AA Battery Powered Cell Phone

Has the battery in your cell phone died forever? Try this to extend your phone's life time.

Step 1 What you'll need

See picture...

You'll also need a cell phone that takes a battery of 3-3.7 volts.

Comments

[lilpepsikraker]

I got some AAA rechargeables, now to find a batt holder. They don't stick out as much as AA's so it would be easy on my pockets.

[lilpepsikraker]

BTW, they are 850 mAh each. I'll use 3 and that will be 3.6v with 2550mAh. I'm also trying to devise a plan to use possibly 2 and make a step up circuit to reduce weight.

[hflipper]

The energy capacity is measured in watt hours. Each of your AAA's would carry 1020 mWh and 3 of the AAA's would carry 3060 mWh. You won't get 3.6 V at 2550mAh but rather 3.6 V at 850 mAh or you will calculate it to be 9180 mWh

[xevious]

A useful instructable to know if you've lost your charger and need to use your phone.  However, there are risks involved.  Not all phones have the same battery voltage.  Using two AA batteries might overload the phone and damage it.  I'd try this only on a backup phone.

In any case, as a permanent solution it's kind of ridiculous to be carrying around a phone 3 times as thick as it normally is.  You're better off just buying a new aftermarket battery.

[hflipper]

Try 3 rechargeables which give 3.6 V.

The designers of cellphones are being ridiculous. For safety reasons, cellphones should never be designed to accept only proprietary batteries but rather accept AA's or AAA's. Those batteries degrade by 1/3 per year if you store them in your pocket at all times. Battery capacity can sometimes mean life or death if you are stuck in a sink hole. Not everyone can afford extras which cost more than the phone. For my Samsung phone, it's $50.

[reddog92396]

 My RAZR works okay on two AA batteries. It runs and I can type etc. but I don't think I can make calls and I can't use the internet should I jump up to a 9V battery?

[reddog92396]

 or four AA's?

[patt39]

I think four AA's will burn your phone, As they provided 6 volts but the phone needs 3.6 volts. Maybe 3 of rechargeable 1.2 volts battery would work (they provided the exactly 3.6 volts you need)

[alexanderm]

Not exactly accurate. Depends on how it's wired (series vs parallel).
@reddog92396 - If you make another set of 2 batteries, wired exactly like the first set of 2, then wire those 2 sets in parallel, rather than series, you will retain the same ~3V, but double your amperage. But, that may not solve your problem (read on)

While i have no intention of offending or disparaging the author, the following should address many of the issues other people seem to be having, as well as a glaring failure on the author's part to include obligatory and necessary information:
It's very important to accurately provide the needed voltage, which is usually NOT going to be a direct multiple of 1.5V. Additionally, you must provide the necessary amperage (somewhat blindly addressed by the author). Most cell phones will have the ability to handle slight over-voltages (note: i said: SLIGHT); they do this with resistors on the power inputs. These resistors can only handle small over-voltages, because they are SMD (physically small, thus, electrical capacity is small). You'll need to stack your batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, whatever) in such a way as to provide a voltage slightly over the listed battery voltage, then use a resistor to drop it back down to the exact required voltage. This assumes you are using alkaline batteries... Rechargeable batteries behave a little differently as they discharge, and rarely get above their listed voltage, thus, a slight difference in voltage will likely not create a problem. i'm not going to give you the values for the resistors, because there are already online tools for that, and there's no way i'd be able to provide the exact values for every single cell phone and battery combination. For those that are having amperage issues (it turns on, but you can't call): add more batteries in parallel, NOT series. This will boost your available power without changing your voltage.

[Chowmix12]

3 AAs with a diode should fix the problem. thats 3.8 volts (approx.)

[Jack_666]

I like your project but would be better to buy another battery for cell phone so do not ruin our phone get on with your initiative forgives the mistakes of language is because I am Latino and I do not speak very well English

[threewheela]

 I tried this whith an old lg c2000 phone i had and all it would do is turn on for a second and turn back off. I used two brand new AAs giving me 3v and the original battery voltage is 3.7v . The phone still works when i put the original battery back in, somebody tell me what i did wrong!

[lilpepsikraker]

This discussion seems pretty old, but I have two Nokia phones. I use a Nokia 2610 (was a Gophone but I threw in my postpaid SIM) and the stock battery lasts about 5 days to 8 days. My mother had a Nokia 6102i that broke, but still charges batteries. I took that off her hands and now I use that to charge my battery while I swap them out. I haven't plugged in my 2610 since I got it, so that works out fine. The 6102i sits on the charger with a battery for days on end, till my battery runs out on the 2610. Good plan, but it'll be bad when the 6102i's charging circuit poops and the battery explodes.

[Spectrace]

Do you charge your phone overnight? I have the same exact phone (mines the red one though) and i took it to a Verizon store last week and told them that the battery doesn't last long. (i actually took it for another problem but told them about the battery too) the lady opened up the cover and saw that the battery was "swollen" and asked if i charge it overnight. I said yes, and she said that that was the problem. Motorolas dont have a "STOP CHARGING" function built into the phone that tells it to stop charging when its full so the constant stream of power messes up the battery.

[Kention3]

I charge mine over night too but how are you supposed to know when to take it off the charger? conclusion: Motorola Sucks!

[tanmanknex]

NOT true, i have had two motorola phones, the c650, and the razr v3. i have charged them both for DAYS on end without harm. the c650 is about 7 years old and it works fine, even with being left on the charger for a whole month!!!

[Spectrace]

oh i guess i forgot to say this: The person said that it should only be charged 3-4 hours a day. and yes motorola does suck. thats why i'm planning on getting the LG Dare. (LG phones are pwn)

[kteddy]

and how to check polarity of my cell

[kteddy]

i have samsung phone and have three terminals so which one would be positive

[rkpone187]

Tried with 2 conventional AAs & didnt work, very cheap AAs so I tried 3AAs 4.5v and it works seems maby a little brighter than usual dont feel any heat though. Seems to last for days do you think this will cause any damage being the voltage difference?

[Gjdj3]

When I try to do this with my phone it says... USE GENUINE BATTERY - POWER OFF-. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

[ReCreate]

take the battery apart,replace the inner cell that is connected to the circuit board with your own and re connect the battery to the circuit board

[wierd idiot]

how many connections does you phone battery have? if it has more than three than it might contain a ID chip in the battery. if so, you will have no choice but to buy an expensive original battery.

[powertotheslaves]

By any chance would you be related to kadean pahr?

[cassiorichiniti]

i know that phone!! its a K1m KRZR CDMA the best moto i know it sucks to find that batery (beleve it) my mom has one the batery is sweld like almost 1,5 times its thickness and we are still looking for a new one can any one get me a info if the moto Q still uses a 1000mAh couse im gointo take my moms "pregnent" as she calls it batery and take apart to usethe original contacts and make a custom baterypack Spectrace we have the LG secret (got a deal 1/3 of the price with the phone company) its totaly awsome 4.0 mp cam toutch medea and file viwer (.doc .pdf and others) and comes with everything you need but the CDMA coveredge is way better than that of GSM by the by i'm in brazil

[cassiorichiniti]

scach that moto Q batery part im going with this one!!! i'll try no to use hot glue onthe phone so mi mom dont kill me! whats the 2 midlle contact points for? can you post a diagram of the baterry pacs? even if it is rough it will help me alot! and this is a awsome idea

[Gypsyman]

i am not sure about this, but isn't it called a CELL phone because of the type of battery? if not someone please correct me.

[MrStupid]

A cellular network is a radio network made up of a number of radio cells (or just cells) each served by a fixed transmitter, known as a cell site or base station. These cells are used to cover different areas in order to provide radio coverage over a wider area than the area of one cell. Cellular networks are inherently asymmetric with a set of fixed main transceivers each serving a cell and a set of distributed (generally, but not always, mobile) transceivers which provide services to the network's users.

[PCvsMac]

Wait - I thought cell batteries are the round type of batteries, a.k.a. button batteries?

[Father Christmas]

hah i jsut mix the two and call em button cells

[MrStupid]

To cover the cell meaning completely
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell

[Kention3]

no, its a cell phone because of the way the network exchanges information(i don't know any specifics)

[bustedit]

yeah, i think they call each towers' reception and transmission area a cell. it's also called a mobile phone, because you can move around with it, and NOT because you can tie them to a coat hanger and hang them over your baby's crib.

[Kention3]

That is a horrible pun. :p

[finky555]

Excellent 'ible on powering a cell phone with conventional batteries, awesome for times when recharging couldn't happen.
You can find more info on how cellphones communicate at http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone1.htm , it's nicely written and displayed.

[cowscankill]

I don't get it! i put two batteries to it and it worked. then it stopped working, and now flashes whit off white off white off over and over. Can someone tell me how to fix this?

[cowscankill]

WOW I FOUND OUT WHATS WRONG! the batteries, even if they are good, need to be VERY good power, like brand new. this is awesome! ty so muuch :D

[Kention3]

try 3 nicad's... that will give you 3.6v

[madhops0620]

this is a good idea and all, but wouldnt it be easier just to buy a new battery for your phone? Even if you dont wanna pay 40 some dollars to buy it from verizon, T-mobile, etc, just go to www.cellphoneshop.net and you can get a battery for around $15. Also, you would be paying more in conventional batteries so it would be worth it to buy a new one. plus, if you just use rechargeable batteries, its about the same price to get some decent quality ones as it is to buy a new battery. And if youre looking for a portable charger, you can just buy one from target or most other stores for around 15 bucks. I'm not trying to put this 'able down, I just think there are easier ways to do this that require less work and are more cost effective.

[PCvsMac]

Eeek, eh - no. It can be cheaper to do so this way, and it can also be not. How it is: 1. Suppose you have a really obsolete phone, and it is difficult to find one, or the battery is 4x what you would expect to pay. 2. You can reuse these bateries in something else, as with a standard phone, it works in only... phones. 3. Its rechargable, so you dont have to pay more than you need to in batteries. How it's not: 1. It really is oftenly cheaper to buy a dedictaed battery than to faff using soldering, etc. 2. No risk, so you dont risk screwing it up.