I have a plain old mobile DVD player (Apex model PDVD-937). It runs on a single rechargeable battery supplying 1600mAh at 7.4V. I would like to augment it so that it can work for a longer period of time.
I've recently purchased an additional battery that is compatible with the original, albeit supplying only 1000mAh. I would like to wire the two batteries together so that I can enjoy a larger charge (2600mAh?) and longer time for playing DVDs on the device.
Being a complete electronics newbie I am guessing I need to hook the batteries in a series, but I've run into a problem. Each of the two batteries have three wires coming out of it: Red, Black and Yellow/White. Here's what it looks like:
Assuming Black for negative and Red for positive, what is the Yellow/White wire for? How should I setup the two batteries to get the longer operating duration for the device?
Best Answer
Connecting the batteries in series will add the voltage of the two and probably ruin your DVD player. The yellow white wire is likely from a temperature sensor which monitors the battery temperature during charging. If the battery were allowed to get to hot, it could start a fire or destroy the battery. To increase the battery current, the batteries would need to be wired in parallel, NOT series. However I DO NOT recommend doing this! First you have two different batteries, they will not share the load properly nor will they charge at the same rate. The charging circuit is designed for one battery @ 1.6AH and will react very different if the two batteries were connected in parallel. This could be dangerous, and will never work as you expect it to.