More "juice" for the Turbo Express - Lithium Ion mod

[Duo_R]

OK, so after doing the Lithium Ion mod for the Nomad, decided to do the same for the Turbo Express. I have a set of NIMH AA batteries that I normally use for the express, but at most I get 3 hours out of those batteries.

The goal: to find a better rechargeable battery source that weighs less than the 6 AA batteries, and has a much longer charge.

So what I did is I took this: /lirebaforson.jpg

cracked it open and got this: /imag017211.jpg

Hooked it up to the Turbo Express and powered it up: /imag01721.jpg

These batteries in the stock form are too large to fit in the Turbo Express battery compartment. However, when the batteries are separated from the casing it is possible to fit. What needs to be done to make this work is the tabs in the battery tray, and tabs on the battery door need to be trimmed. It isn't a "perfect" solution yet since the door is able to lock, but you can tell that it is a tight fit by the slight gap between the battery door and the case. More to come on that one.

Here is an example of what tabs need to be removed:

/imag0167j.jpg
/imag0167q.jpg

The Lithium ion mod is a long time favorite for portable modders, the good news is these days the batteries are very cheap. I got a charger and two batteries for $20 on ebay. The battery is rated at 2500Mah and should provide a huge increase in playtime compared to my NIMH AA batteries. Benchmark test coming soon.

/imag0176b.jpg

Want to thank Bacteria for his website and tutorial on taking apart the batteries

[roflmao]

ooOOOOoooo....  Looks awesome.

[turbokon]

This is awesome. I've been thinking about this myself. Wonder if it possible to charge this battery in the TE thru the existing power jack without disabling the ability for it to run with ac.  Although I doubt it. Might be best to bypass the ac and hook the jack directly to the battery to enable charging.

[soop]

Nice mod.. but to me, it's still like giving Elle Macpherson cosmetic surgery...

[Drakon]

That's awesome, I hate short lived battery life.

[FiftyQuid]

I think it's a fantastic idea.  I can't wait to read about the long term test results.  I'm very interested to know how long this extends the battery life.

[Duo_R]

I will do a benchmark test soon, similar to the one i did for the Nomad. I estimate that it should get at least 5  hours with this battery and more with a more efficient LCD.

Turbokon - yes it would be ideal to keep battery and AC adapter capability. Got a couple ways i can do that just need to try a few things out.

[c0ldb33r]

Wow great job - I'm running an  LCD screen on mine and get good battery life with alkaline AAs, I wonder what LiOn would be like

[Duo_R]

Probably a couple more hours, maybe 3 more

Wow great job - I'm running an  LCD screen on mine and get good battery life with alkaline AAs, I wonder what LiOn would be like

[esteban]

/imag0176b.jpg

That, comrade, looks pretty good.

Curious: Does the battery cover fit easily on the Express and keep the battery pack from shifting around ?

Thanks in advance.

[Duo_R]

 door does shut but you can tell it is pretty crowded in there.

[thesteve]

i have considered something like this, only cutting the stock holder and installing a battery clip for the new.
that would allow for external charging as li batterys need a precision charger.
getting 5 hours+ on my NiMh now so not too enthused to upgrade them.

[esteban]

door does shut but you can tell it is pretty crowded in there.

Thanks for the info.

[Duo_R]

You bet working on a way to make it more of a stock fit

door does shut but you can tell it is pretty crowded in there.

Thanks for the info.

[HercTNT]

Please share whatever you come up with. recharchables are ok with me. but lipo would be better if i could work it into the system. I already have Thesteves screen mod and that alone as increased my battery life by atleast one hour. more would be icing on the cake.

[Duo_R]

Will do, here are the batteries I used:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=250634408743

I will put together a tutorial on how to wire up / charge etc.

Please share whatever you come up with. recharchables are OK with me. but lipo would be better if i could work it into the system. I already have Thesteves screen mod and that alone as increased my battery life by at least one hour. more would be icing on the cake.

[HercTNT]

Thanks duo

[Duo_R]

Made a battery pack, it's one piece now:

/imagevaa.jpg

And after a little dremel work it has a stock fit now:

/imageoop.jpg

Will add a charging port, battery will need to be removed to charge (similar to my old Gameboy Advance chargepack). Charging port wont be visible externally. Also a quick disconnect will be added so battery can be removed when charging. I just need to get more battery covers now!

[HercTNT]

I'm really wanting a lowdown on total battery life on this after the mod is done. This is really slick.

[thesteve]

lol that is a 2000mAh battery.
my NiMh are 2300mAh and should give about 1 more hour then your LI battery.

[HercTNT]

my interest comes from the fact that i need 6 batteries for my gt, but my charger can only handle 4 at a time. Obviously the immediate solution would be to get a better charger. there is something sexy though about a removable battery pack.

[thesteve]

i just have multiple chargers.
the beauty of LI is the charge rate.
those can be charged fast.

[HercTNT]

yea i got the same energizers you do and it takes 8 hours. not to bad if i pop them in over night. I"m currently using 8 batteries though in between three machines. i have my gameaxe, a game gear, and my gt. according to sanyo, nimh batteries can be rapid charged but it lowers there mAh rating. the eneloops say not to rapid charge them at all.

[thesteve]

12 batterys 3 chargers 2 or 3 expresses 0 or 1 gamegear

[Duo_R]

lol that is a 2000mAh battery.
my NiMh are 2300mAh and should give about 1 more hour then your LI battery.

it is actually a 2200mah...so that's pretty close man.

yea i got the same energizers you do and it takes 8 hours. not to bad if i pop them in over night. I"m currently using 8 batteries though in between three machines. i have my gameaxe, a game gear, and my gt. according to sanyo, nimh batteries can be rapid charged but it lowers there mAh rating. the eneloops say not to rapid charge them at all.

That's the beauty of these batteries, I can fully charge in about 3 hours. The pack is all set, she is charging right now and going to do bench test with a stock screen later today.

[soop]

12 batterys 3 chargers 2 or 3 expresses 0 or 1 gamegear

I have an assload of Eneloops too - because they retain their charge so well, I can stuff 6 of them in the GT, and cycle them easy.  I use them in the Wii, my wireless keyboard, Nomad, GT Gameboys, yada yada yada

[HercTNT]

eventually i will upgrade to eneloops.

[Duo_R]

Battery in testing: stock screen with Li-ion

/img20120724114822.jpg

[Duo_R]

OK got just over 5 hours gametime on stock screen. A more energy efficient screen the like the one that TheSteve installs should add a few more hours to that hopefully bringing 7-8 hours game time.

Here is a fun little time lapse video:

[HercTNT]

wow, my energizers give me about 4 and a half hours and i need 6 of them. So duo, when you wanna do this mod for me ?

[Duo_R]

Shoot me a PM, I would be happy to do revision 2 on yours. Revision 1 turned out pretty nice, will post some pics.

You are getting 5 hours with a new LCD? You should get more playtime with these and it is also a little lighter compared to 6 AA batteries.

wow, my energizers give me about 4 and a half hours and i need 6 of them. So duo, when you wanna do this mod for me ?

[esteban]

You are getting 5 hours with a new LCD? You should get more playtime with these and it is also a little lighter compared to 6 AA batteries.

He's been playing Gunboat and Falcon. Pumping out polygons is so taxing for TE, he's lucky to get more than an hour.

[thesteve]

it makes a huge difference what cart you run as well.
running the neoflash64 i get 4-5 hours, but running the gameofyou flash cart gets me 6-7
official carts get me 5-6

[Duo_R]

that's interesting, yeah already an improvement with more energy efficient screen on the battery time. I will also do a test on normal AA's and some NIMH batteries that I have.

Also side note - if you are doing a test for time on a single charge, you have to have a button active or the screen will timeout. I used a small object and electrical tape on button I (with turbo switch on) similar to the Ys III cheat.

[thesteve]

lol, i walk around and play the system till the picture dropps out (about 4.5V)

[soop]

Also side note - if you are doing a test for time on a single charge, you have to have a button active or the screen will timeout. I used a small object and electrical tape on button I (with turbo switch on) similar to the Ys III cheat.

That will probably adversely affect the battery life too, but as long as you do the same for each test, we'll at least know the difference.

[Duo_R]

Behold....the Duo-Pack-01 Turbo Express battery pack:

/powerpackphoto.jpg

And here it is installed, fits like stock door.

/photoinstalled.jpg

You can see the internal charging port on the first photo, and there is a quick disconnect that can allow it to be removed from the Turbo Express.

Also another benefit of the mod is weight reduction, just weighed 6 AA batteries - came in at 5.2 ounces, the new lithium ion pack weighs 3.5. Unit doesn't feel weightless now, but you can tell the difference.

[BlackandBlue]

That is pretty fantastic.  This would be a great mod to get a little more out of the little fellow.

[esteban]

That is pretty fantastic.  This would be a great mod to get a little more out of the little fellow.

Absolutely. I am really diggin' this.

[HercTNT]

Yea, me and a friend of mine are having duo-r do revision two on our gt's. Not having to hassle with 6 batteries and faster charging times will really improve my gaming. Thanks Duo when we get them back we will post pics for everyone.

[blueraven]

 

  Job well done!

[meka]

Very nice!

[turbokon]

Awesome!! This will be my next project for my TE.

[Duo_R]

Video of the battery in action if you haven't seen it (and the last part is the controller mod)

[Duo_R]

New batch of battery packs

/img20120818142006edit0.jpg

[roflmao]

Very nice!

[esteban]

New batch of battery packs

/img20120818142006edit0.jpg

PM sent

[turbokon]

Nice, still haven't done mine yet.

[HercTNT]

Bumping to say i recieved my modded gt from duo-r and it works great. Thank you duo!!!

[turbokon]