Mares Icon Battery Upgrade

[Griffo]

Before anyone asks, there are no Mares authorised dealers in my state (as far as I can discover) so I can't go in and ask a dealer.

The batteries in my two Icon's have gone wonky. They sometimes take ages to charge. Not always, just sometimes. As such I'm going to replace them both before my 7 week honeymoon.

Is there going to be any ill effects from going from the 2100mAH 18650's to a 3400mAH battery? I can't believe that it would, but figured it would be cheaper to ask than go "whoops".

 

[Zak OHara]

Hey Oz,
If you can wait until next week, I'll have an answer for you. This question is above my electrical engineering knowledge, so it's probably best I ask the actual engineer.

Zak.

---------- Post added May 11th, 2013 at 10:00 AM ----------

Oz, below is a statement from our computer engineering department. I hope you find this information useful.

No ill effect other than they may not work. For sure they won't take a 3400mAh charge. We are currently trying out a 2900 version and with the normal firmware it charges up to 2100 only. Furthermore, since we don't know how the voltage behaves over the discharge, it may discharge out on him at any moment. I strongly recommend against it.

 

[Griffo]

Hey Zak,

Thanks for pushing my question up the chain! It's a shame the larger battery wouldn't charge up, as these computers would be so much more friendly with the larger battery. As it is they are a pain to keep charged on a live-aboard.

It used to be the wifes Icon that had trouble charging. Now hers seems to charge fine, but i've spent 3 days trying to get mine to charge past 60%. I've tried 3 different USB chargers, burnished the contacts etc etc but it refuses to take a charge. It's only got 80 dives on it :-(

Is there anywhere I can buy the official battery then?

 

[Kharon]

The closest I can find is a 18650 2200mAh. I wonder if the 2100 is propriatary to Mares. Sears used to have certain thread/bolt/nut combinations blocked. Only they could get them and they used them extensively on their lawn & garden tractors. A solution to the live-aboard would be to have 4 or so and a stand alone charger. The chargers are easily available - the batteries are not. I wonder if a dive shop could get them from Mares.

 

[Griffo]

yeah that's part of the problem. I wonder if that's why they are testing the 2900mah battery now - that nobody makes a 2100mah one anymore.

It's also not so easy to use an external charger - the batteries are wired in, and while i could probably get the same socket and make up a charging rig, i'm not that excited about opening and resealing the case every night. It's only a single o-ring.

 

[Kharon]

... the batteries are wired in ...

Do you mean that the battery is soldered inside the computer? I haven't opened the battery compartment on my Icon so I don't know what you mean by "Wired In".

 

[Griffo]

Do you mean that the battery is soldered inside the computer? I haven't opened the battery compartment on my Icon so I don't know what you mean by "Wired In".

So the batteries terminals are not exposed. The whole battery is shrink wrapped and connects to the computer via a 2-pin connector (I think it's a Molex pico blade) on the end of a small length of wire. One of the really small connectors that requires a small probe or screwdriver to remove


Edit: It looks just like this actually..
http://www.tradekorea.com/product-d..._3_7V2200mAh__with_Protect_circuit_board.html

 

[Pumuckel57]

Do you mean that the battery is soldered inside the computer? I haven't opened the battery compartment on my Icon so I don't know what you mean by "Wired In".

You can easy open the compartment. It is a o-ring sealed screw. Keep the o-ring clean and use some silicon grease if you close it after changing battery. You can use the cell that is named by OzGriffo, but it must be a protected cell as described. If it has 2100 or 2200 mAh doesn't matter, it will work. But with all you are doing you must know that you will lose the warranty.
More stronger cells like the widely available with 2800 mAh will not be charged correctly because the charger circuit is a part of the Icon and it is optimized for the 2100 cell. So it's life cycle will decrease.
So the best is to get 2100 cells by a well known brand. If they don't have the molex plug, remove it from the old cell by cutting the wires and solder it to the new one. But obey the polarity and think about loosing warranty.

 

[Kharon]

Does not sound like something I want to do. The only cell I can locate is a 2200 mAh and while it would/might work and I seriously doubt that the battery will need to be replaced inside the warranty period and even though I used to wantonly muck about inside PC's ... Guess I'll just bite the bullet when the battery seems to need to be changed and go the long price and have the dealer replace it. It would be nice if Mares sold a battery pack - either direct or through dealers - so you didn't have to ship the unit and wait to get it back. Oh well (sigh).

 

[DerekR]

I received a new Mares Icon HD replacement battery today, and the pack is made from a Panasonic 3100 mAh battery! So much for what tech support said, way back then.