Author: cheewee

Just a while ago, a friend approached me to help fix his ailing iPaq H3970 Pocket PC. The faulty battery couldn't hold its charge and would drain completely frequently resulting in data loss despite recharging daily. As the H3970 sports an internal battery, the repair will require tinkering with the unit's circuitry and it being an old model didn't help either.

Scouring Sim Lim Square and Funan IT Mall yielded no solution and ordering a battery from overseas can be quite costly. Fortunately, a local company called Worcell offers a range of batteries at competitive prices and they stock the iPaq's too. At a reasonable S$55 each, I ordered a replacement to fix my friend's iPaq. As Worcell's site will only be up sometime in February, you can email sales@worcell.com for enquiries for now.

The kit arrived three days later via SingPost and consisted of the battery and a screwdriver. No instructions came with it. A check with Worcell pointed me to an installation guide accessible here.
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Installation of the replacement cell isn't rocket science. Here's our experience how. Step one involves getting into your iPaq's guts to retrieve the faulty cell. To do so, use the supplied tool and unscrew the four screws at the back of the unit.
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Then gently pry open the chassis using a fine flat-tip screwdriver. To prevent you from leaving unsightly marks or chips, start from the bottom and work your way through.
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Once the back cover pops loose, detach one end of the wire connector from the circuit board. As the battery cell is attached to the innards with adhesive tap, carefully pry it loose with a screwdriver. Once that is done, remove the other end of the connecting wire on the battery.
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From here, you can work on installing the new cell. Remember to remove a small piece of plastic sheet covering the port on the cell and then re-attach the wire from the old battery.
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Then, slap on the battery to the back cover. Following this, re-attach the other end of the connector to the circuit board. Fix back the back cover and screws. You're done!
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As the unit probably does not hold any charge, your unit may not switch on. Have your charger handy and put the unit on AC. Your unit should wake up immediately. To verify the proper installation of the new cell, go to the Power option in Control Panel. You should see the battery charging status. Prior to using the revived Pocket PC, charge it for a minimum 3 hours as recommended by Worcell. Personally, I left the unit to charge overnight.
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FYI, an original one from HP is just S$69.

SGD69 includes installation?

What about device as old as the iPAQ H3670? Do they (Worcell) have battery replacement for this model? One of my wife's Uncle was asking me the other day. He requires his battery replaced for his dinopaq.

They should have batteries for even the older ones. Chances are they are not likely to have them in Singapore. Call them and they are likely to bring it in for you. It normally takes about 4 days. No, the price do not include installation but I had to send mine in for a number of things to be done anyway and the total service charge was S$49. I think since yours do not have warranty left, you may be able to ask them for the battery and install it yourself. No harm trying to talk to them first. Nothing to loose anyway.

Thanks Bro Taipan for your response and advice.
Happy Chinese New Year to all.

For those people who go to Bangkok they can get the replacement Ipaq 3970 battery there. My son just returned this evening with one installed in mine, according to him after currency conversion the cost came to approximately $48 inclusive of installation. At the various shopping centres he went to he was quoted prices ranging from 1800 bahts to 1200 bahts, the latter being the price he paid.

Two things to note:

1) Original Battery capacity for this model limits to 1400mah and performance is certainly unable to match replacement capacity (2200mah for next production model, a 60% increase technically!)

2) DANIONICS is the OEM for Compaq H39xx Series battery. If HP still carries the battery, it is very likely to have been shelved as long as the first production date of this PDA. Unfortuanately, Li-Poly best possible shelf life is 4-5 years and if placed under Singapore climate conditions, you can expect as much as half less than nominal. (We have a customer who brought in 10sets of similar COMPAQ PDA , all Brand NEW in boxes and unopen but with all faulty batteries! This proves the lifespan of battery even if left unused!)

Hello there, I ordered a new Li polymer battery for my 3900 series iPAQ and followed the instructions on this thread. However, having plugged the unit into the charger, it does not appear to be charging... When I look at the power option on the control panel it simply says "charging" and displays a 0% charge. It has stayed the same for two hours.

Can anyone offer advice? Have I received a dud battery? Is the iPAQ unit possibly at fault. One thing I noticed was that the unit switched on as soon as i had installed the battery and closed the case, without having been plugged into the AC mains. Could this have damaged the battery?

Many thanks for any help

worcell - do you stock batteries for the Ipaq expansion sleeves?

am looking for the dual pc card sleeve...