How To Use Batteries from Different GSM Phones On Each Other
Hi!
Today I will discuss how to use batteries from different GSM phones on each other in an emergency situation or in a situation when correct replacement batteries are not possible to get.
What you have to know before you make the little swap or hack:
- What is the original capacity of the battery which should be replaced?
- Can the donor battery fit into the new phone casing?
- Disassemble the original battery and take out the electronic PCB from there.
- What type of battery we deal with ( Li-Ion / Ni-Mh )
Let see what type of pins are on a GSM battery:
In most of case there are 3 or 4 pins.
- Battery positive or + voltage
- Battery BSI ( Battery Size Indicator/ Battery System Indicator )
- Battery Temperature indicator
- Battery negative or – voltage
So, let’s say we deal with a Li-ion, 1500mAh battery on a modern phone and we don’t have a compatible battery for our phone, like in my case the Coolpad E501. I have to take out the electronic from the original battery and connect it to the donor battery which is in my case a Prestigio phone battery with the same capacity and with 3 pins.
The pins are: Battery positive, Battery Temp and Battery ground pins. In most of case in my carrier the batteries had 3 pins and one of them was a so called battery temperature monitor. This is very important to wire up and make them active because, if for some reason the battery goes hot the phone can sense the temperature and shut down itself.
The major reason for this is actually the BSI pin configuration. In my case that is the battery temperature monitoring pin.
Why?
The answer is simple, because the PTC or NTC device which is in the original battery is designed to meet the exactly phone type where it should be.
So, if you interchange this electronic with the electronic from the donor battery then you will maybe have a problem and the phone would to early shut down or to late. This would happen because let’s say, the original PTC have a value of 10K but the donor PTC is 5K, then you have an out of calibration safety device which will end up in a failure when it needs to protect.
There are other sophisticated BSI connections too but I didn’t meet them so often. Sometime there are fixed resistors in the battery which will tell the phone what capacity is the battery. Some other models have an eeprom in the battery ( that was the case by some phone models made by Siemens ) where are some parameters stored in. Like the leftover charging cycle, capacity, maybe manufacturing date etc.
If you deal with a battery which one have an eeprom inside then you have a problem, because you have to figure out what type of data are stored in the eeprom. If there is a battery life time counter in it then you should reset that.
All that thinks I think the industry made for some commercial tricks and not for safety…
Actually, if you use the electronic from the original battery and connect that stuff to the donor battery then you interchanged only the battery cells and this is the point why I wrote this little tutorial. Can you imagine how many batteries could be saved from junk which are actually not bad, and they are dropped to the junk because the phone was failed?
I never buy a new battery just because mine is died. I have lot of gsm phones different models in my repair shop which are unusable, but the battery cells are ok and they will fit into my phone.
Be carefully whit this tutorial!
If you didn’t understand the basics of electronic and you don’t know what you do you can get a burn or you short out the battery or the battery can end up in fire!
So! Handle this document carefully.
I hope you enjoy this tutorial and will have fun with.
This article was prepared for you by Christian Robert Adzic from Novi Knezevac-Serbia.
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Parasuraman S
September 22, 2016 at 8:25 am
An area hitherto untried by me! A good informative article of a highly skilled service!
Robert Calk
September 22, 2016 at 1:05 pm
Thanks Christian.
Albert van Bemmelen
September 22, 2016 at 2:04 pm
Very interesting article Christian, because I face the same problem with a Verifone VX670 wireless paying device that has a bad Li-Ion Battery : Model 24016-01-R 7.2V 1800mAh 13Wh DC Module. Which has 4 goldplated contacts. The Li-Ion Battery is however Bulged and it explicitly states: DO NOT Disassemble, etc etc. Plus the device itself has an extra very big flat 3V Lithium Battery inside. I tried to use the 2 outer connections by connecting 7.2V to it but the device is completely dead and assumably is beyound repair and opening this bulged Li-Ion Battery is more dangerous than opening just any NiMH or NiCd Battery Pack.
Chris
September 22, 2016 at 9:14 pm
Thank you to support my article.
I would give a chance to open the battery and see what type of electronic device is in there.
I would also not be surprised if that four terminals actually 3 terminal and two of them are only separated by a plastic separator.
But inside they are the same, in most of case the temperature sampling wire.
I often saw that type of contact in old Nokia batteries.
My best regards.
Albert van Bemmelen
September 23, 2016 at 12:59 am
Thanks Christian. Maybe I indeed will try to carefully open the Li-Ion Battery. But I am anxious because it is bulged which is not normal I guess?
Chris
September 23, 2016 at 8:11 pm
It's not normal definitive.
The bulged batteries are because the gases are produced due to electro chemical oxidation of the electrolyte. So, go outside and open the battery carefully.
Try to open in the area where are the contact.
Maybe you do not must open the bulged part.
The cells are separated from the pcb where are the connector just all that is covered with an over all casing, housing or some nylon etc.
I assume if you take down the first layer of the battery you got the electronic in your hand and the cells are also not opened.
My best regards.
Albert van Bemmelen
September 24, 2016 at 12:13 am
Thanks chris(tian). Careful is the best and only way to do it I guess. Like putting on safety glasses before opening the bulged housing. A friend of mine repairs notebook battery packs by replacing new 18650 Li-Ion cells in them, but still none of them were bulged before opening.
Yogesh
September 22, 2016 at 3:17 pm
Christian,
Thanks for informative article.
suranga Electronics
September 22, 2016 at 4:04 pm
Mr Christian,
Thanks for the explanation !
Suranga
Mark Tembo
September 22, 2016 at 5:34 pm
I will try this. Thanks a lot Christian for sharing this article!
Gerald
September 23, 2016 at 8:42 am
Very interesting Christian, thanks for sharing. Indeed, phone batteries are very sensitive subjects these days and we better know what we are doing.
Cheers,
Gerald
beh
September 23, 2016 at 3:16 pm
CHRIS thanks for informations
Phil Kafesu
September 24, 2016 at 2:52 pm
Thanks Chris. Here in Africa new batteries are expensive and sometimes you cannot find batteries of some phone models on the market so we depend on modifying old batteries.
Thanks for advising that batteries with the same values should be used instead of what we were doing here, that is: as long as it fits in the phone, its okay, we ignored other parameters like PTC ......
Chris
September 25, 2016 at 2:49 am
Thanks for supporting my article.
Some time wen I replaced the original battery with an aftermarket battery, in some model I got an error message "wrong battery", I also noticed on some models of aftermarket batteries does they goes warm or they can not last more then a several months or so.
All this situation and other what I'm not listed here is the result of a wrong BSI pin/connector ( whatever ) configuration.
It's better for me to separate the electronic from the batteries and than just join the original pcb from the original battery to the donor battery cells.
But, of course, there are so many possibilities...
My best regards and take care with batteries.
Reekes
September 26, 2016 at 6:36 pm
Hi Christian it seems my little project was clearly adopted by you without giving credit to the original thinker. but I'm glad it was put to good use somehow. I have made this project a long time ago but the only problem I encountered was the four terminal battery which was easy before when there were only three. But I still manage to overcome the problem by exactly doing what you mentioned here in your simple tutorial. The secret is the electronic chipset of the battery which controls the power from the battery. For your info I have a high end smartphone which model is Sky vega no 6. which I altered one of it's battery to use a 10k powerbank battery cell. the cell itself was disconnected to it's charging unit but if ever it will be drained I put it back to its original nesting place. I could provide the picture if you like. by the way I'm not into giving you a headache. it's enough for me to simply contribute my knowledge to the electronic world. Please a little consideration on other people's credit. Thanks and more power.
Chris
September 28, 2016 at 1:45 am
Hi!
Thanks for supporting my article, but I really don't know nothing about your project and I also didn't adopt anybodies project.
So, I don't know why you wrote:
"Hi Christian it seems my little project was clearly adopted by you without giving credit to the original thinker."
Maybe you have somewhere also a project posted before mine but that didn't restrict me to write my own text.
I also would read your text and of course I have nothing against to you or your text.
Please give a link to your text so I can read that too.
My best regards.
Zed
September 29, 2016 at 8:53 pm
Thank you sir Christian for this valuable information about battery of cellphone. by the way sir did you remember when i ask about you esr meter you use and said in one of your article. can i ask if you can give me a diagram of that esr meter and parts and even pcb design and esr scale if you dont mind sir. Thank you so much and i hope for your kindly considertions.
Zed
September 29, 2016 at 9:00 pm
I would like to make one of your esr sir Christian to be used as a tester on electrolytic capacitors and non polar capacitors. Thank you sir Christian.
Chris
September 30, 2016 at 9:19 pm
Hi Zed, I can remember for your request for the ESR meter.
I made the esr meter year ago and it was on some printed paper the pcb and schematic.
I will see to check back where I put all that stuff and if I found it I will inform you through the administrator of this blog and of course I will share this info with you.
My best regards.
Zed
September 30, 2016 at 10:05 pm
Ok thank you sir
Albert van Bemmelen
October 2, 2016 at 4:17 am
Hi Zed. When you Google on ESR DIY you'll find a lot of them to build. Like these not digital with analog meter, for example:
1. http://www.electronicrepairguide.com/build-your-own-esr-meter.html
or this one:
2.http://electronics-diy.com/electronic_schematic.php?id=856
And I think I even remember having seen Digital versions with a PIC microcontroller and 16x2 Display from a Russian Author who also builds and sells them. And he shares the PIC hex file so anyone is able to replicate it.
But why build them when you can just buy a 12684 ESR/Semiconductor/Resistor/Coils tester KIT too? And at very cheap prices!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12864-LCD-Mega328-ESR-Meter-Transistor-Tester-Diode-Triode-Capacitance-MOS-PNP-/381730842742
There also are other kits and other providers like Banggood and Aliexpress. Hope this helps.
Dilum
January 21, 2017 at 9:39 am
Thanks for detailed news letter,
some details are most relevant to us in day today repair.