Recently I purchased a Chromebook Pixel from eBay and have fallen in love with the flexibility of this device. The only niggle when buying an older second hand computer is of course the battery – it had degraded a little from its original operating level. I am only getting around 3 hours out of it.
I decided to replace it with a battery from eBay. Here are some photos to help anyone else that wishes to go down this same path.
Google has made this a very painless operation. There are 4 screws that hold the bottom case on; these are located under the rubber pads at each corner. Simply ply them off with a small screwdriver and you will be see the philips screws.
Unscrew these. The lid will still not pop off as it is held by glue and clips. However take a small flat head screwdriver and prise up the corner until the glue starts to give. The lid is hinged on the back, so be careful which side you start from. Once the glue gives way it will pop off quite simply.
The battery itself, as you can see, is a 4 cell configuration instead of one big one. You unscrew about 8 screws for it to pop out with a very simple clip on the top to connect it to the motherboard.
The overall process was only 5-10 minutes.
Now for the bad news — the bloody battery I purchased didn’t work! It didn’t hold charge and died after 5 minutes. I am returning it for another so we’ll see how well the new one will work. small tip – mark the original battery so you know which is which as they are both identical in all markings.
alan williamson 