How To Replace the Battery for a 7941X Remote

I searched all over the internet for replacement batteries for my Clifford 7941X Responder 2-Way Remote Control when it started losing the ability to charge. The remote is for the Clifford 590.2X remote start system installed on our Honda Accord. I was disappointed when I found no where to buy a replacement battery – Danionics DLP 513040 3.7V 560 mAh 2.07wH. To make matters worse, a replacement remote control would be $175. And Clifford said you have to take it to an authorized dealer so they can replace the battery (for $100 I’m sure.) So, being super-pissed, I decided to find a suitable replacement Li-Po battery and do it myself. Taking measurements of the original, I found the battery with the max mAh that could still fit was a Gen 1 iPod Nano replacement battery. I picked up 5 of them since they were $5 a piece at eForCity.com (Now they’re $7.49? http://www.eforcity.com/dappnanoli01.html) At 1300 mAh, they should more than do the trick. First, you should turn off the power on the remote. To do this, you push the thumb wheel thingy on the right side straight in like a button for 3 seconds. You have to do that with a blank screen first. If you accidentally push up or down, wait until the screen goes blank again. This puts you in the “Settings” Menu. Scroll down 2 screens and you will be on the “Options” screen. Press the scroll wheel button thingy in once to select. Press the scroll wheel thingy again to select “Power Off.” Now remove the screw from the back with a really small Phillips screwdriver.

Use 2 small flat head screwdrivers to pry the silver back housing off.

I was super-scared that if the remote lost power at all during the procedure it would no longer be paired with my car’s system (EDIT: This ended up not being an issue as I later unplugged the battery and it “remembered” my car no prob), so I soldered the new battery in parallel with the existing battery before I cut the wire. I did this by carefully stripping the insulation off the wires with an exacto knife. After stripping each wire, I put a temporary piece of electrical tape to prevent shorting the wires as I worked.

Once I got all 3 stripped, I put shrink tubing on each wire of the new battery, then twisted the ends on the exitsing wires. I soldered the wires together…

…then cut off the old battery.

I then shrank the shrink tubing…

… placed the new battery inside the remote where the old one was…

…screwed the screw back in an I was done. It works very nice!