Palm Vx battery replacement

[Half-Saint]

I recently bought a used IBM WorkPad C3 and I love it. I've been using it for the past couple of days and I carry it around with me everywhere I go. However, the battery is a little weak and will only keep my PDA working for about 2 hours ON time which means I have to charge it each night.

My question is, has anyone here replaced the battery themselves? I've seen two different guides but I'm afraid of applying heat to my Palm. Could this damage the unit? I also wouldn't like to bend or damage the back cover.

The other question is, what kind of a battery is actually in there? Is it a Polymer Li-Ion battery? Maybe it could be replaced with a bigger battery from online vendors such as batteryspace.com?

Thanks in advance,
H-S

[Half-Saint]

81 views and no reply It looks like I'm a decade too late

Cheers
SainT

[raspabalsa]

Hi Half-Saint, welcome to Brighthand!

Don't despair, there are not many Vx users around anymore, so not surprising you received no replies.

I used a Vx many years ago, it was my first Palm. I doubt you'll find an original battery. What's more, you don't want an original battery, because if you find any, it will be very old and probably not fully functional. Better replace it with a battery of another brand and model.

I use Nokia batteries on some of my mods. These batteries are cheap and easy to find. I particularly like the Nokia BL-5C batteries, these are small enough and pack a decent amount of power at less than US$6 each. One of these will probably fit inside the Vx. Better take the dimensions of the original battery and look for a Li-Ion or Li-Poly (both will work in the Vx) that fits.

Applying heat is really fearsome, because you can really melt the digitizer. Take your time, do it with care and patience, better start with the low temperature, then gradually increase it if needed.

When I opened my Vx I didn't have a hair dryer (sisters were not at home then ), so I used a regular iron. I placed a cotton cloth on top of the Vx (to avoid scratching its body), then ran the iron at low temperature around the perimeter. Again, needs patience and a steady hand.

Good luck, please keep us posted on this project.

[Half-Saint]

Did you put a nokia battery in the Vx also? What's the pinout for the battery? Thanks

[raspabalsa]

No, I didn't put a Nokia battery in my Vx because I sold it years ago, when its battery was still going strong. But any Li-Ion or Li-Poly battery will work (provided they physically fit inside the case) because the battery chemistries are compatible.

When you purchase a battery such as the Nokias I mention, you'll notice they have 3 or 4 pins. Two of these pins are the V+ and V- terminals. The other(s) are for communication between battery and device. Basically they let the device to monitor battery state and health. In any case, pinouts vary between battery models, so this is something you'll have to identify with a multimeter.

All these "assembled" batteries have a protection circuit, which monitors battery voltage and current and shuts down the battery if certain safety thresholds are exceeded. One such prot. circuit is included in your Vx's original battery. Best way to replace the battery is to remove this prot. circuit from both the old and the new battery, then place the Vx's circuit in the new battery. Of course, to do this you'll need a good multimeter to identify polarities, and a good soldering iron to remove and reinstall the circuits.

[Half-Saint]

It appears that my Vx battery finally died completely. The palm won't even turn on anymore even after a reset. I will try to open it tonight and see what's inside. BL-5C has labeled pins so the mod shouldn't be much of a problem. First step will be opening my Palm. Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers
SainT

[raspabalsa]

Please keep in mind what I said in my previous post: you will have to remove the BL-5C's protection circuit and replace it with the one from the original Vx battery. The BL-5C is covered in glued paper, remove this and you'll see that the contacts are not part of the battery, but of the prot. circuit. Lifting the prot. circuit you'll see the actuall battery contacts, attached to the circuit with two flat conductors. Cut these conductors to remove the circuit. Now you have the actual Li-Ion battery, without a protection circuit. Now take the Vx battery, you'll see it has its own prot. circuit. This battery's terminals are soldered directly to the circuit. De-solder them, note the polarity of the terminals with a multimeter, then connect the protection circuit to the new BL-5C. You have to be extra careful with polarity, otherwise you will ruin the battery and probably also your Vx.

[accorn]

Hi - I used to have a VX and have messed with replacing the battery.
It seems to handle heat well enough you just have to be careful of the screen (keep it face down for one thing).
It's not hard to replace it but it is hard if your a perfectionist like me ...
Basically it is very hard to heat the thing up, so I had to pry it a little bit which did bend the metal a little.
Secondly, it is a pain to re-glue it, since at least for me the original glue did not re-stick well enough and kept coming apart again. I had to put some small amounts of super glue, which made a little mess around the edges. (be careful to only use a small amount, since too much and it might go on your screen).
So, basically it was easy to do and functioned perfectly again - but never looked as perfect again .

I'm not sure why people are saying you have to use different batteries and such - I just went on ebay and searched vx battery, and found sellers selling new versions cheap that worked just like the old one.

[accorn]

As you can see from my icon I've moved onto visors . Big fat bricks with easy to replace AAA batteries..

[Half-Saint]

I believe raspabalsa recommended a Nokia battery because they are not hard to find brand new and offer more capacity compared to standard 650 mAh from the Vx battery. My problem is about the same as yours. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to some things. That's why I bought a m515 so I don't have to replace the battery he he.. it's a shame tho that the Vx is just sitting in a drawer now.

The problem I see with super glue is how do you replace the battery the next time it dies?

Cheers
SainT