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I have received a few questions on various forums about upgrading the standard Rollei NiCd battery. First of all, thanks to various contributors at the Rollei forum on photo.net for their assistance.
Rollei 6000 battery
Why change anything? When the Rollei 6000 platform was released with the 6006 model in 1983, battery technology was very different from today. The cells used were 500mAh NiCd cells from Sanyo. These work, of course, but have quite limited capacity. I would often have to change batteries mid-shoot. An unwelcome interruption.
Today, NiMH cells of 1500mAh capacity or more are readily available, in the same specification as the original cells. The upgrade is simply a matter of rebuilding the battery by replacing the older cells with modern NiMH equivalents. You will need 2/3A size 1.2V NiMH cells. I recommend 1300mAh or more.
This is how the battery looks on the inside:
Inside the Rollei 6000 battery
As you can see, adjacent cells are connected by spot-welded tabs. It is essential that the battery is rebuilt the same way. The cells only just squeeze into the casing and soldered contacts are too large and will NOT allow the cells to fit. I’m talking from experience here 
The labour to rebuild the battery cost $16. The Intellect 1600mAh cells I use cost $2ea plus shipping. You can get them from rcmart.com and many other places. You will need 8 of them.
After the upgrade, I was curious to see how many shots the new battery would last for. So I sat on my couch and took 1,000 shots before I gave up. The battery showed no signs of slowing down and was still full-strength on the 6008AF’s battery indicator. I haven’t had a shoot interrupted by the battery since, and it’s good for peace of mind to have that much extra capacity in case you need it. (I am about the rebuild a second battery to give me more than I’ll ever need, and a backup in case of failure).
Warning: The original Rollei charger is designed only for NiCd cells, and is not compatible with the upgraded battery! You will need to use one of many available ‘intelligent’ battery chargers to charge the new battery. This is also not a bad thing as many of these chargers will condition a battery properly and maximize its lifespan. I happen to use a Maha MH-C777Plus-II, but there may be better options out there.
Any chance you have a battery voltage pinout diagram. I have an empty housing but don’t know the wiring.
You should find the answer here:
http://photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/00MEDz
Hi,
I’ve found your informations on how to rebuild the battery .
very usefull.
Sadly the suggested battery battery charger is no loger
available because discontinued,
Any suggestion on any other suitable charger for the
(Intelligent 2/3A NiMhi Battery)?
Thanks in advance for a kind answer
Hi Carlo, I haven’t tried this charger but it looks good. I am considering getting one as a backup.
http://www.fmadirect.com/new_applications/multi4.html
ThankYou for your answer,
I’ll try to get the suggested battery charger
hoping They are willing to ship to Italy
Again
THANK YOU
Carlo
Hi,
I’ve just been delivered the battery charger.
Strangely,there is no AC power connecting plug ,
only 2 banana & alligator plugs. Furthermore ther’s no
mentionon on the enclosed instructions that it can be connected to a 220Volt 50Hz AC outlet as we have in Italy.
One could think the charger is designed to operate with car battery only.
Thanks for any suggestion
Carlo
Hi Carlo,
I assume you mean the Multi4?
I can only guess that the company has no European plugs, and shipped it without for that reason. You should ask them directly. You deserve to have a complete product. Otherwise if it is a standard power cable, you can add one for a few euros.
Often a device’s voltage is molded onto the device casing. Have you looked closely there, rather than just the printed manual? I haven’t seen one of these in real life, or ever used one so I can’t help, sorry.
Let me know how you get on!
Graham
Hi Graham,
from howard@fmadirect.com, i’ve got the following answer:
The Multi4 charger is a 12 volt charger. You will need an AC to DC power supply to use inside. Here is the power supply we offer:
PS12V5A-BP
12 VDC, 5A Power Supply
Then, I’ve got a link to:http://www.aurorra.co.uk/aurv2/index.php
because the power supply for the U.States operates at 110Volt AC only.Therefore I ‘ll try to buy one from U.K.
I’ll keep you informed on how the situation will evolve.
Kind regards
Carlo
Hi,
Does this solution applies to ALL 6000 serie – got a 6002, and the battery is frankly very lousy…
ThanX for the answer
Nick
Hi Nick, if the battery has the same cells internally then the same upgrade should work fine. However I have never tested this and know nothing about the 6002.
Ok thanX “admin” ;o) !!! I guess it whoudl work too. i’ll try it.
Kind regards ! Nick
Just bought a 6003 with dead batteries. I have never soldered anything to a battery. Can this be done with just a regular soldering iron? Also: I notice 2 thin black cables run in between the 2 rows of batteries in my old pack. What do those do?
Dietrich, you can’t solder the new cells. The cells are already a very tight fit with the flat welded tabs. If you solder, the cell pack won’t fit inside the battery housing any more. The black cables you refer to are probably the ones connecting to the temperature probe.
So I basically just put the free side of the tab on the neighbor battery and hope that they make contact? I can see that the original is spot welded or something.
BTW: thanks for the answer!
Dietrich, you must also spot weld the tabs of the replacement cells.
I really appreciate your help, and I do have one more question.
I have been able to get one of the batteries charged. Don’t know how long it’ll last, but that’s another question. When I insert it into my 6003 it is still completely dead. No sign of any life whatsoever. I have neither a back nor a lens right now. My question is simply: isn’t it supposed to do ‘something’ – a click, a light, or anything? Do you know? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Dietrich
Hi Graham,
Can you be more explicit about the right procedure how to join single cells into a pack, please? I am afraid I do not catch the meaning of your sentence “The cells only just squeeze into the casing and soldered contacts are too large and will NOT allow the cells to fit”. Forgive me my poor knowledge of English, but is there any difference between soldering and spot welding? Do you imply that single cells should be rather flat welded, than soldered? And further, should the tabs from an original battery pack be used and if so, in what way should they be detached from it, please? My apologies if the above questions seems to be a way abstract but I am trying to think the whole process over before I proceed to dismantling my Rollei battery pack.
Thanks for your reply!
Petr
Hi Petr, yes spot welding does not add any thickness to the tab, so everything will fit into the case. You should use fresh tabs to make the new battery. Any store dealing with batteries for remote control toys should be able to do this easily. I have even seen shops and Ebay auctions with packs of 8 cells already spot welded together in the right configuration. I hope that helps.
Добавлю в избранное, написано не плохо
Would this pack fit into the 6008 AF battery housing without too much trouble? do you feel I would have to fold the wires and cut the plastic to make it fit? http://www.storacingproducts.com/amax-8-cell-9-6v-1400mah-ni-mh-battery-upgrade.html appreciate advice.
Hi William, only the thinnest assembly with spot welded tabs as in the picture above will fit. The pack you showed me looks too bulky with the extra insulation layer (if indeed that’s what it is!)
I bought the pre-assembled 1600mAh battery from e**y and just swap it over with my basic soldering skills. Now the battery is just inexhaustible! It’s so easy that I changed 3 packs in 30 minutes! Now my 6 lens-6008AF P20 back system is back in business! Schneider lens rule!!
Larry
These battery packs, ready made up, can be bought on E-Bay very cheaply now…
Here is the link to the E-bay page; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360098778839
Thses batteries are good and work well. Very reasonably priced, too, but you will still need to solder a bit!
Hi, I have just ordered the battery pack from China and would like to thank you for putting all this information out for enthusiasts to read. I am a little unsure about dismatnling the exisiting battery; do I remove the two tiny allen screws and, if I do, will this allow the existing set of cells to slide out? The eBay supplier of the new pack suggests that the exisiting Rollei charger can still be used. Do you know whether this is correct?
Paul, it has been a long time since I took the batteries apart. You might need to remove the spare fuse before the battery can come apart. As for the Rollei charger, this should only be used with the original type NiCd cells, not NiMH upgrades.
Hi everyone! I have a problem concerning a 6000 series battery. I don’t know much about electronics but I have a soldering gun and the extra battery body with new batteries (Replacement Pack for Rollei 6000 sys Battery NiMH cells). Now I have two chargers, Charger G (SLX Charger 1hr) and the Charger N (6000 system). Now I have a second old battery that holds charge but isn’t reliable enough for more than maybe 20 exposures when charged over night!
Now to my problem. I need more information regarding how to correctly place the new batteries into the old battery body. Now I need instructions on how to do this. I have an electrical diagram sent from my battery supplier, but I don’t know how to read electrical schmatics! Is there a video on you tube that anyone knows about?
Also, which charger should I use to charge the newly rebuilt battery pack?
I have read somewhere that I need to change the pin arrangement in the battery circuitry inorder use the Charger N.
Thanks everyone!
Hi Stephen, a soldering iron is of no use for this job. The cell tabs must be spot-welded or the pack will no longer fit the case. The chargers you have are not suitable for NiMH cells either so you will need a charger which is. I would highly recommend going to your nearest hobby shop which makes battery packs for tools and toys. They should be able to do the job in 15 minutes. They might also be able to recommend a charger.
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260301243098&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
i bought this replacement pack on ebay and i have a question :
why Rollei charger G couldn’t be used to charge Replacement Pack for Rollei 6000 Sys Battery NiMH cells ?
Does anybody have the technical reason ?
best regards,
h.
Hugo, NiMH and NiCD batteries are chemically very similar and when both are fully charged the battery voltage will start to drop. The NiMH voltage drop is much more subtle and more difficult to detect. NiMH chargers usually have an over temperature sensor and shutoff to prevent overcharge as well as a more sensitive voltage drop detector where NiCD chargers usually only use the voltage drop to determine when to stop charging. If you charge NiMH batteries in a NiCD charger it will probably miss the voltage drop and keep right on charging causing the batteries to overheat. Overcharge and overheating NiMH batteries can damage them internally and reduce battery life.