# Replacement battery for Panasonic shaver- Need help



## mckeand13 (Apr 28, 2014)

I've got a Panasonic ES8243A shaver. It's about 2.5yrs now and works great except for not holding a charge that long anymore. Never really did from day one though I guess.

It's apparently got an 18650 inside. I haven't pulled it apart yet and I'm not going to until I have a new cell in hand. It's my daily driver so I can't give it up. It looks like whatever I purchase, I'll have to solder contacts to each end of the cell or wire it somehow.

Here's a link to a place selling a replacement. I'm guessing this probably isn't the best cell inside that wrapper and I'd like to avoid doing this again for another few years.
http://www.cutecamcase.com/show_shaver.php?back=shaver.html&ii=Shaver-battery-2

I want to put a high quality cell in there with the highest capacity I can. I'm looking for a recommendation. I've only used protected 18650's in lights before so I know nothing regarding the unprotected variants. I guess I'm assuming I should use unprotected. I would think the protection lies elsewhere within the shaver. Right or wrong? Should I be looking for something like the usual Panasonic NCR18650?

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/batteries-oem/oem/lithium-ion.aspx

Regardless of which cell I replace this with, is there any reason I can't use the factory charger still? I can't be taking the shaver apart every time to charge it.

Please reply with direct links if you can.

Thanks!


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## RetroTechie (Apr 28, 2014)

mckeand13 said:


> It's apparently got an 18650 inside.


How do you know? Says who? Says where? I've read that a lot of shavers use 14500 Li-ion, which seems a more reasonable size for small / light / handheld equipment like a shaver.

I'd just open the thing up to check cell size & type, put it back together while you wait for replacement cell to arrive. Unless you know for *sure* what's in there, no point in ordering anything.


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## mckeand13 (Apr 28, 2014)

RetroTechie said:


> How do you know? Says who? Says where? I've read that a lot of shavers use 14500 Li-ion, which seems a more reasonable size for small / light / handheld equipment like a shaver.
> 
> I'd just open the thing up to check cell size & type, put it back together while you wait for replacement cell to arrive. Unless you know for *sure* what's in there, no point in ordering anything.



I can agree to that. I guess it was a pretty big assumption on my part. I'll have a look and report back.


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## RetroTechie (Apr 28, 2014)

Pro tip: see if you can find a service manual or similar. Can often be found online (*not* often on manufacturer site  ), and usually have things like test procedures, schematics, component values etc in them.


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## mckeand13 (Apr 28, 2014)

RetroTechie,

My wallet thanks you. Nowhere near an 18650. Housing looked like it was certainly large enough for one, but there's a much smaller 14500 or so in there.

Here are the measurements:
Dia of main body: .550" (13.97mm)
Dia of + end with rubbery "cap": .565" (14.35mm)
Length not including the posts: 1.95" (49.53mm)

Any recommendations on a quality 14500?

Thanks!


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## mckeand13 (Apr 28, 2014)

Sanyo UR14500P?

How about this. Just solder some posts on each end?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-S...566?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ec151b16


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## mcnair55 (Apr 28, 2014)

After market company that supply parts for domestic electrical equipment normally carry battery spares.


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## RetroTechie (Apr 29, 2014)

Soldering directly to cells is better not done if it can be avoided...

Is it possible to solder contact springs to where the original cell connects? Or maybe 'modify' things a bit to fit springs? If so, then you could use a regular flat top 14500 like above mentioned Panasonic UR14500P (one of the best 14500's out there, I think).

If not, you might want to try and find a solder-tab equipped 14500 cell. Probably easier to deal with here, but harder to find.


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## mckeand13 (Apr 29, 2014)

I suppose I could drop some short springs in between each end of the battery and contact without soldering or modifying anything. I think everything is captured well enough so they wouldn't move around. 

If I have to solder, I could tin the contacts first to minimize time spent with heat applied.


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