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DEI Responder Remote Battery Replacement

3K views 3 replies 1 participant last post by  markolson 
#1 · (Edited)
My son has a DEI Clifford alarm in his car, and the battery in his Responder LC 2 Way remote stopped holding a charge. Rather than getting ripped of by a dealer for a new remote or an expensive battery replacement service, I decided to figure out a DIY way to replace the battery.

Here are two photos of the remote:





I learned that it is impossible to get an exact replacement battery for the remote (thanks DEI) so I had to do a lot of research to find an equivalent battery that will work. I learned that the stock battery is a 3.7V LiPo (Lithium Polymer) 130mAH battery. I measured the size of the battery compartment, and then went searching the internet for batteries. I finally found one ($17 for 5 batteries) that will fit inside the remote on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-pcs-3-7V-...=b186b751bae84b48b3fcdfe8534a7868&pid=100102&

The stock battery was 130mAH and the new battery is 120mAh, but that will only reduce the time before a recharge just a little bit. Now I have 4 spare batteries. :)

You take the back off of the remote case by removing the tiny Philips screw and then carefully prying the back off of the remote. There are little plastic tabs that clip the back onto the remote. Be careful not to break those plastic tabs as you take the back off. Don't lose the little rubber usb port rubber plug either. Once you have the back off, it exposes the insides:



Unplug the battery connector and remove the battery. Here it is next to the replacement battery:



I cut the connector off of the stock battery, and then staggered the wire lengths so the splices in the cable will not be adjacent to each other. That will reduce the chances of a short between the splices and keeps one point in the cable from getting too lumpy. I also cut two bits of small shrink tubing:



I stripped the wires, put on the shrink tubing and then soldered the wires together:



I used a heat gun to shrink the tubing:



I plugged the battery in:



And the remote woke up:



I replaced the back and the Philips screw, set the clock and the alarm was back to normal. I did not have to re-pair the remote to the alarm or change any of its other settings.

So if you don't want to pay the DEI tax for a new battery, just do as i did.
 
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#2 ·
Well, a little bad news here. It seems the batteries I bought from China are not that good. After a couple of weeks, the charge started lasting less than 2 days, and now the first battery has gone completely flat.

When I soldered in the next battery, I noticed that one of the leads had solder on it. So from what I can tell, these batteries are used and have been salvaged from some other piece of electronics.

We'll see how long this battery lasts...

Caveat emptor. :(
 
#4 ·
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