Hardware Charging directly 3ds without battery?

[StaleECG]

Title. Im curious to know if it would be possible to revive my 3DS, since the battery got bloated, i had to get rid of it, and finding o3ds batteries in venezuela is pretty impossible, let alone original ones without getting completely ripped off, so i was wondering if it would be possible to do a ghetto fix by ripping open my original charger, and connecting the cables to the respective battery contacts in order to have the 3ds turn on, given that unlike the NDS/PSP, it doesnt work with only the charger connected to the charging port.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Your idea of bridging the battery terminals to charger cable is waaayy too ghetto because the battery is DC, and the charger is AC. You would hardbrick the 3DS motherboard without converter and voltage regulator.

Play it safe. Get a real Nintendo or reasonable generic battery.

• [aliexpress] Alta calidad 1300 mAh 3,7 V Paquete de batería recargable de repuesto para Nintendo 3DS
• (High Quality 1300mAh 3.7V Rechargeable Battery Pack Replacement for Nintendo 3DS)
• US $6.49 (battery) + US $2.29 (shipping) = US $8.78 (total)

Now, if you want to ghetto mod something that would work (still not really recommended), it's possible to retrofit a 3-contact terminal 3.7V cellphone Li-ion battery to the 3DS if the dimensions fit inside the compartment. Even ghetto-er is extension wires with the battery mounted outside (back of top screen).

Edit - Another option is with these two crappy generic batteries. Ignore the false 2000 mAh capacity rating. These would have much less charge than the official battery. They're only good for some play time and to allow you to connect to AC charger.

• [eBay] 2X(2000 mAh 3.7V Li-Ionen Batterie Akku fuer Nintendo 3DS + Schraubenzieher W3J5
• US $6.75 for two batteries. Should have free shipping for Venezuela.

 

[uyjulian]

You can't charge the 3DS without battery because there is no battery inserted in the 3DS to charge.

 

[Maq47]

Your idea of bridging the battery terminals to charger cable is waaayy too ghetto because the battery is DC, and the charger is AC. You would hardbrick the 3DS motherboard without converter and voltage regulator.

Play it safe. Get a real Nintendo or reasonable generic battery.

• [aliexpress] Alta calidad 1300 mAh 3,7 V Paquete de batería recargable de repuesto para Nintendo 3DS
• (High Quality 1300mAh 3.7V Rechargeable Battery Pack Replacement for Nintendo 3DS)
• US $6.49 (battery) + US $2.29 (shipping) = US $8.78 (total)

Now, if you want to ghetto mod something that would work (still not really recommended), it's possible to retrofit a 3-contact terminal 3.7 cellphone Li-ion to the 3DS if the dimensions fit inside the compartment. Even ghetto-er is extension wires with the battery mounted outside (back of top screen).

Talking about ghetto charger hacks? Username checks out.

 

[Ryccardo]

the battery is DC, and the charger is AC.

Nah, its output is comparable to USB... sure, probably still too high of a voltage to go (directly) to the battery connector*, but definitely not AC

* also questionably low voltage and maximum current to trivially convert to 3,7V or the like, though I don't really keep up with the evolution of switching inverters

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Nah, its output is comparable to USB... sure, probably still too high of a voltage to go (directly) to the battery connector*, but definitely not AC

* also questionably low voltage and maximum current to trivially convert to 3,7V or the like, though I don't really keep up with the evolution of switching inverters

Oh shoot, you're right about the DC output. Yah, DC 4.5 V is a tad too high.
Wasn't there something Nintendo skimped on the design of their official AC charger? Most AC charger these days can accept full AC range of 120-240V, except if you plug in one of these (3/2)DS(i)(XL/LL) chargers in the wrong wall plug on international travel with adapter, you can brick or something.

 

[Ryccardo]

Wasn't there something Nintendo skimped on the design of their official AC charger? Most AC charger these days can accept full AC range of 120-240V

The Wii ones are single voltage, WiiU ones are universal (yes there's written record of someone breaking a Wii one by having read this fact and not knowing the difference between the two consoles) and from personal experience so is the one that came with an european 2DS (I should open one or two of the 6 I own to check )

Yes, there's still a fairly negligible cost cutting (and completely negligible, with those cases, space saving) in not supporting a voltage that's double of the intended market's... unsurprisingly most companies, sooner or later, understand it's not worth complicating life for their customers (who can exercise their freedom of speech) when they know that 5 cents more of cost can easily justify 1 dollar more of price

 

[StaleECG]

Posting this in case anyone ever needs to do the ghetto fix, just retrofitting it with cables (which had continuity) doesnt work, it interacts with the battery as if it had nothing inserted, this was the case for at least 3x 3.7v batteries, yet after testing with another 3ds battery from a friend, it still works, so the only explanation is that the 3ds doesnt detect an original, or at least a convincing enough sense circuit in the battery, therefore ignoring it as if it had nothing inserted, one of my friends has some disassembled 3ds batteries so ill try and retrofit one of the phone batteries with the nintendo sense circuit onto the 3ds, in theory that should work.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Posting this in case anyone ever needs to do the ghetto fix, just retrofitting it with cables (which had continuity) doesnt work, it interacts with the battery as if it had nothing inserted, this was the case for at least 3x 3.7v batteries, yet after testing with another 3ds battery from a friend, it still works, so the only explanation is that the 3ds doesnt detect an original, or at least a convincing enough sense circuit in the battery, therefore ignoring it as if it had nothing inserted, one of my friends has some disassembled 3ds batteries so ill try and retrofit one of the phone batteries with the nintendo sense circuit onto the 3ds, in theory that should work.

Either your retrofitted batteries aren't getting good conductivity, or one of the o3DS components has gone bad preventing the battery from charging or powering on the system.

Ghetto battery mod.

• Any small, square shaped 3.7V Li-ion rechargeable camera battery with 3 contacts [ + / - / neutral ] should work.
  
• Tape is to prevent accidental shorting. Not shown is a layer put on the green PCB.
  
• The Wires are in two sections. Final assembly has the individual lines twist connected one-by-one.
  
• Toothpick + rubberbands to press the balled up wires on the battery contacts.
• Cover plate doesn't fit due to bulk. This could be done cleaner where it would be possible to house everything.
• AC charging was not tested. I'm pretty sure it'll work.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

You can also take the other, other way around:
O3DS, Wii U Pro controller, and Switch Pro controller use the same battery.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSw..._switch_pro_controller_uses_the_same_battery/

https://www.gonintendo.com/s/190115-wii-u-pro-controller-and-3ds-share-the-same-battery

 

[Nynrah]

Either your retrofitted batteries aren't getting good conductivity, or one of the o3DS components has gone bad preventing the battery from charging or powering on the system.

Ghetto battery mod.

• Any small, square shaped 3.7V Li-ion rechargeable camera battery with 3 contacts [ + / - / neutral ] should work.
  
• Tape is to prevent accidental shorting. Not shown is a layer put on the green PCB.
  
• The Wires are in two sections. Final assembly has the individual lines twist connected one-by-one.
  
• Toothpick + rubberbands to press the balled up wires on the battery contacts.
• Cover plate doesn't fit due to bulk. This could be done cleaner where it would be possible to house everything.
• AC charging was not tested. I'm pretty sure it'll work.

View attachment 170454

Have you tested AC charging for this mod yet? Your pictures show that retrofitting a 3.7V Li-ion battery can power the 3ds, but it's no good if it can't recharge. Does this also work for the New 3DS XL?