Remington HC500A hair clippers: battery replacement

Here we have my trusty Remington hair clippers.

I've had them for about 7 or 8 years.

They've saved me a fortune in hair cuts and must have paid for themselves many times over by now. However, for the last few years they've been suffering from a knackered battery. The battery does charge but I only just manage a single hair cut out of it. My concern is that one day I'll only manage half a cut....

So, I thought I'd have a look inside and see if the battery could be replaced. I opened these up a couple of weeks ago and it turns out that battery replacement is quite straightforward. In short, the original battery is actually three rechargeable (NiMH) AAA batteries soldered together to make a pack, and then soldered to a circuit board. I've got a drawer full of rechargeable AAAs so my first thought was to make something up. Then, for reasons unconnected to this project, I joined Amazon Prime and thought I'd have a poke about to see what was available. Eventually I settled on these from BAKTH which at 900maH have slightly more oomph than the Sanyos that are fitted into my clippers. A triple pack (3 x 3) comes in at £6.99 delivered so I thought I'd take a punt.

As I say, I've already had these clippers open once so taking them apart today was very easy. However, taking them apart last week was a bit harder. This is because it is difficult to see how they are actually put together. In the picture below a screw hole is clearly visible. However the holes are actually bunged up with plastic. Stick a sharp screw driver into the bungs and lever the plastic out. This basically destroys the bungs but they are only there for aesthetics.

With the bungs out, remove the screw from each hole. Note that the longer screw is fitted at the charging point end. Then remove the blades by undoing the two small flat screws...

If this is the first time you've had the blades off, now would be a good time to give this area a good clean :). The knob on the side which angles the head is next. Remove the plastic cap and screw inside...

Now remove the orange trim which is just clipped on...

In the picture below I'm splitting the clippers in half. Note the area that I've circled - there's a (probably rusty) staple in there which needs pulling out first...

The clippers are now in half. Back to the head. Remove the white gear....

Remove the head itself (after noting where the cam on the motor shaft fits). Note also the small spring-loaded brass thing (which has become detached in this picture)...

Undo the screw for the battery retainer and remove it...

Slide the old battery pack out. Remove and retain the foam padding...

Note the polarity of the wires, cut and trim them, and solder the new pack in. Replace the foam and slide the new battery pack in...

Before re-assembly (which is the reverse of the above procedure), check your handy work has been a success by pressing the little blue button inside the clippers (highlighted below). If all is well, the motor should operate and you can reassemble.

Easy!

More soon, no doubt...



D