0806 battery modification

[Technophobe]

As the weather is getting very hot here (already had 37 day) and will get worse, my 0806 was cooking when left in the car in the sun. I could hardly touch it when left for a while. I didn't like the idea of the internal battery ending up like a piece of toast in the unit. My (however crazy) idea was to remove just the battery and have it located somewhere separate to the unit. With some trial and error testing, I couldn't have the battery too far away as the voltage drop in the long wire was too high. Anyway, I ended up with the setup in the pics I will upload.

The battery is in the small box encased in styrofoam (the best heat insulator I could find ATM). The box will be velcroed to the back of my rear view mirror. I was planning on replacing the battery with supercaps but they haven't arrived from Ebay yet. That will be the next mod.


Edit: I suppose its pretty obvious but I should have said that I fully understand that any mods like this will void my warrany

 

[Rayman.Chan]

I like the technical guys which can do MOD or DIY arts.

You got my personal warranty for this camera. 🙂

 

[Rajagra]

The battery is in the small box encased in styrofoam (the best heat insulator I could find ATM).

I think I see your logic, but there will be times when that will actually make heat build up in the battery.

 

[Technophobe]

I think I see your logic, but there will be times when that will actually make heat build up in the battery.

I think that depends on how much heat is directly generated by the battery. In my case I think the direct heat from the sun (especially in a enclosed car) and to a lesser extent, the heat generated by the electronics when the unit is on, far exceeds the heat just from the battery itself. Also, if / when the battery does fail, it will not damage internal components of the unit itself. This is where my thoughts were, I'm just a crazy inventor. Anyway, this unit is out of service ATM due to plastic melting (see my other thread), so the battery project is on hold. Boy, its getting hot around here...

 

[Rayman.Chan]

with the battery out of housing, you can use a Super Capacitor Now. 5V 5F is recommended. 2.5F at least.

 

[RavenManiac]

As the weather is getting very hot here (already had 37 day) and will get worse, my 0806 was cooking when left in the car in the sun. I could hardly touch it when left for a while. I didn't like the idea of the internal battery ending up like a piece of toast in the unit. My (however crazy) idea was to remove just the battery and have it located somewhere separate to the unit. With some trial and error testing, I couldn't have the battery too far away as the voltage drop in the long wire was too high. Anyway, I ended up with the setup in the pics I will upload.

The battery is in the small box encased in styrofoam (the best heat insulator I could find ATM). The box will be velcroed to the back of my rear view mirror. I was planning on replacing the battery with supercaps but they haven't arrived from Ebay yet. That will be the next mod.
View attachment 19701 View attachment 19702

Edit: I suppose its pretty obvious but I should have said that I fully understand that any mods like this will void my warrany

Pretty sweet mod. Can you post a few photos of the inside of the battery case? By the way, what did you use for the battery case?

 

[Technophobe]

Can you post a few photos of the inside of the battery case? By the way, what did you use for the battery case?

I used one of these cases:
http://www.jaycar.com.au/Enclosures...ure-Potting-Box-45-X-30-X-25MM-Black/p/HB5200

It doesn't have a top, so I just cut some cardboard to make a lid.
Photos attached.

I only made this as a temporary measure until I could play around with some supercaps or LiFePo4 batteries (neither have arrived yet).
Bad news is, this unit has died (only blue LED on) and from other threads, this is probably the power chip gone. It stopped working after I tried to straighten the mount with a heat gun (after it got warped in my hot car during the day). I didn't blast the circuit board with heat, maybe I zapped it with static or something - my bad!