the Aiwa. Plus there may be parts of the PCB edges that can be trimmed down as well.
PM me if you still want me to reshape a perfectly good 505 battery box circuit board to try this out and I'll send you my contact details as to where to send it. Be warned that there is a chance that it may not work.
> Of course we could just concentrate on creating a box and forget this voltage adjust thing...
I never bothered with the creation of a box. My F4 battery pack consists of two F4 batteries connected together in series, spaced 3mm apart and held together with sticking tape. I have also included an extra piece of sticking tape to allow me to pull the F4 battery pack out of the battery compartment. I have thoughts of a future modification which would remove the need of attaching the additional negative wire as seen in the previous set of photos.
It can handle 2.5 vdc, but then again tought it was 2vdc which is 2.3vdc max? there always a 10%-15% tolerance, when they design the circuits. don't worry about the mAh, you unit will just have longer run time, but if the battery fully charged is 2.8 vdc you can put a resistor in the circuit. just do voltage V volts divided by current I amperes will equal resistance R ohms needed.
You can installed a voltage regulator, but you run time will be less.
Greetings for all
Someone in china has mad a battery for the AIWA JX849 PB5s and it seems to me according to google translation he is using it or just plan to use it uncertain!?
But worth to check it out
Here is the link with google translation:
PB5sOriginal without translationit's in the middle of the page.
@ The Lion,
That is a great find. I've managed to find the physical dimensions for the prismatic batteries the Chinese person is using.
They are prismatic 3/5F6S batteries which according to
here are 16 x 6.3 x 34mm
This seems a bit of a tight squeeze into the battery compartment along with the metal former, but on the plus side he has increased the capacity to 550mAh over the 400mAh F4
The use of the metal former is a great idea as it allows charging of the individual cells using a charger such
as, and removes the need for the extra wire.
However, other than the first link above I am not even sure where to source 3/5F6S batteries from.
