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Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: phil_er_up on November 11, 2017, 05:58:55 PM

Title: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: phil_er_up on November 11, 2017, 05:58:55 PM
Need to replace my battery in my littlebox V1. Searched this out on TS, Naiant Site.

1) Found the following at Jon site:

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"The box series amplifiers were in production from 2009-2014. Those that shipped with internal rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are all near or at battery end-of-life.

Because shipping regulations have gotten more strict since these devices were produced, it is no longer legal to ship the lithium-ion batteries used. Therefore, I do not offer lithium-ion battery replacement. All box series amplifiers can be converted to run on NiMH battery packs instead, as follows:

littlebox/midbox/bigbox: A 6x 2/3 AA NiMH battery pack is a drop-in replacement for most littleboxes that previously had a lithium-ion pack. There is no circuit reconfiguration required. Some littleboxes with input or output transformers in the standard case size might not have sufficient internal room for the NiMH pack, which is slightly larger. The NiMH pack with mating connector is $20.

http://naiant.com/naiant-forums/microphone-amplifiers/discontinued-box-series-amplifiers-battery-replacement/

Down furthur in the thread jon states:
"The littlebox connector is a “Tamiya-style”connector. I don’t think Tamiya actually makes them anymore, but it’s a common part used by RC car battery packs, just do a Google search for “Tamiya connector”. They have gotten a bit hard to find at the big distributors since it’s an obsolete part, but I have a big bag of them so if you send me your mailing address I will send out some spares."
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2) And found this on TS page 2 from pohaku
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=173353.15

Pohaku states:
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Jon, does the rechargeable little box use the same battery?  If it does, I'll order another (for a total of 4) and do a clean sweep of all my Naiant devices.

Edit: - per Jon, little box (hereinafter "LB") uses a different, larger battery:

http://www.batteryspace.com/li-ion1850074v1400mah1036whbatterymodulewithprotectioniclc18500s2r1wr.aspx

Note that the LB battery is UN38.3 passed, so it should not require a hazmat fee if you order one to replace your LB battery.
=========================================================

My question is can I buy the following item and is this the same - “Tamiya-style” connector? So I could just unplug the old one and put the new one in?
Does charger still work the same?

http://www.batteryspace.com/li-ion1850074v1400mah1036whbatterymodulewithprotectioniclc18500s2r1wr.aspx

Or any other suggestion would be appreciated.

Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: willndmb on November 11, 2017, 08:04:35 PM
I have not done it but will need to in my tinybox sooner then later, but if Jon linked that battery then it should work as you want. Just make sure to get it with the connector attached and not the bare wires
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: phil_er_up on November 12, 2017, 07:41:58 AM
Thanks to willndmb for his response. Reason did not email jon is heard he or his family is having health problems and would not rather bothering him in a time of distress.

Contacted Pohaku directly to see if he had replaced the battery in his LB. Have not heard back yet.

Has anyone done the replacement yet?
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: down2earthlandscaper on November 14, 2017, 02:28:52 AM
Thanks to willndmb for his response. Reason did not email jon is heard he or his family is having health problems and would not rather bothering him in a time of distress.

Contacted Pohaku directly to see if he had replaced the battery in his LB. Have not heard back yet.

Has anyone done the replacement yet?

I believe that rodeen and dallman have researched this and performed the swap
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: phil_er_up on November 14, 2017, 10:12:41 AM
Thanks Down2earthlandscaper for the info. It is appreciated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Made some progress.

1) Pohaku PM me back and said I have the right link though he has not done the LB battery replacement.

2)  Took off the 4 screws on the back panel of the LB. Removed back panel. Opened up LB.

3) Battery is on half side of the box with the other half being components separated by a black padding sheet with sticky on one side to hold the battery in place tightly.

4) Gently separate the black sheet from battery and pull battery out. (Used long thin screwdriver - this is not hard though you need to be careful with this step not to damage anything inside of LB)

5) Disconnect the male side of the “Tamiya-style” connector from the female side “Tamiya-style” connector which is left inside of the LB.

6) There is a Black wire from XLR back panel to the battery “Tamiya-style” connector.

What is not clear to me is how you insert the black wire back into the “Tamiya-style” connector on the new battery pack?

Would I just pull the black wire from the old battery “Tamiya-style” connector out and then insert it by hand back into the “Tamiya-style” connector on the new battery?

Rest of it seems straightforward. After figuring out how to Connect the black wire (see above). Take new battery with pre-installed “male Tamiya-style” connector and connect it to the female side of the “Tamiya-style” connector inside of LB. Then put battery back inside of LB between components and the black padding sheet with sticky on one side.

Put back panel on. Put screws back in.

Pray it works!!!

===================================================================
Did contact jon and he clarified some of the above though it was not clear how to connect the black wire to the new battery “Tamiya-style” connector.
PM'ed Rodeen and Dallman to see if they have any other thoughts. Took some photos of the LB open with battery in it and back panel off.






Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: ts on February 03, 2018, 03:29:07 PM
I have a new to me Littlebox that may need a battery replacement. Read thru this thread and it looks like more of a job than I’m willing to tackle. My box has transformers and it is stated above that there may not be enough room for a NIMH drop in replacement.

After a full night of charging the led light next to the high/low switch seems to indicate the battery is charged but I only get a little over an hour of use. When charging the led light on the charger remained green even after 24 hours of charging. Isn’t the green light on the charger supposed to go out when battery is fully charged? How does one know if and when the battery is fully charged?

I’m assuming this battery is at EOL. Does anyone here do the battery replacement? Does Jon still work on these?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: willndmb on February 07, 2018, 04:09:41 PM
I have a new to me Littlebox that may need a battery replacement. Read thru this thread and it looks like more of a job than I’m willing to tackle. My box has transformers and it is stated above that there may not be enough room for a NIMH drop in replacement.

After a full night of charging the led light next to the high/low switch seems to indicate the battery is charged but I only get a little over an hour of use. When charging the led light on the charger remained green even after 24 hours of charging. Isn’t the green light on the charger supposed to go out when battery is fully charged? How does one know if and when the battery is fully charged?

I’m assuming this battery is at EOL. Does anyone here do the battery replacement? Does Jon still work on these?

Thanks.
Jon does work on them as far as I know
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: pohaku on February 08, 2018, 10:13:31 PM
I believe Jon still works on them.  You will probably need to pull the battery before shipping it to him.  You should email him and inquire.
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: ts on February 09, 2018, 09:52:01 AM
Update:

Took the box apart per Jon and because of limited space due to my box having transformers I decided to go with the OEM Lithium replacement from battery space. No hazmat fees on this battery. I also ordered it with the male Tamiya connector. Jon thinks the NiMH will fit but I was not willing to chance it, especially with no hazmat fees on the Lithium.

Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: phil_er_up on February 20, 2018, 01:44:20 PM
I have a new to me Littlebox that may need a battery replacement. Read thru this thread and it looks like more of a job than I’m willing to tackle. My box has transformers and it is stated above that there may not be enough room for a NIMH drop in replacement.

After a full night of charging the led light next to the high/low switch seems to indicate the battery is charged but I only get a little over an hour of use. When charging the led light on the charger remained green even after 24 hours of charging. Isn’t the green light on the charger supposed to go out when battery is fully charged? How does one know if and when the battery is fully charged?

I’m assuming this battery is at EOL. Does anyone here do the battery replacement? Does Jon still work on these?

Thanks.

Update:
Received new Lithium replacement battery. Sent Jon a picture of my black wire and it was from a mod he did for me after I bought the box and the black wire was a ground for the box. Not everyone would have the black wire since mine was done as a mod. Jon said the black wire connected that way was highly unusual.  Not really comfortable doing this with soldering.

Sent it to a local taper who worked on it.

The wires that come with the NEW BATTERY Lithium replacement ARE NOT THE SAME SIZE as the old one. They are quite a bit larger diameter. He said he cut the wires on the old battery and used the old wires to connect to the new battery. He cut the wrap off new battery and reconnected (soldered )old wire to new battery. Then put shrink rap over both batteries. My ground wire he did not have to resolder due to it was connected to the old wire. He then put battery back inside box with sticky black sheet and closed box and put screws back in. Charged new battery takes like 8 hours for full charge and then tested LB to make sure it all was working correctly.
Title: Re: Littlebox Battery replacement
Post by: ts on February 21, 2018, 02:43:12 PM
I just got my replacement lithium battery from batteryspace. Yes, the wires on the new battery are larger diameter and longer. Not sure what that has to do with anything other than possibly making it more difficult to fit everything back in the case. Anyway, I got mine in and the lid back on. It fired right up. Charging it now. And yes I tested it before I put the lid back on. :facepalm: