Sphero R2-D2 Battery Replacement

[@jeffhall9044]

Thanks for the video Rod. Great detail, very informative. I have ordered the battery and will hopefully have my old R2D2 back to life in the next few days.

[@RodsMenagerie]

I hope it worked out for you! These were such a great product and for the cost I would have expected an easier option to replace batteries and better support in general. 😐

[@Mogonly]

I want this for display, and I want to get power to the head motor separately so head will move with usb, so you know how can do that?

[@patsychew116]

Interesting video Rod.

[@nickj7335]

Hey rod great video! Do you have any tips on the soldering process? I’m soldered a couple guitar pedals here and there but I really want to make sure my r2 is good! Thanks rod

[@videogameobsession]

Thanks for sharing this! It's a shame that Sphero isn't supporting these robots. They also could have made it much easier to access the battery. It's not like they had any shortage of lines and whatnot on the bots, to where they could have hid hinged battery compartments. Do you know how the replacement batteries compare to the original ones. If they are smaller I would assume they are smaller mAh, and maybe don't last as long before requiring a recharge. I barely used my R2, and still the battery went dead after about a year. I suppose keeping it plugged into my USB input, along with the unit not having any overcharge protection may have caused this.

[@RodsMenagerie]

Unfortunately, I destroyed my original battery before I filmed it but my notes say it was also a 3.7V 1400 mAh and the original was made by a company called Ascent. I would assume as well that the new may not last as long but I actually rarely drive him around. I like to keep him in human interactive mode on a shelf near me so that he speaks up at random times. You are right, they could have very easily made a flap for the battery but electronics repairability in general has been going downhill for years. Really a shame.

[@richardparrott7192]

Disney were apparently charging Sphero too much for ongoing SW rights? Thank you for this from down here in Oz 🦘, I will have to look at this as I love my little R2 unit!