Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertJSawyer
I have an old Kobo Touch that I'm quite fond of (in addition to more-recent Kobo devices). But its battery only holds a charge for only a few days, even with Wi-Fi off.
My questions: is it easy to replace the internal battery in a Kobo Touch, and is there a good source for the replacement batteries?
Many thanks!
Rob
|
Although I have never replaced the battery in a Kobo, I did replace the battery in a very cheap tablet earlier this year and it has been working fine ever since.
Originally, I had planned on dropping the tablet off at a recycling depot. It then occurred to me that I had nothing to lose in attempting the battery replacement and everything to gain. I would now feel more confident about attempting to replace the battery on a device that I actually care about should I ever have that need.
Although I was unable to find specific instructions for taking the tablet apart, I watched a good number of YouTube videos of people replacing the batteries in other tablets. I then looked very carefully at how my tablet seemed to be constructed and managed to get the back off it without doing any harm to it.
On the battery, there should be some letters and numbers which will indicate the size of the battery. I then went online to see if I could find a similar battery. Found one on Ebay from a vendor in China.
It took me a while to figure out how to remove the battery without damaging anything. There was an electronic ribbon which went across the entire length of the battery which I had to figure out how to remove and put back in place. Hadn't seen anything quite like it in any of the videos. How and ever, after much very cautious prodding, I figured out how it worked. It turned out it was very easy to remove and replace.
Be very careful when removing the battery once all ribbons and wires are out of the way. Mine was very securely taped in place with doubled sided tape. I was surprised how much effort it took to remove it. I used a butter knife to pry mine free, but would not recommend that approach. I slightly damaged the screen by applying too much pressure. It is hardly noticeable, but there is one small area which always remains slightly lighter than the surrounding area when the screen is on.
You will likely need a soldering iron to remove the battery and install the new one. Again, there are some useful videos on YouTube which you can use to brush up on such skills. My soldering job was very rough, but it worked and has held.
Best of luck.