Battery Mod for OLED and SLIM model Vitas.

Hello! I'll be updating this with more written detail and formatting (there is a lot to add). Please ask questions or provide answers! The more we know - the more awareness, the better.

Replaceable Battery mod, they just clip in

Modding the vita battery is a touchy subject. A lot of people think it works and a lot of people think it doesn't work. They are all correct.

In this guide, I'll show you how to battery mod your vita and make the battery work - even if the reading is unreliable.
There are 2 guides. One for the 1000 and 1100 Vita, another for the 2000 slim Vita.

The problem with Modding a PS Vita battery:
Vitas believe they have a 2200mAh battery installed. When showing a battery percentage to a user, the vita estimates remaining battery based on mAh used out of 2200. If it used 1100mA, the vita considers the battery is half full for example. This can be a problem when 1100 is in actuality only a quarter of your 4000mAh battery. The Vita will switch to battery preserve sleep when it believes it has reached 8% charge, even if half the modded battery still remains (higher percentage for red and blue 1000 and 1100 Vitas)

In order to use your whole modded battery, the vita needs to check it's battery level. It does this by checking the voltage - on it's own it does this randomly. A full battery is 4.2v and the vita considers the battery empty at 3.6v.

It's possible you may never have to force your vita to check it's battery level - randomly the vita will check it's voltage and correct it's belief of how full the battery is. If you need to force the vita to check it's battery, getting a vita to check it's battery is as easy as turning the vita off for 2 minutes.



PlayStation Vitas have a chip that manages hardware for the processor. It's known as the SysCon or 'Kermit'. Many of the vita functions have been exposed but we still don't have full control over the SysCon chip yet. For instance, we can ask Kermit how many mAh have been used, what the voltage is, and how many mAh the battery can hold... but we cant set that value yet.

If you are comfortable turning your vita off for 2 minutes at a time - and comfortable knowing you have more battery than your battery % shows - then these mods are for you. If you want to mod the battery but those 2 issues are a deal breaker, you will want to wait until someone fixes this issue before modding.

A Replaceable Battery Mod?
One of the major issues with modding the battery of the vita is most current mods are irreversible and the battery expires - requiring the user to mod a new battery again. LiPo batteries (the current favorite) only last 2-3 years.

A Replaceable Battery Mod allows users a few advantages:
1. The battery is really replaceable, clip in.
2. Users can carry full extra batteries and switch them.
3. Users can charge the battery using another charger.
4. The original battery can still be used.
5. The original battery doesn't need to be broken.

Well I've looked at many battery mods and found how they works and how they fail. Modding the battery has worked for my gaming and tests for over a year without a fail, brick, break, or fire. I'm doing another time lapse video soon that will get added to this post showing timelapse of time on with battery corrections.

Here are the video guides. I'll provide more images and written guides for both models.

Here is the 2000 SLIM Replaceable Battery Mod



Here is the 1000 OLED WiFi Replaceable Battery Mod



The 3G requires a hard conversion in order to follow this mod. PSVSD and other additional internal storage is still available, but soldering 4 wires would be required.

 

[lazyguy]

could the battery read 'issue' be fixed with a plugin or something?
as vita ages, replacing batteries are going to be a bigger and bigger issue for more people.

 

[Anderxale]

could the battery read 'issue' be fixed with a plugin or something?
as vita ages, replacing batteries are going to be a bigger and bigger issue for more people.

That is the hope! Someone will create an app that can tell the vita what the battery capacity actually is -or- a plugin that will bypass the vita battery functions and create out own.

You can always do this mod with a 2000-2400 mAh battery and it will work perfectly. No need to mod software but the battery won't last longer.

Any battery that operates within 3.0v-4.2v and can charge at 1A will work fine. Perhaps we will have aluminum-air or other solid state batteries within that volt range soon!

I'm working on a plugin. Currently it helps us but doesn't fix the problem - I'll release it soon. I'm hoping enough people are interesting in modding the battery that an actual software dev fixes the battery issue.

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk

 

[BlackZero500]

nice mod! Was looking for somethin like that a while ago. I think i will try this. Keep us updated about any Plugins or somesuch to give out the correct Loading state. The battery will charge to 100% though right?

Still im wondering. Wouldnt it be easier to just clip the Wires on the original Battery and just solder the male plug of the original battery to the plug and the thermistor of the new one? so you wouldnt have to solder directly on the mainboard. You could even solder the Original plug directly to the new Battery. Not that it changes the way it works, i just think it would be safer to do.

 

[Anderxale]

The battery will charge to 100% though right?

Yes! It takes 4.5 hours to charge full... And if you are charging while playing, the Vita may tell you that it's 100% full while it continues to charge because it's actually only 80% full (tested and verified). Off for 2 minutes again shows the correct % but it will continue to charge until full even if showing 100% for half of the charging process.

Still im wondering. Wouldnt it be easier to just clip the Wires on the original Battery and just solder the male plug of the original battery to the plug and the thermistor of the new one? so you wouldnt have to solder directly on the mainboard.

Not really safer... the large solder pads on the motherboard are super safe - but since some people have never soldered... I'm actually about to film a version that destroys the original battery like you suggest to do the battery mod WITHOUT SOLDERING at all!

The problems with using the original battery's wires:
- Way more fragile! (Vita battery wires are solid, not braided, and can only be flexed so many times).
- It introduces a wire mess that takes up room preventing additional mods. (I'm testing quick charging for batteries over 3500mAh).
- Destroys the original battery so you can't sell or use it. (May not be relevant to those who's battery might already be broken due to being old).
- Unprofessional looking.

The pros with using the original battery's wires:
- Easier
- A broken battery has its own thermistor to use, no need to buy one!


One major plus to the Replaceable battery mod is that you can carry around extra full batteries and switch them out when one battery dies. So my 4000mAh battery gives me 8 hours in the OLED. If I take 2 more full batteries with me, I can play 24 hours between charges by switching batteries every 8 hours (LIPOS ARE FRAGILE AND NEED TO BE IN A HARD CASE WHEN NOT IN THE VITA. DAMAGING A LIPO CAN CAUSE A FIRE!). If there are a bunch of wires from the original battery and also the thermistor is in-line, it creates a lot of issues trying to change the battery and get it all back in the case... (and every time you flex the original Vita battery wire, it gets much closer to breaking).

So yes! Totally doable and I'm going to provide videos for both SLIM and OLED showing how... but I suggest soldering to the motherboard if you can (and definitely if you pay someone to do it).

I really appreciate all questions and suggestions. Questions and suggestions have improved my hardware mods MANY times and help everyone advance - so Thanks!

Sorry about the book-length response...

 

[Modular511]

Nice! Now, is their a middle grround wherre I can get a biggerr than stock battery, and keep my 3g modem? (i rrepalced with psvsd) A dude I wasa watching do this on youttube said you had to remove the 3g modem, but would it be possible tto ggo smallerr than 5000mah and maintain that? thx!

 

[Anderxale]

Nice! Now, is their a middle grround wherre I can get a biggerr than stock battery, and keep my 3g modem?

I'm pretty sure I'm the guy you talked to.

The mod will work with any 3.7v battery that can accept 1A charging or higher within the size limit. My size limit without the 3G was 7 cm by 60cm by 90 cm, that's why the number on my battery is 706090 or below. I like the 606090 it's 4000mAh.

I measured my 3G as if it still has the module and got 7mm by 60cm by 80cm. You can fit a 606080 lipo (3500mAh) with the psvsd.

But if you want to put that belt that allows you to change the psvsd micro-sd from the Sim card door you can fit a 606070 (2500mah).

So yeah you can totally sacrifice battery size to the psvsd if you want.

There will be a video on this thread, a tutorial on moving the psvsd for the larger battery (requires removing the mPCIe port) which is what I prefer to do. Requires soldering 4 wires.

 

[Modular511]

I'm pretty sure I'm the guy you talked to.

The mod will work with any 3.7v battery that can accept 1A charging or higher within the size limit. My size limit without the 3G was 7 cm by 60cm by 90 cm, that's why the number on my battery is 706090 or below. I like the 606090 it's 4000mAh.

I measured my 3G as if it still has the module and got 7mm by 60cm by 80cm. You can fit a 606080 lipo (3500mAh) with the psvsd.

But if you want to put that belt that allows you to change the psvsd micro-sd from the Sim card door you can fit a 606070 (2500mah).

So yeah you can totally sacrifice battery size to the psvsd if you want.

There will be a video on this thread, a tutorial on moving the psvsd for the larger battery (requires removing the mPCIe port) which is what I prefer to do. Requires soldering 4 wires.

I didnt talk to anyone about batterrys I dont think?? I talked to you in my thread diagnosing psvsd issues the ottherr day, but i was checking out this channel and seen it https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWBbR1YnPsQUBWRKkzx86dw

lol you can move that port? fr?? Yes id be down af for that depending, I need a biggerr battery for sure!

 

[Anderxale]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWBbR1YnPsQUBWRKkzx86dw

I'm that channel... I've been unable to make videos for like 3 weeks. I'm shooting tonight though. I'll do internal storage soon - probably next

 

[Modular511]

I'm that channel... I've been unable to make videos for like 3 weeks. I'm shooting tonight though. I'll do internal storage soon - probably next

lol ahhh okay, im a subscriber, neat channel!

 

[Cycloid]

Hey there. First of all, Thank you for your great work! I modded my vita slim (version 2000) with ur guide. Unfortunately I got 2 problems: the first thing is: my ordered 105060 battery is a little bit thicker which is why I got problems on closing the case. The second problem is, that my vita is not charging up?! Iam sure that I didn't do any mistakes.. Soldered cables without touching anything else. What can it be? Ty

 

[Anderxale]

Unfortunately I got 2 problems: the first thing is: my ordered 105060 battery is a little bit thicker which is why I got problems on closing the case. The second problem is, that my vita is not charging up?! Iam sure that I didn't do any mistakes.. Soldered cables without touching anything else. What can it be? Ty

Sorry, I haven't been available for a week.

The Vita turned on after the Mod and you only can't charge it? Or you haven't been able to turn the Vita on either?

 

[ian0]

anderxale, i got confused
is a thermistor a must have component?
how should i do if i want a permanent soldered in battery
and not a male-female heads snap on
thanks

 

[Anderxale]

anderxale, i got confused
is a thermistor a must have component?
how should i do if i want a permanent soldered in battery
and not a male-female heads snap on
thanks

I highly suggest a thermistor, it will keep you from accidently turning on or charging your vita when it's too hot or too cold. Charging or using your battery at prevented temperatures can damage your battery or even start a fire destroying your vita (low probability).

You can use a 10k ohm 1% resistor instead, I won't show how - but it's the exact same as installing a thermistor. You lose your temperature protection though.

The vita wants about 8-12k ohm resistance between the black and white battery wires (that's all the white wire is for - resistance measurement). Without that resistance, the vita thinks the temp is wrong and won't turn on or charge.

You can solder the wires directly to the board but... I suggest a clip, any clip, to make battery replacement easier. All batteries die, the cheap lithium-polimer that I use need to be replaced within 2 years.

 

[turgay75]

Hi Anderxale, can I use MF52A 10K B value 3950 Termistor? Is this a problem because you said B value must be between 3350 and 3450?

 

[Anderxale]

[Removed Duplicate Reply]
Crap... forgot that I can't delete a reply on GBATemp. Apologies.

 

[Anderxale]

Hi Anderxale, can I use MF52A 10K B value 3950 Termistor? Is this a problem because you said B value must be between 3350 and 3450?

That thermistor (10k with a 3950 B) will turn your vita off at less extreme temperatures.

The vita is designed to protect the battery against trying to charge or use the battery in freezing temperatures and too hot temperatures.

The B value is basically how much the resistance changes per degree. A higher B number will change it faster, a low B will change the resistance less per degree.

It will work, but it will turn off it it gets barely warm or barely cool.

25c or 77F is 10k resistance for 10k Thermistors (all including 3350, 3450 and 3950 B value).

Vita Thermistor should turn off and not allow turn on or charge below 4C or 39F and above 45C or 113F.

The thermistor 10k with a B value of 3950 may shut off and not allow turn on or charge below 10c or 50F and above 40C or 104F (example, not exact).

A Thermistor B value lower than 3350, like 3000, will allow you to play and charge the Vita in temperatures that are bad for the Vita's battery.

 

[turgay75]

Hi Anderxale, can I use MF52A 10K B value 3950 Termistor? Is this a problem because you said B value must be between 3350 and 3450?

Hi Alexandertale. I used this 10K 3950 it is working very good since 6 month. Maybe charged 50 times. Your videos are very good. Thank you your solution is the best.