JC's Custom Tokyo Marui SOPMOD Lipo Batteries

Recently I bought a Tokyo Marui Recoil Shock HK416 from Airsoft World as they are on sale and I've been looking for a recoil shock AEG for a a couple of years. The finer details of the HK will be included in a separate review as my focus in on the batteries themselves. After receiving the HK, I was quite bereaved to have to spend nearly £100 on buying and having delivered a pair of SOPMOD batteries. These are usually quite heavy NiMH 8.4V 1300mAH batteries that slot into the stock in a way that is unique to the SOPMOD and HK416 recoil shock series. If you are eager enough and have the time, you can comb the forums to find the modified 9.6V 1300mAH for around £30 each plus postage. If you need two batteries for an airsoft day, you've nearly paid the same are a mid-range GBB pistol! The main issue with the 9.6V batteries comes from the extra voltage. Certain retailers and technicians will tell you that the higher voltage battery will damage the recoil mechanism and the motor. Personally, with a £550 rifle... I'm not going to take the risk.

Photo taken from Eagle6 webstore

I spent a while looking for battery alternatives for the HK416. There were several options involving re-wiring the stock tube or paying for an adapter. Both options didn't appeal to me as the battery solution TM have developed is very efficient and clever, ideally I was looking to keep the same system. Baton Gunsmith produce lipo adapters which allows the lipo to sit in the stock whilst the adapter plugs into the stock tube. Unfortunately this design only allows for a small 2 cell lipo so you'd still need to spend a fair amount of money on enough batteries to last you a full game day. Some tutorials on the forums have modified the Baton adapter so that you can plug in two batteries in parallel however, this isn't an off the shelf solution and it doesn't look pretty. The final option is butchering a SOPMOD battery and re-fitting with lipo cells.

After having a chat with a friend at my local site, I found out that he had been trying this idea and was now on his generation 2 of his version of the lipo quick change battery. The resulting battery was a 7.4V 1300mAH lipo which worked as a quick change and was supported well enough so that they could be transported in a kit bag without worrying too much about damage. The battery itself is lighter than the original when balances the gun a little better as the NiMHs can make the gun stock heavy. The batteries work on the same principle and the NiMH versions, you open the stock, slide in the battery until you feel and hear a click.

The balance port is on the right hand cell and requires a balance lead extension to charge. The charging adapter is also needed to charge the battery due to the Tokyo Marui quick change design. An alternative would be to buy a smart balance charger that charger solely from the balance leads, this would elevate the need for a quick change charging adapter. The balance port is still accessible enough to use a cell monitor when the battery is not in the stock.

Each battery drops in with no issues and is finished a lot better than some of the examples you might see on the forums. The batteries will usually last about 4 hours (so half a day) of use before needing to be recharged. With the upcoming of the BTC Spectre FET for next gen AEGs, you could probably run the battery right down to the limit as the MOSFET would protect the battery and the motor. When the Spectre FET is released, a 11.1V lipo may be attempted.

Overall, I am very pleased with this product. It is somewhat a one off custom job but given the availability and demand JC will be doing them in larger quantities. The batteries themselves work brilliantly and have seen me through nearly 2 months of games with no issues what so ever. The batteries themselves are finished very neatly and provide a very elegant solution for a clever yet exclusive system invented by Tokyo Marui. I'd strongly recommend any interested SOPMOD or HK416 owners enquire with JC about the batteries as they don't require any modification to the gun and work like a dream. I will leave his contact details at the end.

John Currie
Email: jcurrie1979@gmail.com
JC is also a Marshal at ZED adventures "The Mall" so you can contact him on a Sunday Open day.