30
Condor
4y

Yesterday I bought myself a PSP to relive some of my childhood memories, run custom firmware on it and so on. Unfortunately however, the battery on this one is seriously puffed up, and I need one in order to update the firmware from 5.50 CFW (the seller actually modded it too!) to 6.61 OFW (to then install CFW from there again).

I figured that I might as well have a kick at disassembling the battery for good measure, to take out its controller and power it from my lab bench power supply. I set it to 3.70V, double-checked the connections.. nothing. I raised the voltage to 4V, still nothing.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the controller from looking at it. The magic smoke is still in there, all I did was removing the housing and snipping off the battery. I measured the cell voltage and it was only some residues at 0.01V. Might be internally shorted or something, normally even dead cells settle back at 3.7V unless you keep them shorted externally.

After seeing this so many times now with controllers, I'm starting to get a feeling that manufacturers actually program these things to look at the battery voltage, and when it reaches 0V, to just make the controller kill itself. Doesn't matter if the controller's electronics are still good, just fucking kill it.

If true, that is very, VERY nasty. It would also explain why batteries in laptops especially all have different form factors, despite having used regular 18650's internally for a very long time. It would explain why they're built like tanks. It would explain why manufacturers really don't want people in there. Yes there are safety issues and you're literally diffusing a bomb. Since recently we've also got space optimization.. anything for half a mm of thickness, amirite? But doing it this way is fucking disgusting. There is absolutely no reason for the controller to kill itself when the cell dies. Yet it seems like it does.

PS: I've posted the original picture on https://ghnou.su/pics/... now if you're interested. I noticed in my previous rant that devRant really squishes these down.

Comments
  • 7
    Sick graphics for a handheld back then
  • 2
    @d-fanelli even still!

    Luminess ❤️ such an amazing title. I swear the whirr of the umd disc gave it some extra feel!
    Bought luminess 2 originally to jailbreak it, ended up ignoring the jailbreak and playing it to death 😁

    And of course the unique ones like patapon. And god of war wasn't bad either.

    Maybe I'll dig mine up this weekend
  • 3
    Also, the battery issue is interesting and concerning 🤔
  • 1
    @jkommeren Not sure what happened to it, but the seller did mention it on the listing and I can just get a new one. LiPo cells just.. do puff up at times. I'm glad that it is replaceable and that aftermarket cells are cheap :)

    In general I do wish that battery manufacturers would stick to standard sizes and replaceable cells again though. And actually make the cells themselves replaceable if it's an 18650 based battery. How different are those from the old boomboxes with the D-size batteries in them really?
  • 1
    I think my favourite title for the PSP was Final Fantasy Crisis Core. Great prequel to the original FF7
  • 1
    @djsumdog nice one, will be looking for a copy ❤️
  • 1
    While moving I found my old psp and also saw a swollen battery....
    Hopefully they are somewhat purchasable because nostalgia might kick in sooner or later
  • 2
    I still have original PSP !!!

    Once I wanted to port Aircrack on it. Imagine how fun it would be !!!

    (Couple of things, like time needed, prevented me from doing that)
  • 2
    Honestly, if that LiPo has actually reached 0V it's actually a good thing that the controller actively refuses to let you charge it normally. Anything more than a few mA would turn that thing into a firebomb. Bringing a LiPo back from 0V is an exercise in futility at best, and a reckless dangee at worst, and you can bet your ass that someone somewhere would actually try it without having any idea of the danger they're in.

    If instead you meant that the cell itself won't charge, then it's probably just degraded to death to the point that it can't even hold a charge anymore. A prolonged stay at 0V will do that too. (The chemical equilibrium is around 3.6-3.8V, and anything below 3V will cause degradation as well)
  • 1
    @endor oh, that could explain it yes. I also found online that people do use replacement controllers for AAA mods, as well as replacement LiPo cells of varying capacities. Seems like the aftermarket controllers are a lot more customizable in this regard, and it might be related to Pandora batteries as well. I see options for it in VSH but I'm still not quite sure what it is or how exactly it changes the battery. Oh well, not a bad idea to get a proper replacement regardless. They're cheap anyway :)
  • 2
    Poke it.
  • 2
    nopenopenopenopenopenopeNOPE there'd be NO chance i'm coming anywhere near that fucking thing without a sturdy metal container with sturdier lid and a pair of tongs
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