Topping G5 - Is the battery serviceable ?

[ReaderZ]

Why quote me if someone else says something?

Then it was you.

 

[pukemon]

I just joined the swollen battery club. @#$%#@%#.

 

[Rorschach]

not sure. the link I gave if you scroll down to the bottom of the text, the bottom right, has a fill out your info for a quote link. I forgot the name of the website but there's another similar to this one where you basically do the same thing.

They did not answer. They may deal in larger quantities.

 

[Count Arthur]

1pcs 3.7V 4000mAh Lipo Li Polymer Rechargeable Battery 805080 | eBay

Model: 805080 085080. capacity: 4000mAh. Built-in protection circuit PCM for prevent over charging or over discharging.

www.ebay.co.uk

Seem to be readily available: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=home&hps=1&q=battery+805080&atb=v298-1&ia=web

 

[pukemon]

I haven't been in the smartphone game for a while seeing as I'm still on my note9 but I know phone batteries have been in the 4-5000mAh range for awhile. and last I remember battery voltages were ~3.85V, meaning close enough. sucks LG is out the smartphone game now knowing they one of the top battery makers but samsung still a top tier battery maker. anybody willing to do battery surgery with a S22 or S23 battery? I'm guessing those batteries are somewhere in the neighborhood of 4500ish mAh and 3.85ish V. iirc, I think some flagship were going 3.87 or 3.88 but that shouldn't hurt as we are still in the neighborhood.

I can't do it right now. I am waiting on my topping A30 pro to show up and my D30 pro is waiting in the states and I will being going ~ late march to pick it up. After I've had a couple weeks honeymoon with that I may consider doing the surgery. I'm putting this out there right now so we can brainstorm for the best candidates and possible biggest battery. and also hit john or johnnyang in one of the topping threads to see what he says about it. I emailed topping, thursday or friday night but no response about a replacement. I'd rather have a name brand like samsung anyways than a cheap chinese battery. I had a NX4 I didn't feel like I got my money's worth because after ~10 months it went to getting <1h battery life. I happen to have a fresh note9 battery I don't think will optimally fit and a swollen and new LG V20 battery that may fit or be close to fitting I can update here soon. anyways, hoping my post gets more brainstorming going on.

 

[Rorschach]

Bought this. https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHtwAcl

Will report back once I receive it.
Thanks, good people.

 

[nav]

How'd it go?

 

[Rorschach]

How'd it go?

Customs liked the battery I bought very much, so no.

 

[mike7877]

I haven't been in the smartphone game for a while seeing as I'm still on my note9 but I know phone batteries have been in the 4-5000mAh range for awhile. and last I remember battery voltages were ~3.85V, meaning close enough. sucks LG is out the smartphone game now knowing they one of the top battery makers but samsung still a top tier battery maker. anybody willing to do battery surgery with a S22 or S23 battery? I'm guessing those batteries are somewhere in the neighborhood of 4500ish mAh and 3.85ish V. iirc, I think some flagship were going 3.87 or 3.88 but that shouldn't hurt as we are still in the neighborhood.

I can't do it right now. I am waiting on my topping A30 pro to show up and my D30 pro is waiting in the states and I will being going ~ late march to pick it up. After I've had a couple weeks honeymoon with that I may consider doing the surgery. I'm putting this out there right now so we can brainstorm for the best candidates and possible biggest battery. and also hit john or johnnyang in one of the topping threads to see what he says about it. I emailed topping, thursday or friday night but no response about a replacement. I'd rather have a name brand like samsung anyways than a cheap chinese battery. I had a NX4 I didn't feel like I got my money's worth because after ~10 months it went to getting <1h battery life. I happen to have a fresh note9 battery I don't think will optimally fit and a swollen and new LG V20 battery that may fit or be close to fitting I can update here soon. anyways, hoping my post gets more brainstorming going on.

Yes, the higher voltage batteries are safe to use in lower voltage chargers. 3.7V batteries are charged at 4.20V. 3.8V batteries are (usually) charged at 4.3V, 3.85V batteries at 4.35V etc. etc.

When you charge a 3.7V battery with 4.35V, you end up charging it to like 115-120% of its design capacity, and doing so reduces the total number of charges the battery will handle before losing capacity. If you have a 3.7V battery and always charge it like a 3.85V battery, if the 3.7V battery would have got 500 cycles at its correct charge voltage, it will get somewhere around 150-200 charges at 4.35V.

Also, if a 3.7V battery is fast charged (>2.0C) at 3.85V battery voltages, its temperature will rise 10-20C higher than if it got its correct voltage.

You can always go down, but you can't go up.

Also, interestingly, charging a 3.85V battery with 3.7V battery voltage does not mean it doesn't fill up all the way. It will just take a really really long time to reach full. Actually, if there is a battery management system (ie. the battery is in a device and you're not using a CC/CV power supply) the charge might get cut off short, but probably not by the full amount (ie. you won't be left at 85% charged, probably 95-97%).

Moral of the story: close enough works, but only in one direction - down. You can use higher voltage batteries in lower voltage chargers, but not the other way around (not if you want them to last their intended amount of cycles, anyway)

 

[mike7877]

Customs liked the battery I bought very much, so no.

Dang. I noticed that amazon says certain li-ion/po batteries can't be shipped to my address now (why list them at all...)
I think it might have something to do with tariffs or trade agreements or something. Very unfortunate!
Are you going to try to jerry-rig a phone battery?

 

[Rorschach]

I picked up the biggest battery I could find here which is 3.7v 2000 mAh li-po and threw that into G5.

Its battery life is terrible now (around 2,5h) but I get to use it as a desktop, plugged into the PC USB. SQ is unaffected.

 

[mike7877]

I picked up the biggest battery I could find here which is 3.7v 2000 mAh li-po and threw that into G5.

Its battery life is terrible now (around 2,5h) but I get to use it as a desktop, plugged into the PC USB. SQ is unaffected.

Good that it's working, unfortunate the life is so much less. You've not got it at high gain, have you? If so, that 2.5 could turn into 3.75-4.25. Protip: medium gain takes ~20mA less than low for some reason.

Is there vertical space in the G5? Could you stack one on top of the other and close the back? If so, you could charge both to 100, connect them in parallel, and reconnect (if your current battery has less than ~50 cycles damage)

 

[Rorschach]

Good that it's working, unfortunate the life is so much less. You've not got it at high gain, have you? If so, that 2.5 could turn into 3.75-4.25. Protip: medium gain takes ~20mA less than low for some reason.

Is there vertical space in the G5? Could you stack one on top of the other and close the back? If so, you could charge both to 100, connect them in parallel, and reconnect (if your current battery has less than ~50 cycles damage)

Yes, I'm always on medium gain.
I believe one can stack two 2000mah lipos there. Good thinking Mike, thanks.

 

[Chuu]

Pulled my G5 out after having it in a case for a month, and it's also bulging. Guess I'm in the market for a battery.

Can someone who has opened it up now answer authoritatively how the back is attached? I originally thought hidden screws were most likely but the way it's bugling, with the edge exposed, is it just adhesive?

 

[pukemon]

adhesive. don't be scared to rip it out. it's tight enough to hold itself decent without adhesive. my battery bulged one night after using some fostex T60, hard to drive 50ohm planars, but the bulge went down the next day. I am going to send mine off for warranty battery replacement soon after I get another G5.

 

[Chuu]

adhesive. don't be scared to rip it out. it's tight enough to hold itself decent without adhesive. my battery bulged one night after using some fostex T60, hard to drive 50ohm planars, but the bulge went down the next day. I am going to send mine off for warranty battery replacement soon after I get another G5.

I've already decided just to repair it myself after looking into the options. Basically the cost of the battery vs. the cost in terms of money and time of shipping it back. Plus the risk of sending it untracked/uninsured vs. tracked and/or insured.

One thing that hugely dissuaded me is that the customs form are a pain, since "Audio Frequency Electric Amplifiers" (HS 851840) are subject to a tariff. I'm wondering how you filled out the customs form? How is the tariff going to be handled, or is there some exception for repairs? Or did you just declare it $0 since it a broken or a gift?

I'd like to know for future reference for how big of a pain it is to get ChiFi stuff back to China in cases where I can't fix it myself.

 

[Rorschach]

Yes, I'm always on medium gain.
I believe one can stack two 2000mah lipos there. Good thinking Mike, thanks.

Update on this: I stacked two 2000mAh lipos, now it looks like it is pregnant. The stacked batteries are 1mm thicker than I anticipated. On the bright side, the battery life is improved a lot. It is around 8h (wired) now. I may try sanding down the plastic cover but two wide rubber bands hold it strong enough so I don't know if I want the sanding hassle.

 

[pukemon]

Update on this: I stacked two 2000mAh lipos, now it looks like it is pregnant. The stacked batteries are 1mm thicker than I anticipated. On the bright side, the battery life is improved a lot. It is around 8h (wired) now. I may try sanding down the plastic cover but two wide rubber bands hold it strong enough so I don't know if I want the sanding hassle.

if the batteries have it you could consider taking off the protective plastic that protects from bulging and possible fire. you could consider 3d printing a cover or another makeshift battery cover.

 

[jdjung]

Just bought this device. How easy is it to replace the battery? Anyone have any links or instructions on how to replace it? Bought it to use with my Dan Clark E3 headphones as a portable solution.

 

[pukemon]

Just bought this device. How easy is it to replace the battery? Anyone have any links or instructions on how to replace it? Bought it to use with my Dan Clark E3 headphones as a portable solution.

it's easy but you have to pop off the fake leather grip cover thing. I wish some premium batteries could be found. I bought a second g5 and the battery swelled right away.