So I've had an old Game Gear PowerBack rechargable battery pack since I was a kid. It only holds a charge for a couple minutes now and is mostly useless. I was thinking of throwing it out but I just discovered that they're repairable with battery packs designed for RC vehicles!
I'm pretty confident that I could solder the connecting piece onto a new battery pack. My problem is that I don't know what type of battery to get to put inside that thing!
It's a 7.2V Ni-Cd battery with 1300mAh capacity. I've seen some of them for sale around the internet, but I'm not sure about the size. It seems to be about 130mm x 35mm x 20mm. I don't see anything JUST like what's in there.
I've seen folks replacing them with Ni-MH battery packs but then I've seen folks online say that it could be dangerous to do that without using a different charger.
Does anyone have experience with this repair and might be able to point me to a specific battery pack I could order online?
Game Gear PowerBack repair - what battery pack to get?
Re: Game Gear PowerBack repair - what battery pack to get?
I had a guide back in the day to use the replaceable battery out of a digital camera (the highest end high-power batteries back in the day because of rapid charging the flash). I could probably dig that up, tho I'm sure there's better technology now. I donated the back-part, two batteries and charger in one of the earlier Racketboy charity auctions. Let me know if you want that old method...
Re: Game Gear PowerBack repair - what battery pack to get?
I'm not really too interested in that level of modding, I really just want to get it functioning like it did in the 90s.
And I found the solution!
I found the site Battery Mart which can make custom battery packs. The original is effectively 6 type 4/5 Sub-C flat-top Ni-Cd cells arranged in a 2x3 configuration. They can make that kind of battery with wire leads for a little under $40. The connector type is apparently something called a "JR Spektrum DX6 & DX7 connector" - those are easy enough to find online but it's easiest to just snip them off the original and solder them onto the wire leads of the new battery - then I'll just wrap the exposed wire in a bunch of electrical tape, because I'm a troglodyte who doesn't have shrink tubing handy.
UPDATE IN CASE ANYONE IS LOOKING TO DO THIS:
I was wrong about the type 4/5 Sub-C battery size. It doesn't fit in the pack. I'll keep searching for a solution...
And I found the solution!
I found the site Battery Mart which can make custom battery packs. The original is effectively 6 type 4/5 Sub-C flat-top Ni-Cd cells arranged in a 2x3 configuration. They can make that kind of battery with wire leads for a little under $40. The connector type is apparently something called a "JR Spektrum DX6 & DX7 connector" - those are easy enough to find online but it's easiest to just snip them off the original and solder them onto the wire leads of the new battery - then I'll just wrap the exposed wire in a bunch of electrical tape, because I'm a troglodyte who doesn't have shrink tubing handy.
UPDATE IN CASE ANYONE IS LOOKING TO DO THIS:
I was wrong about the type 4/5 Sub-C battery size. It doesn't fit in the pack. I'll keep searching for a solution...
Last edited by Nemoide on Wed Jun 03, 2020 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.