Replacing battery cells for Motor-Drive R8

[james.liam]

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I found threads on this topic that are over 10 years old so I decised to post; is there anyone out there (preferably in North America) who does this? Are there DIY instructions of how to do so?

Any help is appreciated.

Edited May 6, 2019 by james.liam

[wlaidlaw]

James, 

It really is a DIY job. I have not done the R winder but I have done other devices with rechargeable cells. I just resurrected my Black and Decker cordless vacuum cleaner, where one of the eight LioN cells had a failed discharge protection circuit and was dead.

It goes like this: Open up the battery compartment and see if there are any ID marks on the battery but certainly identify the type of battery (NiCad, NiMH or LioN). Measure the diameter, length and see what sort of connection tabs are on the battery and their location, plus if stated on the dead batteries, their capacity in milli-Amp-Hours. Go to the website of an industrial battery supplier like the Small Battery Company in the UK or internationally Alibaba/AliExpress or RS components and find the nearest or exact replacement battery. In general, you can replace NiCad with the higher capacity NiMH (I have done this in cordless shavers and Oral-B toothbrushes). If you cannot find the exact size, go smaller not larger, you can always pack out a smaller battery with heat resistant foam. If you are replacing NiCad with NiMH, using a slightly smaller battery will be more than compensated by the improved battery chemistry. Once you have the new cells, carefully remove the originals using a desoldering pump or wick, with a soldering iron. Solder in the new cells. Use the best quality solder you can get - cheap solder is a false economy. I use Mundorf silver/gold/tin solder. This is not cheap for a whole roll but you can usually buy smaller quantities of this on eBay. If you are using this, you really need a modern thermostatically controlled soldering iron, due to its higher melting point. 

While you have the battery pack apart, look to see if there are any electrolytic capacitors present in the charging circuit. These deteriorate with time, worse when not used. These should be replaced, with good quality items (search for high quality capacitors on Google. I generally use Panasonic). There will likely also be electrolytic capacitors in the charger. Deterioration of these can reduce battery life dramatically as they cause charging voltage ripple, which is a battery killer, so as the charger is 15-20 years old, these should be replaced. 

Wilson

Edited May 8, 2019 by wlaidlaw

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[wlaidlaw]

I should have added that if you are only going to replace one or two cells on any device, the replacing cell must be identical to the remaining cells, capacity and chemistry. On an old device like the Motor Drive R, replacing all the cells is probably sensible.

An alternative I might suggest is to go to the motor-winder R, which uses regular AA cells either alkaline, NiCad or NiMH but not lithium manganese non-rechargeable, as they are too high voltage and low internal resistance and you can over wind the camera. I broke the drive shaft on my M7 doing this with the Motor-M! Do you really need the 4 frames/per second of the Motor-R or would the 2 frames/second of the Motor-Winder R be adequate for film? The motor-winder is also lighter and less bulky. They are not expensive on eBay. I think the 2 fps of the Motor-Winder R with fresh batteries is conservative, from experience on my R9. 

Wilson

[james.liam]

On 5/10/2019 at 4:08 AM, wlaidlaw said:

I should have added that if you are only going to replace one or two cells on any device, the replacing cell must be identical to the remaining cells, capacity and chemistry. On an old device like the Motor Drive R, replacing all the cells is probably sensible.

An alternative I might suggest is to go to the motor-winder R, which uses regular AA cells either alkaline, NiCad or NiMH but not lithium manganese non-rechargeable, as they are too high voltage and low internal resistance and you can over wind the camera. I broke the drive shaft on my M7 doing this with the Motor-M! Do you really need the 4 frames/per second of the Motor-R or would the 2 frames/second of the Motor-Winder R be adequate for film? The motor-winder is also lighter and less bulky. They are not expensive on eBay. I think the 2 fps of the Motor-Winder R with fresh batteries is conservative, from experience on my R9. 

Wilson

Good to know. I bought an R8 that came with the heavy motor drive R8 as a package; paid US$550 for the whole kit. I have sent it for a cell replacement with a fellow by the name of Manfred Wilhelm. I'm awaiting its return.

[james.liam]

Just received the battery with the new, higher capacity cells. Cost €78. The new battery recharged in 2-3 hours. Herr Wilhelm’s operation was an authorized Leica battery repair, rebuilding the DMR’s batteries IIRC. 

Edited July 9, 2019 by james.liam

[wlaidlaw]

Sounds like a real bargain. 

[james.liam]

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For anyone needing his services, here's the contact info:

Manfred Wilhelm
REW battery repair
Kleefeldstraße 10
D-06686 Lützen / Pobles, GERMANY

wilhelm-pobles@t-online.de

Responds quickly to queries and fluent in English.

[anabasis]

The R8/R9 motor drive uses NiMH chemistry, 8 cells per pack.  They ARE NOT AA-sized (LR6).  They are HHR-150AA batteries (from the label inside the pack itself.  You need the ones that have flat tops as the metal conductor strips need to be soldered to the cells directly.  They are 1500 mAh rated.  

I have some on order from Digikey and as of today, cost about $25 for a full replacement set.  I am fairly handy with a soldering iron, so will be doing the repair myself.

 

Here is the link.

 

Jeremy

 

 

[chellm]

Hullo.

I had the same need - rebuild the battery pack of Power Motor Drive for Leica R. I hesitated in shipping far (to North America) as was pricey paid. I didn't ship to Germany as there was NOT communications at all with 3 or 4 Technick Shops recommended from Wetzlar where they don't speak (or they don't want..) any English. Passing by my Car Battery Supplier (he rebuilds Car Batteries of very old Cars and Van for Vintage Motor vehicles Owners) I explained my problems. In the afternoon I took the Akku Pack and Charger: he did all the unsoldering of old 8 elements and then the spot welding of the new 8 elements within a 2-hour time. I warned him just about the quality of soldering of blu wire of the temperature chip in the shell of Akku Pack. I tested and every is perfect. New Motor Power at only 55 € and 2 espressos. I have narrated my experience as I want to encourage everybody to check with personal handymen friends or any street corner electric supplier. It is very simple..

Mauro

Edited November 30, 2019 by chellm
bad spelling

[anabasis]

I did manage to rebuild my two battery packs with the replacement cells.  Not to tough a job, but I did discover that I had 2 variations of the battery pack.  The older pack had the cells in cardboard tubes.  The newer pack did not have the tubes.  The new cells charged properly with the OEM charger and after a few cycles gave me full power.  Thankfully the pack opens with screws instead of plastic clips, so there was no issue with the disassembly.

 

Jeremy

[james.liam]

It's not like you're saving much money, notwithstanding facility with a soldering iron. I wasn't into experimenting. I fellow I listed charged me 78 euros, including shipping.

And they're 2000 mAh cells.

[Alexei]

On 7/9/2019 at 4:57 AM, james.liam said:

Just received the battery with the new, higher capacity cells. Cost €78. The new battery recharged in 2-3 hours. Herr Wilhelm’s operation was an authorized Leica battery repair, rebuilding the DMR’s batteries IIRC. 

Hello, I have the same problem.  My Leica 14423.batteries are dead, and the cells are to be replaced.  Could You  provide me  Herr Wilhelm's  e-mail and his site http?

Thank You, 

Yours Sincerely,

Alexei

[Marac]

19 hours ago, Alexei said:

Hello, I have the same problem.  My Leica 14423.batteries are dead, and the cells are to be replaced.  Could You  provide me  Herr Wilhelm's  e-mail and his site http?

Thank You, 

Yours Sincerely,

Alexei

 

On 7/9/2019 at 4:17 PM, james.liam said:

For anyone needing his services, here's the contact info:

Manfred Wilhelm
REW battery repair
Kleefeldstraße 10
D-06686 Lützen / Pobles, GERMANY

wilhelm-pobles@t-online.de

Responds quickly to queries and fluent in English.

Just a couple of posts above yours you will find the info you are after.

[Alexei]

17 hours ago, Marac said:

Thank You!)))

Just a couple of posts above yours you will find the info you are after.

 

[Gus-R]

Hi everyone, 

I order the  pack already assembled in china. But I encounter a problem when i opened my battery pack. There was lots of corrosion and the cables barely were holding up , Unfortunately I did the soldering job but couldn't replace all the cables and when I tried to put all together I disconnect something. SO Now I'm trying to figure it out how to put all together and if the corrosion on the circuit is going to impact the final product.

As an advice be very careful with the 20+ years od cables and you'll be fine. Don't do as I did. 

Ill keep you posted as soon as I have more news( hopefully good ones ) about the replacement.

 

[wlaidlaw]

9 hours ago, Gus-R said:

Hi everyone, 

I order the  pack already assembled in china. But I encounter a problem when i opened my battery pack. There was lots of corrosion and the cables barely were holding up , Unfortunately I did the soldering job but couldn't replace all the cables and when I tried to put all together I disconnect something. SO Now I'm trying to figure it out how to put all together and if the corrosion on the circuit is going to impact the final product.

As an advice be very careful with the 20+ years od cables and you'll be fine. Don't do as I did. 

Ill keep you posted as soon as I have more news( hopefully good ones ) about the replacement.

 

My suggestion would be to go to a military surplus store/auction and buy a reasonably modern, large piece of electronic military equipment (they are usually very cheap). The wiring in these is normally multicoloured PTFE coated, aircraft quality, oxygen free copper. Not only is this nearly heat proof insulation but is super easy to solder. I bought a large lump of what I think was missile aiming/radar equipment some 30 years ago at a military surplus auction in Southampton (I went to buy an old helicopter jet engine for a project for my son's school but was outbid) and I am still using the supply of wire, switches, assorted components and relays I salvaged from that. From memory it cost me £8. 

Wilson