Check your PSP batteries

[Steven Pendleton]

It seems that there are lots of reports over the last day here in Japan where people have discovered that their PSP batteries are swelling up, so check your PSP batteries.

 

My go is fine, but I'll have to find both of my 2000s to check them.

Edited July 25, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[DragonGrafx-16]

I bought a new battery for my PSP-1000 in 2009 and it's been fine.

[Video]

They probably last better while you actively use the system and keep cycling the battery. Unfortunately, mine is old enough their both beginning to bulge. Not sure it's safe to use, but I only charge it when I have time to watch it, in case it goes nuclear or something.

 

I need to try running it without a battery, if that works I may build a power pack and use that, the originals are certainly on their last legs, and all the currently available ones are nos, and likely to be in the same, or worse operating condition.

[Steven Pendleton]

So I opened my US 2000 and there was no battery inside. What the hell. I guess that means my US PSP is good.

 

Not sure where I put my Japanese 2000, but I'm sure I'll find it eventually.

[Atariboy]

They work without the battery pack, so feel free to remove the bulging battery and just run it off the charger.

[homerj]

One of my PSPs is fine.  I actually found a 1000 among bags of miscellaneous junk that was bound for the dump while helping somebody move a few months back.  It was in a case & looked brand new except for the battery which was swollen & wouldn’t take a charge.  Worked fine with a new battery. 

[TrekMD]

Thank you for posting about this.  I just checked mine and, sure enough, it was swollen!  I almost couldn't get the cover off to get the battery out.  Got a couple of new ones on Amazon and an external charger.

[Steven Pendleton]

9 hours ago, TrekMD said:

Thank you for posting about this.  I just checked mine and, sure enough, it was swollen!  I almost couldn't get the cover off to get the battery out.  Got a couple of new ones on Amazon and an external charger.

Yeah, I saw some pictures where the batteries had swollen to the point where they actually physically broke the battery cover door off of the system. Actually, my 3DS XL is in a similar situation and I need to get a new battery for it. The swollen battery caused part of the back piece to crack. I might send it to Nintendo to fix it before they completely abandon the system, but I'm pretty sure that Nintendo USA will not even bother with me if I tell them that I'm in Japan, but Nintendo of any country doesn't service other countries' Nintendo systems as far as I know, so...

[carlsson]

My PSP-1004 appears to have a fine battery still, but I have observed the warning.

[xenomorpher]

Thanks for the heads up. I have a launch fat and a Star Wars slim model, while both are fine, I still took the batteries out to be safe. With time marching on, makes me wonder what else I'll need to look out for.

[wierd_w]

I have (had, I removed the dead cell) a PSP-1000 battery that had swollen like a tick.  I did a clever bit of surgery on it to replace the LiON cell inside with 3 NiMH AAA cells in series, based on research done by a TI electrical engineer on suitability of such a composite cell for LiON chargers.  It has about 1/3 the capacity of the original, but charges and plays just fine in my newer-ish PSP-2000.

 

All my normal batteries for my 2000 are aftermarket jobs from amazon (and are actually LiPO inside), and none of them are old enough to experience swelling.

 

 

[Scotterpop]

I also want to thank the OP for starting this discussion! I checked all four of my PSPs: two had swollen batteries, two did not. The two I used fairly recently had normal batteries while the two systems that had been in storage for a few years had expanded noticeably. I was able to get the battery compartments off both without breaking anything but they were VERY tight. So maybe powering the system up regularly is a good idea to keep your batteries from potentially damaging your system. I’d be interested to know if anyone else here has observed something similar.

[KeeperofLindblum]

I found a PSP-3000 in the wild... and the battery was bulged.

 

Didn't pay much for it, and it still worked though! I'll just be getting a replacement battery at some point. 

[Mockduck]

Wanted to bump this to expand it even more and say: For the love of pete, don't keep your removable batteries in your game devices when storing them period. Often nowadays there is no choice unless you want to tinker, but the PSP is not one of them. Had battery detached for about 5ish years now, have plugged in and charged just a few times for playing a specific thing. But yes I have seen the batteries expand and break inside of the psp personally, so don't do it.

[CaptainCanadian]

Just bought 3 more PSPs... I love these things.