Battery upgrade?

AlexC · 11-24-2008, 07:50 PM

I recently picked up a lightly used iLiad v1 from the Flea Market forum. (Thanks hkabir!) So far, I'm loving the iLiad... except for its battery life. I'd love to be able to have it up and running for a long workday, including plenty of annotations.

I'm leaning towards upgrading the batteries with either the 1800 mAh or 2800 mAh cells, but am faced with two problems: (i) I'm in Canada, and can't find a retailer with reasonable shipping costs; and (ii) I have *zero* skill with a soldering iron and don't have any friends or family who are handy with one either.

Are there any forum members in the US who'd be interested in performing the upgrade for me for a fee? This may be a lot to ask, but I thought it would be worth seeing if it might be a possibility.

Thanks all.

Mr. Goodbar · 11-25-2008, 09:26 AM

The other thing you could try would be finding someone at a local electronics repair shop and see if they could do it. The instructions found on the board are very complete and easy to follow. Anyone with even limited experience in soldering should be able to do it without a problem.

Shaggy · 11-25-2008, 11:53 AM

What battery life are you currently getting? With a v1 running the latest firmware (2.12) you should be able to get about 12 hours. If yours is a lot less than that, then I suspect you have one with a bad battery (maybe that's why there were selling it?).

AlexC · 11-25-2008, 03:03 PM

Good idea on the electronics repair shop, thanks. I've contacted a local battery shop that does custom orders, so maybe they'll be able to source the correct cells at a reasonable price. They might be able to do the install too, as they do some electronics work on site.

As for the battery life, it does appear to be around 12 hours. That being said, I haven't had the iLiad long enough yet to stress it much. I can anticipate things getting a little dicey, especially at long conference sessions where I'm taking a lot of notes. Still, I should probably see how things go before I start thinking about messing with the battery!

jharker · 11-25-2008, 03:56 PM

Another thing to consider: the currently iLiad firmware support for larger batteries (especially very large ones like the 2800mAh mod) is poor-to-nonexistent. I'm thinking about writing a slightly modified kernel/powerMgr combo that will address this issue, but probably not for a few weeks at least.

That said, if you can't find someone local to do the upgrade for you, I might be willing to give it a shot. PM me if you want to discuss it. Bear in mind that the upgrade is pretty cheap as-is ($30 for the batteries), but when you add in shipping two ways and a small fee for doing the upgrade, you'll be probably spending more than $100 on it.

11-24-2008, 07:50 PM	#1
AlexC Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 737 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver Device: Apple iPad; iRex iLiad	Battery upgrade? I recently picked up a lightly used iLiad v1 from the Flea Market forum. (Thanks hkabir!) So far, I'm loving the iLiad... except for its battery life. I'd love to be able to have it up and running for a long workday, including plenty of annotations. I'm leaning towards upgrading the batteries with either the 1800 mAh or 2800 mAh cells, but am faced with two problems: (i) I'm in Canada, and can't find a retailer with reasonable shipping costs; and (ii) I have zero skill with a soldering iron and don't have any friends or family who are handy with one either. Are there any forum members in the US who'd be interested in performing the upgrade for me for a fee? This may be a lot to ask, but I thought it would be worth seeing if it might be a possibility. Thanks all.

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11-25-2008, 09:26 AM	#2
Mr. Goodbar Wizard Posts: 1,005 Karma: 98078 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Mini 4	The other thing you could try would be finding someone at a local electronics repair shop and see if they could do it. The instructions found on the board are very complete and easy to follow. Anyone with even limited experience in soldering should be able to do it without a problem.

11-25-2008, 11:53 AM	#3
Shaggy Wizard Posts: 4,293 Karma: 529619 Join Date: May 2007 Device: iRex iLiad, DR800SG	What battery life are you currently getting? With a v1 running the latest firmware (2.12) you should be able to get about 12 hours. If yours is a lot less than that, then I suspect you have one with a bad battery (maybe that's why there were selling it?).

11-25-2008, 03:03 PM	#4
AlexC Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 737 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver Device: Apple iPad; iRex iLiad	Good idea on the electronics repair shop, thanks. I've contacted a local battery shop that does custom orders, so maybe they'll be able to source the correct cells at a reasonable price. They might be able to do the install too, as they do some electronics work on site. As for the battery life, it does appear to be around 12 hours. That being said, I haven't had the iLiad long enough yet to stress it much. I can anticipate things getting a little dicey, especially at long conference sessions where I'm taking a lot of notes. Still, I should probably see how things go before I start thinking about messing with the battery!

11-25-2008, 03:56 PM	#5
jharker Developer Posts: 345 Karma: 3473 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.	Another thing to consider: the currently iLiad firmware support for larger batteries (especially very large ones like the 2800mAh mod) is poor-to-nonexistent. I'm thinking about writing a slightly modified kernel/powerMgr combo that will address this issue, but probably not for a few weeks at least. That said, if you can't find someone local to do the upgrade for you, I might be willing to give it a shot. PM me if you want to discuss it. Bear in mind that the upgrade is pretty cheap as-is ($30 for the batteries), but when you add in shipping two ways and a small fee for doing the upgrade, you'll be probably spending more than $100 on it.

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