Ricoh Theta SC - Bringing mine back to life

Hello Everyone,
Here's a video showing my Ricoh Theta SC 360 camera which died a while back due to it not turning on.

After some research and searching the Internet there were not many threads on faults related to the camera other than firmware etc.

Mine would not turn on and when I tested the charging of the camera using an inline USB current and power draw meter it was evident that the battery had died after 3 years of use and charging.

I did some further research on the Internet with regards to the type of battery but found nothing.

Opening the case was not difficult at all as I had previously dropped my camera accidentally from a low height onto a soft carpeted floor and the case popped open upon impact.

The steps are as follows.

With a hairdryer on a very low heat gently warm up the base of the camera to soften the adhesive holding the sticker which contains the camera's serial number on it.

Remove the sticker with a scraper blade or hobby knife.

Place to one side being careful not to get the adhesive dirty.

With the camera placed onto a clean soft cloth free from debris so you don't scratch the lens and be sure to work on the opposite side from the status leds and shutter release, use a size 0 precision Philips head screwdriver and remove the top two screws on the 1/4" tripod mounting.

Once you've removed the two screws place them in a small pot of bag so you don't lose them.

With a dull and not razor sharp hobby knife blade start by gently sliding it into the air gap of the top case and carefully add a small amount of pressure to start the separation of the top case.

Work your way around the camera until the upper case comes free and is easily removed and place to one side.

The battery is held in place by a very small amount of 3M double sided tape and it will lift out from the camera when using a small amount of pressure from the opposite side of where the battery terminals are.

Remove the battery and place to one side.

With the new replacement battery add some double sided tape and proceed to install the new battery terminal end first. Be careful to observe the battery orientation when removing it.

With the new battery installed proceed to follow the previous steps in reverse and reassemble the camera.

Then apply the screws and serial number sticker.

DISCLAIMER

ONLY CARRY OUT THIS REPAIR IF YOU ARE COMPETENT IN THE STEPS SHOWN.

AND YOUR CAMERA HAS FAR SURPASSED IT'S MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY

FAILIURE TO FOLLOW WILL RESULT IN A VOID WARRANTY OR DAMAGE TO YOUR CAMERA

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Thanks for watching

[TamaraChing]

my two year old Ricoh Theta SC has not died but watched your video. gave you a thumb up rating for uploading it. it was nice to see what my camera has in store. thank you from san francisco, tamara

[scTarga]

Very useful video as I was a little nervous about doing this. I would have liked to see you actually pinging the case open, but I gave it a go and the small blade on my Swiss Army knife did the trick perfectly. It’s now showing the green charging light and the thing will power up OK 👍

What is the spec on an “old school” USB charger? I rummaged around and found an old iPhone charger with an output of 5v 1a. Would that be it? Previously been using an Anker 8amp 5 port, max 2.4a per port, job which may have killed my battery?