I was given a new in box Kindle 4 by @mitten yesterday.
It looks like it's been sealed up since 2012, so, predictably, the battery is no good anymore. I could order a replacement battery for $20, but I'm feeling tempted to try hacking another battery into it
Transplanting the big pouch battery onto the charge circuitry from the little pouch battery
It turns on and it's charging now
We're in
I printed a battery holder and glued it on. This Kindle works again. Now i have have to do all the things that let me get books without Amazon
@MLE_online Oooooooh, I have the exact same one! It looks way more serviceable than I thought it would.
@Sylvhem There are just four plastic clips on the back the case.
The difficult thing is the adhesive they use to attach the back of the case to the battery cover and the battery to the inside the case, It's doable though
@MLE_online Thanks for the tips!
@MLE_online (taps picture of button on screen, wonders why nothing is happening)
@MLE_online That's goddamn amazing
@makerblock you posted a link to something for Kindle hacking or jailbreaking, right?
@MLE_online a big pouch the size of a small pouch
Oct 14, 2026, 7:18 PM@MLE_online happy battery
Oct 14, 2026, 7:28 PM@MLE_online How did you fit the bigger battery in?
Does the kindle cover close with it in there?
@Allyn I'll probably just 3D print something to hold the bigger battery
Oct 14, 2026, 9:47 PM@MLE_online ah OK, I was wondering if there was enough space in the original design to fit the bigger battery.
There seems to be a lot of unused space around the battery housing in the image - but that does look like a chunky battery.
@Allyn Yea, it's just way too big for that. I would use a smaller battery, but this is what i have
@MLE_online @mitten
There was another vape on the ground in my parking lot, I really gotta start opening these things up, not just picking em up.
Oct 15, 2026, 4:20 PM@MLE_online @mitten It’s aggravating that batteries go bad without any charge cycling. Maybe whenever we figure out solid state batteries that won’t be a problem anymore.
@amoose136 @mitten I suspect solid state isn't going to fix that, but who knows!