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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.
Otherwise, you will need to make a container for the
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.
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 label.
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
6 (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 your original label or I can provide a reproduction label for a nominal fee.
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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 3 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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The images below can be enlarged by clicking on them
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1
battery w/Philco cover removed |
2
cut and gutted |
3
new cells ready to insulate,
attach leads & install |
4
batteries insulated &
stuffed in bottom of case |
5
ready for new label |
finished |
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Order repro label, Click/Tap > here
I only offer the labels for battery making. The fabricating of the containers is strictly the responsibility of the builder. Although I offer details of how I did it, I assume no responsibility on how your efforts will turn out. The Burgess "B" battery label is made for a specific sized box (shown when clicking on the image link). The height of the label is a bit higher than needed and is meant to be trimmed to fit your box after mounting.
Since my original
posting of this info, I have made another battery
container using 1/8th thick wood. It
contains six rechargeable modern NiCad
batteries. Here are
some photos:
(click/tap images to enlarge)
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Click/Tap for
enlarged view |
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