this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2025
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That looks like a battery protection PCB, yeah. It usually does three things:
Bypassing it would be a bad idea, but it’s also pretty rare they fail. Maybe it’s just in undervoltage protection mode. Try to hook up your variable power supply with 4.2V and a 50-100mA current limit to the battery tabs (check polarity!) and see if the cell takes current. Above 3.6V the battery protection should lift and you should see voltage on the battery output terminals.
Awesome, thanks. that is exactly the kind of info I was looking for, I'll give that a go.
Keep a sand bucket nearby, just in case :)
Sooo I accidentally caused a short (just a teeny tiny one, hardly any smoke!) and it’s blown a trace on that little board.
Considering the battery has no indication of size is it possible to recommend a battery protection board To replace it with? Before the short the device had switched on.
I am also open to just wiring a 240vac to 4.2vdc charger straight to the board where the battery was. It is used for long smoking sessions so I am happy to run an extension lead. It would run when flat off a Samsung phone charger so probably needs less than 1a.
Uh that is unfortunate :/ battery protection circuits do not usually care about capacity directly, but just about max currents (which is usually related to capacity), so… unless you need a lot of current, get a 2A limiter and you should be good.
Try not to short anything else, like the battery terminals though! It may weld stuff into a continuous short and start a fire.