Successful battery latch operation on my Dell Axim x51v PDA

Go buy solder remover braid at an electronics store to remove any stray solder. Be careful to not overheat the board though. and make sure you have a decent soldering iron. To use the braid you put the braid on the solder you want to remove and put the iron on top of the braid until it sucks the solder into the braid. you will see it turn from it's copper color to silver when the solder gets removed. Also be careful to not remove solder that is supposed to be there in the first place!

[loopyphil]

Thanks all - especially Daffodillistic - after a couple of months of battery latch probs - opened up today and soldered. Job's a good-un.

Seems a bit brutal prising the switch off the board, but with a certain amount of care managed to expose contacts...... bit of wire and some soldering later - axim a la fudge - done

Just did this mod myself and I have to wonder why the switch was installed in the first darn place.

I do have to say I like my X30 over this X51

[Bill_Todd]

Just did this mod myself and I have to wonder why the switch was installed in the first darn place.

I'd guess to give the operating system time to shut down cleanly before the battery is removed (?)

[canningj]

Thanks for the excellent tips on getting over a very annoying problem when using the device as sat nav in the car. Was about to give up but now problem solved.

[mle_ii]

Ok, this may or may not be related, but I started searching here for the same message being reported, but for me it appears that it's because the battery is getting thicker than it used to be. I'm guessing this is a bad thing and that I should get it replaced soon as I'm worked it might explode since it's getting bigger. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

[srvctec]

Ok, this may or may not be related, but I started searching here for the same message being reported, but for me it appears that it's because the battery is getting thicker than it used to be. I'm guessing this is a bad thing and that I should get it replaced soon as I'm worked it might explode since it's getting bigger. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

It's sort of related. The battery getting thicker is causing the battery cover to move enough to make the switch open, displaying the message. I'd definitely get the battery replaced ASAP. It won't necessarily explode, but it's definitely not a good thing to have an expanding battery.

[asheronhalo]

Took out the stupid battery latch switch by brute force, leaving the 2 battery metal contacts. Then I used the solder wire to bridge the 2 and viola! No more "Battery Latch Is Open" messages! Yeah I know it looks very amateurish solderwork, but the damn thing is tiny!

wow...what a fix!!!
my axim has been sitting idle for about 2 months (been using my X5) finally i said enough and tried this fix...awesome...thanks!

and...OMG...tiny doen't describe it!

now if I could only find a wm6 for my x51 (non v) I'd be all joyous:approve:

[connie9738]

Thank you ever so much!!! My Axim went 'totally dead' after 8 mos of that annoying message!! My husband wanted me to buy another axim but I kept wanting to 'fix' it. (I'm from the recycling generation before it was established! ) Soooooo we found these pics and I too completed this modification successfully!!!
Word of advice, read these instructions first!!
My son removed the whole switch first and pulled the top contacts off by mistake ---leaving only a stub. But my husband bought the thinest soldering wire and I made a bridge very carefully with only tiny drops of solder. When my baby booted up with nothing deleted, we were all jumping for joy.
I :love: my Axim x51v!
THANX AGAIN! :approve:

[marylander09]

Thank you so much for showing me this! My Axim has had the problem intermittently, but recently it started crashing within seconds of turning on. Took me a little bit to get the wire aligned, but I was able to get it soldered without too much trouble with a magnifying glass and a very small solder iron. Works great!