Sansa E280 Battery Replacement

I had a hard time finding a replacement battery for my E280.  Radio Shack online has a kit for the E280R. I emailed Sandisk asking if the battery kit the E280R would work in the E280 and they responded yes.  They also said that Sandisk no longers carries batteries for the E280.

I found other, cheaper batteries on line but I also read reviews that stated some of those batteries did not work.

I ordered two from Radio Shack. 

I will post again when I receive them.

If you’re still concerned that the “e280R battery kit” won’t work in your e280, don’t be. Both players are exactly the same except for firmware. Well, there’s also the possibility that your e280 is a v2 (which has some internal hardware differences from the v1 and “R” models), but the battery is still the same.

I ordered a new “higher capacity” e200 series battery on eBay for $5.93 including shipping.

It arrived in one week.

It is 3.7V, 1300mAh, 4.81Wh - almost 2 times the capacity of “standard” batteries (650 & 750mAh).

I will be running Rockbox battery bench utility to determine if the 1300mAh rating is legitimate.

@perigee wrote:

I had a hard time finding a replacement battery for my E280.  Radio Shack online has a kit for the E280R. I emailed Sandisk asking if the battery kit the E280R would work in the E280 and they responded yes.  They also said that Sandisk no longers carries batteries for the E280.

 

I found other, cheaper batteries on line but I also read reviews that stated some of those batteries did not work.

 

I ordered two from Radio Shack. 

 

I will post again when I receive them.

Guessing you bought 2 to save one as a spare, when the first one dies?  If so, keep the spare at about a 40% charge level, as opposed to 100% charge, and at a cool temperature.  See link below:

Battery University

Informal test results of “new 1300mAh” battery

I had trouble with Rockbox battery bench (most likely operator error) so I used the original firmware 01.02.24A on two e200’s.  One with the new battery and one with a SanDisk OEM battery (unknown age and charge/discharge cycles, but known to be good).  Both were fully charged and set to repeat play a group of MP3 files.

OEM 750mAh battery = 15.75 hours
“new 1300mAh” battery = 17.75 hours

Obviously the 1300mAh rating claim is less than truthful or accurate.

That’s an interesting finding, isn’t it?  At least the price is right for the new battery.  The claim is a difficult one, with the size constraints.

Bob  :wink:

@jmtx wrote:

Informal test results of “new 1300mAh” battery

I had trouble with Rockbox battery bench (most likely operator error) so I used the original firmware 01.02.24A on two e200’s.  One with the new battery and one with a SanDisk OEM battery (unknown age and charge/discharge cycles, but known to be good).  Both were fully charged and set to repeat play a group of MP3 files.

OEM 750mAh battery = 15.75 hours
“new 1300mAh” battery = 17.75 hours

Obviously the 1300mAh rating claim is less than truthful or accurate.

 

 

Is the new battery physically larger, or the same size as the original?

It is the same physical size.

3.7V, 1300mAh, 4.81Wh

If the 1300mAh rating was truthful/correct, it would have almost 2 times the capacity or run time

of “standard” batteries (650 & 750mAh), but sadly it does not.

Message Edited by JMTX on 08-03-2010 01:34 AM

Assuming that the original battery case is probably already pretty full, I suppose it would be tough to pack in almost twice the capacity in the same space without some major breakthrough in battery chemistry.  Scam artists!!  But at least they aren’t very expensive.

Oh well, at least it isn’t a total scam.  They aren’t charging you twice as much for increased capacity.  In fact, that’s an awesome price.

Run that battery through a few charging cycles to see what it’s real capacity becomes; it may increase with a few cycles.  If there’s an issue with the printed rating, we’ll see by trying out some more of them.  I’m ready for a replacement for my e280.  Not all batteries live up to their official rating.

Looking closely at the photo, it looks like that’s a Usance logo I spy with my little eye.  The original SanDisk battery modules were from this manufacturer.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

I’ll put it through a few charge cycles and see if it increases in capacity.

It might improve some, but I don’t see how it will ever live up to the 1300mAh claim.

I ordered from eBay seller iTrimming: iTrimming | eBay Stores

~$6.00 including shipping; received in one week (shipped from USA).

I will order from them again.

re: SanDisk OEM batteries

Is there a difference between Welldone and Usance?

Message Edited by JMTX on 08-09-2010 09:28 AM

I have never dealt with Welldone (Taiwan), but I see they also deal with battery modules.  For the Sansa, the Usance is the familiar brand.

Bob  :wink: