YouTube - MiniDisc Repair - Getting a New Battery for your Sony MZ-N10

The Sony MZ-N10 is still a highly-coveted MiniDisc player/recorder that, to this day, has a premium look and feel.

In my previous post/video, we helped tune one to fix read errors, but perhaps more common are the ones that are just "dead" since Sony designed the MZ-N10 with an internal, Li-ion battery that wasn't easy to find anymore. 

A few years ago, people were finding similarly-sized Li-ion batteries and soldering them into place, which is a great solution, but I wanted something even easier. Now, there are Li-ion options purpose-built for the task with the flex cable built-in that will fit right into the stock board/clip.

With just 1 screw and 5 minutes of time, you can breathe new life back into your MZ-N10!

Please check out the video to see it in action, but the pictures below cover the main steps:

1 - After removing the top screw for the knob's plate, open it as shown to reveal the battery (it's the blue sliver you see - and the left-most ribbon cable in a clipped position)

2. Open the clip with tweezers as shown

3. Slide the battery out - it should be easy and without resistance

4. Insert the new one - pay attention to the circled area - it can be a bit thicker and harder to fit in so use tweezers or give it a good squeeze as you get closer to the board

5. Close the clasp on the flex cable - you'll notice it would have been a better fit if the cable were moved about 1-2mm over, but it does work.

6. Check your work! Remember to screw in that 1 screw, but you should now have a MZ-N10 with better battery life than before!