About this replacement
Columbia Omni-Heat — 3.7V Li-ion Replacement Battery (036482-001)
This is a 3.7V, 1700mAh Li-ion replacement battery for Columbia Omni-Heat heated jackets and vests. It replaces OEM part number 036482-001. The battery powers the garment's heating elements directly — when the original cell depletes or fails to hold charge, this restores full heating function.
- Omni-Heat heated garment fit: Columbia's Omni-Heat heated jackets and vests use a single low-voltage 3.7V cell to drive the heating elements across the garment. The connector and BMS handshake are matched to the original 036482-001 spec, so the controller reads charge state correctly across all three heat settings.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through the full heat setting sequence — low, medium, and high. The BMS held stable across all three draw levels. Current pull on the highest setting reached approximately 1.5A; the protection circuit did not trip under sustained load at that level.
- Cold-weather storage tip: If you store the jacket in an unheated space between uses — a cold car, a garage, a ski locker — bring the battery pack inside to body temperature before you head out. Li-ion cells lose usable capacity below 5°C, and a cold-soaked cell will underperform on the highest heat setting even when fully charged.
Heating element cutting out mid-use on high setting
The highest heat setting pulls sustained current through the heating elements — around 1.5A on this cell's 3.7V nominal output. If the battery's internal resistance has risen from age or deep discharge, the BMS will see a voltage sag under that load and cut power to protect the cell. This is not a garment fault. The cutout happens because the pack voltage drops below the BMS low-voltage threshold mid-draw, not because the battery is empty. Replace the cell if this happens consistently on a fully charged pack, and confirm the new battery reads above 4.1V on a multimeter before fitting it to the jacket.
New battery not reaching maximum heat level
Some users fit a new cell and find the jacket won't step up to the highest heat setting, or cycles back to medium automatically. This usually means the battery was shipped at partial state of charge — below 3.9V — and the garment controller limits output when it detects low cell voltage. Charge the battery fully before the first use; a full charge brings the cell to approximately 4.2V. Once fully charged, the controller unlocks the full current draw required for maximum heat output.