GCW Zero | battery replacement?

[codezer0]

So, long story short, I was handed a GCW Zero system to see if I could do something to fix it.

From what they were describing to me, they believe that the battery in it is hosed, since it basically won't hold a charge. What they were able to find implied that the battery was soldered on; part of the reason they took it over for me to check out was in part because i'm probably the only one among my circle of friends with any kind of soldering tools.

Right now I'm just trying to get some ideas to see how operational it is before I even attempt to start any kind of repairs... and if it is just a matter of replacing the battery, how difficult it actually is for this machine?

I do admit, though, I've always been curious since first hearing about this unit. Never had one in hand until now...

 

[FLjavi]

Hi. Spare part listings can be found over at www.dreamesper.com/shop

Unfortunately, it appears the battery is sold out at the moment. Preorders for new units are still available if interested. Might be wiser to let your friend(s) know that new units will be shipping soon. Hope this helps.

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Also, I forgot to mention in my earlier post that there is a forum containing a dedicated community to which you may find the answers that you're looking for, etc.

boards.dingoonity.org

 

[mobilefieldbase]

hi, am the person who handed in the GCW for looking at, was amused this came up in google SEO while I did ongoing research on it so I figured it would be good to report my findings for the sake of the next person with the same issue. it's a pretty 'common' issue given the battery has no real accommodations for replacement and the original run was years and years ago, but 'common' within the scope of people who still actively use GCW0s, which seems to be... few. (I love mine though!! I miss it.)

some relevant links:

http://wiki.surkow.com/GCW_Zero_Disassembly
disassembly guide; only one I can find that still has photos.

the battery is definitely soldered in. wiki has the note about soldering in a JST plug to plug to connect/disconnect it later if one is in there to replace it anyway; will probably do this if possible (as noted i don't personally know how to solder, so i'm at OP's mercy for that unless I can pick up that skill in the meantime, lol).

http://boards.dingoonity.org/gcw-ge...place-battery-smartphone-in-gcw-zero-console/
some insight here about using a Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 battery, some warning about it not fitting completely into the case

http://boards.dingoonity.org/gcw-general/battery-replacement-info/
has information from the stock battery on voltage/amperage expected. Specifically, 3.7v/2200mAH lithium-polymer. ofc the amperage can change (and the battery life with it) but the voltage must not.

most of the sources linked for finding the li-po batteries themselves are from aliexpress or alibaba and therefore long out of date, so finding a single unit is going to be... interesting. I'll look around.

when I can acquire a battery I'll make a note to take measurements of both the old and new battery's dimensions as this seems to be the hardest info to find.