Need help with dead XTra X-1 battery

[Andy 0]

Hello. It's been a while since I last dropped by these forums, but have read a number of threads here in the past when shopping for headphones and portable amps.

 

Slightly over a year ago I bought an XTra X-1 amp from Jaben and used it a number of times while commuting in our MRT trains. I've since moved to Australia to work, and when that happened I stopped using public transport, driving wherever I need to go. So I've neglected both my MP3 player and portable amp.

 

I must have left both of them unused for some 5-6 months, but one day I remembered that electronics are capable of dying if neglected, so I charged them up again. The MP3 player worked fine, but the X-1 battery refused to hold charge.

 

When the adapter is plugged into the unit the red charging LED lights up, but despite hours of charging (even overnight), the light does not go to green (which as I know, indicates a fully charged battery). The unit cannot be powered on.

 

I thought the battery chemicals might have crystallised from lack of use, or with the current Australian winter. So I kept the unit very slightly warmed over my electric blanket during charging. That did nothing to help the situation.

 

So today I opened the unit up and found that the battery unit was comprised of two separate packets, with one of them massively swollen, so much so that it was difficult to move the circuit board out of the housing. Off to the shops I went, hoping to find someone in the know about batteries who could do a replacement for me. So far, no luck. There's nothing written on the battery pack and I cannot find documentation anywhere.

 

I then decided to be adventurous and removed the battery pack myself. Now when I plug the unit into the power adapter, it comes on and works perfectly, only that I get this annoying low hum of interference, probably from the power supply itself.

 

Arguably, I've successfully revived my amp, but it's no longer portable. Does anyone know what sort of battery is used in the X-1? I am guessing that it's a lithium polymer battery, but I'm no buff on these things. Also, what's the capacity of the battery? Hope someone can shed some light on this so that I can have a fully working amp again.

 

I did think of bringing it back to Jaben in the hope that Uncle Wilson will replace it for me, but after owning it for a year (and considering my next return to Singapore is in Mar 09), I don't think that's a possibility.