How to change the rechargeable battery in a Philips Sonicare?

The reason Sonicare uses a Nickel Cadmium battery instead of Nickel Metal Hydride is because Nickel Cadmium batteries delivery very high current which is necessary to drive the coil.

Nickel Metal Hydride cannot supply sufficient current.

Be sure to replace with Nickel Cadmium and perform the battery reset procedure.

Gavin
March 2014

You chaps are amazing. Looking to fix mine. Given as a present and no way can I buy new one. Sonicare Elite model.

Recycling stop landfill and save money for helping people
September 2013

i was about to throw mine out then thought i would check on here....opened, contacts cleaned, reset no charging fine!!

annette
April 2013

I was just on the phone with them and they will send you a new toothbrush IF you can provide a receipt within the 2 year purchase date. Very nice to deal with but I'm just over 2 years so I'm about to solder in a new cell.

Jim
November 2012

do the battery reset. put it in charger while plugged in. hold button down for 5 sec, hear 2 buzzes. hold down 5 sec hear 1 buzz. charge 24 hr. should be perfect, if not call sonicare at 18006827664 and let them troubleshoot it, take the 10 min to go through it all, then tell them you read about this tip online and did it last night, (if you already did). if the brush is not too old, (you bought it 11 months ago right?) at cvs or walmart, target, etc (because if online from philips sonicare they can check), and they will send you a new handle/battery unit, with a prepaid envelope to send the old one back free of charge.

the f'in dentist
March 2011

You can use a single AAA nickel hydide battery as a replacement. This is easier to fit in place when you have removed the existing Nicad batteries.
Choose a good quality brand (500 charge/discharge cycles).
Note where the existing batteries were connected to on the PCB, its easier to use two short pieces of single wire to connect up the new battery to the PCB

Charge well overnight on the base overnight and the following day. Then carry out the battery reset procedure

with the sonicare in the charging base with mains power on
Hold down the operating buttonfro about 5 seconds until the brush buzzes twice.
Remove the sonicare from the charger base
Push the operating button once. The brush should turn on. Turn brush off and return to charging base until the follwing morning to top up the charge.

garryk
November 2010

Mine was FINE until I read a lady's post that said if you discharge it completely and recharge, it will work even better and longer. Now it's dead.

Browsing
November 2010

You can solder in a new battery. See instructions at
http://live.philips.com/index.php/en_us/video/sonicare-toothbrush-repair-recharg-ba-/43864974001

Greg Thomas
January 2010

resetting the system by putting it in the charger base, hold the on button for about 5 - 7 seconds, until u hear 2 buzzes. Then repeat, until u hear 1 buzz. Then leave on the charger for at least 15 hours.
Tried this - worked very effectively - thank you so much for advice

Paul V
May 2009

I have the old 9500 series, almost 2 years now.
Ha! Buy new batteries & then seal them in the case, & if the brush don't work, u r out of luck?
Better off just resetting the system by putting it in the charger base, hold the on button for about 5 - 7 seconds, until u hear 2 buzzes. Then repeat, until u hear 1 buzz. Then leave on the charger for at least 15 hours.
If that don't work, get an Oral-B which is better rated, & will last longer. Mine has outlasted 2 Sonicares, & I only paid about $18 for it.

flassoc
November 2008

In theory you can't change the battery for a new one but in practice there's something fishy going on. I had a Sonicare Elite e7300 toothbrush and after about 18 months of use it just woudn't recharge.

I hence bought another one but decided to take the battery out of the old one so I could recycle it. It's not easy to take the battery out - in the process there was a flash and a smell of burning, seemed a circuit had blown. I had a go at recharging it and it now works fine!

My new Sonicare toothbrush has been sitting on the shelf for at least a year - the old one works fine and recharges as good as new.

This supports the 'design for obsolescence' argument mentioned above - my guess is that in trying to remove the battery for recycling I've blown the circuit that limits the number of recharge cycles.

Poor practice from Philips if you ask me.

cswd
September 2008

Hi,

I've just replaced the batteries. It seems there must be some kind of reset as right now the brush does not work at all. I am absolutely sure about the correctness of the operation as I took pictures of the whole process.

Regards

Dieter

Dieter Kuespert
August 2007

Hi, I had the same issue and now have started a replacement service for Sonicare Elite models 7000 & 9000. Not sure where you are based, drop a note on m.r@tiscali.nl and maybe I can help you out.

Marcel
July 2007

The batteries are most absolutely 100% replaceable, though I do *not* recommend you try unless you are an electronics hobbyist/electrical engineer/ham radio operator/genius. This requires the ability to work with delicate electronic components, solder, and desolder.

In case you are not familiar, "planned obsolescence" is all the rage these days. The definition is quite simple. Literally, it means that major consumer electronics companies plan products to fail in a given amount of time, to increase their profits. Lovely, huh? Modern battery chemistry for consumer grade rechargeables is Nickel Metal Hydride. These batteries do *not* have a memory which affects charge cycles. The older technology is Nickel Cadmium, which is dangerous for the environment and develops a memory, impacting the amount of charge the cells can hold over time. Philips intentionally continues to use Nickel Cadmium cells instead of the better Nickel Metal Hydride. They also make it extremely difficult to replace the cells; that is, they build these brushes with "planned obselescence" in mind.

If you are extremely careful, you may try to replace your batteries. When your brush no longer chargers to your satisfaction, VERY gently pry open the handle with a flat-bladed screwdriver, after running down the battery. Once it is open, you will see two "AA" Nickel Cadmium cells soldered into place. This is when you find your ham radio operator, electronics hobbyist, electrical engineer, or genius friend. Or, if you are one of the above...

Carefully remove the existing Ni-Cad cells, and recycle them properly. Find some high capacity Sanyo Nickel Metal Hydride cells, and put them in instead. Reseal the whole deal with epoxy, and see how it turns out.

Remember, in doing this, if you mess up, you had nothing to lose. Let me add here that if your dog turns in a squirrel or your ear turns to pudding in attempting this, I am *not* responsible!

:-)

Bryan the Bald
July 2007

The batteries in a Philips Sonicare are non-changeable. They can only be removed for re-cycling environmentally which, if you refer to www.tashian.com you will find out how difficult that actually is! My battery is becoming iffy and I've had the brush less than 18 months. Hope you have better luck.

Foxy3457
July 2007