Portable Vacuum Cleaner Upgrade

Intro: Portable Vacuum Cleaner Upgrade

We will "slightly" modify the battery and charging of a portable Vacuum Cleaner.

For this we need:

1. Li-Ion 18650 batteries x3 (unprotected cells)

2. TP4056 charging board - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301905672102?_trksid=p20...

3. Some wires, soldering iron, solder

My parts cost was ~13$.

STEP 1: Let's Have a Look Inside

We can see the built-in battery - 1500mAh (3 elements, 1.2V each)

Reasons for change:

- Battery is of poor quality - it should give ~8min runtime, but it gives less than 5min

- The sucking power is not good, because of the battery

- The battery is not charged well - all 3 elements are charged in series, and the charger is very simple - a stand with a 5V/300mA adapter, charges the battery through a diode

- No indication for charge end, I doubt that it ends at all.....

STEP 2: Battery Replacement

We can put Li-Ion battery because it has almost the same voltage (3,6V - 3,7V), bigger when fully charged (4,2V). And we will put several in parallel to increase capacity. Advantage - we have more capacity in a smaller form factor, and we don't need cells in series to achieve the required voltage.

Cut the original battery terminals, so we can use them again!

Use more wire to solder to the batteries, it should be thick - 1.5mm , 2mm, because high current will flow.

At first I put only 2 batteries, but measured current ~10A which is ~5A per battery, which I think is too much. That is why I put a 3rd battery (now ~3.33A per cell).

STEP 3: Charging

For charging the battery pack, we will use one of these boards.

Just solder it on the ends of the battery pack. Break and file the plastic so the usb plug can be reached from outside the body.

After thatt put some hot glue to fix it. Put a lot of it around and under the board. Because the glue is transparent, you will see the red/blue LED through the hole!!

STEP 4: Plug It In, and You're Ready!

When the blue light comes ON - it means - charging complete!

Capacity is ~6600mAh on similar volts, compared to 1500mAh from the original battery.

So now I have ~30 min runtime, which is quite enough!! Much better sucking power, because of the stable battery pack power parameters, voltage drop over amps. And of course because of the slightly bigger voltage.

Charging time is ~6-7h with this 1A charger :)

Thanks for reading & enjoy!!!

Comments

[echza]

Putting a diode and balance charger will increase the overall li-ion protection.

[FireSword]

I don't think I need a balance charger, because all batteries are in parallel.

[5ex]

You've sparked inspiration to mod old redundant 12V car vac. For 18650 batteries in series, what specs of diode and charging module should be used? Can a USB car charger be used? Where to wire the diode? Should battery protection board be used?

[FireSword]

Thank for your comment. To do that you need a special board which connects to the batteries. It will do the protection, and balance charging. You will output power in series, but charge cells individualy. However this board will require like 15 volts maybe.. you wont be able to use the car socket. Besides, you have to calculate output power, these old car vacuum cleaners are like 100 watts. You won't be able to get it from only 4 cells. 8 is better.

[alfredmoses]

very well done fantastic

[BeachsideHank]

A well done upgrade, these portable vacs end up in the trash far too often due to marginaly designed battery systems.