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NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG/PCE Repair/Mod Discussion => Topic started by: turbokon on October 11, 2015, 02:38:49 AM
Title: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 11, 2015, 02:38:49 AM
Finally found the perfect rechargeable battery solution for the turbo express thanks to a fellow tech. Battery is charged thru the express ac plug. The only thing needs to be done is mount a tri color led somewhere on the outside so its visible.
You can also series two 1000mAh batteries together.
Note, it can only be charged with a 5v power supply. I found that the sony psp adapter works but you have to replace the jack on the express. Replacement jack can be found at console5.
Also you have to rewire the express jack.
Youtube video of the final internal battery mod:
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: grendelrt on October 11, 2015, 02:52:57 AM
Cool no cutting up the case!
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Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: esteban on October 11, 2015, 06:01:30 AM
Gorgeous.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: Necromancer on October 11, 2015, 07:36:34 AM
Looks good, especially since you didn't have to hack up the battery compartment or cover. How many hours of OBEY does she give ya?
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: in99flames on October 11, 2015, 08:06:30 AM
Wow....definitely interested in this. I am with the other posters...what kind of battery life are you seeing
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: schweaty on October 11, 2015, 08:25:38 AM
What is the product number of the battery? What is it normally us used for? Where can we find them?
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: esteban on October 11, 2015, 08:31:24 AM
You can also series two 1000mAh batteries together.
Note, it can only be charged with a 5v power supply. I found that the sony psp adapter works but you have to replace the jack on the express. Replacement jack can be found at console5.
Also you have to rewire the express jack.
Title: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 11, 2015, 12:46:18 PM
Testing battery run time now with my 3.5" LCD modded express. Based on my estimate, it should last 4 to 5 hours with the 2500mAh cell.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: EvilEvoIX on October 11, 2015, 02:46:24 PM
Great job!. Even at 4-5 hours it's a huge power saver. Was there even an aftermarket/first party external battery pack ever made for the Turbo Express like the Game Gear, Game Boy, or Lynx?
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: famiac on October 11, 2015, 04:17:55 PM
The listing shows that the battery has a 10Wh specification. The turbo express/pce gt acts as a 4.6W load, so the battery should only be able to power it for ~2.2hours.
Turbokon, could you try running it on a full charge, preferably on a system using the stock screen, and telling us what happens?
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 11, 2015, 07:25:15 PM
:clap:
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 11, 2015, 11:53:48 PM
I will have to redo the test. It was at 2hr 45mins when the game froze and I'm getting a white screen now. My region chip died.
My calculation was based of a 3.5" lcd express which draws a ~510 mA load.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 12, 2015, 06:34:27 AM
I remember Steve put the maximum draw at ~600mA which is why a 1 Amp 6VDC regulated power supply is perfect when you wanna upgrade and get rid of the original. Less heat for the internal 5V regulator and it'll all still work fine.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 12, 2015, 06:42:36 AM
You can also bypass using the internal 5v regulator with this mod. The charger circuit used is only rated at ~5.25V.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 12, 2015, 06:53:16 AM
Yeah, you should or probably have to since it's running closer to 5V like you mention.
It's a great time for rechargeable batteries these days, 100,000 mA USB portables on the cheap, getting better all the time!
Great job!. Even at 4-5 hours it's a huge power saver. Was there even an aftermarket/first party external battery pack ever made for the Turbo Express like the Game Gear, Game Boy, or Lynx?
Yes actually. As far as first party packs...the ones i know of were made for Gameboy. sega made a game gear rechargeable pack that worked for nomad as well. Atari has an interesting one for the lynx...it is an external battery pack but its not a rechargeable one(besides putting in rechargeable batteries in it). I believe it takes 4 or 6 "D" size batteries as opposed to the 6 AA. on the d batteries you could run it a lot longer. I can't think of any others at the moment :-P
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: pdiggitydogg on October 12, 2015, 10:35:14 PM
Really great. I am looking at doing the same for my Sega Nomad but am still in the shopping-around stage.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: wilykat on October 13, 2015, 09:13:18 AM
So how does one bypass the original 5v in TE to power it off lipo? And what about new LCD? LCD used for car uses 7-14v and may not like running at 5.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 13, 2015, 12:53:23 PM
So how does one bypass the original 5v in TE to power it off lipo? And what about new LCD? LCD used for car uses 7-14v and may not like running at 5.
No, they gotta run at 5VDC, their power adapters have 5VDC regulators in them. Think of any powerful 7" to 10" tablet these days, they all come with 5VDC 1-2 Amp power supplies which can fully run them with no drain on the battery if it's always connected! That's with powering the CPU AND the LCD!!! So yeah, you can do A LOT with 5VDC and support for 1-2 Amp draw. :)
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: wilykat on October 13, 2015, 01:46:13 PM
Ok but where does one put the 5v from lipo board to? TE has input for 9v from AC or battery and generally the internal 5v regulator needs higher input to work. Where do I tack on the 5v from the lipo board to bypass the original 5v regulator so TE would work off lipo?
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 13, 2015, 04:09:19 PM
Logically I would guess at the output leg of the TurboExpress' 5V regulator so it'd pick up the job right where it all begins. But I'll leave the question to our professional EEs/modders.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: fluxcore on October 14, 2015, 07:13:17 AM
I wonder if LiFePO4 batteries could be substituted - they seem to be replacing LiPos in a few electronics projects due to being a safer technology (and having voltages more suitable to some tasks). Wouldn't be very nice to have a TE catch fire during a recharge :/
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: thesteve on October 14, 2015, 02:09:36 PM
with screen mod 5V works
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 14, 2015, 03:52:26 PM
The lcd I used is easily modded to work with 5V.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: thesteve on October 14, 2015, 05:18:10 PM
but the stock one doesnt
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 14, 2015, 05:47:26 PM
EE in the house! :)
So Steve, just to confirm for him, the output leg of the 5V regulator would be appropriate to bring in a 5VDC battery to ? I believe a regulator has diode properties and the output leg is forward-electrons-only, so adding 5V to that leg from another source should in no way damage it or should you add a diode between that leg and the board just to be safe ?
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 15, 2015, 01:00:48 AM
Yeah, that's how I'm doing it. Also this setup output ~5.12v. I'm using a voltage divider to bring the voltage down to ~5.0v. A diode can possibly be used as well since it cause a little voltage drop but maybe a little to much.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 15, 2015, 11:27:14 AM
Yeah, that's true, you see about a .5 voltage drop with a diode.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: blueraven on October 17, 2015, 09:14:02 PM
Most excellent! :twisted:
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 18, 2015, 08:28:44 AM
Looks like runtime with the lipo battery mod is a little over 3.5hrs.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 18, 2015, 08:42:19 AM
There should be enough room for two 2000mAh to get a longer run time.
With this mod, you can't use the stock power supply or the AA's batteries.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 18, 2015, 03:56:59 PM
So I was able to stick everything internally inside the express.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: roflmao on October 18, 2015, 04:01:02 PM
You are a wizard, Turbokon!
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 18, 2015, 04:17:35 PM
Cool. :)
But me personally I wouldn't care about sacrificing that AA battery space and getting a bigger, powerful say 100,000mA $20 rechargeable battery in there to maximize the runtime.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 18, 2015, 04:43:34 PM
thesteve suggested I add a connector in battery compartment for optional additional cell for even longer runtime.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 24, 2015, 04:44:58 AM
Led mounted. Red is charging and green is charged.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 25, 2015, 02:29:16 AM
Here is a video of the final internal rechargeable battery mod.
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: MNKyDeth on October 25, 2015, 02:40:17 AM
That's pretty crazy man. 7hrs of run time with the battery pack and roughly 3.5hrs without? I think that is more than even current hand held game devices.
That is one impressive Turbo Express!! How heavy is it? Need a harness to carry it around? lol
Title: Re: Turboexpress Lipo rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 25, 2015, 04:36:08 AM
Actually, even with the additional battery pack, the fully modded express is lighter than the stock TE with the 6 AA's. Stock TE with AA's, 1lb 3.2oz. Fully modded express with additional cell, 1lb 0.5oz.
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: MNKyDeth on October 25, 2015, 05:04:04 AM
That's pretty crazy haha.
So what is the next stop? Gold plating?
That thing must be worth a fortune to get all those mods done to it. But at least you are making options for people if they want that and that in itself to me is amazing.
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: NightWolve on October 25, 2015, 07:07:30 AM
Actually, even with the additional battery pack, the fully modded express is lighter than the stock TE with the 6 AA's. Stock TE with AA's, 1lb 3.2oz. Fully modded express with additional cell, 1lb 0.5oz.
Oh definitely it'd be way lighter compared to 6 traditional AA alkaline batteries!! MNKyDeth apparently hasn't owned a cell phone and is unfamiliar with Lithium-Ion batteries... ;)
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on October 26, 2015, 02:20:16 PM
That's pretty crazy man. 7hrs of run time with the battery pack and roughly 3.5hrs without? I think that is more than even current hand held game devices.
My PSP 2000 does about 10 hours with a rare Sony 2200Mah battery. But it is damned good for a 20 year old system.
Quote
That is one impressive Turbo Express!! How heavy is it? Need a harness to carry it around? lol
Same. I would love to get my TE modded with lipo someday. With 3.5" LCD and a Turboeverdrive, I get as much as 700mAh draw and rechargeable AA's rarely last long due to them having only about 1.2v each and running low fast.
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: famiac on November 13, 2015, 08:34:22 PM
About to attempt this. Did you just wire the Powerboost 1000C to the pc engine's voltage regulator ouput? Are there other things that need to be done?
Also, just to maker sure i'm getting this right, where is the voltage regulator output pin?
thanks
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: famiac on November 15, 2015, 06:52:41 PM
I'd like to use the internal jack to charge the battery. How do i separate the internal ac adapter socket from the rest of the circuit board? Are you cutting traces?
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on November 22, 2015, 03:08:38 AM
I'd like to use the internal jack to charge the battery. How do i separate the internal ac adapter socket from the rest of the circuit board? Are you cutting traces?
Yeah, I just cut the positive trace on the dc jack. Big pad on regulator is the collector pin.
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: famiac on November 22, 2015, 01:26:21 PM
You connect the 5.2v to the collector?
You mentioned you used a voltage divider. What's the impedance of the GT? Or, what value resistor did you use for the voltage divider?
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: turbokon on November 23, 2015, 01:12:52 PM
I ended up wiring to battery line and jumping from emitter to collector pin on voltage regulator.
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: ltpitt on August 04, 2016, 10:52:33 AM
Hi all!
I am sorry for necroposting but I do believe this mod is very interesting and keeping all the related information in a single post could also help others :)
My GT is fully stock and I wanted to ask if I can add a LiPo battery simply connecting its plus and minus to the plus and minus where normal batteries are connected.
Here you can find my childish idea in photo: https://goo.gl/photos/hGwLbVVcee2duixg8
If this is not a wise idea to connect the battery this way can you kindly explain with more detail where I should connect the LiPo? I have read that I should connect one side of it to the voltage regulator but I do not know where it is placed, how it looks and how I should hook it.
Thanks for your time and patience :)
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: shugs81 on August 05, 2016, 12:23:46 PM
Is that not a USB charger you've used?? Could you not just drillna small hole in the battery cover and stick the charging circuit to that so the led shines through? If you wanted to do it that way... Maybe put something over Tue hole to keep it all in one piece....
Title: Re: Turboexpress internal rechargeable battery mod
Post by: famiac on November 03, 2016, 09:49:09 PM
Just to help out people who want to try this in the future (sorry for the necro)
This battery (http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-7V-6000mAh-LiPo-Polymer-Battery-For-Power-bank-GPS-PAD-TABLET-PC-13-x-51-x78mm-/181363702598?hash=item2a3a1e7b46:g:ESUAAOSwdU1W87PK) fits perfectly into the GT's compartment and has the right specs.
I used the adafruit powerboost 1000C, as suggested, and tied the 5.2V output directly to the voltage input pin of the AC adapter port. Still not sure where to cut if I want to separate the port from the rest of the console, since the solder mask is stupidly thick.