How to turn your Sega Nomad's Battery Pack to a Rechargeable Pack - (Thunderblaze16)

[Thunderblaze16]

We are now going to learn how to turn your Sega Nomad's Battery Pack to a Rechargeable Pack.

Requirements:

-7.4V 2S 25C 1500mAh Lipo Battery
-Soldering Iron
-Solder
-Dremel
-Rosin Soldering Flux (optional)
-Hot glue/electric tape (optional)

Battery: LiPo
Cells: 2C (2 Cells)
C Rating: 30-50C
Volts: 7.4V
Size(LWH): 75x 35 x 15mm
Capacity: 1500mAh

You want this type of Lipo battery, a '7.4V 2S 25C 1500mAh Lipo Battery'.


You want a 2C compatible LiPo charger, a recommended charger is called,
iMaxRC iMax B3 Pro Compact 2S 3S Lipo Balance Battery Charger
https://www.ebay.com/itm/iMaxRC-iMax...MAAOSw43haJ6QQ

Here's a video of the mod tutorial itself if you prefer.



So first open up your Nomad Battery Pack and remove all the battery springs EXCEPT the ones circled in green. Those 2 are the ones that connect to the back of your Battery Pack.




Next, you're going to grab your dremel and remove all the plastic sticking out from the inside. It all has to go.


As for the Back side of the Battery Pack, you want to remove only the plastic tips sticking out from the middle that hold the batteries. You also want to remove the little circle sticking out located in the middle of the 2 rows of plastic tips you've removed.



Now with your Li-Po battery, your are going to cut of the Deans connector from the 2 thick, long red & black cables.
WARNING: As soon as you cut one of the 2 thick cables, a spark WILL pop out for a split second. While nothing serious, BE PREPARE AND CAREFUL FOR IT.


Once you cut off the Deans connector, go and cut off 1/3 of the red cable from the end. This will allow for easier adjustment when placing the red cable inside the Battery Pack. Next strip both ends of the thick, Red & Black cables and add some solder to the end of both cables. DON'T TOUCH THEIR ENDS TOGETHER.


Next. to make the soldering go smoother, strip the ends of the red and black cables, dab some soldering flux to them and add solder to the tips. Doing this will make things easier on you.



After that you're going to solder the RED(+) cable to the positive(+) lead of the battery spring and then solder the BLACK(-) cable to the negative(-) lead of the battery spring.



Once you finished this up, your work you should like the following picture. Notice that your other connector to recharge the battery has a nice little closing area below the red cable.




Now we finish it up by adding small dips of hot glue to the side of the battery or use some electric tape assure steady placement of the Li-Po battery.




Congrats! Now you have rechargeable Power Pack battery that WILL last for double the hours on a standard Sega Nomad. A Sega Nomad with an LCD screen mod will last you for even longer.



Later when your ready to recharge, hook it to your charger and wait till all 3 lights turn green for full recharge.

Thanks for reading and special thanks to the person who taught me of this mod, you can find his/her Nomad Battery Pack mod in the link below,
http://chipmod.blogspot.com/2013/01/...ttery-mod.html




For more of my Sega Nomad tutorials, visit the following link below.
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthr...014#post767014

[FuturePrimitive]

Thanks for making this guide! I have a few questions:

How does modding the AA battery pack compare to modding the SEGA Nomad PowerBack? Are the end results similar with comparable voltages and amps? Is this mod proven to be safe for the Nomad?

Have you considered making this a service on SEGA-16? I already have a Nomad AA battery pack that I repaired after years of battery acid damage. I'd like to look into converting that to a rechargeable pack.

[Thunderblaze16]

Thanks for making this guide! I have a few questions:

How does modding the AA battery pack compare to modding the SEGA Nomad PowerBack? Are the end results similar with comparable voltages and amps? Is this mod proven to be safe for the Nomad?

Have you considered making this a service on SEGA-16? I already have a Nomad AA battery pack that I repaired after years of battery acid damage. I'd like to look into converting that to a rechargeable pack.

Both work around the same method but this Battery PowerBack mod is less complicated. I personally didn't fully understand how to work with the Powerback because you have to mess with both the battery and charger.


In the end you still have to plug both packs in for them to charge. For the PowerBack you charge it by connecting the charger to the top of it. For this Battery Pack mod you deal with 1 extra step and that is to open up your Battery Powerback to get out the cable to charge it, lol.

The B3 AC 110V-240V charger which cost around $7 has LEDs to indicate when the charging is complete so that part is also taken care off.


As for the voltages and amps, I don't know that myself but I've been playing with my Nomad for hours and I haven't experience anything strange with this battery mod that wasn't safe.



Yeah I could offer this myself to do it for others but you have to also include the cost of buying the Li-Po batter and charger. Those 2 together are close to $20 themselves. Send me a PM if your interested.

[Thunderblaze16]

I also prefer the Battery Powerback because it's more attractive looking than the polygon shaped Powerback.

[FuturePrimitive]

Thank you for the response! That clears things up for me. I'll send you a message soon when I get all the parts together.

[Thunderblaze16]

Got my charger yesterday, the box is tiny.


Here's how it works, the charger has 3 green/red LED lights. Above them say, Cell 1, Cell 2, Cell 3. You only have to worry about Cell 1 and Cell 2, seeing how this is a 2 Cells rechargeable battery.


When you plug in your Battery Powerpack, you will see the Cell 1 and Cell 2 LEDs turn red.


When both Cell 1 and Cell 2 LEDs turn green, that means that battery is fully charged.

[segasonicfan]

Damn, a balanced Li-po charge for only $8! wtf, that's is amazing. fyi, it says Li-Po only, so regular li-ion batts might get over charged (though not by much, it is likely completely fine).

Alternatively, you can throw 2 cell phone batteries in there. connect them in series. This charger says it outputs 800mah, does it have current control I wonder? Might be a bit much for smaller cells.

[douglie007]

ok I have had no luck opening up my stupid rechargeable pack to do this mod... any hints would be great, I have tried the credit card thing, also glue solvent and screw drivers. no luck.

[Thunderblaze16]

ok I have had no luck opening up my stupid rechargeable pack to do this mod... any hints would be great, I have tried the credit card thing, also glue solvent and screw drivers. no luck.

That is because the damn thing is held down by 6 tabs, I had to use a metal screwdriver at first to pop mine up. Don't understand how some manage to open theirs with credit cards.

Here are the tabs circled for you.

[Pixelepsy]

ok I have had no luck opening up my stupid rechargeable pack to do this mod... any hints would be great, I have tried the credit card thing, also glue solvent and screw drivers. no luck.

I used a heatgun on the sides to warm up the glue until I could gently pull them apart by using my thumb to press in on the tabs. The glue solvent might not be able to get into those tight spaces.

[evilevoix]

wow how long does it last?

[Thunderblaze16]

wow how long does it last?

Tested this, about 4 hrs and 30 mins. A few who I knew that made their own battery mod for their Nomad never really got up to 8hrs like some claim that it can do once they tested it out but around the same time as me from 4 to 5 hours.

[FuturePrimitive]

Tested this, about 4 hrs and 30 mins. A few who I knew that made their own battery mod for their Nomad never really got up to 8hrs like some claim that it can do once they tested it out but around the same time as me from 4 to 5 hours.

Was that with the original screen? If it's nearly in original condition, I would say 4 hrs and 30 mins is fantastic.

[Thunderblaze16]

Was that with the original screen? If it's nearly in original condition, I would say 4 hrs and 30 mins is fantastic.

No new screen, never bothered with the old one.

[Thunderblaze16]

Bumping for not only updating the tutorial with a few more steps and pics,
I also want to share this other lipo battery that I prefer, at least for this mod.

The 7.4V 2S 25C 1500mAh Lipo Battery by VOK POWER (regardless of brand, just find one with matching specs '7.4V 2S 25C/35C 1500mAh')



It's slimmer and more compact.


Even the cables that get soldered to the pak are thinner.