Hi all,

Need some advice on solar Charger Battery Replacement. As I am having this solar charger (http://www.m3gps.com/estore/shopquery.asp?catalogid=185&bc=no&extdesc=1) with built in battery. Can I just replace the built in battery with higher capacity of AA or AAA rechargerable battery?

The link work now.

 

Hello,

The link does not work.

Greetings,
Bertus

 

Hello,

On the page you gave it says:

• High solar energy convert efficiency. over than 15%
• Solar energy board: 5.5V/80mA
• High capacity build in polymer battery: 1350mAh
• Output voltage: 5.5V
• Output current: 1000mA
• Charging time: about 60 minutes. The time is a little different for different mobile phone.
• To charge the build in battery in the charger using solar energy: 10-15 hours
• To charge the build in battery in the charger using computer or AC adapter: about 5 hours.

The term polymer in this probably means that a lithium polymer battery is used.
This can not be replaced by an other type of battery.
The way of charging for lithium battries differs from NiCd and NiMH.

For more info take a look at the "batteryuniversity"
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

Greetings,
Bertus

 

Hello,

On the page you gave it says:

[/FONT][/COLOR]
[/LIST]The term polymer in this probably means that a lithium polymer battery is used.
This can not be replaced by an other type of battery.
The way of charging for lithium battries differs from NiCd and NiMH.

For more info take a look at the "batteryuniversity"
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

Greetings,
Bertus

What if I replace it with polymer battery instead? I mean by removing the existing battery and replace with higher capacity. Reason for replacing with higher capacity is that when I opened up the casing to see the built in battery as I suspect the built in battery is not what it claim to be 1350mAH. The size of the built in battery is so tiny (1cmx2.5cm x0.4cm).

 

Hello,

I do not know how "intelligent" the charger is.
A higher capacity battery will take a longer time to be charged fully.
I do not know how the charger will react on the larger capacity.

Greetings,
Bertus

 

Hello,

I do not know how "intelligent" the charger is.
A higher capacity battery will take a longer time to be charged fully.
I do not know how the charger will react on the larger capacity.

Greetings,
Bertus

I am aware that it will take longer time to charge. I just need to increase to larger battery capacity.

 

Hello,

Here is a quote from the battery university about the lithium polymer batteries:

The lithium Polymer battery

The lithium-polymer differentiates itself from conventional battery systems in the type of electrolyte used. The original design, dating back to the 1970s, uses a dry solid polymer electrolyte. This electrolyte resembles a plastic-like film that does not conduct electricity but allows ions exchange (electrically charged atoms or groups of atoms). The polymer electrolyte replaces the traditional porous separator, which is soaked with electrolyte.

The dry polymer design offers simplifications with respect to fabrication, ruggedness, safety and thin-profile geometry. With a cell thickness measuring as little as one millimeter (0.039 inches), equipment designers are left to their own imagination in terms of form, shape and size.

Unfortunately, the dry lithium-polymer suffers from poor conductivity. The internal resistance is too high and cannot deliver the current bursts needed to power modern communication devices and spin up the hard drives of mobile computing equipment. Heating the cell to 60°C (140°F) and higher increases the conductivity, a requirement that is unsuitable for portable applications.

To compromise, some gelled electrolyte has been added. The commercial cells use a separator/ electrolyte membrane prepared from the same traditional porous polyethylene or polypropylene separator filled with a polymer, which gels upon filling with the liquid electrolyte. Thus the commercial lithium-ion polymer cells are very similar in chemistry and materials to their liquid electrolyte counter parts.

Lithium-ion-polymer has not caught on as quickly as some analysts had expected. Its superiority to other systems and low manufacturing costs has not been realized. No improvements in capacity gains are achieved - in fact, the capacity is slightly less than that of the standard lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion-polymer finds its market niche in wafer-thin geometries, such as batteries for credit cards and other such applications.
Advantages

• 
  [*] Very low profile - batteries resembling the profile of a credit card are feasible.
  [*]Flexible form factor - manufacturers are not bound by standard cell formats. With high volume, any reasonable size can be produced economically.
  [*] Lightweight - gelled electrolytes enable simplified packaging by eliminating the metal shell.
  [*] Improved safety - more resistant to overcharge; less chance for electrolyte leakage.

Limitations

Lower energy density and decreased cycle count compared to lithium-ion.
Expensive to manufacture.
No standard sizes. Most cells are produced for high volume consumer markets.
Higher cost-to-energy ratio than lithium-ion

The battery was probably special made for the charger.

Greetings,
Bertus