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Unfortunately, a replacement battery for
this historical set has long since been extinct but all is not
lost. Here I will detail how I fabricated a working battery for
my Safari. It will be much easier if you have an original
battery so you can gut it out and replace the contents with new
rechargeable NiCad's.
If you do not have an original, you will
need to fabricate a housing the same size as the original
battery. The measurements are; 7 1/8" tall x 2 5/8" wide x 1
1/2" thick, rounded on all 4 sides. the hardest part will be
finding (or fabricating) an appropriate socket.
If you are not
resourceful, don't have good technical skills & don't know
how to solder properly, you just as well
stop here and seek some help from a skilled technical person. A minor
modification is also required inside the Philco Safari. This
will be explained below.
If you have an original battery, first
remove the paper cover. If done carefully, it can be reused, if
it's badly damaged, I can supply a
repro.
Now refer to the pictures below (enlarge by
clicking on them) and follow these steps:
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Find an original battery or fabricate a
similar container for the new NiCad's. ref #1
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Cut the old container in half and gut the
contents being careful not to damage the socket. ref #2
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Once the old battery can is cleaned out,
prepare 7 (sub C size NiCad's). Wire them in series, attach the
positive and negative lead wires, bind them together and
insulate all the terminals. I enclosed the whole NiCad package
in a large piece of heat shrink tubing. ref #3
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Now stuff the new battery package in the
bottom half of the can and solder the wires to the battery plug
socket (top of the can). I used thick cardboard spacing
pieces on all 4
sides and the bottom of the battery pack. ref #4
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Place a piece of insulating material on the
top of the battery pack to prevent any shorts across the battery
socket's underside and slide the top of the can over the top of the battery
pack.
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Once everything is properly fitted and
aligned, tape
the two halves together using a single layer of metal, aluminum duct tape
carefully placed without bulges or wrinkles. Use this type
because it's thin, has great adhesive power and if done
carefully it will not leave a noticeable seam. ref #5
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Before Appling the new label, be sure and
test your new battery pack for function and proper polarity.
Now you can now apply either you original label or I can provide a
reproduction
label for a nominal fee.
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IMPORTANT, before powering up your Safari with your new
battery, a small modification must be made inside the TV. The
old battery provided 7.5 volts, the new one will give 8.4 volts.
A resistor value change should be done to reduce the voltage to
the CRT and the rest of the set.
See Schematic & Mod.
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If your Safari works properly from house
current, you are now ready to charge the new battery. With your
TV set to the charging mode, charge the battery for 24 hours. If
your TV is not working properly, have it fixed by someone
knowledgeable before attempting to operate or charge the
battery.
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With these smaller size (sub-C cells), my
set will run about 2.5 hours before noticing any decrease in
performance. It takes 20 - 24 hours to recharge the battery pack
using the original built-in charger.
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NOTE - the set must be turned on and the rear switch in
the charging position to charge the battery. Be sure and turn it
off after 24 hours. There is no built in protection from
overcharge or charge monitoring system in this set.
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