Tradfri Endless Battery Hack

I inherited some IKEA smart home devices when we bought this house. While the convenience is undeniable, the reliance on button batteries in Tradfri controllers became a significant issue. Over the years, I went through enough of them to feel guilty about the battery waste I was producing.

So I sat down and made a mod for the unit. I remixed a battery cover and an wall plate mount, modifying the latter to reduce thickness. The result is a controller not significantly larger than the original while using two rechargeable AAA batteries. Lasting much longer than those button batteries, and allowing you to recharge.

You can find the 3D model here. There are two versions; V3 is slightly slimmer but requires you to remove the battery leads. I have described the process there, but the gist of it is this:

1. Remove the circuit board from the Tradfri body.
2. Solder two wires to the battery leads on the circuit board.
3. Feed the wires through the hole in the 3D-printed body.
4. Insert the circuit board into the 3D-printed body, making sure to align the reset button with the hole.
5. Wire the AAA battery pack.
6. Insert the button cover.

I really benefited from the open licenses here. The existence of the battery pack and the wall plate under permissive licenses made it trivial to reach the result.