Hardware Can you play on the 3DS without a battery?

[Kippykip]

So I got a link between worlds yesterday and got my 3DS that has been in it's case for a very long time (A couple months?). Anyway it wasn't charging properly (the charging light would go on for about 5 seconds and go off) then I realised the back of the 3ds is slightly popped out.
I unscrewed the back and the battery has gotten big. So yeah I'm pretty certain the battery is f**ked and could explode if I do something stupid.
I took the battery out and I wanted to try running the 3ds from the charger, but it doesn't work. In fact it does the exact same thing where the charging light would go on for about 5 seconds and turn off.

Just wondering if you can actually run it off the charger, or if that's what it does when the battery is missing (or f**ked up in my scenario). Hoping that it can't run off the charger because that would probably mean my 3DS itself if f**ked as well.

So yeah just wondering.
If it can't run off the charger then I'm gonna have to get a replacement battery or if can run straight from the charger then i'm just gonna cry in a corner.

 

[Kippykip]

Found this on another forum.

 

[TecXero]

The 3DS should work fine off of a charger without a battery. Chances are your 3DS is screwed up. There's a small chance something is wrong with your charger. Overall, I've seen plenty of electronics come in that have been messed up due to batteries (rechargeable, replaceable, it doesn't matter) being improperly stored in them. Especially smartphones. I've seen a lot of those with bloated batteries. Sometimes they get lucky and only the battery is bad, but other times they aren't so lucky. I generally just tell them they have to replace it and take better care of their stuff.

 

[Kippykip]

The 3DS should work fine off of a charger without a battery. Chances are your 3DS is screwed up. There's a small chance something is wrong with your charger. Overall, I've seen plenty of electronics come in that have been messed up due to batteries (rechargeable, replaceable, it doesn't matter) being improperly stored in them. Especially smartphones. I've seen a lot of those with bloated batteries. Sometimes they get lucky and only the battery is bad, but other times they aren't so lucky. I generally just tell them they have to replace it and take better care of their stuff.

I want to confirm it with my friends 3ds though. The 3DS has been in a case in the cupboard this whole time so it's been taken care of and some sites said that the 3ds doesn't work without a battery so not sure.

 

[Duo8]

Yeah it should work.
You might need the battery for the system to turn on though. Then you can remove it.

 

[Kippykip]

Yeah it should work.
You might need the battery for the system to turn on though. Then you can remove it.

Ok maybe the battery is f**ked then.
I just want to be 100% sure because I don't wanna have to buy another battery only to find out it was the 3DS that's broken

 

[TecXero]

I just tested it out. I was wrong, it does need a battery. I was sure I read somewhere on the forum that it didn't. Oh well. Anyway, that's not the right way to store a battery. I'd recommend you read up on the proper ways to store different kinds of batteries. It takes a bit of maintenance to store most modern batteries. I've lost plenty of batteries before, just because I'd have a couple on hand that wouldn't sell. Even with proper storage, they'll eventually go bad, but at least you can have it last a couple of years instead of a couple of months.

 

[Kippykip]

I just tested it out. I was wrong, it does need a battery. I was sure I read somewhere on the forum that it didn't. Oh well. Anyway, that's not the right way to store a battery. I'd recommend you read up on the proper ways to store different kinds of batteries. It takes a bit of maintenance to store most modern batteries. I've lost plenty of batteries before, just because I'd have a couple on hand that wouldn't sell. Even with proper storage, they'll eventually go bad, but at least you can have it last a couple of years instead of a couple of months.

Thanks so much for testing it!
What a relief!
P.S. gonna make a video of it

 

[TecXero]

Thanks so much for testing it!
What a relief!
P.S. gonna make a video of it

No problem. I just hope you've learned your lesson about neglecting batteries.

 

[Kippykip]

No problem. I just hope you've learned your lesson about neglecting batteries.

Thing is, it's just been in the case in the cupboard for months, just wanted to use it again only to find the battery puffed up and whatnot for no reason.

 

[TecXero]

Thing is, it's just been in the case in the cupboard for months, just wanted to use it again only to find the battery puffed up and whatnot for no reason.

It was probably stored fully charged. I've seen Lithium Ion batteries do that when they're stored at a full charge. Even with a bit of discharge, it will usually start to bloat after a while. Generally best to store them around 40%. Every few weeks, I go through and charge back up all my stored Lithium Ion batteries to a little over 40%. Nickel is usually fine discharged for a while, though if I have one sitting around for a long time, I'll make sure to charge it up a bit. Lead is best kept topped off. Even then, eventually batteries will have problems no matter how you store them, so I generally go through and check them all every year.

 

[Kippykip]

It was probably stored fully charged. I've seen Lithium Ion batteries do that when they're stored at a full charge. Even with a bit of discharge, it will usually start to bloat after a while. Generally best to store them around 40%. Every few weeks, I go through and charge back up all my stored Lithium Ion batteries to a little over 40%. Nickel is usually fine discharged for a while, though if I have one sitting around for a long time, I'll make sure to charge it up a bit. Lead is best kept topped off. Even then, eventually batteries will have problems no matter how you store them, so I generally go through and check them all every year.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind

 

[Kippykip]

Here's the video if you want

 

[Joel_creeper]

Batteries are a pain, Had a few of my devices batteries bloating in the past, I might need to buy a spare 3DS battery soon

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Batteries are a pain, Had a few of my devices batteries bloating in the past, I might need to buy a spare 3DS battery soon

A bloated li-ion battery is a fire hazard.

Discontinue using that battery. If it's still in the 3DS, take the system outside and gently remove the battery. Wear safety goggles and gloves in case of accidental discharge.

In case of an explosion, you want your house not to get caught on fire and allow yourself the chance of running away from the noxious gases emitting from it.

Don't use water when trying to put out a fire caused by li-ion battery. Lithium is highly reactive with water, so splashing H2O on it will make it worse and neither will your typical household fire extinguisher work. Either let it burn out if you can safely do so, or douse it with dry sand or salt (keyword on the dry part).

I don't know if Australia has accessible used cellphone collection centers for disposing li-ion batteries because they're not suppose to be throw away in typical garage collection.

If you had to throw away a bad li-ion battery without properly recycling it, zipbloc bag it encased in dry sand.

 

[Joel_creeper]

A bloated li-ion battery is a fire hazard.

Discontinue using that battery. If it's still in the 3DS, take the system outside and gently remove the battery. Wear safety goggles and gloves in case of accidental discharge.

In case of an explosion, you want your house not to get caught on fire and allow yourself the chance of running away from the noxious gases emitting from it.

Don't use water when trying to put out a fire caused by li-ion battery. Lithium is highly reactive with water, so splashing H2O on it will make it worse and neither will your typical household fire extinguisher work. Either let it burn out if you can safely do so, or douse it with dry sand or salt (keyword on the dry part).

I don't know if Australia has accessible used cellphone collection centers for disposing li-ion batteries because they're not suppose to be throw away in typical garage collection.

If you had to throw away a bad li-ion battery without properly recycling it, zipbloc bag it encased in dry sand.

yea, I do that normally, I do know what im doing so im all good, I just keep an eye on older devices.
I had to replace carefully an iphone 4s battery of mine recently, I had to unplug it to prevent it from expanding much further, after 48hrs, the battery started shrinking back down, I carefully remove it and dispose of it. And I just gave it a spare 4s battery I had, and works properly again.
Thankfully no damage to the mainboard itself