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Replacement battery for SENA 10U Neotec "How to"

Lowndes Whatley

May 14, 2019 23:08

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A good friend had a 10U that had a very short battery life.  He was leaving in a week on a two-month cross country motorcycle ride and asked his local dealer about a replacement battery.  The dealer told him none were available and that he would have to buy a complete new unit.  He was very upset with that but had no other choice.  I asked him to send the dead unit to me.

The old battery showed signs of overheating, melting and swollen plastic wrapping.  I found the closest battery available in size and shape on eBay for $7.99 (an identical battery could not be found anywhere).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173306717571 

The OEM battery is a Li-po 300mAh, 3.7v, XK 511643. The last number is the outside dimensions of the unit; 5.1 mm X 16mm X 43mm.

The replacement battery is a Li-po 380mAh, 3.7v, EHAD 501646.  (5.0mm X 16mm X 46mm) so it's 3mm longer and 27% more capacity)

The OEM battery leads have a VERY small 2mm plug that snaps into the "motherboard" connector.  I removed the leads from the old battery and soldered them to the leads on the new battery, complete with the plug. 

Unfortunately, the "bottom cover" to the battery-motherboard compartment was glued to the cover and destroyed when the compartment was opened.  That requires the cover with the battery and motherboard to be attached directly to the SENA mount.  Two small screws do that nicely.

 

All pics here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wh89fLDUNm2b4b8DA 

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29 comments

• 0
  
  Trailryder07 June 23, 2020 18:23

  How is this replacement battery working?  Still going strong?  Would you be willing to possibly do this to mine for a fee?

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley June 24, 2020 12:43

  Trailryder07,

   

  I hear it is doing just fine.  I'd be glad to do the replacement but the eBay source doesn't have that battery anymore.  I did find another source but the price went up to $17 ea for a 380 mAh battery that will fit.  If you have another source please let me know.

• 0
  
  Steve Heinemann October 01, 2020 01:54

  Lowndes,

  Would you be willing to do another one?

  The 501646 are down below $7 now.  Do you know if the room in the case can support dimensional changes?
  https://thedronetool.com/li-po-battery-syma/
  https://www.minicars.se/en/artiklar/li-po-battery-1s-37v-380mah-h107-camera-x4.html

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley October 01, 2020 14:30

  Steve,
  While the batteries you refer to are the same mAh as the original and a very good price, they are not even close to the outside dimensions of the OEM.  See my previous posts above. The OA dimensions of the battery compartment are very tight in these units and there was NO extra space with my replacement battery (5.0 x 16 x 46).  

  BTW, I rode with the owner of the unit I replaced the battery in two weeks ago.  The replacement is still going strong!!

• 0
  
  Trailryder07 October 01, 2020 16:16

  Lowndes, I got sidetracked with numerous projects and never did get any further than your response to my earlier question about installing one.  Even at the higher battery price, I think it is still worthwhile for me with this helmet unit.  I saw somewhere that there are 2 batteries in the unit?  One in the back part and one in a side part?  Or not.  I am ready to go forward either way.  Do you have a link to where I can order the battery?  should I ship it direct to you or get it here and then send the battery and headset unit to you?  I assume you would rather it be out of the helmet than me sending the whole helmet (which I would be more than happy to do).  You can email me directly at trailryder07@gmail.com if you dont want to put an address in this online posting.  And can I pay you something with Venmo or paypal or something?

• 0
  
  James Lancaster October 02, 2020 16:03

  Just took mine apart and reading other posts found that there is a battery behind the right speaker as well as the one showed in your how to.  I removed the backing from the ear piece and they are correct.  There is another 300mah battery there.  If your friend begins having issues, I would replace that as well.  
  
  I assume they are wired in parallel, but plan on checking soon.  If they are wired in parallel, I may just remove the one behind the ear piece and add a holder for a replaceable higher capacity battery.  

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley October 02, 2020 23:28

  Guys,

  I'm not seeing a battery in the R speaker.  Could you be looking at the magnet for the speaker, maybe??  See pics.  SENA SRL, right??

   

  https://photos.app.goo.gl/EM8CBJcM54Mcy8NcA 

   

  Lowndes

• 0
  
  Trailryder07 October 04, 2020 04:29

  Sena 10U.  Is that the same as the SRL?  Or is one for the Neotec original and one for the Neotec 2 ?

• 0
  
  Trailryder07 October 04, 2020 04:34

  In this post, in the April 4th and 5th 2019 range, they talk about a battery being in an earpiece I think.   

  https://community.sena.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360000433563-Sena-10U-shoei-neotec 

   

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley October 04, 2020 10:17

  

• 0
  
  Trailryder07 October 05, 2020 06:12

  Hmmm, the title of this post originated as the 10U, not the SRL.

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley October 05, 2020 11:23

  Trailryder07,

  My apologies!!  You are correct.  Not sure how I got cross-contaminated there.  I was looking at my SRL speaker, NOT the 10U speakers.  The battery I replaced was in the rear helmet box:

  

• 0
  
  James Lancaster October 05, 2020 12:18

  No worries.... your post still made me want to go back and open up my 10U and take a look. The procedure is exactly the same with the addition of removing 3 extra screws in the ear piece and replacing that battery.  

   

  Thanks for the write-up and images! 

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley October 05, 2020 14:12

  Please post some pics here all during your replacement!!

   

   

  Lowndes

• 0
  
  Jelectronut October 27, 2020 00:11

  So Im in the middle of swaping out both of the batteries in my 10U GT Air version.  Beleive it or not when I got this unit brand new I ripped it apart to solder in a 3.5mm aux connector to use earbuds and worked awesome even to this day. I put in a formal complaint to Sena for why in the hell they designed like this and why didn't have an aux cable option like they had for every other headset they produce.  Even the 10R has which I own that unit as well. Never went anywhere but at the time I forced them to give me the wiring schematics for the 10U with this disapointment so I could wire up my mod and they sent to me. I disconnected the onboard speakers. No use for and sound bad anyway.  I use earplugs under my lid so even if worked I couldn't hear them anyway as most people should be wearing earplugs when riding. Hence why I use earbuds.  

  So I noticed the battery in the right earpiece area when I did this aux mod and said I can't wait to upgrade that battery on the right earpiece when the time comes and am now surprised to hear there is the second battery.  Do you really need to match the mAH for both batteries?  It will just mean one will top off quicker than the other when charging and if both have circuitry protection you cant overcharge them. Also confirmed the one in the ear piece area is model 502530 - 300 mAH @ 3.7 1.11Wh. You can find 502530 lipo batteries now rated at 370 mAH as in here:

  https://www.ebay.com/itm/370mAh-3-7V-Lipo-Rechargeable-Battery-502530-For-smart-watch-MP3-bluetooth-GPS/183592005760

  I can even throw in a 500 mAH battery and conceal it under the helmet outside of the right earpiece case it was originally in. Not a big deal at all and would give plenty more juice.  That's what I really wanted to do and may try that as well.  

  I can also get the same 300mAH battery no problem and replace.  Very easy to do and see if battery life will improve just changing that one. I may try changing to a 370mAH and see but wanted further opinions on that from this post.   It's that second battery with the glued case thats a problem.  I don't know if I want to maul that case up.  Fiddled with it a little and I can probably get to it but it will get ruined.  It's not really budging. 

  Lowndnes - how did you get that cover off?  Looks like yours got mauled too in the process and you just put it back on without that cover. The 10U rear battery from the other post is apparently different than yours in the SRL.  Looks like ours in the 10U is a  701535 but I'll confirm if I can get to and if I attempt.  I may just try upgrading to the 370 mAH battery first. 

  Let me know.  I have my unit all apart now with exception to that rear battery. 

  ** Another idea was getting a 3rd 300mAH 502530 battery to install in the same series (replacing with 2 of these new ones). Put a new one in the earpiece and another new one externally under the lid.  So essentially having 900 mAH total but the other 300 mAH in the rear wouldn't be changed if I don't get to it so not sure how that would pan out. 

  Edited by Jelectronut October 27, 2020 01:34
• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley October 27, 2020 08:48

  Jelectronut,

   

  The battery compartment had already been opened when I got it.  It was either solvent-glued or heat welded together so as to NOT be serviced in any way.  It looked like it was carefully cut open around the seam.  There were two bosses on the inside for screws to hold the cover in place with matching posts in the main body.  I found a couple of tiny black screws that fit perfectly and drilled the holes in the cover.  It worked out very nicely.

   

  Lowndes

• 0
  
  Jelectronut October 27, 2020 22:19

  I got the rear battery case opened.  Tried heat and didn't budge.  Had to use dremel tool to cut around the plastic plate seated in the case.  Got it off without any major damage to the plate or the inner components. I can use the same plate as well to reseal.  Its the same 511643 battery that was in yours.  Im going with the 501646 battery too since the 511643 I cant even find. I see the 501646 on Ebay.  All China based sellers but looks like they have a 500 mAH version now as well.  So think I will do that along with the 350mAH in the right earpiece and going to also try putting another 350 mAH in series mounted inside my lid with the same JST 1.25mm connector. This way easy access if I wanted to remove for any reason. I'll test the setup thoroughly before I install back in the lid. A bit overkill for a total 1200 mAH but hey why not? I got this far. So now just waiting on the batteries to be received from China. 

• 0
  
  Jelectronut October 28, 2020 22:04

  Interesting find on the battery operation for the 10U. The unit will power on and work with just the rear case battery in place and removing the earpiece battery. However on power up you get 10 quick magenta color flashes on the led before going to the usual red blinks signifying amount of charge that's in the unit and then lastly followed by typical blue led blink. Not sure what the magenta color signifies. I have to assume it's to provide an error notice regarding the second battery but only Sena tech will know the meaning of the error. I plug in the earpiece battery and that error goes away.

  
  When I remove the rear case battery and only have the ear battery in place the unit won't power up at all. My hunch is because the "motherboard" isn't getting power based on the unit wiring setup. I figured out where to put the 3rd battery and fits perfectly in between the hard interior helmet shell structure on the bottom where the cheek pad plastic inserts slide in. I soldered additonal wire and JST connectors in the right earpiece configuring a parallel circuit to install the 3rd battery and can be removed on the fly if need be. I'm going to test 2 and 3 battery configuration installations. I have a 500maH for the rear and 2 x 350maH batteries for the earpiece on the way from China. Also have a 380maH for the rear in case the 500maH doesn't cooperate. I've read that different capacity batteries shouldn't matter in a parallel circuit but we're guessing on the units design and since it won't just power up with the right earpiece battery, there is some other engineering going on with these batteries. I won't know till I try.

  Each of these batteries have their own BMS so when charging each will take what they need and then shut themselves down. The important element is all the batteries run at the same 3.7v. I just hope I don't damage anything in the power up testing process when I try the 3 battery configuration. Cross fingers. Wish I had the new batteries. I got notices from the Ebay sellers they shipped so will be a week or 2 until I get them.

  Edited by Jelectronut October 28, 2020 22:07
• 0
  
  Jelectronut November 03, 2020 14:57

  Another finding after some testing.  Appears the right earpiece battery is there to power the earpiece speakers. Ive let the unit run and tested voltage depletion of that battery through the experimentation process and it never dropped voltage at all from being at a full charge. Stayed at 4.15v. All in part to my redesign for running earbuds instead which really takes no power.  Removing that earpiece battery my earbuds still work. I get the magenta led flash error at startup but no big deal.  Whereby my rear battery is now only lasting a few hours at this point because its toast.

  So really no point for me adding power to that earpiece point or increasing mAh there. I'm going to benefit removing that battery and put an extra battery in parallel at the rear and have the unit charge that as second battery and test that result. Could have saved me $10 for ordering the extra 502530 batteries but no big deal. 

  So at this point I'm going to install a 500 and 380 mAh battery at rear and see how the unit is capable to recharge and run both of those. I did end up finding on Amazon someone selling 350mAh 501646 batteries and so not to wait for the others coming from China, I bought and going to install those tonight. Amazon delivering today. Since Im Prime got in 2 days.  Still will have a total 700 mAh on those which is 60% more power than the original.  I like the fact the batteries match so will see how these work.  May leave. If math adds up based on what stock setup rated to give as 10hr run time with the original, which I never got BTW - probably more like 7 hrs, I should get in the 15hr run time range with 2 x 350mAh which is plenty since really just need it to last a full days ride until can recharge again. Im looking forward to more testing of this mod. 

   

• 0
  
  Jelectronut November 08, 2020 05:51

  Well success! Unit works awesome. Tested voltage readings with all 3 batteries and charges and depletes the rear batteries simultaneously. I left the earpiece battery in to avoid the error and doesn't hamper the units ability to charge. My earpiece battery isn't used and doesn't deplete at all since I don't use the onboard speakers. Once again, I added an extra battery in the rear in parallel circuit. Have 700mAh combined at the moment but my other 500mAh arrives Monday so I will have a total 850mAh (350mAh will stay in the rear encolure). Will be a piece a cake for me to add the way I rewired with additional JST connection. I tested the setup overnight and played music via BT 7.5 hrs straight before needing to be recharged. Standby time would be off the charts. When I put the 500 mAh in I should get at least 10hrs straight talk/music playback.

  I hot glued a section of the rear case cover to hold better. The other half is held on with the opposite side screw. I used Blu Tak to fill in the void around the rest of it to keep water tight. I didn't want to glue the whole thing so I can have easier time to open next time I have to get to that battery.

  Here is a link to the photos of my work.
  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rD3U0eEggtxynLcLIgRQcU150mSBA7U0?usp=sharing

  Hope this helps others. It was a great project.

  Edited by Jelectronut November 14, 2020 00:32
• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley November 08, 2020 14:54

  Jelectronut,

  The photo file needs to be in a "Shared File" in Google Photos. You will have to read Google's instructions on how to do that.  Otherwise, no one else can see them but you.

   

  https://blog.google/products/photos/new-controls-how-you-share-albums-google-photos/

   

   

  Edited by Lowndes Whatley November 08, 2020 15:09
• 0
  
  Jelectronut November 09, 2020 15:59

  Lowdnes - updated my Google Drive link for the photos.  I think that should do it. 

• 0
  
  Jelectronut November 14, 2020 01:17

  Just a further update. I received the 500mAh 501646 a few days ago and been testing performance.  I went through a couple charge and discharge cycles for the cell to optimize prior to me running the true test.

  I am quite pleased with the results.  The extra 150mAh provided an extra 2 hrs of straight through run time.  I had the unit completely charged when I started the test at 10am today.  It played music straight through via BT off my Samsung tablet and finally shut itself down at 730pm this evening for a total 9.5 hrs straight run time. This thing must have at least 12-15 hrs standby time now.  Again, this is off a total 850mAh combined with the onboard 350mAh in the rear storage compartment. I took more pictures and added to the Google link how I ran and tucked the 500mAh 501646 battery inside the helmet. I took the rear compartment out of the unit again too to reglue as it wasn't secure enough on the one side and would have allowed water to access if I got caught in bad rain. 

  I'm not going to stop here however...LOL.  Though this is plenty power for a days ride, I want to take it one step further.  I took measurements for the room I have in the helmets shell (picture provided for the location) and I'm going to swap out the 500mAh battery with a 1000mAh 503450 battery. I probably can even leave the 500mAh battery in and tie together as a 3rd battery in the same parallel circuit but unsure if I should try that or if even necessary but not going to discount it LOL.  That may be the very last test after this one.  1350mAh will be awesome and 1850mAh would be insane. I bought the 1000mAh battery for $10 off an Ebay seller in Chicago. So will have next week some time to throw in and test that performance. Very easy to swap these out now with the custom JST connectors being easily accessible out in the open externally from the Sena unit.  Stay tuned.....

   

   

• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley November 14, 2020 13:47

  Jelectronut,

   

  VERY NICE work there!!

   

  Maybe even Sena will notice and learn something.

   

  Please post some "finished goods" pics.

   

  Lowndes

  Edited by Lowndes Whatley November 14, 2020 13:48
• 0
  
  Jelectronut November 15, 2020 00:44

  Lowndes - I couldn't resist and now also hacked into my 10R battery case. Gonna mod that one now too.😁 Enclosure has a 550mAh 602248 3.7v 2.07Wh lipo in it. Going to do the same and make it a 3 battery parallel circuit with target of 300% more up time. Already planned out where I'm going to install the extra batteries in my AGV S-4-SV lid.  Putting the 2 extras in the right and left cheek pads.

  Sorry for hijacking your thread and this one for the 10R should really be a seperate post.  I'm installing 2 x 650mAh 602248 batteries (one will replace the original in the case per the pic)  and  Ihave 3 extra 370mAh 502530 which ended up not being used that I bought for my 10U so will use one of those in the 10R configuration.  So will have total 1670mAh in new lipos for the 10R and will only cost me less than $10 to do. 

  Edited by Jelectronut November 15, 2020 04:16
• 0
  
  Lowndes Whatley November 17, 2020 13:44

  Excellent!!

   

  Thanks, Jelectronut.

   

  Hey, SENA, are you paying attention here??

• 0
  
  Jelectronut November 18, 2020 20:35

  OK so last update on the 10U battery mod I promise 😁 I decided to go full gusto and put the 1000 mAh 503450 battery into the existing circuit with the 500 and 350 mAh batteries. Tested over the last 2 days and am blown away.

  I went from 9.5 hrs straight through BT connected music playback with the combined 350 and 500 mAh batteries to 24 hrs straight through music playback!!!! Just insane. So with this kind of power I can essentially ride 3 full days before requiring a recharge and that's really only if I'm using it full time in music and/or communication mode either by headset com pairing talk time or phone dialogue which noone would have that kind of use while riding. For music maybe. Standby time is off the charts now. Probably easily have 1 week standby power but everything depends on personal use and also ambient temperature. Lipos don't like cold weather so drain quicker when cold out.

  Recharging will take a little longer now (to be expected with the large total capacity) which I'm charging the unit now. I'll report back and edit in this post how long it takes.  **Took 6 hrs to fully charge all 3 batteries from complete depletion (really 4 if considering the ear piece lipo too powering the speakers but I don't use that battery and stays charged). Using a 3amp charging block.  Important to note that the speaker battery will need to be upgraded in mAh to match the output for what's in the rear case or could possibly lead to no sound output on the speakers.  Depends how much power draw the speakers have but this worked out in my favor and was more beneficial for me since I rewired the unit for earbud use.  So I was able to apply all the extra battery power that I added for the main power of the unit only.

  So in the end, all is not lost when these units reach their life. It's a tedious and time consuming process but I proved doable and took it one step further than Lowndes who I thank for starting this thread and How To.

  If anyone may need assistance to do this battery mod, reach out to me and perhaps we can work something out.

  Off to tackling the completion of my 10R battery mod now 😁 Just waiting for the batteries to arrive from China.

  I also posted in the same Google photos link additional pics entailing this last leg of the mod. It came out very clean and very impressed on the execution and work.

  Edited by Jelectronut November 19, 2020 04:02
• 0
  
  Mister Smith February 14, 2021 05:19

  Jelectronut

  Thanks for all the details. A couple questions for you.  I have a Shoe Neotec version 1 with the Sena 10U.  I'm getting about 4-5 hours max of music streaming.  Amazon has the 3.7V 300mAh 502530 for the earpiece and 3.7V 350mAh 501646 for the rear housing.

  Question #1 Do you think the 50mAh difference matters?

  Question #2 What happens if you put 300mAh in the earpiece and 1000mAh in the rear housing?

  I don't want to hack another battery into the system, but was wondering if putting 1000mAh in the rear under a custom 3D printed cover would get me the 12 hours of bluetooth streaming I'm after.  Thanks again to all who have shared.  The entire helmet industry has stagnated with integrated comms and I see no value in upgrading helmets in 2021.

  Edited by Mister Smith February 14, 2021 05:21
• 0
  
  Jelectronut February 14, 2021 06:38

  @Mister Smith

  I have provided a super amount of details for the mods. I don't have your specific unit but sounds alot like the 10U in my GT Air. I recommend you reread carefully on all my provided notes. Particularly regarding the points I made on the function of both batteries and my further testing including the point that I don't use the provided Sena helmet speakers. I will reiterate to you the major tip. You can mix and match battery mAh no problem (as stated above) as long as the same voltage and you wire them properly. The rear battery powers the entire unit whereas the earpiece battery powers the speakers. My earpiece battery never lost charge and was always at 100% while the rear battery always depleted. My concern would be If you installed only a bigger battery in the rear (which draws most of the unit power) and the earpiece battery may not last long enough to keep power to the onboard speakers and it will cut out on you even though the unit is still powered on (Applicable if you go to a 1000mAh battery I'm thinking) . If you do a 350 in rear and 300 in the earpiece, I think thats a smarter move.. It depends how much power draw the speakers pull. Test it for yourself and see how long the right earpiece speaker battery lasts compared to the rear. Run long tests and check voltages. That's what the testing world is all about. I've piggy backed multiple batteries in both com unit mods with success as noted and the charge function through the com unit is handled well and produces a balanced charge to all the batteries. 

  Both my 10U and 10R working awesome with these mods. I haven't really used them but checked on their charge and haven't depleted at all as the helmets sit. I did take my 10R to indoor Karting a few weeks ago. I'm floored on how much usage power they have now. I never have to worry about an extended day(s) of riding again. 

  As an added tip to everyone, you want to store lipos at 50-60% capacity for healthy cell state. I check this 1 of 2 ways. More detailed way is to unhook my batteries and check the voltage with my digital multimeter. Or just for quick simple check is see what my Android Phone is registering for battery capacity reading on the BT connection menu. Not a big deal for me to swap my batteries out going forward with the new mod design anyway so I'm good. 

  Good luck.

  Edited by Jelectronut February 14, 2021 14:54