Spektrum DX3r Battery Mod

[BrianG]

It's nice that the Spektrum DX3r only uses 4 batteries, but the voltage gets a little low when using NiXX vs Alkaline. Maybe on a peaked charge, the NiXX might get to 1.4v/cell, but I don't peak my Tx batteries that high, so maybe 1.3v. At 4 cells, that's only 5.2v. Sooo, I decided to add an extra NiXX cell in there to get the full 6v. Peaked, it might see around 6.5v, but Alkalines aren't exactly 1.5v/cell either...

I opened her up, disconnected the power wires, and took out the battery tray. Nothing magical here, but that block of plastic intrigued me....



So I ripped it out. And 'lo and behold, two more battery slots! However, there are no actual battery contacts. Poo.



Well, I'm sure we all have at least one or two of these laying around. Makes a good donor for a battery contact terminal!



The battery area without the tray. Looks empty.



It was just a matter of creating another set of battery contacts in the next empty slot and completing the circuit. I did have to extend the wires a bit to give me room to work - Spektrum doesn't give you much wire slack!

I should have taken more pics, but I forgot about the camera and got over excited, so all you get to see is the finished tray with 5 cells. Sorry!



And of course it works! Note the voltage of 5 freshly charged NiMH Duracell AA's.



Before you go tearing up your $300 radio, let me say getting the switch and power jack back where they needed to go was a PITA. My fingers are too big for such small work. Nevertheless, it IS possible, but don't blame me if you wreck your radio!