Motrola Saber Li-ion Battery Conversion - Beta!

thingiverse

My first foray into 3D drawing... Motorola Saber (MX1000/2000/3000) re-made/cycled battery pack. I'm revamping an outdated Ni-Cd/Nimh battery pack and transforming it into a Li-Ion /2x18500 cell) version with reduced footprint, weight, and higher capacity than the original. This is an early beta state so updates will follow later on when I have all the necessary parts and refine the design. Got hold of a batch of "small" packs so re-mixed the original version to fit this. Have made 2 working units so far and am evaluating them right now. So far they exceed my initial expectations! More on the build details when I refine/finalize the design. (or on request) Might redesign the larger pack insert to accommodate 18650 cells later on that would be even more versatile since those cells are easier to come by but the size of the old "Huge" pack is intimidating for EDC use.. Sorry for the poorly scratched PCB's and soldering in the pictures. (it was a 10-minute throw together during a lunch break at work) However... They work great and look and feel really great on the outside (stock - with a greyline). So no more excuse to keep all those Sabers in the bottom drawer anymore. Print and assemble a few battery cases and sell or give them away to put them to good use once more.. Ok so a short build go-through... I took old defect/dead Ni-Cd/Mh packs Cut them open at the bottom Pulled the old cells and flex out. De-soldered the old goldplated connection points from the flex and threw away the rest. Took some thin (~1mm) PCB laminate board Cut the copper as seen on the pictures and mounted it with double-sided tape to the "tray" Soldered 2 of the removed original gold-plated pads up top to match the original +/- holes. I had some "chassienuts" laying around at work so used those and some solder lugs and screws to attach cables to the battery holder (the screws also work as connections towards the cells tighten to ensure good connection) I soldered in a standard 2S Li-Ion battery controller/protection module since my cells are un-protected (they are a few cents to a buck on e-bay) But the finished "tray" inside the case - drilled a hole to accommodate the top screw that holds the tray to the case. Melted another "chassienut" into the plastic from inside the tray. Voila! The bonus is that the original rear charge pads get connected to +/- as well, I intend to use this for charging using proper Li-Ion charger circuit later on, maybe even rebuild one of those old gang chargers for this new setup.