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How to Replace an Electric Shaver Battery
When you buy an electric shaver, it will come with a pre-installed battery. Once you take it home, you are typically required to fully charge the battery before using the shaver. A normal charging cycle will take about 60 minutes though this may vary depending on the manufacturer (best to read the manual). The device should run for about 45 minutes.
Tips for Extended Shaver Battery Life
General tips to improve your battery life are;
– Fully recharge the shaver battery before the first use – Reading the user manual will help you understand how to fully recharge the battery.
– For Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries, wait until the battery is running low before recharging – These batteries have what is known as a “memory effect” so recharging a battery that is partially charged may negatively affect the battery capacity. You also need to fully discharge these batteries at least once every 6 months to preserve their capacity.
– Never leave the shaver plugged in for longer than 24 hours – this may lower battery life.
– Avoid using the charger from the mains – even if the battery is empty, it is advisable to recharge and use it when unplugged. Mains switch operation can still be used but only in emergency cases.
– Don’t leave the shaver exposed to direct sunlight – overheating has been proven to steadily damage batteries.
– Don’t charge your batteries in extreme temperatures – charging in very hot or very cold environments also reduce battery life.
When and How to Replace Electric Shaver Batteries
Even though the above steps will help you to significantly prolong your battery life, the time might come when you finally need to replace the battery.
For example, you might find that you have to recharge more than once in order to complete one shaving cycle. If this is the case then the battery might be too weak necessitating replacement. Or you wake up one day and the shaver simply doesn’t work. The first thing that comes to mind is that the battery might be dead. In this case you may also want to replace.
Note – if the shaver is still under warranty it might also be worthwhile at this point to contact the manufacturer. |
Steps When Replacing Electric Shaver Batteries
1. Completely discharge the shaver – Turn on the shaver and allow it to run until it shuts down on its own. This only happens when the battery inside is completely discharged. This complete discharging is required because in order to replace the battery you need to open the shaver casing and will at some point touch the circuit board. Any little charge left in the old battery could shock and injure you.
2. Open the shaver casing – most electric shavers are held into place using old screws accessible from the back side of the shaver. Remove these screws one by one using a screw driver and place them on a small plate to avoid losing them. If your shaver won’t come apart easily, look around the edge of the appliance for little plastic clips. Pressing on these clips with a screwdriver should release them allowing you to pull the shaver casing apart.
3. Remove the old battery – most batteries are soldered onto the circuit board so you’ll need your wire cutters for this step. Carefully sever the solder at the top end of the battery connections then slowly pull the batteries out.
4. Install the new batteries – a number of new batteries come with small metal tabs at the top. Such batteries are said to be pre-tabbed. It is these tabs that connect to the circuit boar so you’ll only need to firmly press on the tabs to ensure that they come into contact with the board; you don’t have to solder. If the replacement batteries are not pre-tabbed, you can detach the tabs on the old batteries and solder them on the new ones.
5. Replace the shaver cover – use the screws to fix the back half of the shaver into place. Then plug in the charger and allow the new batteries to charge for about 30 minutes. Turn the shaver on to see if the installed batteries are working correctly.
Summary
Just as important as properly installing new batteries in your electric shaver is finding the right replacement batteries. To find the correct replacement battery Groom+Style suggests you check on Amazon or contact the manufacturer directly.
For more detailed step by step instructions for you specific device you could check a website like https://www.ifixit.com.
If all this seems to difficult you can always just buy a new shaver based on our review of the Top 5 Best Electric Shavers on the market.
I stopped reading when I see nonsense as:
> Any little charge left in the old battery could shock and injure you.
Hi Roger,
Yep, fair enough… 🙂
I think this comment is a combination of a bit of tongue-in-cheek by the author + “covering ourselves” in case someone does manage to give themselves a shock!
Kind Regards,
Pierce
I’ve a few heavy duty belts in my time in the navy and elsewhere, on occasion.
I just got a nasty high frequency type sting out of an unplugged shaver whilst looking for obvious faults with the charging circuit. The battery hasn’t a lot of life left, either
It actually felt like a needle going in & rather unpleasant. So non fatal power can be waiting for anyone.
Unlikely to kill directly -due to low power of course , but secondary harm is possible by sharp moves away or for people with pacemakers etc.
There is a small transformer on board which implies some kind of oscillator to change power circuit function.
This is the likely source of remanent high a.c voltage.
I don’t have a circuit diagram to expand any further, but a multipin IC chip is right next to the motor and could be quite complex in functioning.
Thanks for the information…
An interesting piece of advice. My Phillips Philishave Col skin has been with me for 15 or soyears and its battery needs tobe replaced. I have bought a battery (chinese) which is aid to be the right one alto it seems a bit small in length. The replacement process nees soldering and I will try to do this and if I dont succeed tdoo bad. As my shaver will have to chucked away anyway as I cannot use it right now.
Anyway just to let u know you ahve done well in this bit. Bye
Thanks TR,
Good luck with the replacement process…
Cheers Pierce