Update, the seller just got back to me:

Hello
Sorry we do not have any collections, you also have to find out what charge currect your charge gives out as it will not know when to switch off as its a nicad charger and will cook battery pack.

Paul

 

Hi all, I also have to replace the batteries of my BL 7000. My dealer expects the cost to amount to more than EUR 100. Thus I am very interested in reading your experience with alternative battery packs.

Cheers, js

I've found another pack which looks more hopeful:

Go to this page on Pandan Models, and scroll down to "Sakura - 5 Cell 6.0v 1000 Mah Receiver Battery Pack (NiCad)".

Any views on this? 

I was advised by an authorised B&O repairer that NiMH was the way to go... He is looking further into this for me.

I'm glad you are looking into this Peter as your batteries seem to have deteriorated since you last saw the 7000.
Since you lent it to me it has sat on it's charger 24 hrs a day. Occasionally I would take it off for a play but it would only last 4 or 5 minites.
Yesterday, I took it off and it wouldn't even fire up. It still works fine on the charger though.
Hope you don't think I am in some way to blame.

Andy T.

jandyt:

I'm glad you are looking into this Peter as your batteries seem to have deteriorated since you last saw the 7000.
Since you lent it to me it has sat on it's charger 24 hrs a day. Occasionally I would take it off for a play but it would only last 4 or 5 minites.
Yesterday, I took it off and it wouldn't even fire up. It still works fine on the charger though.
Hope you don't think I am in some way to blame.

Andy T.

I would - maybe you can lend it to Mobe and he can finish it off!

Peter:

I was advised by an authorised B&O repairer that NiMH was the way to go... He is looking further into this for me.

This page (in German) seems to confirm this:

http://www.ulf-kiener.de/bo/bo.html 

I got in touch with the author, Ulf Kiener, and he says he used NiMH batteries. He changed them in 1995 and if it's still going strong, that's good enough for me.

He says he used 700 mAh batteries - which makes me think they must be AAA (rather than AA). I've asked him to confirm which it is.

If it's AAA, that suggests this ebay item might be what we need.

 

Nope - it's just AA. I'm going to go ahead and buy the AA pack listed before. Will post results here.

Have a look here!

Sorry, Peter - couldn't follow that link. I think it included your session id.

Sorry - it times out! Look on the home page under batteries - it has tagged NiMH batteries.

But surely that's just the same as this pack, except that with the pack you don't need to do any soldering?

I have used NiMh batteries several times in BL7000 and they work just fine...

 

Certainly worth a look! I am getting mine back today and once I have a look at the battery pack, I'll get back to you!

Rightho. I've ordered the battery pack - it will probably come early next week.

ridax:

I have used NiMh batteries several times in BL7000 and they work just fine...

Good to hear, Ridax - thanks for the confirmation.

What was the rating? The battery pack I've ordered is 2400mAh but Ulf Kiener (see earlier post) recommended 700mAh.

Dear all, I am very interested in hearing your experience with alternative battery packs. How did yours work? Which one would you recommend?

Cheers, js

Hi JS,

I've been meaning to post an update.

Yes, I bought the pack on ebay. It arrived a week ago last Tuesday. The seller, Paul, was very friendly and got back in touch quickly whenever I emailed him.

It was very easy to install. I just had to follow these steps:

1. open the battery compartment
2. de-solder the wires from the original B&O pack
3. open the new pack (it's in a thin plastic film) and de-solder its connectors
4. and then solder the B&O wires onto it directly.

It fitted in the back of my Beolink 7000 fine and ever since, I've had no problems at all with it.

Very interesting, Colin, thank you for your feedback.

I am just wondering about the following:

1. Are you really sure we can use NiMH batteries? The 7000 charger was designed for NiCd batteries. So will it safely charge NiMH? Will it know when to switch off? Is there any fire/explosion/damage danger?

2. According to this thread, some use 700mAh and others use 2400mAh. So which capacity is the right one?

Peter, have you got any recommendation from the authorised B&O repairer you mentioned in your earlier post?

Cheers, js

1) No, I'm not sure at all. Other people seem to have done it and it worked for them. I can't promise it won't break your device, spill acid everywhere or make your hair turn grey.

2) I don't know. I couldn't find 700mAh batteries anywhere - that's what the German chap used and recommended. I'm using 2400mAh

All I can add is it's been OK for me for the past week or so. Everything seems to work as expected, and I keep it on the charger most of the time. If you'd like to hold off and wait to see if I have any problems first, that might be a good move.

Thanks, Colin. Worth a try.

This is great news, Colin. I only wish I had known about this a month ago. I would have loved to be able to replace Peter's battery before I returned it to him.
I have since bought my own Bl 7000 from Beoworld member samueljoachim. It is mint and RDS the batteries are still fine, but now I know where to look when they eventually go.

Andy T.

Ah, good for you, Andy. Hope you have a lot of fun with it.

Hopefully, by the time you do come around to needing batteries, we'll have a fairly good idea how well I've faired with this pack. 

Well, I just replaced the battery pack of my BL7000 today after 13 years of continuous and flawless service

Very easy. I had the pack assembled with 5 Ni-Cd 1000mAh batteries by a local store in Paris for 17€.  I then just removed the old pack and soldered the new one in place. And everything works fine.