NX73V/NX80V with a 2000mah battery (DIY Mod)

[Semi]

Yes, you read the topic right, I have actually found a way to put a 2000mah battery inside a NX73V/NX80V, unfortuneatly I have to go to work pretty soon, so I'll post the whole process of "how-to" after I get back, anyone intrested please leave a reply :)

For now, the battery I use for this mod is a 2000mAh Hi-Cap Battery for Archos 404 PMP that was found on eBay, I just finished the mod last night and the unit is working fine so far.


Here it is, the actual mod!


Just thought I'd share this with anybody who's still using a NX73V or NX80V who would like to have a bigger capacity battery rather than the default 1200mah battery, on eBay you can find a 1400mah or a 1500mah battery, but if that's still not good enough for you (I just wanted to see how much I can sueeze into it), having a 2000mah battery inside your NX73V/NX80V is no longer a fantasy or dream, however you do take a small amount of risk when you try this. (depending on how you define "small amount of risk")

First you need to open up the back casing of course (I would suggest you remove the battery inside first), then unplug the top left and the bottom left plastic wired cable that's attached to the main motherboard (the one with the PXA263 CPU), then unscrew the top two screws a little (just loosen it up a little), then unscrew the bottom screws (these 2 needs to come off), and unscrew the 3 screws that's holding the black plastic that's holding the "speaker" and the battery.

Now, the 2000mah battery I've put into my NX73V is a "2000mAh Hi-Cap Battery for Archos 404 PMP" that I found on ebay, (note that you need to change the connector (which would be the white plastic holding the red and the black wire) to the connector that your Clie uses, you can take the old battery for your NX73V/NX80V and remove it, and put it onto the new 2000mah battery) it's a little bit big, therefore, you need to take out the black plastic in between the CPU motherboard and the battery (because it uses some space as well, by taking it out you add a little more room to fit this battery.) then gentlely slide the battery under the motherboard, then screw the motherboard back in place and re-attach the plastic wired cable (be careful not to apply too much force, because it is now in direct contact with the battery)

Note that the black plastic has the reset button with it, once you remove it, you won't be able to do a reset on your unit if it gives you a fatal error and freeze, unless you have a tooth pick with you all the time, but no fear, all you need to do is get a small paper, cut and fold it together, then use a small tape and tape it up so it won't fall apart, and tape it onto the back casing where the reset hole is, and you solved the reset problem (note that you need to fold the paper to a size where it won't be touching the actual reset button all the time when you put the back casing back, and not too far from it otherwise you still can't reset it unless you poke it really hard, to test this, what you can do is put the back casing back in place, hold onto the back casing together with your hand, don't put the screws back, and pull the power button to see if it turns on, if it doesn't, that means it is touching the reset button.)

After you finished testing the reset button to make sure it works properly with the back casing in place, you can start screwing the screws back in place, put the battery cover casing back (note that it will come out a little even after putting the screw back in, but you can hardly notice it when you actually use the unit)

I don't have any phots yet, but I will be taking some photos of my unit with the mod to make this easier, sorry if my explanation sounds confusing, I would HIGHLY recommand that you wait until I upload the photos before you do this mod, I will not be responsible for any damage caused by this mod if you decide to go with it.

UPDATE: Photos uploaded!
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.4cbdc4888e.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?4cbdc4888e.jpg)
(Already finished, just an overall view, and new/old battery comparison)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.05bd0bbc6d.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?05bd0bbc6d.jpg)
(Main motherboard)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.14b96d5af3.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?14b96d5af3.jpg)
(The two plastic wire cables that you unplug, unlock it first, be careful!)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.c2d342eef5.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?c2d342eef5.jpg)
(A side view, sorry about the blur)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.a085253a7c.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?a085253a7c.jpg)
(Yet another battery comparsion, sorry, don't want to take the new battery out)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.8efd694025.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?8efd694025.jpg)
(Another one, again..)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.98f5164290.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?98f5164290.jpg)
(Some "homework" for your reset button)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.8c88b0977c.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?8c88b0977c.jpg)
(Here's where you position your reset button, make sure you test it as mentioned above)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.431d23d5ca.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?431d23d5ca.jpg)
(Almost done, as you can see, the battery's bigger than the original)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.be8c1611e7.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?be8c1611e7.jpg)
(Battery cover back in place! you're done!)
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.cb9b18dbd3.jpg (http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?cb9b18dbd3.jpg)
(Not too much difference, hardly noticeable right? enjoy~)

Apr/11/2008: I tested my unit today by playing videos (with sound of cource) on TCPMP with CPU overclocked to 300Mhz (with PXAClocker, but Speedy 6.1 says 337Mhz), played the video for 1 hour and battery still says 100%, 2 hours it was down to around 85%, 3 hours it was down to around 54%, the brightness was set at default medium (or center you call it.), I say that is very good result, I did not overclock the CPU further because this unit (Which is a NX73V) can not handle more than 337Mhz, it gets unstable, my NX80V is currently in for repair by Chris Short, on that unit I can overclock it to 478Mhz (on Speedy).

[mmulhern]

Yes, I'm interested - I was looking to install a new battery in my "new" NX70 - hopefully your mod will work for my NX70.

[shatarys]

It's great! My old NX73 is already wanting that battery mod :)

[ht_pf]

I have a Sony Clie PEG-NX70V/U

On the clie it is stamped that the battery is 5.2V=1A

The battery is stamped UP503759 & on uther side stamped 175627911

The USB Cradle is also stamped 5.2 volts 2000 mA

I looked up these replacement batteries on ebay and all are only 3.7 volts.

Will one of these work in my clie ?
My battery only lasts one or 2 days now. It is 5 years old.

Hope someone can help, Thanks

[Telemachos]

I am interessted too :-)
My Clie NX60 Battery is nearly dead, (the 1200mA batterys from ebay may be ok, but after i read this i would like to do a REAL upgrade on my old trusty cliè nx60 as well)..

What i dont know is:
-Will the CLie Charger be compatible
-Will the NX "understand" that it has a 2000mA battery now

or will i mess up the battery because of some misunderstanding betwenn charger/clie/battery??

greetz
tele

[Semi]

To all NX60/NX70 owners: To be honest, for NX60, NX70, I don't know if it will work, what's more is the fact that NX60 and NX70's physical size is somewhat different than NX73V and NX80V, therefore I wouldn't recommand doing this mod, as I do not have those units myself, I can not even attempt this mod on those models of Clie.

ht_pf:Mine says on also, however, that's what the back of the casing says (and the charger), if you open up the battery cover and pull the battery out of the unit, you should see that it's actually using a Lithum-ion Polymer battery with only 3.7volts, as far as I have seen, all the lithum-ion polymer battery used in Clie PDAs are all 3.7volts according to the sticker says on those batteries, if your clie uses a battery that is not 3.7volts, please let me know.

Telemachos: To answer your question, this is what I know from my own knowledge, however I can't say I am 100% correct.

1 - Yes it should, the charger does not charge the battery directly because it goes through your Clie's motherboard first, then it goes into the battery, and what is more is the fact that these rechargeable batteries should have over-charging, over-heated and short-circuit protection, therefore it should be compatiable (otherwise it wouldn't explain why there's 1500mah batteries for sale on eBay for NX series Clie, because these Clie comes with a default of 1200mah.), so it seems to me that it's the batteries that controls how much charge it will take, not the charger (depending on the kind of rechargeable batteries I guess)

2 - It wouldn't tell you if its a 2000mah battery for sure, let me put it this way, have you ever seen any devices that uses battery ever have an option that tells you what what brand/kind and how much capacity of battery it is using? no right? it will only tell you if it's at 100% or 45% etc.., and it is doing this by detecting the voltage of the battery, as the voltage drops lower than it should be (for these batteries clie use, it would be 3.7v, on my software it says 4.20v, but anyway), then the device will be aware of the change and change the percentage of the battery power that's shown on your device.

So say you have a 2000mah installed, because it has larger capacity, so your device may be set by SONY to think that 3.7v (or 4.20v I don't know because of what battery says and software says) is 100%, and 3.6v is 90% for example, and this new battery can stay at 3.7v longer than your original 1200mah battery, so it will keep showing 100% until the voltage goes below 3.7v.

This is what I believe the case is from what I have seen and observe so far on my own Clie, can't say I am 100% sure about it, but like I said, when I tested my NX73V with the 2000mah battery it stayed at 100% for 1 hour as I played a movie file non-stop, leads me to believe that's how it works.


PS: For NX60/NX70 owners, if you decided not to go with the mod (which I do not recommand and will not take any responsibility for any damaged caused by this mod), if you like you can buy a 1500mah battery for the NX series from this seller named total*power*solution on ebay, he's also the one who sells the 2000mah battery I use on my NX73V right now.