Battery Mod a Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Replace a portable bluetooth speaker's batteries with larger capacity quadcopter batteries. I'm using a G-Boom bluetooth speaker, but the principle can be applied to any portable unit. All you need is a new battery(s) that matches the voltage of your old batt, and matches or exceeds the mAh rating, and will fit within the speaker.

Step 1: Remove Battery.

The battery was housed in the bottom right compartment of the speaker. I removed it because it was swollen.
But, you can see it in the attached photos.

You will notice that it's a 7.4 V 1800 mAh lipo battery. This is a common battery used in RC controlled devices, which means, I can easily find an exact match or better...one that will last longer.

The current battery specs boasted a six hour run time per charge. I want more…

Step 2: Replace Battery

I purchased two Floureon 7.4 V 1200 mAh batteries from Amazon for around $13 each. I placed one in the left bottom compartment and the other in the right bottom compartment .

Next, I soldered the two battery leads together in parallel for a total of 7.4 V 2400 mAh.

The additional 3 wires are for charging individual cells within the battery pack. I won't be needing this added functionality.

Step 3: Reassemble

Step 4: Calculations

I calculated that the addition of two 1200 mAh batteries connected in parallel to replace the one, factory installed 1800 mAh battery, would increase my operating time by 33%. Thats an additional 2 hours of music over factory spec for a total of 8 hours.

However, after two charge cycles and two run tests at moderate volume, I was only able to achieve a 7 hour and 20 minute max run time. I'm a little disappointed.

I did increase the run time with this mod, as I set out to do, but not as much as I had hoped.

Step 5: Completed Project

Comments

[AeronsM]

Hello so I have a jbl charge 4 . Its no longer working(charging batteries). My specs now are Battery JBL Charge 4 7800mAh 3.7V . So im necessarily looking to upgrade my batteries , if even possible but would be open to it . Im not really in the position to buy these new batteries right now . Also Im not really good with this kind of stuff and wanted to know what I might possibly found some of the type I need installed in ? I have a bunch of vape pin ones , but believe they may be too low to use . I apologize for my lack of knowing , probably the obvious in advance . Thank you

[Shaun Walsh]

lithium batteries are dangerous if charged incorrectly. especially if charged in parallel; as the charger is being "decieved". They use an "intelligent" method for controlling current flow. Potentially resulting in explosion and fire, due to excessive heat if one cell array is fully charged while the other is still being charged.

[AnthonyB4]

Hi Shaun. I was thinking of running 2 batteries in parallel for my Ion block rocker max. Is this possible?

[ecrouch]

Thanks Shaun. So, the original batt was 7.4 volts at 1800 mAh. What would you do to increase usage? Should I have just bought one batt with the desired mAh (something greater than 1800)?

[Skon Of Vulcan]

I'm currious about this also. I'm looking at using your instructable as a bit of a guide in doing the same with my G-boom. Have you had any problems since you did this? Overheating while being charge Do? Etc. Also how much room is there inside for battery placement? i.e. two 2400 mAh batteries. I've also considered buying an inexpensive cordless drill for its battery well, battery charger and a couple of rechargeable battery's for it. Pretty sure I can find one that matches the voltage of the G-boom. But that seems like to much work when I can put more inside like you did.

[fantasy]

I took out the obvious 6 screws out of the back, then pulled off the silver strip to reveal a hidden 7th screw and removed it and I still can't pull the 2 halves apart. It feels like something is still holding it together. What else do I need to do to get it apart?

[ecrouch]

Others in the comments below seem to have had the same you let. Honestly, it's been so long ago I don't remember the trick to opening the closure. Sorry. I'd suggest pulling it apart gently until it sticks and try to locate the sticking point to help identify the point where a hidden screw or latch might be.

[alandalerob]

This battery worked perfectly.
https://dantona.com/lion74a-2sg26-1

[AbiliTV_Broadcasting]

Look into Parallel wired batteries and Serial wired. Series if I recall offers more mAh thus longer runtime.

Also, Lithium loses 15% sometimes more energy in transferring it. So getting less usage than expected is normal.

I absolutely love your thinking here.

[DanS105]

I have removed the 9 batteries and still cant get G-Boom to open. What am I missing?

[SanityA]

On my G-Boom it's NOT the GREY (Silver) panel, which is on the front, it's a BLACK panel on the back. It easily slides up towards the handle with the gentle encouragement of a butter knife or credit card. (I wish I had NOT so gently tried encouraging the grey one is front first!)

[StephenS220]

There is a tenth screw in the rear center, under the grey panel. Slide the grey panel up to remove the screw.

[DannyM158]

How did you get the G boom box apart I got all 9 screws out but don't want to break it trying to claw it open

[BoHoBoHo]

There is a 10th screw under the grey panel, which slides up. I found the answer as a reply to the same question posted below.

[CvilleKevin]

Thanks for the writeup ecrouch!

My G-BOOM was dying after an hour or so of loud playback. I used your instructions and replaced the stock battery with a Tenergy 7.4V Li-ion 18650 2600mAh last week. I'm getting about the same play time as you now - about 7hrs at fairly loud volume.

7hrs is plenty, but if I was doing this again, I'd probably go with the 7.4V 3400mAh Battery Pack from XpressTek instead of the 2600mAh Tenergy. The XpressTek uses Panasonic Cells and should provide about 30 percent more runtime, or a couple more hours

If you can find a battery with the same connector, that will save a bit of time soldering

The dual 18650 cell package is not a great fit for the G-BOOM. A larger pouch cell would probably fit better. You dont want to put any pressure on lithium batteries, which is why I installed mine like the picture below

[Auggieone]

Thank you guys for the info, appreciate it. So I just replaced my stock battery with the 7.4V 3400mAh Xpress Tek lithium battery. After a full charge the unit flashes the red charging light after about 30sec of playback. I'm just wondering if that is common with replacing the battery? So far 30min at high volume and sounding good.

[gr8brew]

Any tips for taking it apart I can't seem to get it to separate.

Thanks

[CvilleKevin]

Pull the rubber boot off the bottom, which exposes 3 of the screws. The 10th is under the center panel, which slides up as described by StephenS220 below

[johnthuss]

One replacement battery is named: "Tenergy 7.4V Li-ion 18650 2200mAh Rechargeable Battery Module". It can be used as a replacement battery in a G-Boom speaker that won't charge or won't turn on. Take the screws out of the back, including the center screw, which you have to slide up the long gray piece on the back to reveal. Detach the old battery by pulling out the white connector. You may have to use the point of a knife to carefully remove the glue on it first. After detaching, cut the red and black wires, leaving wire on the white connector so that you can reuse it. Strip the ends of the wires on the connector and on the replacement battery so you can join them together - red to red, black to black. Twist the wires together. You can solder them if you know how. Cover with electrical tape. Reattach the white connector to the G-Boom. Picture of finished product: https://goo.gl/photos/deQjkJHj57wiFax76

[johnthuss]

Nevermind, it stopped working after the battery's initial charge was gone. :-(