I was able to get a brand new TSU7000, 3000 and an RF basestation from a friend for a mere 80 bucks but unfortunately the 7000 didnt come with a docking station. Needless to say I was a bit bummed! But I figured as long as I could build a charging circuit to recharge the battery i would be fine. So after a quick trip to the rat shack I find a small battery holder for 4 AAA batteries that I thought just might fit in the remote with a little modding. Well Good news! IT did!! I ended up removing the metal contacts from one end and gluing them into the remote (see pics) where they fit like something straight from the factory, And then had to cut down and do some wiring on the top part to wire directly into the power connector and Viola! Add in 4 AAA rechargable batteries and I have myself a brand new 7000 and no need to buy the stupid docking station for another 80 bucks :)

The Lion batteries put out 1.2v which is the same as the stock battery pack, and not to mention they are 1000 mah each vs the stock batteries 600.

Just thought others may be intersted in such a mod incase they no longer charge through basestation or whatever ;)

Granted I cant just throw the remote on the base to charge it, But taking out the batteries and charging them overnight when they get low isint much of a hassle.

Be careful not to use ever a non rechargeble bateries. Put 4 1.5vAAA cells will burn the remote. I already saw some doing this mod and get their remote fried.

Also be careful that nobody put it it in the 3000 base.

That is no longer needed because this is not meant to be charged in a docking station. Its only so that instead of having to use the stupid factory battery pack and dock anybody can use plain old AAA or rechargables like im doing.

Plain AAA batteries will damage the remote because they are 1.5 volts. The 7000 is not made to use with normal cells like the 3000.

If you use 1.2v no problem, but the battery cover was not made to open every day and will get damaged too.

I recently purchased a TSU7000 from Ebay. As an owner of a 2000 for many many years I made the assumption (dumb me) that it could use normal batteries like the 2000 does as the auction did not include the charger. Thankfully I found this post and had a quick email conversation with Haoleb to mod mine as well.

I took quite a few pics of the entire process. I always hate to mod something that I can't revert, so although I generally followed Haoleb's steps, I set mine up such that the AAA battery compartment fits snugly inside the 7000 compartment. This way I didn't have to glue anything to the remote itself.

Procedure:

Step 1: Obtain a 4 "AAA" battery compartment from Radio Shack. Part # 270-411.


Step 2: Take the cover off by removing the screw on the back. To make the bottom fit in the Pronto you need to shave plastic off of the areas circled in green.



Step 3: The bottom end of the compartment need to be shaved off as it is too tall to fit in the Pronto. For all the 'shaving' parts I just used my shop grinder. Pic shows what it looks like after shaving.



Step 4: The Pronto cavity indents at the bottom so remove material from the sides as shown below.Grind it down as thin as you can while still leaving some of the plastic wall in place.



Step 5: Next, grind down the entire end of the box to make it as thin as possible. Compare below with previous pic to get the idea.



Step 6: The final piece of work on this end is to cut a slice out of the middle so the box will clear the structural support in the Pronto> I used a dremel with a cutoff disk here and then a small flathead screwdriver to knock out the melted leftover plastic. You basically want to cut straght down the center support of the battery box.



This end should now fit smoothly.



Step 7: The top side of the box contains a switch and the wiring. You need toremove the top cover over the switch. I used a set of modelling sprue cutters to cut the lower post that holds the top on. After removing the top you should see the switch.



Step 8: Remove the switch by cutting the plastic around it and cutting the metal tab that joins the switch to the negative terminal of the box. Also cut the plastic around the wire exit to free them from the box.



Step 9: Remve the posiive contact and wire. Now grind the entire top down to the plastic that backs the contacts. Just like the bottom, get the plastic walls as thin as possible for a good fit.

Cut thered wire off the positive terminal as it won't have enough clearance on the back. Put the positive contact back in the box and the box should fit nicely into the Pronto.



Step 10: I chose to take the battery pack apart and use the entire wire-set from it to get the power connector. If you ever wondered what the battery pack looks like inside, here it is:



I believe Haoleb just wired 2 wires to the negative terminal and spliced that to the black & yellow on the connector. Since I like to be able to readily 'undo' things I do, I desoldered the battery pack wiring from the pack and then soldered it to my battery box, including the diode. This way if I ever do get a charger I can rebuild the battery pack easily. In any case, you need to solder red to the positive end of the box and two wires to the negative end, as shown. They need to be soldered to the top but with the wires going sideways as there is not much height wiggle room.

I originally wanted to find and buy a new connector and build my own harness leaving the battery pack alone. I did discover that the connector is made by JST and is part number PHR3 (or PHR-3) [for searching purposes the whole thing is JST PHR-3] However, I couldn't find anywhere to buy one quickly so I just cannibalized the battery pack.



Step 11: Plug the pack into the Pronto and load up some AAA 1.2V rechargeables and let'er rip!



The battery cover fits smoothly across the back with everything in place. Total cost: $1.99 + rechargeable AAA's.

Very nice! I like the way you put the battery box inside more than the way I did it. The battery pack that was in my remote when I got it looked quite a bit different than that one does. It had a small surface mount diode and was more, eh factory looking. I may decide to redo mine following your directions later on down the road. :)

Once again People thinking of doing this mod. DO NOT USE 1.5V CELLS. It will damage your remote. The 7000 is made to be used with 4AAA rechargeble 1.2V cells.

Can you still charge with the Pronto charger or do you just charge using a std battery charger?

My batter allows the pronto to be used for about 1 evening before needing a recharge. I have my backlight set to only 6 sec and I am using IR only. Does this indicate that I need a new battery?

I bought it used so I don't know how well a new battery should perform. With a new battery how long can you go between recharges? (hours, days, weeks, months??)

Why bother when you can buy an extended 900Mah battery pack, ready to go with all of the original Philips safety provisions, for $29.95?

I guess if you like to hack around, that is fine. But this battery works great with all NG Philips products, also the TSU6000.

Thanks a lot for this detailed description.

My charging station is broken and while I wait for the new one - hopefully I can get it afterall - this solution is a real good interim alternative.

To all those attempting this modification. If you're going to make your own replacement battery pack, one of the parts not easily visible in the original battery pack is a PTC resettable fuse. It's spot welded between two of the battery terminals, and looks like one of the tabs welded to all of the other cells, with the exception of a white band around the center and some markings on it. I'd post the schematics, but they differ based on production date. Just remember that it's a simple series circuit. I strongly advise you to use the fuse. It's cheap insurance in the event of a failure of the charging circuit. Exploding Nimh cells will make a mess of your remote.

Dave, nothing personal, sure your battery pack is relatively cheap, but when you charge $25 to ship that tiny little thing to Canada, all of sudden the cost balloons to $55 without factoring in the tax, etc. I'm not aware of your shipping charges elsewhere, but the total cost for this project would be in the $10 range, provided you have an original battery pack to cannibalize.

Will it be OK to use 1000 mAh Ni-MH batteries in this mod for an extended time between charges/battery swapping. As it seem like the simplest solution to my lost dock?

Has anyone successfully built a working diy rechargeable battery? I ordered some aaa rechargeable ni-mh batteries, sacrificed an original pronto battery back for the diode (never saw any fuse anywhere) and a simple 4 aaa battery holder. By trimming down the battery holder slightly it all fits properly in my TSU7000 however it literally stays at 50% and doesn't last long at all. It says it's charging on the base, but I don't know that it is. I've tried charging the batteries externally on a ni-core charger and get the same results. Any suggestions?

Why mod the battery? I just googled for TSU7000 battery and found bunches.

Here's one available on ebay.

[Link: ebay.com]

And another.
[Link: battery2batteries.com]

All these appear to be Cameron Sino but they have the correct ratings.

I have bought the aftermarket batteries for years. The quality sucks. They work at 80% full charge few days and go downhill fast after that. After a couple weeks you have to leave the pronto on its dock for it to work at all.

I ordered the 4 aaa sleds, aaa nimh from various sources, and sacrificed a non working original pack to get the wires and the 1 resistor. I used thay wired loom with the 1 chip diode or resistor, and wired the rest in the appropriate sides of the 4 bay holder. Plug it on the dock, and they say they will charge, but go from 100% to 40% in a few mins. I have tried charging the aaa nimh batteries in an official charger (nitecore) then pop them back into the pronto and get same results...100% full for a few mins and 40% 20% 10% etc...They dont make it thru an tv day, like kids watching cartoon/tv/pbs... sundays cant make it last long enough for 3 football games (all day). Just no stamina.

The AAA are rated at 1000mah 1.2v
I tried 3 or 4 brands from amazon, theres a little variance on quality but there probably all within allowed spec...

If anyone has successfully done this, can you point me to a blog or wed site with details, Am I missing something? The idea wants to work, seems to be waiting or trying to read values that are no there or off set?

This is a mission for me now, I would love to figure this out. Any help please