Update on Kindle Touch Battery Replacement
by himbertsebastian in Circuits > Electronics
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Update on Kindle Touch Battery Replacement
I have recently got a free Kindle touch. I was able to turn the device on for a few minutes but it became clear very quickly that the battery was broken.
Fortunate enough, there is already a instructable that explains details about the repair: https://www.instructables.com/Replacing-Kobo-Touch-Battery/
Ima Pseudonym suggests replacing the old battery by a new 4 mm thick LiPo which was surprisingly difficult to find during the pandemic.
However, there is a slightly different approach one could take.
Supplies
Any BL-5C Lipo:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08LST74YR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Open the device and remove the old battery from the E-reader. It is usually wrapped in black foil.
Attached to the LiPo is a controller that is shown in the picture. It is connected via three wires (black, white and red) to the E-readers main board. On the other side the controller is connected to the LiPo itself with two brackets. A quick measurement confirmed the hypothesis that the battery is dead.
I have then cut both brackets such that I am left with only the controller. Ima Pseudonym suggest to solder a new battery onto the two pins.
I have decided to go with a standard BL-5C battery which also has three outputs: One ground and two pins with 3.7 V.
A quick inspection of the original battery controller showed that the three output cables also follow these specifications: The red and the white cable have a + 3.7 V potential against the black wire. I have thus removed the entire cable from the original battery controller and soldered the three wires onto the new battery: the red wire was soldered onto the 3.7 V output of the BL-5C, the white wire was soldered onto the middle output and the black wire onto the - output.
The device should turn on again, after you connect the battery again to the mainboard. I have used double sided tape to fix the battery in the housing as it was a bit smaller than the original battery.
Of course, I don't guarantee that all of these steps work for you. One need to be careful when working with these electronic components.