Onyx Boox Max 2 battery replacement.

[adnan007]

Originally Posted by Arjava

The battery look really shitty

What if you don't do the hassle of changing the battery and keep it as it is and then just keep using the device with the power bank always plugged in? Yes, eventually the device internal battery will die, but will it still be able to run with power drawn from the power bank?

[mlslzrvc]

Originally Posted by adnan007

What if you don't do the hassle of changing the battery and keep it as it is and then just keep using the device with the power bank always plugged in? Yes, eventually the device internal battery will die, but will it still be able to run with power drawn from the power bank?

Hi adnan007,

in my case just it has happened. For some time I have been using power bank connected via USB charging port. When battery died the device could not been boot until the battery has been changed.

[whopper]

it seems like a problem of onyx devices that when connected, the device still uses battery energy instead of skipping the battery and using straight it from the USB like 99% of the similar devices, killing the batteries pretty fast.

Usually a phone, laptop or tablet can last 3/4 years of heavy usage without problems and here we have devices dying after 1 year.

Doesn't look good for onyx.

[notwaiting]

Originally Posted by mlslzrvc

Hi,

Finally I have managed to replace battery. [...]

3.7 v 4100 mAh 3 wire lipo battery; size: 2.6 mm x 80 mm x 159 mm [...]

When I was totally disappointed I came on local battery repair shop that was willing to modify one of the batteries which they sells. It was Asus Nexus battery
https://www.amazon.com/Replacement-B.../dp/B01HNSCD88

The battery has got 6 wires, they replaced it with PCB from my battery which has got 3 wires. I got the new battery for 30 euros. I hope it will last more than original one.

Thinking of ordering one. Is that possible/easy to do manually? Anyone? Or might somewhere local do it? I use my max2 as a monitor constantly in fast refresh so I know the battery will die at some point.

The power bank solution could be OK. I use a laptop, so I could just keep it powered by the usb port, but the ones on my laptop have a tendency for a faulty connection, so I too would probably use a power bank in between the laptop and the monitor, with the added benefit that I could reboot without worrying (as much) about the monitor cutting out.

This "cutting out", however, is exactly what caused a previous device to take its last breath, after its battery stopped working, namely, the n96ml: another onyx model.

[Dr. Drib]

Test test.

[Neru]

Originally Posted by mlslzrvc

Hi,

<...>
.

Hello, how is your Boox holding up with this battery? I am deciding about buying a battery for Note (the dimensions seems to fit) and not sure how it would hold up. Thanks.

[takax]

Someone removed my previous comment.
Are you itchy guy?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by takax

Someone removed my previous comment.
Are you itchy guy?

No, they didn’t. And please read the guidelines before posting an image again.

[DenisR]

Hello,
On my Max2, I just replaced the Onyx battery with a new one (C11-ME370T for Google Asus Nexus 7 1st Generation Release 2012 as described in this thread). (23€ all included !)
Not very easy, but with care, I did it and it works !

The most difficult point is to remove the plastic sheet that covers the screws. With a knife (rounded end) I could do it with only a few scratches. Keep this sheet far from dust as you may put it later back in place without adding glue.
It's then easy to remove the screws (very small ones !) and open the Max2 to find the battery.

The Onyx battery is fitted with a small printed board that you must put on the new battery (with some wires due to the different dimensions), after you removed it's own printed board. Soldering is mandatory, taking care that you must not warm a Lithium battery. Take real care !!!

Note : on the new battery, there are 2 black wires that go into the battery : no problem, it's just a thermal sensor that is not needed. Pull the wires and the sensor comes, then detach the printed board from the battery : not needed.
Note 2 : in the attached file, the photo of the plastic sheet is not from me, but can be found in this thread.

After charging, the battery seems to work properly, as if the Max2 was new.

[plusz]

Thanks so much for this thread! This weak my battery broke, it might die soon. It's disappointing as it was in a very good condition, then I haven't been using the reader for a few months, taken it out of the drawer just this weak. The battery went down to 4x% (46% I think) and suddenly the reader stopped responding. When I connected the power adapter it started charging and booted again. Now I can see that it dies at 67%.

Buying replacement battery

Woohoo, some company started selling replacement batteries. I've ordered one. Once I'll get it installed I'll let you know how well it performs
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002608197116.html

I keep my fingers crossed, but sometimes such replacement batteries have poor capacity or/and longevity. I just know nothing about the brand.

[plusz]

I managed to replace the battery. The hardest part was to remove the old one. It was firmly glued to the thin aluminum body which made me nervous to apply force to remove it. Secondly the wires were soldered with some really hard tin. In the end I just cut them out rather than de-soldering. Interestingly the red wire was soldered to a pod with '-' symbol, the black wire to a pod with '+' symbol

Anyway I installed this battery, from aliexpress https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002608197116.html



Surprisingly it was produced for a german company "E-CrossStu Gmbh"

What was nice the battery was provided with a plug which fitted in the empty socket on the board so I didn't have to solder the wires.

Unfortunately that's where the good news end. It doesn't work well yet. It was charged at ~50% when I installed it. I charged it to 100% and started using it, then I noticed that it seems to drop the charge quicker than I expected so I opened youtube via the built-in browser. It took about 30 minutes of watching videos to make the tablet die suddenly at about 40%. I'm charging it again but the battery meter started from 11%. In the end I hope it's just a matter of calibration by doing a full charge/discharge cycle.

Anyway, it's suspicious. The original battery was working well, then one day it started to drain quickly and switch off at about 47%. I thought it was just a battery issue but now I'm puzzled. Maybe it's caused by the firmware update. Perhaps I should also try to wipe out the device and start from scratch.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by plusz

Interestingly the red wire was soldered to a pod with '-' symbol, the black wire to a pod with '+' symbol

Ouch, that would scare me.
I often screw around with battery connectors and I like to make darn sure that I understand everything and I have it all straight.
(Ok, I'm more prone to do battery-ectomies than battery replacements.)

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by plusz

I thought it was just a battery issue but now I'm puzzled. Maybe it's caused by the firmware update. Perhaps I should also try to wipe out the device and start from scratch.

Sounds very much like the battery issue which I was having with my Note Pro. Replaced the battery, and all is as it was. Didn't need to wipe the device and start anew.

Hopefully, your new battery just needed to recalibrate itself.

[Renate]

Most devices try to be clever with figuring out battery charge (which is not simple).
They count the electrons going in and out.
So if you have a dead battery and it says 10% and you replace it with a fully charged battery your device will say, "Wait, it was at 10% and now the voltage is suddenly higher but I haven't seen any electrons going in. Therefore it must still be at 10%."

I've run into this problem a lot.
You can't just tell it, "Dude, it's at 4.2V, you're telling me that's 10%?"

This is my JetPack which has plenty of voltage but it's too stupid to notice.

[plusz]

Unfortunately the dedicated replacement battery is dead. I do not recommend buying it. Before finding that one I had already bought online the Nexus battery. It was a hassle to replace the charging board, but I managed, works perfectly!

I tested the batteries by opening youtube in the built in browser, watching an old movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9c1T-ZukQA

The dedicated replacement battery consistently died below 50% at about 30 minutes of the movie.



The Nexus battery also loose charge quickly watching the movie, but it holds well till the end.



It's really subjective, but it feels like the reader is working noticeably faster with the Nexus battery.

I've never watched movies on this tablet before so I have no idea if the 1h of playtime is a good result or not. At least the Nexus battery behaves consistently. I guess the e-ink draws much more power than a typical IPS display on a phone when it's continually updated at max refresh rate (I think it can get up to 20 fps).

Well, I'll see if I can use it again for a whole week without charging for a basic reading.