Battery Guide

[Released: 2004] The PSP is the only handheld console to use an optical disc format as its primary storage medium. Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen and robust multi-media capabilities.

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Battery Guide

Post by /psp »

Following a post made on the 19th of July 2019, in which a user made reporting his bad experience on acquiring a new battery for his PlayStation Portable, it was suggested that creating a guide to PSP Batteries would be a good addition to the subreddit's wiki.
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Note:This post is still provisional. Many of the assertions here should be open to debate.
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As a Disclaimer, I want to say that I tried to make the post as complete as possible, but new information is always welcome. The text should cover the following issues :


  1. Battery general info ( durability, storing, energy saving)
  2. Dead Batteries
  3. Reviving a Battery
  4. New battery acquisitions
  5. Battery expansions
  6. Pandora Batteries
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Contributions are always welcome.
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Battery Info and Energy Saving
According to Wikipedia, " The PSP is powered by an 1800 mAh battery (1200 mAh on the 2000 and 3000 models) that provides between about three and six hours of gameplay, between four and five hours of video playback, or between eight and eleven hours of audio playback. ". But that was Years ago. If you're planning on acquiring a PSP, check the battery. If it was not used or stored properly, it has probably degraded over time, which means that it will not hold up as good as that. Check also to see if it is counterfeit. Capacities over 24200 mAh are big red flags All Batteries are 3.6V. The PSP Go and the PSP Street have, at least in theory, non removable batteries. But that is not true: PSP Go battery replacement and PSP Street battery replacement.
Sources say that batteries to extend playtime were sold. Those had 2200 mAh, and only were available for the 1000, 2000 and 3000 models.
Try replacing your batteries for new batteries every 5 or so years (and don't keep the PSP switched on for long periods while the charger is attached to it, as this will dramatically reduce the batteries life span (The same for the USB cable though not as bad)). Also keep the batteries out of the sun rain, snow etc; and generally out of hot and humid conditions. If you don't use the battery for a long period, store it in a clean, dry, cool place away from heat and metal objects.
Generally you don't want to leave your PSP unused for long periods of time, use it every 2-3 weeks. When you first use a new PSP battery, you want to fully charge and discharge your new battery two to four times to allow it to reach its maximum capacity.
There are methods to increase the PSP batteries life span, and they are the same that allow you to save energy: Reducing brightness, use headphones and not the default speakers, remove UMD's when not using them, turn off WLAN from the switch on the PSP; Also under Settings > Power save settings - turn on WLAN power save, and adjust the autosleep and Backlight auto-off to your choice. Also make sure that you properly switch off your PSP when you are not using it and not just putting it to sleep, by holding the power switch for a few seconds until the light goes out without moving the switch down.
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Dead Batteries
Say you just found your old psp, from when you were a child. You try to turn it on, but it won't. "it must be out of battery", you think. You try to recharge it, and it doesn't work. Or, say, you acquired a second hand PSP that was cheaper because, according to the seller, the battery is dead. What can you do?
There are a few options.
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Reviving a Battery
Before taking any further steps, it is recommended that you check for bad contact first, or some other simple issue.
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As I have come to find out, there are some ways of reviving a dead battery. One is already covered in the wiki, and you can see it here. This is applicable when your battery still gives Voltage, and to see that you need a multimeter. Here are, very briefly, the steps:


  1. check voltage
  2. try to discharge, but not completely, the battery wiring it to some LEDs (possibly another electronic too will work, need confirmation)
  3. Try to charge it on your PSP
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The other, is a rather simple one: " Get two thin pieces of wire, bare the ends so that the metal wire is exposed. Then insert one wire down the + connector of the battery and the other wire down the – connector. Briefly touch the two wires together, you might see a spark if your battery holds a charge. Do not leave the two wires joined for longer then a couple of seconds, as you are shorting your battery. By doing this, you should have reset the circuit inside the battery which holds data on charge capacity. Remove the wires and try the battery in your PSP, hopefully it will start charging."
Summary of the steps:


  1. Connect the battery + and the - to each other for less than a second.
  2. The circuit inside the battery will be reset
  3. Try to charge it on your PSP
This one needs to be reviewed by someone, because a post on reddit said that this could blow up the battery. Please confirm.
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This one requires more materials, and it used for batteries that can't be charged because their residual charge is too low for the battery to charge. Summary:


  1. Use a voltmeter to measure the residual charge of the battery
  2. Incrementally charge the Lithium Cell by Applying 9V to Its Terminals / Pads (with a battery or a bench power supply)
  3. Try to charge it on your PSP
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You can also check this post to give you some hints on refurbishing your battery. Apparently, you can just take your battery to some store in which they handle batteries to get the cell replaced. It is that simple.
Or you can do it as Users recommend, which is checking out Hobby King for a replacement cell and replace it yourself. You can search for a "1200mAh Turnigy " (They seem to ship worldwide) for a PSP 2000/3000. A 2000mAh would fit inside the battery casing of a 1000 model, according to a user, which provided this tutorial. The 2000 mAh will NOT fit inside a model 2000/3000 battery casing. Here is another tutorial, with three different batteries, which model was used is unidentified in the tutorial, but it was said by the OP in the comments that it was for a PSP 1000. So far it was not indicated what kind of cells can be used on other models like a PSPGo or a PSP Street. This should provide enough energy for a few hours. Keep in mind that if you bought some PSP with no battery whatsoever, you will still need the casing and the circuit board inside of it.
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For slim batteries, the maximum dimensions of the cell are 6mmx34mmx50mm. It is unknown for the 1000 and other models.
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A very important note: It is know that USB Charging a battery which uses a chinese circuit board will cause it to bug, even if you replace the cell. That means you should be careful when connecting a PSP via USB. A Solution is to disable the USB Charging option on your PSP; other solution is to take out the memory stick and connect it, instead of the PSP.
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Here are some brief instructions on how to refurbish your cell:


  1. open the battery casing
  2. Unsolder the connectors that go from the battery to the circuit board
  3. Solder the connectors ( positive to b+ and negative to b-) to the circuit board
  4. Try to charge the battery on your psp
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You can also replace the small cells for larger, more modern ones. For info on that, check the "Battery expansion" section below.
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Buying a new battery
Even if your current battery is working, you might want to buy a new, just so you have more power when on the go.
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This tutorial provides some information about the best batteries to buy in 2019. Here's a summary of the video:


  1. If has only "battery pack" written on it, it doesn't work
  2. Insten brand batteries are a big no, they charge, but only hold up for 10 minutes. The PSP won't boot with them. However, some comments say they are fine with them, and their charge holds up for between 3 and 4 hours.
  3. Swollen batteries not even once, because they can blow up and damage your PSP
  4. KMD Batteries are good. Recommend to buy in stores or on Amazon. Not on eBay. They seem to hold for about 6 hours, but it will degrade over time, even though it will hold up ok. They are almost as good as original ones.
  5. Actual sony unused PSP Batteries are the best, but rare.
A comment in there talks about a Cameron sino batteries, and it seems like someone on Reddit found those really good. According to the comment, their top batteries can last up to SEVEN hours.
But most importantly, is the comment that says that none of those batteries were made recently, so they already have a few years, which can make it a hit or miss when buying them. This is the case for almost every battery, and thus why I would not recommend buy one (It is my voice, not the community's voice).
Also, the community vividly recommends to AVOID 3600 mAh and 2400mAh Batteries, as they are seen as a scam.
Note that batteries with chinese circuit boards tend to bug out when connected via USB with the USB Charging option turned on. Turn off that option or just use the Memory stick to avoid that.
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As some people have had terrible experiences when purchasing batteries, here is a Blacklist that I hope we can expand with your contributions.
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Red Flags and Blacklist:

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Note: Keep in mind that it might not be the sellers fault. These batteries are no longer being made, and they must have been stored for some years now,which is why they suck. Some,however, are just a scam, claiming to have a certain capacity but having a cell which mAh value doesn't correspond to the one promised.
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Advice:


  • Always check feedback and reviews
  • If Second-hand, try before you buy
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At the moment, there is no whitelist or recommend list, because no particular seller of batteries was recommended to anyone in the posts I saw.
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PSP Battery Mod
It is common to see on /r/PSP people talking about modding the battery. This consists in increasing your battery's capacity at the expense of the UMD Drive. In general, these are the steps:


  1. Remove the Battery
  2. Remove the UMD Drive
  3. Connect the circuit board of the battery to a cell that has a larger capacity than the original
  4. Insert the cell in the UMD drive Space
  5. Wrap everything up
Note that Custom Firmware is need for this to work.
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For materials, you will need:


  • ​


  1. A PSP 2000 or 3000

(The links provided here are the same you find in the below's video description, I just copy-pasted it)
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This is our primary source for this mod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmcyH8ppxjI
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To fit battery this size inside the PSP you'll have cutting some plastic pieces on the back of the PSP, particularly the tab which separates the Battery compartment from the UMD compartment. A Battery with this capacity, according to the modder, will give you close to seven hours of game time ( my calculations say it will be of 6h48minutes, estimating based on the fact that at 87% it has power for 5h53 minutes). It will also take longer to charge. Another question I have is how much more different it feels in what comes to it's weight in your hands.
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It seems that you can use any cell with any capacity, as long as the output is around 3.6V, like the original batteries. You should also be on the lookout so that the Battery fits inside de UMD compartment. If it does not, you can always leave the packet hanging out.
Check out this video, in which the modder uses a 10000mAh cell, which doesn't fit inside of his PSP, but claims to give him an astonishing play time of around 35 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGofx5jDiZA
If, for whatever reason, you want a battery that runs on AAA Batteries, there is also a way to do that with this mod. It will give you probably about 2 to 3 hours of playtime. Here's a guide: https://youtu.be/zc5huF71Oj0
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Pandora Batteries
I think that the possibility of custom firmware easily installed on your PSP has made Pandora Batteries obsolete, so I will take a lot of time in covering this section.
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This is a guide on hacking your PSP when you already have a Pandora battery : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ydzaf0OZk
Shortly, the steps are:


  1. Insert a Magic stick and a Pandora battery,and the PSP will turn on automatically.
  2. Turn it off and unplug the battery
  3. Plug the battery again and turn on the PSP while hold the L trigger
  4. Choose the option to install custom Firmware. It will be done
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To create a pandora battery or a Magic Stick, check out this guide: http://www.pspmod.com/forums/psp-guides-tutorials/23428-guide-making-pandoras-battery-%2Anew-method%2A.html
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Here's a summary of what you have to do for the pandora battery:


  1. Open your battery
  2. Remove a specific Pin (#5)
  3. Reassemble your battery
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Since the link also provides instructions on creating a Magic Stick, I will also provide a summary on that.


  1. Connect your PSP with a Memory stick to your computer
  2. Format your PSP's Memory Stick
  3. Download 'universal unbricker' (the guide's link is broken) and unpack it to the inside of the memory stick
  4. Move the partitions inside your Magic Stick
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If your PSP's bricked, repeat the process, but use a card reader instead of connecting the PSP.
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Final note
Everything here is open to discussion. Probably not everything that is needed to be known is here. But I did my best. I tried to cover the general issues first, like durability, storing and energy saving. Reviving batteries was the issue to which I dedicated most time exploring and writing. If a battery can't be jump started or just drained out with a light bulb, replacing it's cell seems to be better than buying a new one, as those can come in bad condition or not, which is why there are so many contradictory opinions on which battery brands are the best. Another option is to abdicate the UMD drive and replace it with a larger cell. Batteries can also be used to hack your PSP firmware, but it seems to take a lot more work than just follow /r/PSP guide to hacking it.
I will be trying to edit the post with the corrections that I find in the comments. I also hope that the wiki admin sees this post, so it can be implemented there. Please, however, keep in mind that I am not yet sure how everyone will react to what is written in here.
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