I'm glad I found this channel because it's something I can watch or listen to. Ramble about modding handhelds is entertaining, don't feel like that's something bad about your channel. There's a reason people subscribe and watch your videos haha. Most channels like this have videos that are around 15 minutes and very heavily cut up. Keep doing what you're doing man!
The information in this video is super helpful! I just recently got into GBA modding and I’ve been on a rampage of buying tons of parts and pieces to finally put together that perfect build.. And now I know which battery to pick up! Fantastic and insightful video!
Hmm pretty interesting, ran into a guy on a French forum that we use here, he told me about your work. I'm totally glad i discovered your channel this way. Cheers 😉
Just got a gba sp to start playing and came across this video for battery replacement. Li-ion batteries can hold a charge without degradation much much longer than li-po. However, Li-po batteries have a higher discharge C rating. That’s why Helder’s packs don’t hit the low battery light as quick. Long term though lipo’s will swell and lose capacity when left fully charged. After researching I will go with a Li-ion for long term. Thanks for providing informational videos they are great. 👍
You should do a battery roundup of PSP batteries, because we really need a better solution than the Chinese garbage we have right now. Other than a big bettery mod, the only cell that fits at a decent capacity is a slightly expensive (about 11 bucks before shipping) rc hobbyist cell. And the boards are basically oem or bust. The Chinese boards unsurprisingly are really bad.
nah, PSPs suck and due to how sony built them, getting a decent battery is nearly impossible unless you like constantly recharging it (which is basically the status quo regardless)
running a lipo down to 2.8v will actually do cell damage and have a noticeable effect on lifespan and total capacity. this may have cause some discrepancies in you tested runtime of some of these batteries. I'm not a battery chemistry expert but I am doing a degree in engineering and this has been discussed in some lab classes I've taken last year on the new charger you have make sure you don't set the cutoff below 3.4v, its likely the protection circuit has kicked in to try and stop charging what it considers a 'dead' cell. usually if you do a slow trickle charge you can bring back some dead cells that have been over discharged but do note that the battery will be unlikely in most cases to work reliable in terms of charge capacity there after. the reason they don't recommend having the battery drop below around 3.4v is due to the chemistry of the lithium ion and it creates a large internal resistance inside the cell. in theory a bad designed appliance can receive damage to its charging circuitry from this too, though I haven't seen this happen In the past from my limited tests last year love the videos btw, Aussie viewer here :)
2.8v is not low enough to actually damage the cell as long as you don't go lower. Yeah, it will put more wear and tear on the cell but these are new (ish) cells and should be perfectly fine with that kind of load. If they weren't, that's the kind of information I'd be interested in too. Besides, where's the harm in testing how well these things handle? Any lower than 2.8v and, yeah, we're getting into the danger zone. It's worth keeping in mind that all batteries do have a self-discharge and if left alone at any level will go much lower. That's why you should never go down that low in normal use but these batteries are only spending a few minutes at that level of charge before being brought back up to standard levels so they do not have the opportunity to self-discharge any lower. Don't forget, this is a controlled environment (despite what things may look like on occasion). On older cells or in normal operation, I'd be very wary of going that low though. The reason low voltage cut-offs are typically much higher than the actual recommended cut-off on the battery is because it would be normal for the device to be completely discharged (to the cut-off) and then stored for a period of time without charging. Ideally, it would only be for a few hours, but for a device owned by irresponsible kids, that can easily be months. At the end of the lifespan, years even. And yeah, now that I have a (dis)charger than I can set the low voltage cut off on, I will absolutely be using it. Total capacity is nice to call out the manufacturer on their bullshit quotes, but useable capacity is much more useful information. I just didn't really want to test 20+ batteries again. At some point, I'd like to get an even better setup so I can plot discharge curves for these batteries. Not all batteries are equal so seeing exactly how these batteries handle loads would be very interesting, I think. If you're interested in reading more about batteries (like I am because they're fucking awesome), this is a fantastic resource: batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/sharing_battery_knowledge
@@makho thanks for the reply, im more in to digital circuits design myself and that honestly takes up a lot of my time, but its always great to watch your videos, and i dont blame you for not wanting to retest 20+ batteries (who would lol) if you want to get into looking at discharge curves of batteries, look into some intelligent constant current load equipment the can export a cvs or something similar that can be used to plot the curve of capacity v voltage btw you did a great job designing that little pcb with the connector for attaching a battery cell for people to make their own gab sp batteries. its disappointing that there are so many junk aftermarket batteries being made, you've done the community a great service there so i hope you find the time to give youself a pat on the back for that :)
@@Choppy_PHC My current battery (dis)charger has a USB port that I'm guessing can be used for control and data logging. I have yet to try it out but I'm already looking at other hardware because I have very little self control.
I've got the RGRSxMakho battery mod and it's awesome. I made the mistake of buying 3 of those large batteries and I scratched up my case trying to get it out. Do you have battery mods for the OG GBA or for the GB Pocket?
As someone who obsesses over getting as much battery runtime as possible and getting as good a battery as I can for my portables, I appreciate all this insight and info greatly. If I ever get my hands on an SP again, I'll be remembering what I saw here.
It's not really a "Surf Blue". It's "Mana Blue". I was unaware that the hinge caps are different between the two colors, I thought it was just name only but in hindsight, the box art does seem to indicate it's a Limited Edition for the "Sword of Mana" series.
@@makho they are sooo similar, I was trying to find someone that clearly compare the two side by side to see if the blue is the same or not.. but didnt find any. Anyway mana blue is sick:D love mine!
@@Snesbass if I ever track down a surf blue for a reasonable price, I'll definitely compare the two. I'd wager it's the same color though barring the caps.
Out of curiosity have you ever tried the DSI Battery in an SP mod I've seen listed around? I've only ever followed the imgur tutorial for it and tried it but combine that with a failed wireless charging mod (seriously who wires red to negative and black to positive!?!?) and I've been unable to test the viability of the mod. It seems like it'd be an ideal solution since you can grab a cheap sp shell on ebay to do the modifications to but im just not sure. BTW Sauce for the mod: imgur.com/a/1KNWp
Except that DSi batteries are all cheap clones with vastly overinflated capacities (no way is that shit really "2000mAh") or from 10+ year old consoles. There is no point in wasting time with that mod.
I wouldn't discharge any li-ion battery below 3V because that may alter the chemical makeup of the battery and increase internal resistance and reduce capacity permanently.
Would it be possible to fix the charge issue on the venasaur gba? If so I’d love to see a video on that!! If you mentioned it in the video then ignore this message I’m only half way through I actually try to watch them all the way to the end lol usually I do!
@@makho 😂 I didn’t realize it was simply the port I figured it’d be something more complicated I am buying two of your batteries soon along with oem hinges from retro modding as well as a speaker from them I had a mint black 101 shell and motherboard board leftover from a reshell and was just missing the hinges and speaker and I have a funnyplayin v2 ips kit now I’ll have 8 complete gba sp I’m excited to finally have a near mint black shell it’s my favorite North American variant aside from the Pokémon center ones of course and the pikachu toys r us model I may pick up a 2 in one kit minus the screen I’m gonna use one of my spare funnyplayin screens because it’s laminated LG panel! I love how the one chips remember the brightness settings love my current one chip v2 setup and you mentioned the 2 in one is even better
And It would make more sense if I mention I got the shell from someone else after I did a reshell for them 😂 their 101 screen had dead pixels all across it and they didn’t wanna buy a mew 101 screen so I provided a 001 motherboard and they just downgraded from 101 and I bought the old shell, membranes and buttons the were leftover and the 101 motherboard I don’t have any spare 101 screens so I’m putting in the funnyplayin kit one question I have is there a difference between a funny playin kit on a 101 motherboard vs 001 motherboard? Power consumption? Delays? Anything?
my DIY option is still an option if you don't mind DIY. You should be able to grab the cell itself from aliexpress and then the PCBs can be had dirt cheap from oshpark, $2.60 for six of them, shipped free globally (though global shipping is slow right now thanks to the lockdowns and such).
I've been holding out on this console mod since I've seen how bad the og battery drain is. Super happy to see.
I'm glad I found this channel because it's something I can watch or listen to. Ramble about modding handhelds is entertaining, don't feel like that's something bad about your channel. There's a reason people subscribe and watch your videos haha. Most channels like this have videos that are around 15 minutes and very heavily cut up.
Keep doing what you're doing man!
I don't even mod Game Boy Advances SPs, but I stay and watch for makho's commentary.
Retro Game Repair Shop sent me an HHS 603048 thats labeled 950mAh. Thanks RGRS
The information in this video is super helpful! I just recently got into GBA modding and I’ve been on a rampage of buying tons of parts and pieces to finally put together that perfect build.. And now I know which battery to pick up! Fantastic and insightful video!
Ah man, your cat gets me every time ^-^ Going around my house trying to see if my cat isn't stuck somewhere =)
I was looking for my cat TWICE! Then noticed it was from Makho haha
It gets me every time!
you should probably go check just to be safe. And then give treats. Lots of treats.
Hmm pretty interesting, ran into a guy on a French forum that we use here, he told me about your work. I'm totally glad i discovered your channel this way. Cheers 😉
Nice thorough video makho. Just ordered a Helder battery via ZedLabz in the UK for my OEM 101. :)
Just got a gba sp to start playing and came across this video for battery replacement.
Li-ion batteries can hold a charge without degradation much much longer than li-po. However, Li-po batteries have a higher discharge C rating. That’s why Helder’s packs don’t hit the low battery light as quick.
Long term though lipo’s will swell and lose capacity when left fully charged. After researching I will go with a Li-ion for long term.
Thanks for providing informational videos they are great. 👍
LiPo is a type of Li-Ion
thanks for the info. I just ordered some helder's batteries, hopefully I get some near 888 like yours!
Thank you makho I love your channel
You should do a battery roundup of PSP batteries, because we really need a better solution than the Chinese garbage we have right now. Other than a big bettery mod, the only cell that fits at a decent capacity is a slightly expensive (about 11 bucks before shipping) rc hobbyist cell. And the boards are basically oem or bust. The Chinese boards unsurprisingly are really bad.
nah, PSPs suck and due to how sony built them, getting a decent battery is nearly impossible unless you like constantly recharging it (which is basically the status quo regardless)
The hero e don't deserve, yet the one we need.
Data is beautiful.
very useful information, thank you!
Please make it easily available in Europe, without insanely ridiculous shipping costs like $40....
Would you be interested in taking a look at how well different common AA or AAA rechargeables work for MGB/AGB?
Not really. It's not like you're starved for choice when it comes to standard batteries.
I bought a brand new all stock SP 101 that I get around 11ish hours with when using an Everdrive Mini.
Would you still recommend Helder's Megabat in my original GBA SP AGS-001 (which currently has a failing battery)?
yes
For the FunnyPlaying IPS screen, when you tested it, which level of brightness did you use? Default lvl4?
I always test at default when I can. This is one of those times.
I have original SP battery that lasts 3 hours with IPS screen mod :D
I just bought a 3rd party battery for my sp. The battery is iffy. I might have to put some electrical tape around it. It seems loose
My Helders battery turns red after about 1.5 hours with ips v5 and ez flash omega. Do you think I will gain some by switching to mako battery?
Unlikely to be much of a difference.
running a lipo down to 2.8v will actually do cell damage and have a noticeable effect on lifespan and total capacity. this may have cause some discrepancies in you tested runtime of some of these batteries. I'm not a battery chemistry expert but I am doing a degree in engineering and this has been discussed in some lab classes I've taken last year
on the new charger you have make sure you don't set the cutoff below 3.4v, its likely the protection circuit has kicked in to try and stop charging what it considers a 'dead' cell. usually if you do a slow trickle charge you can bring back some dead cells that have been over discharged but do note that the battery will be unlikely in most cases to work reliable in terms of charge capacity there after.
the reason they don't recommend having the battery drop below around 3.4v is due to the chemistry of the lithium ion and it creates a large internal resistance inside the cell. in theory a bad designed appliance can receive damage to its charging circuitry from this too, though I haven't seen this happen In the past from my limited tests last year
love the videos btw, Aussie viewer here :)
2.8v is not low enough to actually damage the cell as long as you don't go lower. Yeah, it will put more wear and tear on the cell but these are new (ish) cells and should be perfectly fine with that kind of load. If they weren't, that's the kind of information I'd be interested in too. Besides, where's the harm in testing how well these things handle?
Any lower than 2.8v and, yeah, we're getting into the danger zone. It's worth keeping in mind that all batteries do have a self-discharge and if left alone at any level will go much lower. That's why you should never go down that low in normal use but these batteries are only spending a few minutes at that level of charge before being brought back up to standard levels so they do not have the opportunity to self-discharge any lower. Don't forget, this is a controlled environment (despite what things may look like on occasion).
On older cells or in normal operation, I'd be very wary of going that low though. The reason low voltage cut-offs are typically much higher than the actual recommended cut-off on the battery is because it would be normal for the device to be completely discharged (to the cut-off) and then stored for a period of time without charging. Ideally, it would only be for a few hours, but for a device owned by irresponsible kids, that can easily be months. At the end of the lifespan, years even.
And yeah, now that I have a (dis)charger than I can set the low voltage cut off on, I will absolutely be using it. Total capacity is nice to call out the manufacturer on their bullshit quotes, but useable capacity is much more useful information. I just didn't really want to test 20+ batteries again. At some point, I'd like to get an even better setup so I can plot discharge curves for these batteries. Not all batteries are equal so seeing exactly how these batteries handle loads would be very interesting, I think.
If you're interested in reading more about batteries (like I am because they're fucking awesome), this is a fantastic resource: batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/sharing_battery_knowledge
@@makho thanks for the reply, im more in to digital circuits design myself and that honestly takes up a lot of my time, but its always great to watch your videos, and i dont blame you for not wanting to retest 20+ batteries (who would lol)
if you want to get into looking at discharge curves of batteries, look into some intelligent constant current load equipment the can export a cvs or something similar that can be used to plot the curve of capacity v voltage
btw you did a great job designing that little pcb with the connector for attaching a battery cell for people to make their own gab sp batteries. its disappointing that there are so many junk aftermarket batteries being made, you've done the community a great service there so i hope you find the time to give youself a pat on the back for that :)
@@Choppy_PHC My current battery (dis)charger has a USB port that I'm guessing can be used for control and data logging. I have yet to try it out but I'm already looking at other hardware because I have very little self control.
@@makho sounds like myself, when it comes to gadgets and devices for my lab I often just can't help myself and keep buying things lol
I've got the RGRSxMakho battery mod and it's awesome. I made the mistake of buying 3 of those large batteries and I scratched up my case trying to get it out. Do you have battery mods for the OG GBA or for the GB Pocket?
not really
Would it be save to buy a self made battery from like ebay?
they look just like the gray one on your video
As someone who obsesses over getting as much battery runtime as possible and getting as good a battery as I can for my portables, I appreciate all this insight and info greatly.
If I ever get my hands on an SP again, I'll be remembering what I saw here.
Do you know the difference between CL and hhs because I have a battery that is daeah
So a simple best to worst in plaintext is...?
I'm wondering why your ''Surf blue'' has dark gray hinges caps (supposed to be light blue) and japan sticker?🤔
It's not really a "Surf Blue". It's "Mana Blue". I was unaware that the hinge caps are different between the two colors, I thought it was just name only but in hindsight, the box art does seem to indicate it's a Limited Edition for the "Sword of Mana" series.
@@makho they are sooo similar, I was trying to find someone that clearly compare the two side by side to see if the blue is the same or not.. but didnt find any. Anyway mana blue is sick:D love mine!
@@Snesbass if I ever track down a surf blue for a reasonable price, I'll definitely compare the two. I'd wager it's the same color though barring the caps.
I've never seen that battery indicator mod! Where'd you get it?!
ruclips.net/video/Rf3M_tmrfTU/видео.html
Out of curiosity have you ever tried the DSI Battery in an SP mod I've seen listed around? I've only ever followed the imgur tutorial for it and tried it but combine that with a failed wireless charging mod (seriously who wires red to negative and black to positive!?!?) and I've been unable to test the viability of the mod. It seems like it'd be an ideal solution since you can grab a cheap sp shell on ebay to do the modifications to but im just not sure. BTW Sauce for the mod: imgur.com/a/1KNWp
Except that DSi batteries are all cheap clones with vastly overinflated capacities (no way is that shit really "2000mAh") or from 10+ year old consoles. There is no point in wasting time with that mod.
@@makho i found a few oem ones that i was intending to use lol. Good to know tho 👍
@@SYIBOI so 12 year old batteries then. Good luck.
@@makho I'm probably going to return 2 of them and keep one of my DSI and get properly sized alternatives instead
You never know until you know.
Now you know So there you go.
now you know
I wouldn't discharge any li-ion battery below 3V because that may alter the chemical makeup of the battery and increase internal resistance and reduce capacity permanently.
puts more wear on the cell than absolutely necessary but it's not the danger zone for secondary lithium cells
Would it be possible to fix the charge issue on the venasaur gba? If so I’d love to see a video on that!! If you mentioned it in the video then ignore this message I’m only half way through I actually try to watch them all the way to the end lol usually I do!
> Would it be possible
you do know who you're asking, right? Yes but it's probably not getting another video because it's just a worn out port.
@@makho 😂 I didn’t realize it was simply the port I figured it’d be something more complicated I am buying two of your batteries soon along with oem hinges from retro modding as well as a speaker from them I had a mint black 101 shell and motherboard board leftover from a reshell and was just missing the hinges and speaker and I have a funnyplayin v2 ips kit now I’ll have 8 complete gba sp I’m excited to finally have a near mint black shell it’s my favorite North American variant aside from the Pokémon center ones of course and the pikachu toys r us model I may pick up a 2 in one kit minus the screen I’m gonna use one of my spare funnyplayin screens because it’s laminated LG panel! I love how the one chips remember the brightness settings love my current one chip v2 setup and you mentioned the 2 in one is even better
And It would make more sense if I mention I got the shell from someone else after I did a reshell for them 😂 their 101 screen had dead pixels all across it and they didn’t wanna buy a mew 101 screen so I provided a 001 motherboard and they just downgraded from 101 and I bought the old shell, membranes and buttons the were leftover and the 101 motherboard I don’t have any spare 101 screens so I’m putting in the funnyplayin kit one question I have is there a difference between a funny playin kit on a 101 motherboard vs 001 motherboard? Power consumption? Delays? Anything?
Wondering what decent battery is easiest to get in Europe. (inc shipping cost)
my DIY option is still an option if you don't mind DIY. You should be able to grab the cell itself from aliexpress and then the PCBs can be had dirt cheap from oshpark, $2.60 for six of them, shipped free globally (though global shipping is slow right now thanks to the lockdowns and such).
@@makho I think I will do that. Maybe build some extra and reselling here for a friendly price for others that have trouble finding one.
@@makho Dit you had the oppertunity to test the HSABAT battery? It claims to be 1100mAh nl.aliexpress.com/i/4000219954102.html
@@ArjanYoyoman I've already tested one of their batteries for a different system Their capacity is severely overstated.
@@ArjanYoyoman 1600mah now? 🤨
you good you can talk all you Like
A 40 minute video bro youre killing me. Just hit me with the timestamp or tell me straight the best one you recommend.
TL:DW Makho Mod overall best. Helder Battery close second (sad reacts only and big oofs if youre not american)
you know I already put a TL;DW in the description, right?
My bad. So happy that I stumbled upon your battery mod tho.