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rcentros · 10-29-2021, 01:29 AM

Shop Goodwill recently had a Kobo Mini with an OEM sleep cover for sale (starting bid $9, plus nearly $7 shipping to my area of the country). The blurb seemed a little ambiguous about its condition ("can't charge it because we don't have a charger") so I kind of figured something might be wrong with the Mini, but it was worth it for the sleep cover. The sleep cover I have on my other Minis are Navitechs (bulky with a huge clasp on it, though it does work as sleep cover).

At any rate, no one else bid on the Mini so I got it for $16 (with shipping). Physically it was like new (as was the cover). It showed 100% charged but the battery was completely dead. The only way I could get it turned on was to plug it in. Once I plugged I saw that it had the books that came with FamilyAffiliate Kobos (plus one). I'm guessing it was a gift and never used, so it was probably sitting for years without being charged.

It had old software and, even though I could connect with its WiFi it would not (of course) update or register. I got out my only Windows half-computer (one Vista partition on the laptop, plus a Linux partition). I installed Kobo Desktop, it saw the Mini and tried to update, but it kept timing out. Never did figure out the deal was.

So I downloaded the 4.19 firmware, hooked up to my Linux computer, and chose register via Kobo Desktop. At that point I could see the Kobo so I copied over the update software, rebooted, and it updated. Then I was able to register it and download my books — all this while the battery was completely dead.

Then I decided the Mini too nice not to fix (screen is brighter than the other Minis I've seen) so I opened it up, saw that the old battery was "puffy" and removed it. Then I looked up batteries for the Kobo. The Russian site came through...

https://e-ink-reader.ru/battery_info_en.php?dev_id=80

It gave me a link to where I could buy replacement battery...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3286...3678daab151148

I didn't buy the battery there, but it gave me the number so I could try to find the battery on eBay (hopefully in the U.S.)

Lithium polymer battery 383759 3.7V lipo battery 1000mah

On eBay I found the following seller (among others)... Supposedly ships from China, they gave me a range of November 10th to December 28th. Ah well, can't be helped.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255080160351?var=555060290534

It didn't ship from China, though. It came from Hawthorne, California. I guess they keep a certain number of these in the U.S. so I lucked out. It still took 10 days to arrive (October 23rd) because they took a few days to ship and they used DHL Ecommerce / USPS option, which is always slow. At any rate it arrived much faster than I expected.

All I had to do now was install. As you can see in the attached image, it was the right length and width, but a little narrower. I don't currently have a soldering iron (and never could solder with a dang) so I just cut the wires (leaving as much length leftover as I could), twisted them together and used electrical to insulate and keep them from "untwisting." You can see my sloppy work in the second image (actually it wasn't quite as sloppy when finished). I used packing tape curled on itself as my "glue" (double-stick tape) and installed the battery. After I made sure it worked and charged, I put it back together.

Now I've got a like-new, working Kobo Mini. The battery took a while to fully charge (which I considered to be a good sign) and it's discharging REALLY slowly — which makes a little worried that it's not sending the right signal to the Kobo and I'm not getting a true percentage. Even if the percentage isn't right, it will still recharge.

At any rate, if you have a Kobo Mini with a dead (or nearly dead) battery, it can be fixed. I'm enjoying using it.

10-29-2021, 01:29 AM	#1
rcentros eReader Wrangler Posts: 7,894 Karma: 52566355 Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Boise, ID Device: PB HD3, GL3, Voyage, Clara HD	"New" Kobo Mini Shop Goodwill recently had a Kobo Mini with an OEM sleep cover for sale (starting bid $9, plus nearly $7 shipping to my area of the country). The blurb seemed a little ambiguous about its condition ("can't charge it because we don't have a charger") so I kind of figured something might be wrong with the Mini, but it was worth it for the sleep cover. The sleep cover I have on my other Minis are Navitechs (bulky with a huge clasp on it, though it does work as sleep cover). At any rate, no one else bid on the Mini so I got it for $16 (with shipping). Physically it was like new (as was the cover). It showed 100% charged but the battery was completely dead. The only way I could get it turned on was to plug it in. Once I plugged I saw that it had the books that came with FamilyAffiliate Kobos (plus one). I'm guessing it was a gift and never used, so it was probably sitting for years without being charged. It had old software and, even though I could connect with its WiFi it would not (of course) update or register. I got out my only Windows half-computer (one Vista partition on the laptop, plus a Linux partition). I installed Kobo Desktop, it saw the Mini and tried to update, but it kept timing out. Never did figure out the deal was. So I downloaded the 4.19 firmware, hooked up to my Linux computer, and chose register via Kobo Desktop. At that point I could see the Kobo so I copied over the update software, rebooted, and it updated. Then I was able to register it and download my books — all this while the battery was completely dead. Then I decided the Mini too nice not to fix (screen is brighter than the other Minis I've seen) so I opened it up, saw that the old battery was "puffy" and removed it. Then I looked up batteries for the Kobo. The Russian site came through... https://e-ink-reader.ru/battery_info_en.php?dev_id=80 It gave me a link to where I could buy replacement battery... https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3286...3678daab151148 I didn't buy the battery there, but it gave me the number so I could try to find the battery on eBay (hopefully in the U.S.) Lithium polymer battery 383759 3.7V lipo battery 1000mah On eBay I found the following seller (among others)... Supposedly ships from China, they gave me a range of November 10th to December 28th. Ah well, can't be helped. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255080160351?var=555060290534 It didn't ship from China, though. It came from Hawthorne, California. I guess they keep a certain number of these in the U.S. so I lucked out. It still took 10 days to arrive (October 23rd) because they took a few days to ship and they used DHL Ecommerce / USPS option, which is always slow. At any rate it arrived much faster than I expected. All I had to do now was install. As you can see in the attached image, it was the right length and width, but a little narrower. I don't currently have a soldering iron (and never could solder with a dang) so I just cut the wires (leaving as much length leftover as I could), twisted them together and used electrical to insulate and keep them from "untwisting." You can see my sloppy work in the second image (actually it wasn't quite as sloppy when finished). I used packing tape curled on itself as my "glue" (double-stick tape) and installed the battery. After I made sure it worked and charged, I put it back together. Now I've got a like-new, working Kobo Mini. The battery took a while to fully charge (which I considered to be a good sign) and it's discharging REALLY slowly — which makes a little worried that it's not sending the right signal to the Kobo and I'm not getting a true percentage. Even if the percentage isn't right, it will still recharge. At any rate, if you have a Kobo Mini with a dead (or nearly dead) battery, it can be fixed. I'm enjoying using it. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by rcentros; 10-29-2021 at 01:31 AM.