Wii U Battery Dissection and Improvement

[MRKane]

Gidday everyone,

So my Wii U started to get battery fatigue, I brought a new "extended capacity" one which turned out to be a dud, got given a refund on it, and decided to improve mankind because there was no information out there on the battery!

Li-ion cell measures 42x78x7mm and there's room to spare in the case. It'd appear that the Wii U uses the same four connection approach as cellphones (although I cannot be sure on that as I don't have the knowledge - feel free to flick me any information there!).

At this stage I'd love to know peoples advice on where to get goo Li-ion cells that aren't fake or flakes so I can have a crack replacing this with something better. The ideal solution would be something that involves a 3D printed case, a brand spanking new protection circuit and connection - that's not at all beyond my ability, and you better bet I'll be letting it loose on the world to try and get around shoddy replacements like this.

Deep down inside we all love our Wii U

 

[Postman]

You know who didn't love the Wii U? Nintendo. They dropped that faster than Snoop Dogg dropping it like its hot.

As far as batteries go, if you are willing to shell out the bookoo bucks for legit batteries there is always batteryspace. For this specific application it may be best to go that direction because:

1. You have a wide selection of battery types, capacities, and sizes to choose from
2. You know they are legit

I have had very mixed experiences from ebay batteries and places like adafruit have a very limited selection of batteries (that are also hella expensive).

 

[MRKane]

You know who didn't love the Wii U? Nintendo. They dropped that faster than Snoop Dogg dropping it like its hot.

BWHAHAHAHAHA!!! Brilliant!!!

I'd not picked through batteryspace yet, I'd been lost in a sea of sites that I just wasn't sure about the quality of the items from. HobbyKing didn't appear to have any of the sort of cells that I was after but they've got them there

I think I'll need to look at the amp draw on the battery to see if I need a particular C rating, but given how long the standard 1500mAh battery lasts when it's new I'd say it's pretty low. I'll try to keep everyone updated as I run an experiment (and potentially blow up my gamepad) and as per usual - all help and suggestions (especially that charging board and the connector - don't have a name on those yet) are greatly appreciated!

 

[JacksonS]

The charging IC on a Gamepad is a TPS65070 with a maximum draw of 2A on the battery input. Given that and how long the battery usually lasts, I think 1C is more than enough for the 3600 mAh battery and probably the original battery too.

 

[MRKane]

They JacksonS - that's invaluable information

I finally got the opportunity to measure the battery and the Wii U handheld is drawing 350mA, so at 1C it should hose in.

Of course the next challenge is finding a battery that'll fit. Going off of guess work it's got to be smaller than 80x45x7 which is a weird dimension!

EDIT: Had a thought that we're not the type to care if it fits within Nintendos "pretty little battery case" therefore I could probably get away with 85x55x10 as the size of the battery and leave junk floating free in the battery compartment.

EDIT 2: Whelp costs from BatterySpace aren't bad, but shipping is prohibitive! $16 worth of batteries, and $57 worth of shipping at the cheapest, or ~$100 at the most expensive. A monumental joke of sorts - I think I'll have to try my luck at the great AliExpress in the sky...