Replacement battery for Panasonic shaver- Need help

[mckeand13]

I've got a Panasonic ES8243A shaver. It's about 2.5yrs now and works great except for not holding a charge that long anymore. Never really did from day one though I guess.

It's apparently got an 18650 inside. I haven't pulled it apart yet and I'm not going to until I have a new cell in hand. It's my daily driver so I can't give it up. It looks like whatever I purchase, I'll have to solder contacts to each end of the cell or wire it somehow.

Here's a link to a place selling a replacement. I'm guessing this probably isn't the best cell inside that wrapper and I'd like to avoid doing this again for another few years.
http://www.cutecamcase.com/show_shaver.php?back=shaver.html&ii=Shaver-battery-2

I want to put a high quality cell in there with the highest capacity I can. I'm looking for a recommendation. I've only used protected 18650's in lights before so I know nothing regarding the unprotected variants. I guess I'm assuming I should use unprotected. I would think the protection lies elsewhere within the shaver. Right or wrong? Should I be looking for something like the usual Panasonic NCR18650?

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/batteries-oem/oem/lithium-ion.aspx

Regardless of which cell I replace this with, is there any reason I can't use the factory charger still? I can't be taking the shaver apart every time to charge it.

Please reply with direct links if you can.

Thanks!

 

[RetroTechie]

It's apparently got an 18650 inside.

How do you know? Says who? Says where? I've read that a lot of shavers use 14500 Li-ion, which seems a more reasonable size for small / light / handheld equipment like a shaver.

I'd just open the thing up to check cell size & type, put it back together while you wait for replacement cell to arrive. Unless you know for sure what's in there, no point in ordering anything.

 

[mckeand13]

How do you know? Says who? Says where? I've read that a lot of shavers use 14500 Li-ion, which seems a more reasonable size for small / light / handheld equipment like a shaver.

I'd just open the thing up to check cell size & type, put it back together while you wait for replacement cell to arrive. Unless you know for sure what's in there, no point in ordering anything.

I can agree to that. I guess it was a pretty big assumption on my part. I'll have a look and report back.

 

[RetroTechie]

Pro tip: see if you can find a service manual or similar. Can often be found online (not often on manufacturer site ), and usually have things like test procedures, schematics, component values etc in them.

 

[mckeand13]

RetroTechie,

My wallet thanks you. Nowhere near an 18650. Housing looked like it was certainly large enough for one, but there's a much smaller 14500 or so in there.

Here are the measurements:
Dia of main body: .550" (13.97mm)
Dia of + end with rubbery "cap": .565" (14.35mm)
Length not including the posts: 1.95" (49.53mm)

Any recommendations on a quality 14500?

Thanks!

 

[mckeand13]

Sanyo UR14500P?

How about this. Just solder some posts on each end?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-S...566?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ec151b16

 

[mcnair55]

After market company that supply parts for domestic electrical equipment normally carry battery spares.

 

[RetroTechie]

Soldering directly to cells is better not done if it can be avoided...

Is it possible to solder contact springs to where the original cell connects? Or maybe 'modify' things a bit to fit springs? If so, then you could use a regular flat top 14500 like above mentioned Panasonic UR14500P (one of the best 14500's out there, I think).

If not, you might want to try and find a solder-tab equipped 14500 cell. Probably easier to deal with here, but harder to find.

 

[mckeand13]

I suppose I could drop some short springs in between each end of the battery and contact without soldering or modifying anything. I think everything is captured well enough so they wouldn't move around.

If I have to solder, I could tin the contacts first to minimize time spent with heat applied.