Difficulty

Easy

Steps

12

Time Required

                          30 minutes - 1 hour

Sections

1

  • Battery
  • 12 steps

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  • BackAntank SWBC-007 6500mAh Nintendo Switch Battery Pack

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Introduction

Antank deserve discredit not just for using such a low quality cell, but for inflating its capacity. It is a 6500mAh cell. 3.7V x 6.5Ah equals 24Wh, which is how much power that can be released. The stated 32Wh “capacity” is how much it will absorb when charging at 5V. A useless metric, or in other words, a lie.

Anyway thankfully it is easily fixed, and similarly sized replacement cells are available, though funnily enough cost more than you’d expect based on the original price of the unit.

What you need

Step 1

              Discharge any remaining power?!
  • Yeah I know thats funny… What power.

Yeah I know thats funny… What power.

1024

Step 2

              Taking out the first screws
  • Using a small philips head screwdriver remove the first two Philips head screws. There are only two types of screws in this device, the black ones and the little silver ones, so organisation is not required.

Using a small philips head screwdriver remove the first two Philips head screws. There are only two types of screws in this device, the black ones and the little silver ones, so organisation is not required.

Step 3

              Facade removal.
  • Using a spudger pry the black plastic facade off the top part.

Using a spudger pry the black plastic facade off the top part.

Step 4

              Head removal
  • Ignore the suction cup, I was expecting more glue and less screws in this teardown!
  • Remove the next 3 Philips head screws. The plastic cover should now pop off with minimal force, allowing the head to be removed.

Ignore the suction cup, I was expecting more glue and less screws in this teardown!

Remove the next 3 Philips head screws. The plastic cover should now pop off with minimal force, allowing the head to be removed.

Step 5

              Main Facade
  • Now to remove the plastic facade from the main unit, this was a little trickier to do cleanly, but this thin section next to the air channels was easily pried off.
  • Another 4 Philips head screws can now be removed.

Now to remove the plastic facade from the main unit, this was a little trickier to do cleanly, but this thin section next to the air channels was easily pried off.

Another 4 Philips head screws can now be removed.

Step 6

              Removing front cover
  • First gently pop up the top end of the front cover, wasn’t hard. Then like removing the switch from the battery pack you have to slide the cover down away from the main unit as you remove it.

First gently pop up the top end of the front cover, wasn’t hard. Then like removing the switch from the battery pack you have to slide the cover down away from the main unit as you remove it.

Step 7

              Removing the old battery
  • Now to warm the thin strip of tape holding the battery down, though you could probably pry it off without.
  • Discharging the battery is always a good idea, though not relevant in my case since it held no charge whatsoever!

Now to warm the thin strip of tape holding the battery down, though you could probably pry it off without.

Discharging the battery is always a good idea, though not relevant in my case since it held no charge whatsoever!

Step 8

              Battery revealed!
  • Once freeing the battery desolder the positive and negative battery wires. They are just soldered to the surface of the board so not hard.
  • Make sure you coat the new wires with solder before trying to attach them to the board for an easier better result.
  • As noted in the introduction this is a 24Wh battery with dimensions of 7060110 or 7x60x110mm. The 32Wh rating is simply a lie.
  • The closest I could find on aliExpress was a 5Ah 6060100 unit (6x60x100mm) which is probably able to deliver more power than the original ever did (I wish I’d checked). Please let me know if you find better!

Once freeing the battery desolder the positive and negative battery wires. They are just soldered to the surface of the board so not hard.

Make sure you coat the new wires with solder before trying to attach them to the board for an easier better result.

As noted in the introduction this is a 24Wh battery with dimensions of 7060110 or 7x60x110mm. The 32Wh rating is simply a lie.

The closest I could find on aliExpress was a 5Ah 6060100 unit (6x60x100mm) which is probably able to deliver more power than the original ever did (I wish I’d checked). Please let me know if you find better!

Step 9

              Charge port
  • This would be simple to replace if you could find a new one…
  • I suggest a dab of superglue either end to help secure it. The black plastic lugs are another point of failure, allowing the port to wiggle loose.

This would be simple to replace if you could find a new one…

I suggest a dab of superglue either end to help secure it. The black plastic lugs are another point of failure, allowing the port to wiggle loose.

Step 10

              External battery option.
  • I had a couple of 11Wh Lithium polymer cells from an old laptop kicking around. Despite being 5 years old they had had minimal use and still held close to their 3Ah rated capacity.
  • Too long to fit inside though. I cut a small triangle out of the cooling channel wall and fed the wires outside instead. Not portable anymore but works beautifully!
  • My cells have no protection circuitry, but neither did the original Antank cell. Given its premature demise perhaps this is an unwise omission - replacement protection boards that even feature USB charging can also be had on AliExpress for a couple of dollars.

I had a couple of 11Wh Lithium polymer cells from an old laptop kicking around. Despite being 5 years old they had had minimal use and still held close to their 3Ah rated capacity.

Too long to fit inside though. I cut a small triangle out of the cooling channel wall and fed the wires outside instead. Not portable anymore but works beautifully!

My cells have no protection circuitry, but neither did the original Antank cell. Given its premature demise perhaps this is an unwise omission - replacement protection boards that even feature USB charging can also be had on AliExpress for a couple of dollars.

Step 11

              Weak plastic
  • Extreme care is required when screwing these back in. I broke two out of the 4, after already thinking that looks like weak plastic.

Extreme care is required when screwing these back in. I broke two out of the 4, after already thinking that looks like weak plastic.

Step 12

              Reassembly tips
  • Anything involving springs is a pain, but wasn’t too bad. Some tweezers were useful for positioning. Also worth noting the orientation of the metal pins in case you’d forgotten.
  • I haven’t bothered to reattach the facade. The surface that remains might look unsightly but isn’t particularly sticky.

Anything involving springs is a pain, but wasn’t too bad. Some tweezers were useful for positioning. Also worth noting the orientation of the metal pins in case you’d forgotten.

I haven’t bothered to reattach the facade. The surface that remains might look unsightly but isn’t particularly sticky.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

Author

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                    Jesse de Vries

Member since: 02/10/2018

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