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My game controller's Li-ion pouch battery is swollen and has died. I was thinking if it was possible to replace the internal battery with capacitor/supercapacitor. I don't need the wireless functionality. I just want to be able to plug the controller into the PC in wired mode and be able to use it. The controller needs a battery to work. Therefore i was wondering if using a capacitor may trick the controller into thinking it is connected to the battery.

The Li-ion battery had max discharge voltage of 2.7 V and 1 amp max.

Let me know if it is possible.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The cap is charged and discharged very fast. So the controller will start and stop charging cap too offen. But it may work. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michal Podmanický
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 14:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ May work, but your capacitor will discharge to zero and the charge controller will probably not accept it. If you manage to charge it externally and quickly plug it in, it may work until you unplug it for a few hours or next blackout. \$\endgroup\$
    – winny
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 15:41

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If you wanted wireless mode (battery equivalent) you would need to compare the relative energy capacities of the existing cell and typical supercapacitors.

Let's guess that the Li-ion battery has a capacity of 2000mAh, and an average of 3V (too low, but let's keep the calculation simple). That gives us 6Wh or roughly 20kJ of stored energy.

To store the same energy (ignoring the reduction in voltage during discharge), a capacitor initially charged to 3V needs to be ~5000F in size.

The largest typical true supercapacitors are an order of magnitude smaller than this.

"Pseudocapacitors" exist in the relevant range, but to be frank are very much like the Li ion cell you already have.

Probably best to just find a drop in replacement for the existing cell...

On the other hand, if you can support wired operation, then the question is really about how the controller handles being powered with just the lead, and how it handles charging of the cell. You might find no battery is needed at all, or that even a normal capacitor (for peak load) would suffice.

Hard to say without more details of the controller.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you for the answer. The controller was a cheap one. I removed the battery and tried plugging it in to the pc and it did not work. So instead of buying a battery i had an idea to use a capacitor thinking it would be more reliable and safe in the future considering the fact that i dont use the wireless mode anyway. The controller's internals were similar to a gulikit controller. There is a youtube channel"Kaiser Do Stuff" who did a teardown of gulkit controller. My internals were similar to that. \$\endgroup\$
    – Reeve Kalita
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 16:23
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Let me know if it is possible.

Yes, it's possible as long as your supercap voltage source doesn't exceed the absolute maximum ratings of the electronic circuit.

Before parallelizing 2 or more supercaps I would Google this "Supercapacitors in parallel"

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    \$\begingroup\$ Thank you for the answer. I would look into it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Reeve Kalita
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 16:24

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