Tenergy 14.4V 3800mAh NiMH Battery Pack for IRobot
Features and Benefits * NIMH High Power 14.4V 3800mAh rechargeable battery * 70 oC thermistor installed in the battery pack. Power will be cutt off if battery temperature beyond 70oC during...read more
$.
$25.99
$25.99
Average Customer Rating
3 out of 5 |
Product Features
- Compatible with all Roomba FloorVac models.
- Up to 120 minutes run-time
- The battery is designed for exactly replacing inside battery pack for IRobot Vacuum cleaner. e.g Roomba APS 4905 battery.
- Can be recharged up to 1000 cycles.
- To replace inside battery, you need to take off 4 screws on the case, then put new battery with solid connection. Screwdriver is included
Product Description
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Features and Benefits
* NIMH High Power 14.4V 3800mAh rechargeable battery
* 70 oC thermistor installed in the battery pack. Power will be cutt off if battery temperature beyond 70oC during charging to prevent from over charge.
* 6 length wires is pre-installed for easy installation.
* The battery is designed for exactly replacing inside battery pack for IRobot Vacuum cleaner. e.g Roomba APS 4905 battery.
- To replace inside battery, you need to take off 4 screws on the case, then put new battery with solid connection.
- Please make sure polarity of battery pack. Red wire is always connect to positive
* TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
- Votlage: 14.4V, made of 12 pcs High quality NiMH sub C cells. and packed by 2x6 configuration
- Capacity: 3800mAh
- Max. Discharging rate : 10 C at 33 A
- Dimension: 136 mm L x 45 mm W x 45 mm H.
- Weight: 38.5 Oz.
* Battery Installation Instruction:
Step 1: Loose up all srews on the top cover of the Roomba Advanced Power System.
Tool: You need a triangle screw driver to do so.
Step 2: Open and remove the top cover from the power system, which may be glued.
Tool: You may need a flat screw driver to open it carfuelly
Step 3: Remove the old battery inside. Three are wires with metal contact connected inside. You can remove the wires by pulling up the contat or cut wires off.
Take a note of the wire connections
Step 4: Put new battery into the battery case and solder three wire back to metal contacts. Follow the note taken in Step 3 or the following details for re-wire:
- Red wire : battery positive - The red wire must go to the terminal farthest away from the battery
- Black wire: battery negative - metal contact near edge
- White wire: temp sensore - metal contact on other side
Step 5: Put back the cover
Step 6: Screws on the cover ....read more
25 Responses to “Tenergy 14.4V 3800mAh NiMH Battery Pack for IRobot”
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good for a few months
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I got this back in December 2008. The install process was not difficult since I am an EE person. It all worked great for a few months, then I noticed that it would seem to get stuck without finishing up the room. So, I ran it during the day one time and noticed that after leaving the charger the light immediately became yellow, indicating low charge. After a few more minutes it would turn red and then stop. I turned off the scheduled cleaning and have not tried to use it again til recently, December 2009. It runs for 1 minute then stops. The original battery lasted me about 2 years and would still vacuum maybe 10-15 minutes when I bought this one.
In the end, I guess you get what you pay for. I would recommend getting the original battery or at least a battery from a more reputable company…
Worked well for 6 months
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It worked well for 6 months. Gave >1 hr of vacuuming time while it was good. Then it went downhill fast.
The design is 12 cells in series. Turns out that if even one cell is weak, the other 11 will quickly ruin it, and kill the whole pack. No one makes a battery pack that gets around this design flaw. There is a Roomba hobbyist (on the internet) who has taken his battery pack and soldered bypass diodes across each cell to prevent this breakdown. That is the only way around this problem.
I bought it, and used it….
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Believe everyone who advised you to get your case open before buying the replacement insert. I nearly broke off the clip while I was chipping away at the glued shut case. *TIPS* The ends are the hardest part to pry open because they are glued on a ledge you cannot tap open because of the clips and metal heat sensor. Use a sharp razor blade (like from a paint scraper) rather than a screwdriver, much easier. I installed the battery and my roomba still does not work, but I found a website that has a complete tear down [...], with the parts labeled so there is still hope. I also found a diagnostic you can run before the purchase of a new battery[...], which I haven’t tried yet because your machine has to be charged to run the diagnostic tests. I hope this helps, my rating is in the middle because I don’t yet know if the product works, but it was easy to install, arrived quickly, and had all the parts as promised.
I bought it, and used it….
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Believe everyone who advised you to get your case open before buying the replacement insert. I nearly broke off the clip while I was chipping away at the glued shut case. *TIPS* The ends are the hardest part to pry open because they are glued on a ledge you cannot tap open because of the clips and metal heat sensor. Use a sharp razor blade (like from a paint scraper) rather than a screwdriver, much easier. I installed the battery and my roomba still does not work, but I found a website that has a complete tear down [...], with the parts labeled so there is still hope. I also found a diagnostic you can run before the purchase of a new battery[...], which I haven’t tried yet because your machine has to be charged to run the diagnostic tests. I hope this helps, my rating is in the middle because I don’t yet know if the product works, but it was easy to install, arrived quickly, and had all the parts as promised.
Short Life!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This battery does not have the 1000 recharge cycles as claimed! I have had it installed for less than 4 months, running twice a week, so about 32 cycles so far. The battery pack currently runs my roomba for 15 minutes before it heads back to the charger. As soon as it starts, the battery power indicator is already orange-red. Very poor performance for a replacement battery. Installation was not a problem, but as noted by other reviews, it does not fit easily into original battery case. You get what you pay for!
Excellent replacement
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It was a life saver to read all the previous purchasers and their stories. I was ready for the hassle of replacing non-user replaceable part. That readiness was sure needed as I wiggled a big knife through the glued up battery casing.
I am happy with the result. iRobot is an excellent product and they didn’t use cheapest possible battery for their Roomba but this Tenergy batteries are one of the latest and it does hold the juice very well. Now I have my casing glue removed, I can forever keep my Roomba going. I love you iRobot! I hope you do more! My next lawn mower has to be from iRobot.
big pain no gain
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I, like some of the other reviewers, only got about 10 uses out of this battery before it quit holding a charge. By this I mean, it runs for 1 second and sings “come and find me”… which isn’t as fun as usual because he will still be sitting at your feet. I used the roomba’s service mode to run the wheels continuously to drain the battery down to zero. After a long day-long charge, it again rain for 1 second and stopped. No gain. Sad roomba.
The pain part is that it took forever to crack open my old APS battery as mine was very thoroughly sealed shut. I would recommend trying to open your battery before buying a kit like this to make sure you have one that is easy to open. Once open, the new battery kit does not fit quite right and required some force to get it in the old battery case. Then the new wires do not come with friction fittings or any other kind of connector.. just bare wires requiring soldering skills.. and a soldering iron.
Spend the extra $$ and get an irobot NiCD battery.. roomba just may not be compatible with the NiMH or I received a defective product. 2 stars if all you need is the triangular screwdriver and a blue and red doorstop.
same issues – short product life
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
this worked amazing for about 6 months of light use – it would run and run and run.
too bad that a few weeks ago, the run time went from 1.5 hour + to only about 10 minutes. I know NiMH batteries dont last forever, but with this light use it seems like i should have gotten at least a year’s use from this
No staying power
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Originally, I was very happy with the replacement cells for the Roomba APS battery, but after about 6 months of cleaning 3x per week runtime has decreased dramatically. Now, my scheduler discovery won’t run for more than 15 minutes regardless of attempts to discharge and recondition.
As others have noted, if you plan on keeping your Roomba running, either buy the iRobot OEM battery and have it last a year and a half (like mine) or bite the bullet and find Li-ion cells.
Didn’t last long
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
These batteries got used 5 times and then wouldn’t hold a charge anymore. Now that iRobot has lowered their battery packs I’ll be buying them from iRobot.
Great deal, not real difficult to install
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased 3 of these for my 3 robots. The saving alone was enough to take on the daunting task of opening up the cases. It was much easier once I figured out the trick. Don;t try to cut or dremel your way through. Cut a bit, then use a mid size flat blade screw driver and a mallet to break the seal. I opened the third batter in under 2 minutes. It did help to have several to get better over time. I’m not expecting any better performance than the originals since it is pretty clear the iRobot charging system needs more attention.If you need instructions here they are: Break open the old case, cut the wires mid way to the old battery, strip about 1/2″ insulation off all wires being careful not to short the ones on the new battery, with a soldering iron connect the new battery matching the wires by color (red to red, etc.), tape each connection with electrical tape, tuck the wires between the cells, and close.
Battery has short lifetime
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This battery is difficult to install as noted in other reviews. But once it is installed it restores the run time of the Roomba to what it was initially.
The downside is that this new battery looses its ability to hold a charge much more quickly then the original Roomba battery. My impression of using the Tenergy battery for only a few months is that it’s life is less than the original Roomba’s battery was after a year of use.
Given the difficulty of installation and what appears to be inferior battery technology to the original Roomba, I would not recommend buying this product but would rather recommend buying an a new battery from iRobot.
4/25/09 update
Original battery pack died completely after four months. I opened up the pack and measured the voltage across each cell while under charge and discharge. From doing this it became clear that one cell in the pack (of 12 cells) had died and the others were fine. But one dead cell makes the whole pack unusable in the Roomba.
The manufacturer was willing to send me a new pack. I went through the hassle again of changing it. The new pack lasted about one month before it also stopped working.
At this point I would give this product the lowest rating. I will also avoid any other products from Tenergy since the quality of their cells, from my small sample set, is very poor.
second Tenergy Roomba pack I’ve used
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is the second battery I have replaced for one of our Roombas. The first one has been going strong for six months and easily increased the run time by a third over the Roomba battery when the original was new. I found that using a wood chisel and a light touch with a hammer has been a good way to begin cracking the case and can be used (carefully) to open the gap between the top and bottom by tapping the chisel in the opened crack to split the glued joint. Be patient and work slowly. The soldering is straightforward, but you need a soldering iron, solder and a fireproof place to work. If you just want to pop out one battery and put in another, plan on spending $70 on a new battery from iRobot; I’m glad to pay less than half and invest an hour in getting a strong battery.
Worth the cost
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I didnt seem to have the same issues others did when taking the original battery apart. Yes, it was glued… however it only took me about 20 minutes to separate the top from the rest of the battery compartment. This was accomplished by using two very small regular screwdrivers, and working my way along slowly (but i guess not as slowly as the people for whom it took two hours). I found it easiest to start at one of the ends, where the glue was lightest (under the latching mechanism where the contacts are.
All in all I think I spent less than an hour from start to finish (between opening the case, removal of old battery and connectors, sodering connecters on new battery, putting case back together). The most time consuming aspect was removing the new battery from the case after I had dropped it in to ‘dry fit’ it and measure the wires. It’s a TIGHT fit.
First running after full charge – 65 minutes
2nd running – was not timed
3rd running – approx 75 minutes
4th running approx 75 minutes
At this time, obviously it’s unknown how long the battery will last. Unfortunately, I’m not receiving anywhere close to 120 minutes as some other people have claimed. Maybe pot luck depending on the quality of the cells you receive. Even at running for an hour to 75 minutes, i’ll be happy if the battery lasts one year of normal use. Otherwise, probably worth the extra $20 to purchase a true replacement.
Worth the effort and $$$
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Thanks to those who have shared their know-how. I followed the posted instructions to replace the APS battery with the Tenergy 14.4V 3800mAh NiMH battery pack for my Roomba Scheduler during the holiday break (took me 3 hours from start to finish) and ever since it runs like a charm – I mean it cleans up 4 rooms and still has some juice left.
No legs on this battery
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
After only 4 months of steady use the cleaning cycle duration supported by the battery can be measured in seconds. In contrast, the original battery lasted about 1 year under a load of 4-5 cleaning cycles per week. Even at twice the price, the authentic Roomba battery is a better buy.
THey do not last like the ones from IRobot
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I purchased this kit last August and it is now December. In a short 4 months my roomba is already showing signs of a dying battery so I will have to purchase another. I run my roomba about 4-5 times per week- there is no way the battery should be failing so soon. With batteries from IRobot they would last nearly a year before I had to replace them. The IRobot battery is about twice the cost of this kit, but if it only lasts 4 months then you will have to buy three kits per year. Even though the web site says this company is based in CA, my guess is that the batteries are manufactured in China. Like all the other batteries and electronic OEM stuff from China that I have purchased – it is not up to quality and does not last.
Works wonder, but like everyone said opening the APS case is difficult.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It doesn’t come with any instruction manual at all, but I for one propably think the same as the seller of this item. If you even had the thought to replace the battery inside the APS unit, you probably had all the knowledge to do so without any instruction manual.
Wires are clearly color coded, so its impossible to miss the positive/negative/ground.
They protect the end of each wire properly, its a good thing to know for some people out there that short circuiting 12 cells (14,4V) that can transmit around 40A WILL cause Sparks!
Regarding myself, I’m very experienced in handling various kind of battery, especially in RC vehicle Batteries, that is why I decided to replace my own Roomba APS battery.
YES, opening the APS is super difficult, took me good 2.5 hours to opened it with eXacto knife, hammer and flat screw driver.
The reason I give this 4 star is the difficulty on installing the battery inside the APS not OPENING the APS case.
The wired that comes with my battery is making the entire battery a bit taller that it should be, a bit modification with the wire arrangement works wonder and shortening the end wire significantly is also required.
Soldering and isolating each positive and negative contacts seperately is highly recommended, like I said above this batteries can deliver 40Amps at 14.4Volts, enough to cause fire if short circuited and most likely will burn your hand.
Overall the entire process worth the trouble, if you don’t think you can get the APS opened, get the APS shell somewhere else, look on froogle. It probably only cost you around 15$.
My Roomba is now back to its tip top shape and performed like new
A waste of time and money
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The product arrived as specified, but I should have read the other reviews first. I was expecting a quick and easy replacement procedure. The top of the original Roomba battery case is not just tacked on with glue, it is bonded. I’ve tried prying it up with various tools, but it appears at this point I’m going to have get out the old Dremel and saw through where the seam should be. Who knows if the battery will slide back into the Roomba insert after all this or that I don’t rupture the old batteries in the process? I don’t have time for this or to mess with a return. The seller should have given a warning about this issue in the product description. I wish I had just bitten the bullet and bought an entire replacement battery.
Good batteries but difficult to install
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This approach to replacing batteries isn’t for everyone. The job would have been fairly simple with the included screwdriver except that iRobot apparently decided to also GLUE the battery cover shut.
Works great, but you had better be “handy”
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The good news is this product works as advertised and is significantly less expensive than other full battery replacements (which include the outer case). The bad news is you have to be prepared to do quite a bit of work to disassemble the old battery case, replace the old batteries inside, and reassemble the case — all without instructions. This is why my overall rating is only 3 stars (due to the complexity of the install).
In detail, here are the steps you’ll need to know:
Put the new battery pack into the case and assemble leads into case.
1) For pictures and some basic online instructions, do a Google search for “batteryspace NiMH IRobot Roomba” (without the quotes).
2) Start by removing the battery case from Rumba (simple).
3) Using the provided screwdriver, unscrew the Rumba battery case
4) If the top lid does not easily come off after unscrewing the triangular screws, it is likely that your case is also glued shut (most seem to be this way). You’ll need to use extreme caution and patience to carefully pry/cut/chisel off this lid without breaking it. To do this, I used a combination of some flat-edged screw drivers with some gentle taps and a sharp utility knife. This part alone took about an hour and is by far the biggest challenge in this build.
5) With the lid off, you can remove the old batteries and de-solder the leads that are connected to the 3 wires. I suggest you record which lead goes to which wire.
6) In my build, I had to shorten the wires with the new battery pack (far too long to fit otherwise). I determined the new length by installing the battery pack into the case, routing the wires the same as in the final assembly, and clipping each about 1 inch beyond where the lead would be located.
7) Solder each wire to its respective lead.
9) Screw the top back on and pop it back into your Rumba.
10) I let mine then charge overnight for a solid first-time charge.
Having said all of this, I’d still do it again, especially since the hard part (taking the glued lid off the case) has been done. A future battery replacement will now be simple and pay me back a savings of $35 – $40 with each replacement.
Know this before you buy!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I thought this battery would be better than the original NiCad battery given that it is NiMH and 3600mAh. But it was not. On a full charge it works for 110 mins. The original NiCad when new worked 120 mins. Not bad, but not as advertized and I worry that it will not last as long either.
I am glad I did this, but before you buy any battery you replace yourself, take apart your old battery case first if you can. It is pretty tricky and you may end up damaging the case so bad that it is not repairable. Also you will need to do some soldering yourself.
Good Luck
It works great but installation is tricky.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
As iRobot charges $70 for a replacement APS unit (case with batteries), I thought that I would try installing my own replacement batteries into the APS case. After ordering, the batteries arrived quickly and in good condition, but no instructions were included. The supplied screwdriver was a little small for the triangular screw heads holding together the APS case. (I could have easily stripped the screwdriver head if I used too much force.) The replacement batteries are very slightly smaller than the “stock” batteries in the APS, but fit in snugly enough. The replacement batteries appear to have a higher capacity that the original batteries (when new), as my Roomba can run for a longer period before needing to recharge.
However, opening the APS case was a tough task! After removing the screws, I used a very sharp utility knife to repeatedly score glued seal between the APS case and its lid. Eventually, I was able to work in a very small flathead screwdriver to pry apart the case. As some parts were glued very well, I had to continue to use the utility knife to score then cut apart the glued case. Eventually I could work in a larger screwdriver to pry open the case a bit more. One false move, the lid will crack – so it is critically important to the patient and work at it diligently. I spent about 20 minutes opening the APS case.
Installing the replacement batteries was a snap … I cut the wires from the old battery pack and soldered in the new replacement pack, sliding over the supplied electrical insulators over the solder unions. I screwed the APS case back together, recharged the Roomba overnight … and everything has worked well! At least next time the batteries need to be replaced, I won’t have to spend so much time getting the APS case open!
WORKS GREAT!! You need to know the details before you do this!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
You need to know that iRobot corp. makes it difficult to change this battery. After removing the screws, I found that the yellow battery case lid is glued to the bottom of the case. You need a couple of straight, small screwdrivers to slowly tap open the glue seam much like a diamond cutter uses a tiny chisel to tap cut a diamond. I had to tap the seam every 1/4 inch to break it loose. Hit it too hard and your cost savings are gone if you break the case at the attachment points – you would need to buy the whole battery pack – so only do this if you are careful and patient. Removing the old battery pack also is challenging if you are not the careful type as it is glued to the base of the case internally. Cutting the wires and soldering the leads is easy but there is no room for any other attachment method so you had better be confident in your soldering skills. This is not a job for the impatient person and you had better have all the right tools but since I am a nerd geek, I enjoyed the challenge and IT WORKED GREAT!! CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES AND KNOW YOUR SKILLS and if this sounds fun and challenging (like I do), it is a great way to save $40.00 AND set it up to do future battery replacements more easily.
A “new” battery for less than half the cost.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
My Roomba would only run a maximum of 10 minutes per charge, so I suspected the battery was the issue. I priced out replacement batteries, but it seemed the cost was prohibitive considering I could buy a entirely new Roomba for only $25-$30 more than the battery itself.
I finally located the Tenergy replacement cells and thought this was a good option. I replaced the cells of my Roomba APS battery (the yellow one) with minimal effort. I removed the screws of the battery case with the triangle shaped screwdriver which was included with the kit. The case of the battery was a little difficult to pry open but once it was I simply cut the three wires from the old battery and removed it.
I then soldered the new battery pack leads into place. There are three color coded leads (red, black, white) and you just need to match the colors. I suppose it wouldn’t be absolutely necessary to solder these, but I didn’t want to deal with a loose connection down the road. I also used a small piece of heat-shrink tubing on each lead, but electrical tape would work also.
Finally, I screwed the case back together. Note that the replacement cells were a tight fit into the case, but with a little adjustment to the position of the leads I was able to get the case back together with no major issues. I then used a multimeter to measure the voltage at the prongs of the battery and confirmed my connections were working. The new battery measured almost a full volt higher than my old one even after the old one was fully charged, so I am confident this will resolve my issues and thus far it appears that it has.
I run my Roomba while I am at work and haven’t had an opportunity to time it yet, but I can tell by the amount of dirt in the bin and the tracks on the carpeting that it is back to it’s old self. Based upon the size of the area it is covering, I would guess it is running at least an hour on one charge, so I have no complaints about battery life at this time.
I have no way of knowing if the lifespan of this battery will be better than the factory battery, but considering the factory one only lasted about a year I surely hope so. All things considered it was well worth my time to replace the cells as the five minutes it took saved me at least $30-40. In fact the longest part of the entire replacement was waiting for my soldering iron to heat up.
My only complaints are that there were no instructions included (not that I needed them, but I can see some people might find them beneficial) and the battery was shipped in a non-padded USPS envelope rather than a proper box to protect it from shipping damage.