Bad news for the Kobo battery.

[PeterT]

Can you clarify what you mean please by a "Kobo Desktop"..

[RT Wolf]

I bought a kobo mini for someone but the screen broke and she was upset so I decided to fix it. She really loves it and they're pretty much out of stock everywhere I looked (or $80). While it's under warranty, Kobo said it was user caused damage so they refused to repair or replace it. Found a kobo mini on craigslist for $25 that only worked when plugged in after being dunked in water but the screen was fine. Something up with the battery.

So I opened up the broken screen kobo mini (let's call it KM1) and the broken battery kobo mini (KM2) using these instructions: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=193321

I decided to move the entire internals from KM1 into KM2 (battery + PCB + SD card) to save the books. The battery was glued in place so I got a plastic knife and carefully removed both batteries and swapped them. Got a little bent up at the edges but seemed fine. Then I put the PCB in place (watch for the switch at the top of body to align properly with the one on the PCB), re-attached the ribbon for the screen (they had different numbers on them but that didn't seem to matter), and attached the battery's plug.

The battery plug was actually very, very finicky. Even when it appeared to be seated properly, it needed to be pushed down more towards the USB plug edge. So be careful to make sure the metal contacts actually touch each other. Also be careful with those cause they break easily. I broke the battery's plug on KM2 without even trying. Got really lucky that KM1's battery didn't break when I was removing it, otherwise I may have had to pay for a new battery as well. KM1 seems more recently made (has the 4GB microsd card) so maybe they improved the design. Anyhoo, be careful with that plug and also with the other end. Some more tips: https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/241

Replaced the screws for PCB and then for the back cover and it seems to be working fine. So it is possible to swap the PCB and battery from a kobo with a broken screen to one without a broken screen.

I'm gonna make sure she gets a damn case this time.

I hate to grave-dig but this thread came up in google searches and I thought I'd contribute my experience for any future googlers.

Cheers!

[Kasper Hviid]

@RT Wolf: Thanks for your contribution, and for resurrecting this important thread! Whether the battery could be replaced was an aspect I was completely unaware of when I bought my Kobo. (It might have been a deal breaker if I had seen this thread back then)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Kasper Hviid

@RT Wolf: Thanks for your contribution, and for resurrecting this important thread! Whether the battery could be replaced was an aspect I was completely unaware of when I bought my Kobo. (It might have been a deal breaker if I had seen this thread back then)

None of the "mainstream" reading devices have batteries which are designed to be user-replaceable. All can be replaced, but some make you work a lot harder to do so (eg by having a glued-in battery) than others. It can vary even between different models in the same range - eg a "Basic" Kindle has a glued-in battery which is extremely difficult to replace, while a Kindle Paperwhite has a battery which isn't glued, and is very easy to replace.

[filmo]

I would cut battery wires and solder replacement battery wires with battery to old connector wires. Easier for me with solder skills and equipment. Poke wires through sheet of paper to shield circuit board from solder drips.

[Ken Maltby]

Ah.. the Jetbook Lite makes a great backup reader that uses 4ea AA batteries.

In three years there may be a much improved battery that could replace the existing internal kobo battery. It is just glued in place and connected with two wires into a connector on the PCB. If nothing else you would be able to just strip and solder the new battery leads to the old battery leads, with the connector.

Luck;
Ken

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Ah.. the Jetbook Lite makes a great backup reader that uses 4ea AA batteries.

In three years there may be a much improved battery that could replace the existing internal kobo battery. It is just glued in place and connected with two wires into a connector on the PCB. If nothing else you would be able to just strip and solder the new battery leads to the old battery leads, with the connector.

Luck;
Ken

I've been lucky in that all of my batteries work even those 3+years old. But if one failed and I still wanted to use that reader, I'd be soldering away. Nothing to lose at that point and I have done a fair bit of soldering.

Helen

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

None of the "mainstream" reading devices have batteries which are designed to be user-replaceable. All can be replaced, but some make you work a lot harder to do so (eg by having a glued-in battery) than others. It can vary even between different models in the same range - eg a "Basic" Kindle has a glued-in battery which is extremely difficult to replace, while a Kindle Paperwhite has a battery which isn't glued, and is very easy to replace.

A length of dental floss worked under the battery can usually do the trick.
If you know a safe glue solvent, adding that to the floss might make it even easier.

Luck;
Ken

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

A length of dental floss worked under the battery can usually do the trick.
If you know a safe glue solvent, adding that to the floss might make it even easier.

Luck;
Ken

A good tip I would never thought of. Could be used in other situations where something is stuck on and you don't want to use a solvent or as little solvent as possible.

Helen

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

A good tip I would never thought of. Could be used in other situations where something is stuck on and you don't want to use a solvent or as little solvent as possible.

Helen

One of the reasons to use this approach is to limit the torque applied to both the PCB and the part you would be unsticking. There are probably a lot of situations where it might come in handy.

Luck;
Ken

[filmo]

When I bought my Kobo Wifi a Canadian company sold replacement battery for it. Have not seen this recently.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by filmo

When I bought my Kobo Wifi a Canadian company sold replacement battery for it. Have not seen this recently.

If you have opened it up and can see the battery it is likely that they have it installed with the with the information you will need to find a compatible battery, perhaps even one with more mAh, printed on top of the battery. You can measure the physical size constraints as well. You can search the internet using the part number and the battery sites will usually list compatible replacement and upgrade batteries. The main property of the battery that you need to maintain is the voltage, that is what you need to maintain so that the charging circuit can do its job. Most devices have some voltage regulation and current limiting, so there is more leeway for powering the device than charging the battery, as far as the spec.s of the battery is concerned.

Luck;
Ken

[RobertJSawyer]

This is a problem across the consumer-electronics industry. It will take legislation in the US or the EU or Japan requiring consumer-replaceable batteries (as a way of combating the ever-growing problem of otherwise usable electronics ending up in landfill) before manufacturers will address this issue, I think.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by RobertJSawyer

This is a problem across the consumer-electronics industry. It will take legislation in the US or the EU or Japan requiring consumer-replaceable batteries (as a way of combating the ever-growing problem of otherwise usable electronics ending up in landfill) before manufacturers will address this issue, I think.

I would think someone coming up with an efficient and profitable materials reclamation process, for electronics, would be a better and more workable solution. (For the SciFi writer, picture a vat of nanobots at the recycle site that would extract the precious metals, pure silicon, and/or other materials that the manufacturers need, use and have applied in a manner consistent with the extraction process.) For the rest of us; the manufacturers adopt the use of a class of plastic/composite that is easily dissolved and returned to a precursor state. Cases and PCB would be dissolved leaving naked components, copper and silver tracings; processing for these might be melting temperature based, with alloys used to make them compliant.

Perhaps these recycling companies would be selling the "toner" for 3D printers that could recreate the devices recycled, or many other devices.

Luck;
Ken

Of course for the EU and Canada, appointing a new set of bureaucrats to hamper production would be the way to go.

[Markismus]

In the EU the bureaucrats seem that far removed from everyday life that they only function as a real-life soap.

I am a bit surprised that your nanite-SF still wants to rely on companies. Shouldn't an everyday household generate enough of waste materials to produce whatever the kids think of printing?

Isn't the real hamper on production that consumers and producers are geographically separated? The real money is still in trade and distribution. That is because they are, especially in nanite-SF superfluous. They have to get the money, when the getting is still good.