Any way to increase the battery life of the G-Boy?

caorsi

.
Joined
Aug 18, 2020
Messages
13
Likes
4
Would it be possible to get stronger lithium batteries to sustain more playtime?
 

1stage

.
Joined
Aug 31, 2020
Messages
17
Likes
27
Location
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
Portables
G-Boy
With 18650 cells, they come in a range of mAh capacities... you could get better cells with more capacity from a reputable vendor and increase your playtime. Don't trust what an eBay or AliExpress vendor SAYS their cells are rated at.

A high capacity 18650 will give you no more than about 3500 mAh, regardless of what the vendor claims. They will cost ABOUT US$7 each new, and will cost you another $10-$20 to ship, as lithium batteries have to ship ground and with special packaging.

You'll also want "paired" cells, if possible... cells that have nearly identical verified mAh capacity. You'll want to charge each one up to full in the G-Boy (separately), and then put them in together so that they charge/discharge at the same rate.

That being said, I frequently harvest old 18650 cells from "dead" laptop, power tool, or other sources. I carefully remove the solder tabs and smooth down the ragged edges from spot welds. I charge them individually to make sure they get up to full, usually about 4v, otherwise I recycle them. I let the good ones sit for about 2 weeks and check their voltage again. If it's below 4v, I send them to a recycling center. If they've retained their voltage, I keep them and perform another full individual charge, and capacity test to get the TRUE mAh capacity.

Once I know that TRUE capacity, I carefully remove the stock shrink tubing (keep the white "donut" for the positive side) and then put on a new shrink tube that helps me categorize capacities (<1000 mAh, 1000-1400, 1400-1800, 1800-2200, 2200-2600, 2600-3000, >3000) and write the capacity in Sharpie on the outside.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 15, 2019
Messages
23
Likes
19
You could look into graphine batteries, but it is a relatively new technology and probably expensive.
 

Shank

Moderator
Staff member
.
.
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
1,286
Likes
2,723
Portables
6
You could look into graphine batteries, but it is a relatively new technology and probably expensive.
As of now, graphene batteries are just as vaporware as they were 10 years ago. 3500mah lithium based 18650s are as dense as it gets for us. Hopefully the big push for electric vehicles will lead to innovation in energy density. In the meantime, get yourself 2 3500mah samsung cells, and an external USB C PD power bank if that's not enough.
 
Top