I read something about this in another thread but I thought I'd start a new one thinking that it might get more views.

Let me get this straight...

If I have a bad Philips battery pack I can remove the batteries inside the pack and replace them with regular NiMh ones and it will work?

The reason I ask is I bought a TS1000 and docking station from a guy. He never used the D/S and when I tried to charge the battery it only lasts for 1-2 mins. once charged.

I guess I should also ask how do you know if it is indeed the battery that is bad or the charger?

My battery and docking station is brand new but was never used for almost 3 years. I have heard that NiMh batteries have a shelf life even if not used?

The symptoms of mine are... the light stays on for maybe five mins tops then goes out. The charge lasts for maybe a couple mins then goes completely dead.

as i related in the other post.....

---

read these:

Dead NiMhs? 

NimH 

This message was edited by star50fiveoh on 03/16/03 12:43.

Well I picked up some NiMh rechargeables. I plan on doing the "Surgery" this evening. I will be taking pictures of the process so if anyone else wants to try it they'll have a step by step to go by. It'd be great if someone can host the pics when I'm done. I'll be sure to post the results.

Are you sure the battery pack is dead? Many times with an initial attempt at charging the charger will only charge (green light on) for about 5 min and then quit. The battery is not fully charged regardless of what the meter might say. Reseating the battery usually fixes this.

Jim L

Well I tried charging the battery and re-seating it several times always with the same result...the battery dying within a few mins.

But it doesn't matter now anyway because I just finished with the "Surgery"! At this point it looks like it was a SUCESS!! My soldering skills are atrocious at best and it still worked! The 1850ma batteries only cost me $11 at Walmart. The whole procedure took about an hour. If this works I saved myself $40-$50!

I will update in a few hours if the new and improved battery pack accepted a full charge.

This message was edited by Mister Man on 03/16/03 22:55.

20 Minutes and the charging light it still on!

WOO HOO!

BTW I have pictures if anyone wants to see them, post them or host them.

Well Guys it seems to have worked perfectly! The light on the charger stayed on for about 3 hours then went out. The battery indicator on the Pronto read about half way when done charging but doing the level meter/re-seat trick fixed that.

I must say that I am very pleased about the whole operation. For $11 and about an hours work I saved at least $40! Also if I remember correctly the 1800Ma batteries will actually last longer than the standard 1200Ma ones that come in the Philips battery pack.

I definitely recommend this to anyone with even the most basic soldering skills and the patientce to do it. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask them here.

boldly going where mister man has never gone before..............

congratulations!

(if you can't find anyone who will host those pix for you, can you crop & size them to about 600x400 - or so - , get them into .jpg format and ZIP 'em into a LESS THAN 1M, emailable package)?

(if you can't find anyone who will host those pix for you, can you crop & size them to about 600x400 - or so - , get them into .jpg format and ZIP 'em into a LESS THAN 1M, emailable package?)

Done and emailed to the email addy you have listed in your profile.

This message was edited by Mister Man on 03/17/03 21:53.

My battery pack is about one year old and I ran into the same problem last night.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would email the pictures to me at [email protected]

Thanks.

Larry

Hi,
my battery pack is also running looow.

I would REALLY appreciate the pics by e-mail at [email protected].

Maybe it makes sense to put the file into the remote central archive for downloading.
I suppose I'm not the last one interested...

THANKS!!!
Buxe

What is that trick?

Isn't advancing technology great? If you can do this surgery when needed, you will almost always end up with a better battery pack because the batteries will have been improved in the time it took your old ones to croak. Theo nly thing to watch out for is not to change technologies because the chargings characteristics of different technologies may make them blow up in older chargers.
I first did this with a ghetto blaster that took 8 D cells -- changed them to six lead/acid cells for the same nominal twelve volts, and built a charger for them. Worked great for six years till my kids totally discharged the antique lead/acids...they just can't cope with that!

Pleeeeease send me them to [email protected]!
Thanks!

Is it possible to post the information on this site, somehow?

This appears to be something that many of us will need in the future (or soon). Sounds like an excellent FAQ supplament.

I wonder if the Marantz 5200/9200 can be upgraded in the same way.