Added battery to extend speaker life
Perhaps the weakest point of modern electronics when it comes to ease of use is the life cycle of the batteries supplied by the manufacturer. Without easily replaceable batteries, many consumer goods end up in landfills despite functioning perfectly. If you want to get more out of your devices than the manufacturer wants you to, you may have to go to great lengths like [Théo] did with his JBL speaker.
This was a Bluetooth device produced by JBL almost a decade ago, and although the original device had several hours of battery life, after so many years of service it has had lucky to have half an hour before the battery dies. To replace it, [Théo] removed the original battery and lengthened the case to accommodate a larger cell phone battery. He also decided to use the speaker's original battery management circuit with the new battery after checking that the voltage and chemistry were close enough to the original.
Since the phone's battery is a Samsung proprietary device, [Théo] also decided to make a version that uses standard 18650 cells instead, although he prefers the slimmer design with the battery of the phone for its use case. As simple as this version may be, it largely demonstrates the principle that if you can't fix your devices, you don't really own them.
Perhaps the weakest point of modern electronics when it comes to ease of use is the life cycle of the batteries supplied by the manufacturer. Without easily replaceable batteries, many consumer goods end up in landfills despite functioning perfectly. If you want to get more out of your devices than the manufacturer wants you to, you may have to go to great lengths like [Théo] did with his JBL speaker.
This was a Bluetooth device produced by JBL almost a decade ago, and although the original device had several hours of battery life, after so many years of service it has had lucky to have half an hour before the battery dies. To replace it, [Théo] removed the original battery and lengthened the case to accommodate a larger cell phone battery. He also decided to use the speaker's original battery management circuit with the new battery after checking that the voltage and chemistry were close enough to the original.
Since the phone's battery is a Samsung proprietary device, [Théo] also decided to make a version that uses standard 18650 cells instead, although he prefers the slimmer design with the battery of the phone for its use case. As simple as this version may be, it largely demonstrates the principle that if you can't fix your devices, you don't really own them.
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