About this replacement
Barnes & Noble Nook Glowlight / BNRV500 — 3.7V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (B01PQIL)
This 3.7V, 2150mAh Li-Polymer cell replaces the original B01PQIL battery in the Barnes & Noble Nook Glowlight, Glowlight WiFi, and BNRV500 e-readers. It fits directly onto the existing connector and flex cable routing inside the chassis. Capacity figures come from the product data — 2150mAh / 7.96Wh.
- Glowlight, Glowlight WiFi, and BNRV500 compatibility: All three models share the same PCB connector pinout, the same 91.50 × 56.00 × 4.13mm cell footprint, and the same BMS voltage thresholds — which is why a single cell covers the full BNRV500 platform without modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through the Nook's charge controller and confirmed the BMS accepted the cell, reached full charge termination at 4.2V, and held the voltage curve through several discharge cycles without triggering a protection cutoff.
- Post-swap charge cycle on the Nook Glowlight: After installing this cell, run a complete USB charge cycle before switching the device on. The Nook's firmware recalibrates its battery percentage display against a freshly charged cell — skipping this step causes the indicator to show inaccurate readings from the first boot.
Why the Nook Glowlight shows incorrect battery percentage after a cell swap
The Nook's battery gauge IC tracks charge state by measuring cumulative current flow over time, not just terminal voltage. When you install a new cell, the gauge IC still holds its last calibration data from the old, degraded cell. This mismatch causes the percentage display to jump erratically or read 100% when the cell is not actually full. A single complete charge cycle from USB resets the gauge baseline and aligns the display to the new cell's actual capacity.
Nook Glowlight not powering on after battery replacement
Replacement cells ship at a storage voltage — typically 3.6V to 3.85V — which can fall below the Nook's minimum boot threshold if the cell has been in inventory for several months. If the device shows nothing on screen after the swap, connect it to a USB charger immediately and leave it for at least 10 minutes before pressing the power button. The charge controller needs enough headroom to bring the cell above the boot floor before the main board will initialise. If the screen still does not respond after 10 minutes on charge, check that the connector tab is fully seated — a partially connected flex will prevent the board from seeing any voltage at all.