[Francis H120]

OK so I have just replaced the battery in my H120 with a Cameron Sino.
The first time I've done so, I embarked after reading advice on here.
So a few words on how I found it - a kind of "for newbs by a newb". I'm posting it here ("what battery to buy, where to buy it") since this is where I started asking about batteries but will also copy it to the "real difficulty of replacing batteries thread as it's relevant. Please note if you're a newb reading this you need to read http://www.misticriver.net/wiki/index.php/H1xx_Internal_Batter y_Replacement first and preferably other stuff in the threads mentioned too if you might prefer alternatives to taking the motherboard out and swapping the connector.

Having read about the 3 methods of connecting the new battery (taking the HD and motherboard out and swapping the connector, cutting the wires in the middle on the new and old batteries and soldering the old to new or de-soldering the both battery's leads from the battery PCBs and soldering the old lead to the new battery) I decided on cutting the wires as this sounded easiest to me.
First thing that caused a little hiccup was my assumption that being in a place with a lot of electronic tools (I'm a technician in a University) is that I could easily lay my hands on a T5 torx driver to open the case and get started. T5s are smaller than included in various 50+ piece kits we have. I got one of someone eventually but be warned they're unusually small. Also if you are cutting the wires make sure you have small enough heatshrink tube available, the wires are very skinny and remember tube that small won't shrink much.
Having got the case open and looked at how tight for space things are and how short and thin the wires are I started to question whether I had chosen the easy method. I looked at the battery PCB method. This would have been really easy (if you can solder) if both batteries had been like the old one, it simply had a piece of white tape over the PCB which was easily lifted and replaced. However the PCB on the Cameron Sino looked more buried. I made a careful experimental incision with a scalpel but did not readily reveal the solder terminals so decided not to chance butchering the battery I'd just bought but taped up and pursued my first choice. If I have to replace again I can dissect the old Cameron Sino to see if I was being over careful, as I say if so this seems an easy method.
So on to cutting the wires. I cut the wires close to the old battery to give me some length to work with. This meant I cut the new wires relatively close to the new one too as I was worried about the small seeming space to fold the wires into when reassembling. It would have been better to leave them about 1cm longer than the ones on the old battery as when you've soldered and heatshrunk the wires you have an inflexible section which really needs to run along the bottom of the motherboard when reassembling, with enough of the new lead to carry on in the same direction, be bent into a U and then make the return journey (I know that's probably got you scratching your head but if you have the player open in front of you it will make sense).
Having chopped the wires DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE HEATSHRINK ON. I didn't but I can imagine forgetting and getting mad. After stripping and tinning the ends of my wires and I then used a cassette case to lift the new battery so the wires on it were at the same height as the ones coming out the player. I'm a pretty dab hand with an iron but even I was nervy as the short lengths of wire make the soldering fiddly so be warned this is for experienced solderers only. Someone said they simply twisted the wires together, maybe this isn't such a bad idea (OK I still don't think I'd use it ). I'm going to try the HD and motherboard out and swap the molex too next time to compare, I hate taking small delicate things apart which is why I avoided it this time but only first hand experience is going to let you know which method is best for you I guess.
When shrinking the tube I took care, again because of the short length of wire - it meant I couldn't get the battery or player out of the way of the heat gun so I shielded them. The back of the unit covered the battery nicely and I used the plastic packet over the player and watched that for signs of warping as I shrunk as a kind of "dose meter"!
Having got all that done it was time to reassemble. The 2200mAH Cameron Sino is bigger than the original so I tried to follow advice I'd read about filing down some metal tabs to make more room (as I read the HD can stop working if it's squashed too much). These I discovered positioned the original smaller battery and were unnecessary with the new. However they're difficult to get at with a file. So I just inserted a flat screwdriver between them and the case and snapped them off by levering. Just make sure you support the case where it looks thin otherwise that might snap instead! I then filed the stumps smooth with a half round needle file.

Hopefully all is well but I'm not going to charge the unit until I can be around as when I got it it was only 2 months old so the battery in it should have been good. I assumed as it was used it would be part charged and would only require a short charge before use. I was at work so when the green charge LED hadn't gone out by the time I left I left it on overnight assuming it had some kind of "intelligent" charging system. However it seems I may have overcharged as the battery only gave me a few hours and the original owner (eBay job) said it was fine. Mind I think he'd been constantly doing small charges. Assuming a full charge and then disconnect immediately followed by use until fully discharged (what I try to do) is optimum does anyone know which the worse of the 2 alternatives (one of which you might to have to do if you can't baby-sit the thing while it's charging) is worse - doing short charges where the green LED hasn't gone out when you stop charging or leaving it on for some time after the LED has gone out (I'm talking hours not days here)?